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49-446: The Triumph Motor Company was a British car and motor manufacturing company in the 19th and 20th centuries. The marque had its origins in 1885 when Siegfried Bettmann of Nuremberg formed S. Bettmann & Co. and started importing bicycles from Europe and selling them under his own trade name in London. The trade name became "Triumph" the following year, and in 1887 Bettmann was joined by

98-747: A clerk in the Public Record Office now Britain's national archives. He studied law at the University of London . During the First World War he served first in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve before transferring to the Royal Tank Regiment , where he gained the rank of captain. After the war he joined Hillman Motor Car Company as sales manager in 1918 and was appointed a director in 1919. In 1921 Black married Daisy Hillman one of

147-533: A demonstration of the Swallow Doretti . His fellow board members believed this affected his judgment and he was forced to resign in January 1954, officially because of his health. In December 1954 Black accepted an appointment as deputy chairman of Enfield Cables Ltd . In his retirement he took up farming. He died suddenly at Cheadle Hospital, Cheadle, Cheshire on 24 December 1965 at the age of 70. Black married

196-474: A job with the White Sewing Machine Co. as a translator and worked as the company's sales representative in northern Europe . Fluent in several languages, he perfected his English, and married a local woman, Annie Meyrick (known as Millie). Bettmann founded S. Bettmann & Co and started selling bicycles by the name 'Triumph' from premises in London. In 1886, Bettmann sought a more general name, and

245-590: A new badge in 1947 for their own models, first seen on the Vanguard , a highly stylised motif based on the wings of a Griffin . With the introduction of the TR2, a version of this badge appeared for the first time on the bonnet of a production Triumph, while the Globe continued to appear on the hubcaps. This same double-badging also appeared on the TR3 and TR4, the 2000 and the 1300. However,

294-572: A new position at the Standard Motor Company. He was appointed Standard's joint managing director (with founder R W Maudslay ) in September 1933. Maudslay died little more than a year later. With the possibility of war again looming he enthusiastically backed the government scheme for shadow factories and managed two, at Banner Lane and Canley built by the government for the manufacture of aero engines and for aircraft. In July 1941 Black

343-603: A partner, Moritz Schulte, also from Germany. In 1889, the businessmen started producing their own bicycles in Coventry , England. Triumph manufactured its first car in 1923. The company was acquired by Leyland Motors in 1960, ultimately becoming part of the giant conglomerate British Leyland (BL) in 1968, where the Triumph brand was absorbed into BL's Specialist Division alongside former Leyland stablemates Rover and Jaguar . Triumph-badged vehicles were produced by BL until 1984 when

392-680: A place for it . I can't think of anything that is in the production timeframe that would not be wearing a BMW badge - be it ' i ' or just BMW." In 2023, automotive design house Makkina (with permission from BMW) revealed the Triumph TR25 concept car for its 25th anniversary, as well as to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Triumph Cars itself. Based on the BMW i3S , the TR25 pays homage to the Triumph TR2 MVC575 'Jabbeke' of 1953, featuring many design cues from

441-455: A second legacy brand and adding extra showrooms . In late 2007, the magazine Auto Express , after continued rumours that Triumph might be revived with BMW ownership, featured a story showing an image of what a new version of the TR4 might look like. BMW did not comment officially on this. In 2011, BMW applied for a European trademark to use the Triumph laurel wreath badge on vehicles, as well as

490-537: A second time in 1943 to Alicia Joan Pears Linton, daughter of the Bishop of Persia later rector of Handsworth, with whom he had three sons. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography incorrectly identifies both father and daughter. Shortly after Black died in 1965, Alick Dick, his successor at the helm of Standard-Triumph, recalled Black with obvious affection as an "extrovert and exciting, if somewhat controversial personality". Recalling cars introduced under Black such as

539-563: A telephone call from Capt. C. V. Holdsworth of the Army Service Corps (who later became Triumph's managing director) with an order for a hundred Triumph motorcycles for the BEF who were soon to go to France. Despite being a Saturday afternoon, Bettmann and his staff worked non-stop to create the required motorcycles and by Sunday evening they were delivered to the Coventry railway station in time for

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588-409: A wide variety of merchandise. The application was published in late 2012, and further stirred rumours regarding the revival of the Triumph brand. Piers Scott, head of corporate communications for BMW Australia stated in an interview with Drive that: "[The Triumph brand] is always there to be rejuvenated should we choose, I don't think people realise we have Triumph in our stable, but I struggle to see

637-523: The Mazda MX-5 . This new car was speculated to be branded as either an Austin-Healey or a Triumph. Development of the car took place, although production did not commence. In 2005, it was reported that BMW's Designworks studio in California proposed reviving the Triumph brand for use on the new Mini Roadster , branding and styling it as a Triumph. The idea was rejected by Mini dealers, averse to selling

