1926 Triumph 500cc Model P, Engine no. 221290

1926 Triumph 500cc Model P
Engine no. 221290
Triumph continued its model range after World War I, capitalizing on the reputation for quality and reliability that its motorcycles had acquired while on active service. One of the most important was the Model P, a no-frills sidevalve single that was a star seller in tough economic times, keeping the company financially afloat while driving a move toward efficient mass production. It debuted at the 1924 National Motorcycle Show, where the newcomer made news with its £42 retail price, which substantially undercut every other 500cc machine then on sale in the UK.

Despite its bread-and-butter nature, the bike performed well on the road, as detailed by the Real Classics website in their retrospective on the Triumph flat-tanker, noting, "The Model P would pull a sidecar at 40mph in top gear all day, without making a racket or pausing for breath on most slopes. This stolid performance combined with the bargain-basement price to ensure the success of the P."

Suddenly faced with full order books, Triumph's Priory Street works hurriedly devised an ad hoc assembly line to handle the backlog – a significant development on the way to modern mass production. Model P production continued until decade's end, by which time it had spawned a number of derivatives, Models N, Q and QA.

This three-speed Model P is an older amateur restoration equipped with optional acetylene lighting. For the past eight years it has been unridden, on display at the Seaba Station Motorcycle Museum in Oklahoma, and will require the usual safety checks and recommissioning before use.