Originally Posted by
juvela
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thanks so much
MauriceMoss for another outstanding detection!
was the Harry Hoban marque connected with/derived from Ernie Clements?
IIRC read somewhere that the Newtown operation closed in the mid-eighties after only being going for a relatively short period
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The only thing I've read online (so take with a grain of salt) is that after
Ernie Clements got the Welsh government to invest/build a factory in Newtown (there were apparently skilled workers there from an old Phillips factory), he ran it for only a few years before running into financial trouble by the early-mid 80s. He then got Barry Hoban to take over in the mid 80s, after which point they started producing pretty decent frames (like the two I mentioned above) and a very popular British Eagle badged 'Touristique'. There was also a Triathlon model that must have been relatively popular, as you can see those for sale on gumtree pretty regularly. By 1990 though, the business was sold to the Townsend group, who also bought up the Falcon, Claud Butler and Dawes labels.
Last edited by MauriceMoss; 02-22-23 at 04:41 PM.