Sunday, April 15, 2012

FOR SALE - Vintage Original 1950's 1956 - 1962 Pre-unit Triumph Motorcycle Engle Marlon Brando T-shirt




Up for sale is an original vintage 1950's Triumph Motorcycles t-shirt and from the looks of the swingarm frame with the strap badges the bike shown would date between 1954 - 1956 putting the t-shirt somewhere between 1954 up through possibly 1962 (last year of the pre-unit motor) and the bike looks very close to the one Marlon Brando rode in "The Wild One" with the exception that is is a swingarm frame. The shirt is all cotton, black with screened white print, cuffed sleeves similar to the short sleeve sweatshirts of the 50's. This shirt has seen some wear; overall the print is strong and black isn't that faded, but there are a good number of tiny pin holes throughout, a nickle sized hole on back near bottom and a larger hole, about 2" long, on the shoulder. 'De-jac' brand tag is frayed and has completely fallen off shirt and tag size is no longer readable.

I just found the following information about Engle Triumph which leads me to believe this t-shirt could be of 1956 vintage at the oldest:

"History of Engle Motors, Inc.

Founded in 1956 by Paul Engle as a BMW/Triumph dealer, Engles has been a dealer of many brands over the years, including Zundapp, Pirelli, Bultaco, Honda and Norton. But it has always been BMW and Triumph that pays the bills. "We'd sell new Triumph's in the spring and BMW's in the fall," say Norman who bought the dealership from Engle in 1966.

Norman Jones first met Paul Engle in 1958 when he moved from Tulsa and sold his old Harley and a Royal Enfield to buy a '55 T-bird. Back then, Norman was an aircraft mechanic for TWA who earned extra money by fixing bikes on the side. Engle heard about Norman's diagnostic skills and challenged him to repair a customer's T-bird with its ill conceived charging system. Norman re-wired it, giving the rider the ability to shut off various circuits to keep from overloading the system. Engle immediately hired the young man and the rest is, well, history. "

Measurements are as follows:

16.5'' across chest, shoulders are 14.5'' across, and length is 24''.

Please feel free to contact me at pureheavensmetal@yahoo.com if interested!

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