650 SIBLING RIVALRY

Familiarity breeds contempt goes the saying. And a forced marriage offers plenty of unwelcome familiarity. No surprise, then, that in the 1950s, relations between the two senior stepsiblings of the BSA Group — BSA and Triumph — were distant, competitive and sometimes downright hostile.

By 1957, Triumph had been part of the BSA Group for six years. Yet, while Triumph’s Meriden factory near Coventry was just a 10-mile hop from BSA’s Small Heath, Birmingham plant, the two might have been at opposite ends of the galaxy. Each maintained its independence in development, manufacturing, and sales. Any potential sharing opportunities were ignored, downplayed or dismissed.

Much of this antipathy was down to the personalities involved. Famously irascible and autocratic, Edward Turner ruled his fiefdom at Meriden with an iron fist. Triumph could do no wrong (especially if Turner was involved, which he invariably was); and while Turner was well aware of trends and developments in the industry,