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Motorcycle Investor mag

Buddy's new Daytona

A new series of triples carries on the legendary name

(Jan 11, 2024)

Triumph has relaunched its sporty Daytona nameplate, now attached to a 660 triple in full-power and learner-approved form.

The adoption of the Daytona name was inspired by the 1966 USA victory at the famous Florida circuit by Buddy Elmore (above and below), whose Triumph twin was cobbled together at the last moment and took him from an unpromising start in grid position 46 through to a stunning win in the 200 mile race.

It was a milestone for the British maker, giving it competition credibility in an American market that promised serious sales volume.

Gary Nixon backed that up with another first place in somewhat less fraught circumstances in 1967, with Buddy in second spot.

We can recommend this video from the Classic Motorcycle Channel, which walks through Buddy's extraordinary effort and a Daytona display run by the British Motor Museum.

Triumph adopted the Daytona name for a version of its Meriden-built Tiger 100, from 1966 though to 1970.

It re-emerged with the Hinckley factory in 1991, with the Daytona 750 triple, and was subsequently used on 900, 1000 and 1200 variants of the T300 series.

Since the mid-1990s, the name has been used on 600 and 650 fours, the T509 and 955 triples, plus a long-running series of 675 and 765 triples including the recent Moto2 derivative.

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Above you can see (left to right) a 2014 Daytona 675, a 1975 Trident T160, and 1994 Daytona Super III 900 – all of them running triple-cylinder powerplants as prime Triumph performance bikes for their era.

See our story on these bikes, here.