Interview with John Rosamond - Author of Save the Triumph Bonneville!

Save the Triumph Bonneville! The inside story of the Meriden Workers Co-op by John Rosamond. Foreword by The Right Honourable Tony Benn.
There is no more famous motorcycle than the Triumph Bonneville, the Bonnie, "the best motorcycle in the world," and the Meriden factory producing this icon was a personal Mecca to fans of the marque. Film stars such as Steve McQueen visited Meriden for their Triumphs. But on the brink of what should have been its biggest ever sales season, the BSA parent company dramatically collapsed. The Conservative government reacted, and Norton-Villiers-Triumph was created. The new owners decided to close down Meriden ... so the workers locked them out.
There followed protracted political negotiations, affected all the while by national government changes, ministers attitudes, national and international economic conditions and, throughout all this, the world's continuing desire for the Triumph.
As much a study of changing sociopolitical attitudes as of an economically traumatic time for both Triumph and the country, socialist John Rosamond's unique position within the workers co-operative makes this work a fascinating account of a story never before told from the inside. The reversal of his role from worker to chairman brought with it new responsibilities, bringing home to him the passion that employees, customers and dealers had for Triumph, and how that could keep Meriden from closing and the Bonneville in production. During all these desperate struggles, the Triumph Bonneville became the best-selling motorcycle of its class, winning the coveted Motor Cycle News Motorcycle of The Year award at the end of the seventies. Yet within just a few years of this, Meriden and the Bonnie were finally gone.
All the rescue attempts, the lifesaving international orders, and the negotiations for a reprieve with the new Thatcher government are covered here in unique detail, as is the introduction of new models that Meriden hoped would attract a 'white knight'. Lavishly illustrated with never-before-seen photographs from the personal collections of the factory's workers, this inside-story of Triumph's last years at Meriden is the definitive history of the most famous of the Tony Benn worker's co-operatives.
Tony Benn photograph (courtesy Mirrorpix)

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Triumph
• Bonneville
• Meriden
• John
• Rosamond
• Tony
• Benn
• Margaret
• Thatcher
• Labour
• motorcycle
• book
• Motorbike
• 1970s
• west
• midlands
• unemployment
• factory
• interview
• government
• hinckley
• 1983
• co-operative
• politics
• nvt
• tiger
• 750
• cc

[djschol]

I wonder if John has included my story of Triumph, I was also a welder there at that time and had an accident with a car I was welding in the frame shop. Hit the petrol tank and the whole lot went up... four fire engines two ambulances and god knows how many police cars later and it was put out. (cut down version of the story)

[triumph5ta]

In the mid-seventies the T140 was still popular. Some of Triumph's most succesful years in the 70s were 76,77,78. There was a profit to be made but it was precarious. Good for them for keeping production going. but by 1979 the writing was on the wall. Rescued by the Thatcher government in 1979 don't forget, hardly a fan of "socialism"

[volumex2000]

sae1080 - you haven't listened to what John Rosamond is saying. It is not socialist bovine excrement. This was a bunch of skilled blokes who believed in what they did and took the only opportunity of continuance afforded to them after a decade of obscene mismanagement, profit grabbing and non-investment. They tried to make the best of a bad job. And learn to spell.

[TR5T]

Fistly I HATE ASS WIPE SOCIALISM but the vertical twin dohc 360/270 degree crank is a fine design.

I have 25000 on mine, a friend 80000, another 10000 ........etc.

9 of us in Daytona,

Had an 01 in the UK for 4 years.

This is not nostalgic loyalty, these bikes ROCK!

Bloor has done a fab job

The vertical twin is very useful and current.

the BMW 800 sound familiar.

Kill Tony Benn, Glenda Jackson, George Gallaway and on and on.

[sae1080]

I smell socialist bovine excrement here. The verticle twins (and the Trident) may have been competitive in the 1960s, they were barely competitive by the early 1970s, and by the late 1970s were obsolete and relatively unreliable. When I look thru my collection of about 20 of these machines (and a Norton Commando 850), I see stagant designs. Whatever profits that were possible were gobbled up by the grinding taxations of socialist (Labor) policies implemented by usefull idoits like this Benn.

[Triumph750Bonneville]

LONG LIVE TONY BENN.

[shintoSNR]

I have not read this book yet,but in my mind this is the Most important book that has come out on the REAL Triumph factory in years.I am hoping it will stand aside What ever happend to the British Motorcycle Industry & A Million miles ago.I hope John is obective too include the well known facts of Triumph workers stealing parts from the factory aswell as the many real Triumph people who kept the Bonnie alive.If possible please add more footage of John as us Triumph Junkies need it.

[meriden4ever]

Fascinating - John hasn't changed much from his 1983 appearance in The Money Programme also on Youtube !

I look forward to the first full history of this unique event in motorcycling history