Save the Triumph Bonneville! – The inside
story of the Meriden workers co-op, written by the ex-Managing Director of the
famous workers’ co-op, is the real story of the last bastion of British
motorcycle production following the collapse of the industry. It’s also the
story of a workforce’s refusal to let the Triumph Bonneville die ...
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.