Edward Turner

Book excerpt: For the first time the life of Edward Turner, one of Britain's most talented motorcycle designers, is revealed in full, so this is much more than just another book about Triumph motorcycles. Although seen by many as an irascible man who ran a very tight ship, it is an inescapable fact that his was a highly profitable company. His hugely successful sales campaign after World War 2 stunned America's own manufacturers and had long lasting repercussions on their own home market. As Bert Hopwood once said to the author, Turner was an inventive genius who had the flair for pleasing shapes and an uncanny ability to perceive what the buying public would readily accept, to produce it at the right price. No one will deny the impact made at the annual Motor Cycle Show by his aerial Square Four in 1931, his superbly-styled single cylinder Tiger models in 1936, and his revolutionary Speed Twin that dominated the Show in 1937. Even more was to follow with his post-war Thunderbird and Bonneville twins.