The progression of Triumph into car production followed a familiar path of the era, though in their case it was a leisurely meander rather than a headlong rush. It really started in 1886/87 when German immigrant Siegfried Bettmann founded S Bettmann & Company to import and export among other things sewing machines. From there he moved into bicycles, choosing to name them Triumph because he was engaged in export and that name could be understood in many European languages.
Initially Bettmann – who went on to become naturalised and Mayor of Coventry – had the bicycles made by William Andrews in Birmingham, but a new business partner, fellow German immigrant Mauritz Schulte, was keen for the company to expand and pushed for them to become manufacturers too. They set up the Triumph Cycle Co in 1889 with premises in Coventry's Much Park Street. From there the company grew, moving to bigger premises in Priory Street in 1894 and helped in no small way by a sizeable investment from Dunlop in 1895.
The next step was an inevitable move into motorbike production. Triumph built their first in 1902 with a bought-in Minerva engine from Belgium, followed in 1905 by one of their own design. Production grew steadily, with a big hike during WW1 thanks to demand from the Allied forces for Triumph's 550cc machines. Motorbike production continued to climb through the 1920s, and the profits from this business fuelled Triumph's move into car production at last, something that the conservative Bettmann had resisted but which