686-513: The Morris marque in 1984 as well as the Triumph brand. The trademark is owned currently by BMW , which acquired Triumph when it bought the Rover Group in 1994. When BMW sold Rover , it retained the Triumph and Riley marques. The Phoenix Consortium , which bought Rover, attempted to buy the Triumph brand, but BMW refused, saying that if Phoenix insisted, it would break the deal. The Standard marque

735-545: The TR series of sports cars that were produced until 1981. Curiously, the TR2 had a Standard badge on its front and the Triumph globe on its hubcaps. Standard had been making a range of small saloons named the Standard Eight and Ten, and had been working on their replacements. The success of the TR range meant that Triumph was considered a more marketable name than Standard, and the new car

784-652: The TR8 were terminated when the road car section of the Solihull plant was closed (the plant continued to build Land Rovers .) The last Triumph model was the Acclaim , introduced in 1981 and essentially a rebadged Honda Ballade built under licence from the Japanese carmaker Honda , at the former Morris Motors works in Cowley , Oxford. The Triumph name disappeared over the summer of 1984, when

833-714: The Acclaim was replaced by the Rover 200 , a rebadged version of Honda's next generation Civic/Ballade model. This was the first phase of a rebranding of the Rover Group which would also see the Austin and Morris brands disappear by the end of the 1980s and the Rover brand dominate most of the company's products. The BL car division had by then been named the Austin Rover Group , which also retired

882-512: The Spitfire, GT6 and 2000. Leyland Leyland's corporate badge, a design based on the spokes of a wheel, appeared on the hubcaps of the 1500FWD, and next to the Triumph name on the metal identification labels fitted to the bootlids of various models. It was also used for the oil filler cap on the Dolomite Sprint engine. However it was never used as a bonnet badge, with models of that era such as

931-603: The TR6 and the second generation 2000 carrying a badge simply stating the name "Triumph". Stag The Stag model carried a unique grille badge showing a highly stylised stag. Laurel wreath The last versions of the TR7 and Dolomite ranges received an all-new badge with the word Triumph surrounded by laurel wreaths, and this was also used for the Acclaim. It was carried on the bonnet and the steering wheel boss. Siegfried Bettmann Siegfried Bettmann (18 April 1863 - 23 September 1951)

980-694: The Triumph Motor Company and produced the Triumph Southern Cross and Gloria ranges. In 1936 the company had financial problems, and in 1936 the Triumph bicycle and motorcycle businesses were both sold. The motorcycle business was bought by Jack Sangster of Ariel Motorcycles to become Triumph Engineering Co Ltd . Siegfried Bettmann's success enabled him to become President of the Coventry Liberal Association. A Freemason and founder member of Coventry's Chamber of Commerce , he

1029-514: The Triumph marque was retired, where it remained dormant under the auspices of BL's successor company Rover Group . The rights to the Triumph marque are currently owned by BMW , who purchased the Rover Group in 1994. S. Bettman & Co. was renamed the Triumph Cycle Co. Ltd. in 1897. In 1902 they began producing Triumph motorcycles at their works in Coventry on Much Park Street. At first, they used engines purchased from another company, but

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1078-436: The ages of eighteen and forty who wished to start a business. Preference was given to ex-servicemen and the fund, which is still in existence, was extended subsequently to include grants for further education. Bettmann also commissioned a memorial for the 66 employees of the Triumph company killed in action during the First World War, built in Coventry's London Road cemetery in 1921. The Triumph Motorcycle Company became one of

1127-515: The associated factory and field-based training courses. For most of its time under Leyland or BL ownership the Triumph marque belonged in the Specialist Division of the company, which went by the names of Rover Triumph and later Jaguar Rover Triumph , except for a brief period during the mid-1970s when all BL's car marques or brands were grouped together under the name of Leyland Cars. The only all-new Triumph model initiated as Rover Triumph

1176-498: The business prospered and they soon started making their own engines. In 1907 they purchased the premises of a spinning mill on Priory Street to develop a new factory. Major orders for the 550 cc Model H were placed by the British Army during the First World War; by 1918 Triumph had become Britain's largest manufacturer of motorcycles. In 1921 Bettmann was persuaded by his general manager Claude Holbrook (1886–1979), who had joined

1225-677: The company became known as the Triumph Cycle Company . A year later, the company registered as the New Triumph Co. Ltd., with funding from the Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Company . In that year, Bettmann was joined by a native from Papenburg named Johann Moritz Schulte, as a partner. Schulte encouraged Bettmann to transform Triumph into a manufacturing company, and in 1888 Bettmann purchased a site in Coventry using money lent by his and Schulte's families. The company began producing

