1951 Triumph 499cc Tiger T100
Registration no. EJT 863
Frame no. 4009NA
Engine no. T100 4009NA
The Tiger 100 sports version of Edward Turner’s trend-setting Speed Twin was launched in 1938, reappearing in 1946 with telescopic forks in place of the original girders, and separate dynamo and magneto instead of the pre-war version’s magdyno. Produced almost unchanged for the next three years, the Tiger gained Triumph’s distinctive headlamp nacelle in 1949 when the range was restyled. An alloy cylinder head and barrel were adopted for 1951, these and other engine improvements boosting power to 32bhp, while a swinging-arm frame and 8”-diameter front brake (first seen on the 650cc Tiger 110) were fitted from 1954 onwards. A splayed-port cylinder head with twin carburettors became available from the start of the 1957 model year, and this would represent the ultimate development of the Tiger 100, which in mid-1959 was replaced by the new, unitary construction Tiger 100A.
This sprung hub-equipped Tiger 100 was restored to a high standard immediately following its purchase by the vendor in 1996, its history being unknown prior to that date. Dry stored for the last five years and currently SORN’d, the machine is offered with old-style logbook and Swansea V5C document.
