Relating the story of Triumph cars is complex enough, but to include all
the earlier events which persuaded Siegfried Bettman to begin car
manufacture in 1923 is even more so. The two authors, however - both of
them experts in all things Triumph, the cars, and the political events
surrounding them - have assembled and presented an enthralling story of
the way the car-making side of the business came to prosper, was then
afflicted by financial problems, and then rescued from oblivion by
Standard in 1944. Thereafter, Triumph once again became a prominent
marque, eventually dominated Standard, and (from the 1960s onwards)
became an important cast member in the melodramatic events which
involved Leyland, BMC and eventually British Leyland.
Triumph Cars - The Complete Story, however, is not merely a turbulent
trawl through the historical record, for both authors were also
successful in locating the important characters whose efforts made it
possible for Triumph to excite the world. Along the way, the career of
cars as famous as the Glorias and Dolomites of the 1930s, the Heralds,
Spitfires and TRs of the post-war years, and the headline-grabbing
exploits in racing and rallying build up a story which no fictional
writer could have created.