1274-608: The company in 1919, to acquire the assets and Clay Lane premises of the Dawson Car Company and start producing a car and 1.4-litre engine type named the Triumph 10/20 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 moderate, but this changed with the introduction in 1927 of the Triumph Super 7 , which sold in large numbers until 1934. In 1930

1323-505: The company's experimental manager in 1934. The company encountered financial problems however, and in 1936 the Triumph bicycle and motorcycle businesses were sold, the latter to Jack Sangster of Ariel to become Triumph Engineering Co Ltd. Healey purchased an Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 and developed a new car model with an Alfa inspired straight-8 engine type named the Triumph Dolomite . Three of these cars were made in 1934, one of which

1372-426: The company's name was changed to Triumph Motor Company. Holbrook realised he could not compete with the larger car companies for the mass market, so he decided to produce expensive cars, and introduced the models Southern Cross and Gloria . At first they used engines made by Triumph but designed by Coventry Climax , but in 1937 Triumph started to produce engines to their own designs by Donald Healey , who had become

1421-523: The creator and owner of Jaguar, Black's objective in acquiring the rights to the name and the remnants of the bankrupt Triumph business was to build a car to compete with the soon to be launched post-war Jaguars. The pre-war Triumph models were not revived and in 1946 a new range of Triumphs was announced, starting with the Triumph Roadster . The Roadster had an aluminium body because steel was in short supply and surplus aluminium from aircraft production

1470-516: The daughters of owner William Hillman , the marriage was dissolved in 1939. He was appointed joint managing director alongside his brother-in-law Spencer Wilks , who had married one of Daisy's sisters. When Hillman amalgamated with Humber and Commer in 1928 Black joined their boards. He resigned his posts in July 1929 after Hillman fell under the control of the Rootes brothers and in September 1929 took up

1519-516: The evening train. The British Army subsequently placed large orders for the Triumph 550 cc Model H and by 1918 Triumph was Britain's largest motorcycle manufacturer. In 1921 Bettmann further diversified into car production and bought the Dawson Car Company to produce the Triumph 10/20. In 1927 he developed the Triumph Super 7 which sold well until 1934. In 1930 the company changed its name to

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1568-466: The first Triumph-branded bicycles in 1889. In 1896, Triumph initiated a subsidiary, Orial TWN (Triumph Werke Nuremberg) a German subsidiary for cycle production in his native city. In 1902 the company diversified into making motorcycles at their works in Much Park Street. The first Triumph motorcycle in 1902 was a strengthened bicycle with a 2.25 bhp Minerva engine. Once the business grew,

1617-515: The merger of the British Motor Corporation and Jaguar two years earlier) which resulted in the formation of British Leyland Motor Corporation . Triumph set up an assembly facility in Speke , Liverpool in 1960, gradually increasing the size of the company's most modern factory to the point that it could produce 100,000 cars per year. However, only a maximum of 30,000 cars was ever produced as

1666-516: The most famous motorcycle marques of the world and Bettmann retained an association with the company until his death. Siegfried Bettmann died on 23 September 1951. In 2015 the Coventry Society installed a Blue Plaque onto this residence. John Black (Motor industry) He was born in Kingston upon Thames on 10 February 1895 the fourth son of Ellen (Smith) and her husband John George Black,

1715-525: The original Herald, Spitfire, Vitesse and GT6 models all carried only the Griffin badge on their bonnets/radiator grilles, with unadorned hubcaps. The TR4A appeared with a Globe badge on the bonnet, apparently signifying a return to the original Triumph badging. This was short-lived, as a policy of Leylandisation mean that neither Globe nor Griffin appeared on subsequent models from the TR5 onwards, or on later versions of

1764-446: The plant was never put into full production use, being used largely as an assembly plant. During the 1960s and '70s Triumph sold a succession of Michelotti -styled saloons and sports cars, including the advanced Dolomite Sprint , which, in 1973, already had a 16-valve four-cylinder engine. It is alleged that many Triumphs of this era were unreliable, especially the 2.5 PI (petrol injection) with its fuel injection problems. In Australia,

1813-707: The production of cars; the Holbrook Lane works were completely destroyed by bombing in 1940. In November 1944 what was left of the Triumph Motor Company and the Triumph trade name were bought by the Standard Motor Company and a subsidiary "Triumph Motor Company (1945) Limited" was formed with production transferred to Standard's factory at Canley , on the outskirts of Coventry. Triumph's new owners had been supplying engines to Jaguar and its predecessor company since 1938. After an argument between Standard-Triumph managing director, Sir John Black , and William Lyons ,

