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LOT 202

1923 Triumph 550cc Model SD Registration no. FC 5336 Frame no. 32353 Engine no. 84310 CRR

Sold for £9,775 inc. premiumLot to be sold without reserve
Lot 202

1923 Triumph 550cc Model SD
Registration no. FC 5336 Frame no. 32353 Engine no. 84310 CRR

1923 Triumph 550cc Model SD
Registration no. FC 5336
Frame no. 32353
Engine no. 84310 CRR

The first Triumph motorcycle of 1902 used a Belgian Minerva engine but within a few years the Coventry firm - originally a bicycle manufacturer founded by German immigrants Siegfried Bettman and Maurice Schulte - was building its own power units. The company was soon involved in racing and the publicity generated by competition success - Jack Marshall won the 1908 Isle of Man TT's single-cylinder class for Triumph having finished 2nd the previous year - greatly stimulated sales. By the outbreak of The Great War the marque's reputation for quality and reliability was well established. Triumph's 3½hp model had first appeared in 1907. Originally of 453cc, its sidevalve engine was enlarged to 476cc in 1908 and finally to 499cc in 1910 before being superseded by the 550cc 4hp model in 1914. Equipped with three-speed Sturmey-Archer gearbox, it was this revised 4hp - the Model H - that did such sterling service in WWI, some 30,000 'Trusty Triumphs' seeing action with British and Allied forces. Updated with chain final drive for 1920, it became known as the 'SD' (Spring Drive) because of its clutch-mounted, coil-spring shock absorber, and formed the basis of the later four-valve Ricardo model.

An older restoration, this Triumph SD is offered with an old-style continuation logbook issued in 1974.

Footnotes

As with all Lots in the Sale, this Lot is sold 'as is/where is' and Bidders must satisfy themselves as to the provenance, condition, age, completeness and originality prior to bidding.

Saleroom notices

This is a 1922 specification model and not a 1923 model as per catalogued.

Additional information

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  • 19 October 2019, 09:00 - 17:00 BST
  • 20 October 2019, 09:00 - 17:00 BST

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