Triumph Thunderbird 6T

by Florina Spînu from https://www.autoevolution.com Salon Privé Week, now in its 16th year, will once again highlight the best of the automotive and motorcycle worlds. Any car enthusiast and motorcycle aficionado will drool at the most incredible supercars and classics and alongside the rarest motorcycles. Triumph will also take part in this year’s series of events and will create a buzz with a rare sight: its first motorcycle ever built. What began in 1886 as the Triumph Cycle Company has become one of the most recognizable of all motorcycle brands, with iconic models including the Speed Twin, Bonneville, and the famous Thunderbird 6T ridden by Marlon Brando in “The Wild One.” Siegfried Bettmann and Moritz Schulte, the company’s founders, started out making Triumph-branded bicycles, but they gradually extended production to include motorcycles as well. That’s how the company’s first “motorcycle” was born. It was a bicycle fitted with a 3/4hp 172cc Belgian Minerva engine. The machine had no clutch or gearbox, and the rider could adjust the rear chain with the use of a rear band brake and an eccentric crank. The Triumph motor bicycle was introduced in September 1901 for the 1902 season. The brand’s reputation for quality and durability was well established by the outbreak of WWI, which eventually led to substantial orders for military use. The rare exemplary will be on display at on the South Lawn at Blenheim Palace as part of the Salon Privé Concours d’Elégance. Its appearance represents a unique opportunity for visitors to see this historic motor bicycle ( which is the forerunner of all subsequent Triumphs) in public for the first time since 1937. On September 1st, Salon Privé Concours d’Elégance will include two classes: Exceptional Motorcycles and Exceptional Competition Motorcycles. Allen Millyard, a well-known motorcycle builder, will be back this year