1973 Triumph X75 Hurricane

When it reached the market in 1973, the X75 Hurricane was by far the most radically styled motorcycle to have carried Triumph badges. It was the brainchild of young American designer Craig Vetter, who built the prototype in 1969.

The project was initiated by Don J Brown, BSA’s American sales chief. Believing that the odd styling of the 750cc three-cylinder Rocket 3 launched in 1968 impeded sales, Brown asked Vetter to create an alternative look. Key elements of the makeover are shapely moulded bodywork, an elegantly redesigned front end and the striking exhaust system. To make the Rocket 3 engine more imposing, the cylinder head has deeper finning.

Vetter’s prototype was shipped to BSA’s Birmingham factory and measured up for possible production. Returned to the US, it was featured on a magazine cover in September 1970, generating a flood of enquiries as to when it would be available.

BSA’s financial crisis delayed development, but in 1972 the company’s incoming US chief Felix Kalinsky asked for the Vetter triple to be given priority. As BSA production was being terminated, the machine was re-badged as a Triumph, named the Hurricane and assembled at Triumph’s Meriden plant.

Fewer than 1200 Hurricanes were produced for 1973, too late to cash in on the fervour generated three years earlier. But Vetter’s design proved hugely influential and even today the X75 has a strong cult following.

THIS MACHINE IS NOW A DUPLICATE OF ANOTHER IN THE MUSEUM, SO IS A RARE CHANCE TO PURCHASE A GENUINE NATIONAL MOTORCYCLE MUSEUM LONG TERM EXHIBIT.COMPLETE WITH SILVER MUSEUM PLAQUE.

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