Triumph Cars History (Triumph Motorcycles & Triumph Motor Company)

The History Of The Triumph Classic Car

Picture Of Triumph Classic Cars

The Triumph Motor Company is a defunct British motor manufacturer. The Triumph marque is currently owned by BMW. The marque had its origins in 1885 when Siegfried Bettmann (1863-1951) and Moritz (Maurice) Schulte from Germany founded Bettmann & Co and started selling Triumph bicycles from premises in London and from 1889 started making their own machines in Coventry, England.

Picture Of Triumph Classic Cars

From bicycles, the Triumph Cycle Co. Ltd., as the company was named in 1897, branched out in 1902 into making Triumph motor cycles at their works in Much Park Street. At first these used bought-in engines but the business took off and they soon started making their own and in 1907 expanded into a new factory in Priory Street taking over the premises of a spinning mill. Major orders for the 550 cc Model H came from the British Army during World War 1 and by 1918 they were Britain's largest motor cycle maker.

Picture Of Triumph Classic Cars

In 1921, Bettmann was persuaded by his general manager Claude Holbrook (1886-1979), who had joined the company in 1919, to acquire the assets and Clay Lane premises of the Dawson Car Company and start producing a 1.4 litre model called the Triumph 10/20 which was actually designed for them by Lea-Francis to whom they paid a royalty for every car sold. Production of this car and its immediate successors was on a moderate scale but this changed with the introduction in 1927 of the Triumph Super 7 which sold in large numbers through to 1934.