I always smile at the prevalence of talk around Meriden vs. Hinckley and lately even about its three recently established factories at Chonburi. But what about its other sites?
Triumph began producing motorcycles at their long-forgotten Much Park Street factory in Coventry in 1902. Founded by two German nationals --Siegfried Bettmann and Moritz Schulte-- the company was linked for some years to the Triumph-Werke Nürnberg AG company in Nürnberg, Germany (which produced motorcycles and typewriters).
In 1907, following the company's rapid expansion, Triumph motorcycle production moved to a former spinning mill in Priory Street, also in the heart of Coventry as well as three other factory sites. The Priory Street Factory was destroyed by the Luftwaffe in November 1940, production continuing throughout the war years at a temporary site in Warwick. It was only in 1942 that a purpose-built factory on the Birmingham to Coventry road near Meriden was opened, returning motorcycles to full (civilian) production in 1946. Following a well-publicized sit-in and the establishment of the Meriden Motorcycle Co-operative, the factory finally closed its doors in August 1983, just having put the Meriden site up for sale and making plans to move to the old Cash's Lane Dunlop factory, a smaller factory site in Coventry.
Here are a series of images, including those of the Hinckley factory, the fire in March 2002 and the new factory in Chonburi, Thailand
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