Herbert Hopwood (1908 – 17 October 1996) was a British motorcycle designer. He was, at least, partly responsible for some of the most influential designs for the British motorcycle industry and worked for

Ariel Ariel may refer to: Film and television *Ariel Award, a Mexican Academy of Film award * ''Ariel'' (film), a 1988 Finnish film by Aki Kaurismäki * ''ARIEL Visual'' and ''ARIEL Deluxe'', 1989 and 1991 anime video series based on the novel series ...

Norton Norton may refer to: Places Norton, meaning 'north settlement' in Old English, is a common place name. Places named Norton include: Canada * Rural Municipality of Norton No. 69, Saskatchewan *Norton Parish, New Brunswick **Norton, New Brunswick, a ...

, BSA and

Triumph The Roman triumph (Latin triumphus) was a celebration for a victorious military commander in ancient Rome. For later imitations, in life or in art, see Trionfo. Numerous later uses of the term, up to the present, are derived directly or indirectl ...

Motorcycle design career

Hopwood left school at an early age to work for

under designer

Val Page Valentine Page (1891–1978)Jack Sangster John Young Sangster (29 May 1896 – 26 March 1977) was a British industrialist and philanthropist. He was an important figure in the British motorcycle industry, where he was involved with Ariel, BSA and Triumph. Early life Sangster was born ...

's purchase of

in 1936, Hopwood moved there under Edward Turner and assisted with the design of the

Triumph Speed Twin The Speed Twin 5T is a standard motorcycle that was made by Triumph at their Coventry, and later Meriden factories. Edward Turner, Triumph’s Chief Designer and Managing Director, launched the Triumph Speed Twin at the 1937 National Motorcyc ...

which influenced many motorcycles of the time and since. His success led to an offer from rival manufacturer

in April 1947, where he designed the 500cc

Norton Dominator The Dominator is a twin cylinder motorcycle developed by Norton to compete against the Triumph Speed Twin. The original Dominator was designed in 1947 and 1948 by Bert Hopwood, who had been on the Speed Twin design team at Triumph. Available f ...

engine. This came to a somewhat acrimonious end when the Technical Director, Joe Craig, refused to release the complete machine for production, despite Norton's financial situation. This was based on the allegation that the engine lacked power and the performance was below par as a result. It was subsequently produced with no alterations to the engine, after Hopwood had left the company. In May 1948 he joined BSA, which subsequently purchased Triumph in 1951. April 1955 found him at Norton once more, still with Gilbert Smith as MD, but now under the aegis of

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained throu ...

. When Gibert Smith retired in 1958, Hopwood and the financial director at Bracebridge Street, Alec Skinner, were allowed to get on with taking this part of AMC forward with much improved results. Together with

Doug Hele Douglas Lionel Hele (13 July 19193 November 2001) was a pioneering British motorcycle engineer with Triumph and other firms: BSA, Douglas and Norton. He was born in Birmingham in 1919 and died in Hagley, Worcestershire on 2 November 2001. C ...

, as Chief Engineer, good results were achieved. However this was to no avail, as the parent company was in a situation which absorbed all the modest profits made by Norton &

Francis-Barnett Francis & Barnett Limited was an English motorcycle manufacturer founded in 1919 by Gordon Inglesby Francis and Arthur Barnett and based in Lower Ford Street, Coventry, England. Early motor cycles were affectionately known as ' Franny B'. Motorcy ...

, the only profitable members of AMC. With the AMC implosion imminent, both Hopwood and Hele left for BSA-Triumph. Recruited by Edward Turner in May 1961, supposedly as his successor, Hopwood was installed as Triumph Director and General Manager. The

BSA Golden Flash The BSA Golden Flash, commonly referred to as the ''Gold Flash'', was a air-cooled parallel twin motorcycle designed by Bert Hopwood and produced by Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA) at Small Heath, Birmingham. The Golden Flash was the first m ...

and the

BSA Rocket 3/Triumph Trident The Triumph Trident and BSA Rocket 3 was a technically advanced, high-performance roadster (or standard) motorcycle made by Triumph Engineering and BSA (both companies part of the Birmingham Small Arms Company) from 1968 to 1975, and sold und ...

motorcycles were amongst the best known Hopwood designs.

Writing career

Hopwood wrote ''Whatever Happened to the British Motor Cycle Industry'' which was published in 1981 by Haynes. A significant work of 315 pages with hundreds of illustrations, it was intended to provide a definitive account of the demise of the British motorcycle industry but has been described by reviewers as an "autobiography of Bert Hopwood, who attempts to distance himself from the events leading up to the industry's demise."

References

External links

Comments from his book on the collapse of the British motorcycle industryDoug Hele on Bert HopwoodReference to the "late Bert Hopwood"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopwood, Bert 1908 births British automotive engineers British motorcycle pioneers British motorcycle designers 1996 deaths