Per a previous owner, “ This Thunderbird is believed to have been sold by the legendary Nicholson Brothers in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The odometer shows 8,583 miles, however true mileage is unknown. It was originally sold in Canada, and 1956 was the only year for this color. The frame, engine, and transmission numbers all match. The T-bird pushed out 34 horsepower to a four-speed transmission, and the bike weighed 397 pounds wet.
1950 triumph thunderbird 6t for sale movie#
The bike also gained further popularity as it was the featured vehicle in a Marlon Brando film, the Wild One – though Triumph’s American importers originally objected to its usage in a movie featuring “rowdy motorcycle gangs.” The Triumph Thunderbird 6T was created as the firm’s stab at the American market – they bored out their early 500cc parallel twin engine from the Speed Twin as American customers wanted more power. The bikes were then ridden back to Meriden. For its public launch, three production bikes were ridden from the Meriden plant to a circuit near Paris where they were then ridden over 500 miles at an average of 92 miles per hour. The Thunderbird name has shown up on 3 distinct models of the Triumph line since 1949 – this 6T model is from the original series. You can find this stellar 1952 Triumph 6T Thunderbird 650 example (VIN: 6T29348) for sale here on Craigslist in Carmel, California with a price of $23,000.Additional photos for this 1956 Triumph Thunderbird 6T are available here for your perusal. The price on this one is admittedly a bit steep, but a bike this old in this good of condition does command a substantial value.
Supposedly the Triumph factory was receiving more orders than it could produce when the 6T first came to American shores. Droves of young men came with paychecks and Triumph wanted a piece of all the money that was flying around in the States, so they had Edward Turner design a 40ci machine for the American market, giving way to the Thunderbird. It was a prosperous time in the US in the years immediately following WW2. The 6T sold really well in the US in the 1950’s, and that was very much by design. This was also the bike Marlon Brando famously road in ‘The Wild One”, albeit the dreamy and rebellious Johnny Strabler’s Thunderbird was a 1950, not ’52. That year also saw the 6T come in ‘Polychromatic Blue’ which is without a doubt the color this example is sporting. In 1952 the 6T got a new higher-performance SU carburetor that had been designed specifically for the Triumph Twin engine, an updated air-filter that was bigger, a standard 7″ Lucas headlight, and a new underslung pilot-light separate from the headlight. A NOS sprung hub spring-box was sourced for the rebuild and this example’s wheels were pieced together out of made in England rims, Buchanan stainless spokes, and wrapped in Avon tires. The fork tubes and seals were replaced and the original SU carb was refurbished. This Thunderbird example was reassembled using Black Diamond valves and guides, new pistons (.020 over items), bearings and bushings. The single passenger setup and its big painted metal front and rear fenders boast a fairly timeless look, as evidenced by the decades of choppers and bobbers that draw a lot of their visual DNA from motorcycles of the 1920’s-1950’s. The handlebars feed into the large painted headlight assembly that also serves as housing for the Thunderbird’s instrumentation. The classic design of the bike combined with its unique period-correct Roadark panniers with a shape that contours to the profile of the wheel, make this example a particularly cool looking post-war Triumph. The bike was literally pulled out of a barn before undergoing a ground-up disassembly and restoration using only NOS and original factory components. On top of being immaculate, this example has just a tad over 1000 miles on it, and the current seller is the second owner. Not only did this example take home an award from the Santa Barbara Concours d’Elegance and the Quail Motorcycle Gathering – where it won oldest bike on the ride – but it was also featured in the film ‘ Why We Ride‘. This is almost certainly one of the most pristine 1952 Triumph 6T Thunderbird 650 in existence.
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