THE FIRST TIME BRITISH RIDERS were able to ‘read all about it’ and indulge their fantasies of owning a Tiger 100 came in November 1938. Motor Cycle magazine carried out the first official road test, announcing that the T100 ‘seems to combine all those qualities motorcyclists have hoped for but seldom actually experienced’. It captured the delight with which the new Triumph was greeted, and in the real world the T100 did not disappoint.
Exactly two years later the Dale Street factory was hit by the Luftwaffe and largely destroyed, by which time Triumph had geared up to supply the military. The Tiger project, alongside its running mate the Speed Twin, resulted in the 1939 models receiving worldwide attention and, naturally, full order books, allowing boss Edward Turner to feel justified when projecting a secure future for the brand. Limited numbers were built in 1940 and five years later, when hostilities ceased, the factory had relocated 15 miles away to Meriden. Much of the machinery had been reconditioned or rebuilt after the bombing and most surprising is that nearly half of this equipment was fully maintained and in use when Meriden closed its doors in 1983. They built stuff to last back then... just ask Les Jewiss, attached to the same Tiger 100
