Great Motorcycling Moments: The rebirth of Triumph

When the original Triumph outfit finally surrendered in 1983 John Bloor had the foresight to buy the name and manufacturing rights.

Opting for the clever approach of modular design (allowing for parts to be used across as many models as possible) pre-production began at the Hinckley factory and the first models were launched at the Cologne show of 1990.

Production of the first new model the four-cylinder 1200cc Trophy – began in early 1991– the Trident 750 and 900 and the Daytona 750 and 1000 followed.

By 1994 20,000 new Triumphs had been built and during the early nineties new models such as the Tiger, Trident Sprint, Speed Triple and Thunderbird were introduced.

By 1995 production stood at around 12,000 units a year. Since then the range has diversified immensely with the range of models filling almost every category.

All that came crashing down when production was halted in March 2002 by a fire that struck Factory One, destroying the chassis assembly line.

The rebuilding of Factory One took five months, during which time no motorcycles were produced.

Production recommenced in September 2002, the plant was quickly back to full production, and Triumph has subsequently gone on to become a force in the global marketplace, due in no small part to the tenacity of one John Bloor.

Greg Leech

Snag’s career in motoring journalism spans 29 years with stints at major bike mags Australian Road Rider, Motorcycle Trader and AMCN along with contributions to just about every other outlet worth a hill of beans. He was editor of Unique Cars magazine and hosts his legendary podcast ‘Snag Says’ when he gets off his date.