Triumph Bonneville: 60 Years is a celebration and compendium of all the
makes, models, and one-offs of the Triumph Bonneville motorcycle over
the past several decades. First manufactured in Great Britain in 1959,
Triumph's iconic model resonates deeply with motorcycle enthusiasts
worldwide who loved its style, sound, performance, and undeniable
coolness. It's not coincidental that Triumph was Steve McQueen's
favorite ride. The Bonneville's story is one of successes and tragedies
as Triumph grew steadily in the post-war decades to become America's
most successful "import" motorcycle marque. Triumph won every
championship worth winning, owned the world speed record for fifteen
years, and wooed Hollywood's hottest stars. Bonneville was its halo
machine, one of the highest performance motorcycles of the 1960s. As
competing models and marques eventually eclipsed the Bonneville, Triumph
management struggled in the 1970s and led the company to bankruptcy and
the demise of the company in 1983. Triumph was resurrected by British
industrialist John Bloor in the late 1990s, becoming a 21st-century
global success story including a revived and thoroughly
retro-contemporary Bonneville range.
