Business

Triumph Motorcycles History: How the British Icon Survived

Triumph collapsed as a company in 1983. John Bloor bought only the name and rebuilt it from scratch at Hinckley - the badge survived, the company did not.

Swipe to explore ›
AiTimeline Home
FIRST TRIUMPH MOTORCYCLE

Triumph's Coventry Works Builds Its First Motorcycle

Triumph, then a bicycle maker founded by Siegfried Bettmann, fitted a bought-in Belgian Minerva engine to a strengthened bicycle frame in 1902. Its own in-house engine f…

AiTimeline Home
SPEED TWIN LAUNCHED

Edward Turner's Speed Twin Redefines Triumph

A year after Jack Sangster bought the struggling motorcycle business and formed Triumph Engineering Co. Ltd, chief designer Edward Turner's 498cc parallel twin outperfor…

AiTimeline Home
BONNEVILLE T120 DEBUT

The Bonneville T120 Goes on Sale

Named in honour of Johnny Allen's 214.4mph 1956 land-speed run on a Triumph-powered streamliner at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats, the twin-carburettor T120 went on sale f…

AiTimeline Home
TRIDENT VS. HONDA CB750

The Trident Launches, Weeks Before Honda's CB750

Triumph's advanced 750cc Trident triple was ready in prototype form by 1965 but delayed 18 months for a restyle. Weeks after its 1968 launch, Honda's CB750 arrived with…

AiTimeline Home
MERIDEN CLOSES

Meriden Closes; John Bloor Buys the Name

The Meriden Workers' Co-operative, unable to compete once a strong pound priced its aging Bonneville out of the US market, collapsed. Property developer John Bloor bough…

AiTimeline Home
HINCKLEY LAUNCH

The New Triumph Motorcycles Ltd Launches at Cologne

Seven years after buying the name, Bloor's all-new factory at Hinckley unveiled six models built around modular 3- and 4-cylinder engines at the September 1990 Cologne s…

AiTimeline Home
BAJAJ ALLIANCE

Triumph and Bajaj Auto Announce a Strategic Alliance

Triumph and Bajaj Auto announced a non-equity global alliance to co-develop and manufacture new mid-capacity motorcycles. Bajaj holds no equity in Triumph - it is a manu…

AiTimeline Home
SPEED 400 LAUNCHES

Speed 400 and Scrambler 400 X Launch, Built in India

Triumph's first-ever sub-500cc motorcycles, co-developed with Bajaj Auto and built at Bajaj's Chakan plant, gave the brand an accessible entry point for the first time -…

AiTimeline Home

Want the full timeline?

Read the complete story, FAQs and key facts.

AiTimeline Home