Standard, Triumph & related car companies

Is there anyone out there who worked in one of the offices at The Standard Triumph in the 60s & 70s before the site closed? Especially Stock Control. I would love to hear from anyone who knew me when I was there from 1969 to 1975. I didn't realise it at the time but it was the happiest place I've ever worked & have wonderful memories of the good times & great people I worked with. Ones like Sheila & Christine Taylor, Barry, John, Geoff, & any others I worked with. If anyone knows me you can e-mail me. It was a great shame that The Standard Triumph closed when it did as they produced wondedful cars like the Spitfire & T.R. range & the Stag. They always had a beautiful smell of leather, & that new car smell when you sat in them. Something you don't get in new cars now. We have lost nearly all the great car factories Cov once had. It's tragic that so many went under. Who was to blame? Bad governments? Unions? or just bad management? Or a combination of all these?

Hi Doug, Not sure about the offices but my grandad worked on those production lines up to when he retired sometime in the 70's - John McMullan. He was a big Northern Irishman with huge hands.

Hi NeilsYard. Afraid I don't remember your grandad by name, but I may know him by sight. I used to walk around the production lines a lot in my job. I had to sometimes check the stock levels on the shop floor. They were great times. Alas, I never knew then what a good job & great workmates I had around me. I really miss those times. I used to be pals with a lad called Neil Wyley who dated & later married my girlfriend after we broke up. I really missed his company! Tragically, he died some years ago, far too young. The girls I knew there were fantastic. I loved a good few of them. WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Does anyone out there know of two sisters who used to work at The Standard Triumph-Stock Control in the 1970s? Their names were Christine & Sheila Taylor then, although of course they may have since married & have diff names now. They used to live in Nod Rise off Broad Lane back then. They were two gorgeous sisters I used to work with in Stock Control & haven't heard from in years. I would just like to know if they are well & perhaps get in touch before I'm too old. I have some wonderful memories of my time there at the Standard factory & think it was a crying shame when it closed in 1975.

I spent some time in Australia about 20 years ago and stopped with some ex-pat friends from Coventry whose parents first went out there in the 50's. The whole family had old Coventry cars - mainly Triumphs. They were restoring a Standard Vanguard and Triumph Mayflower and they found a British car parts supplier there who sent them spares still in their original packaging from the factory from some 40 years previous! They were obviously from when they were originally shipped and stored until required. They have the opposite issue over there with older motors. The bodywork can remain completely rust free - its just the engines tend to do many more miles.

Merging into Triumph Cars - there some interesting Herald assembly footage at Canley here

What a interesting site I have been browsing for ages - still more to look at. Thank you Neils Yard Regarding Priory Street, three companies started up there, Dunlop, the Coventry Chain and finally Triumph.

Similar issue in Greece - except the rust! - they tend to hand cars down to the next generation, so there are very few second-hand ones for sale (now that could be another cause of Greek debt!!! )

I found this whilst looking for information about the Torrington Avenue site. Worth reading.

His widow still owns the rights to the "Triumph" name I believe?

No, she doesn't - it's owned by BMW.

I'm pretty sure that when John Bloor set up his motorcycle factory in Hinckley he said he had to ask John Black's widow for permission to use the Triumph name.

Hi dutchman. John Black bought Triumph cars. I think the motorcycle side was a different company.

As a follow up to the Standard/Triumph discussion, have a look at this site.

Captain Black bought Standard Motor Co around 1933 (from memory); he added Triumph in 1944, Mulliners of Birmingham in the 50s, and agreed with Harry Ferguson to make his tractors as a joint venture, turning Banner Lane into the tractor plant, also in the 50s. I can't remember when he was knighted. The full Triumph motorcycle history is here. Triumph motor cycles was sold off in 1936, with the motorcycle business bought by Ariel (owned by Jack Sangster). Triumph was bought by BSA in 1951, and merged with Norton Villiers in 1973. Triumph Meriden became a workers' co-operative in 1977, and Bloor bought the remnants of the co-operative in 1983. The rest is history, as they say!