1862-521: The purchased engines were replaced with their own and in 1907 the company expanded into a new factory in Priory Street, on the premises of a former mill. At the beginning of World War I , the War Office called a meeting of Coventry industrialists at St Mary's Hall and asked them to put their resources at the disposal of the military. Two weeks after Britain had declared war on Germany, Bettmann received

1911-555: The record breaking car. Speaking with Auto Express , Makkina director Michael Ani stated that the TR25 is intended as a concept, although the BMW platform and powertrain provide scope to bring the car to production should the opportunity arise. Globe Pre-war Triumphs carried a stylised Globe badge, usually on the radiator grille, and this was also used on the first three models produced under Standard's control. Griffin Standard had introduced

1960-441: The summer heat caused petrol in the electric fuel pump to vapourise, resulting in frequent malfunctions. Although the injection system had proven itself in international competition, it lacked altitude compensation to adjust the fuel mixture at altitudes greater than 3,000 feet (910 m) above sea level. The Lucas system proved unpopular: Lucas did not want to develop it further, and Standard-Triumph dealers were reluctant to attend

2009-755: Was a bicycle, motorcycle and car manufacturer and founder of the Triumph Motorcycle Company . In 1914 he established the Annie Bettmann Foundation to help young people start businesses. Triumph became one of the most famous motorcycle trade-names in the world. Bettmann was also Mayor of Coventry from 1913-1914. Born in 1863 in Nuremberg , Germany , Siegfried Bettmann moved to England in 1885, and settled in Coventry , Warwickshire . He found work with Kelly & Co. compiling foreign directories for their publications. After six months, he obtained

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2058-515: Was also a Justice of the Peace and in 1913 became Mayor of Coventry , the first non-British subject to have the position. Bettmann was a naturalised British citizen, but his German origins resulted in him being removed as Mayor of Coventry on the beginning of the First World War . In 1914 Siegfried Bettmann founded the Annie Bettmann Foundation with his wife to help young Coventry people between

2107-512: Was appointed chairman of the Joint Aero Engine Committee. He performed so well he was given a knighthood in July 1943 and thereafter he insisted that his title be used by all staff and employees. At the end of the war he organised Standard's purchase of Triumph . Alick S. Dick took control of day-to-day operations in 1953 and Black was appointed chairman of Standard-Triumph. He was injured in late 1953 in an accident when being given

2156-503: Was forced to retire from the company this range of cars was discontinued without being replaced directly, sheet aluminium having by now become a prohibitively expensive alternative to sheet steel for most auto-industry purposes. In the early 1950s it was decided to use the Triumph name for sporting cars and the Standard name for saloons and in 1953 the Triumph TR2 was initiated, the first of

2205-642: Was introduced in 1959 as the Triumph Herald . The last Standard car to be made in the UK was replaced in 1963 by the Triumph 2000 . Standard-Triumph was bought by Leyland Motors Ltd. in December 1960; Donald Stokes became chairman of the Standard-Triumph division in 1963. In 1967 Leyland Motor Corporation bought the Rover company and in 1968 Leyland Motor Corporation merged with British Motor Holdings (created out of

2254-467: Was plentiful. The same engine was used for the 1800 Town and Country saloon, later named the Triumph Renown , which was notable for the styling chosen by Standard-Triumph's managing director Sir John Black . A similar style was also used for the subsequent Triumph Mayflower light saloon. All three of these models prominently sported the "globe" badge that had been used on pre-war models. When Sir John

2303-657: Was the TR7 , which was in production successively at three factories that were closed: Speke , the poorly run Leyland-era Standard-Triumph works in Liverpool , the original Standard works at Canley , Coventry and finally the Rover works in Solihull . Plans for an extended range based on the TR7, including a fastback variant codenamed "Lynx", were ended when the Speke factory closed. The four-cylinder TR7 and its short-lived eight-cylindered derivative

2352-461: Was transferred to British Motor Heritage Limited. The Standard marque is still retained by British Motor Heritage, who also have the licence to use the Triumph marque in relation to the sale of spares and service of the existing 'park' of Triumph cars. Proposals were reportedly made in the early 2000s for BMW to market a cheaper, four cylinder, rear wheel drive car based on the Z4 Roadster to rival

2401-479: Was used in competition and destroyed in an accident. The Dolomites manufactured from 1937 to 1940 were unrelated to these prototypes. In July 1939 the Triumph Motor Company went into receivership and the factory, equipment and goodwill were offered for sale. The Thos. W. Ward scrapping company purchased Triumph, and placed Healey in charge as general manager, but the effects of the Second World War again stopped

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