New Owners For Dresda Tritons

from Café Racer Magazine | Issue #86

Kick the Tires and Light the Fires

After building the most successful cafe racer shop in British history, Dave Degens has handed off the reigns of Dresda Tritons. We recently heard the news from Russell Vann and Guy Fithen, who have been working alongside Degens for years. Now in his mid-80s, Degens has retired to a family farm in Wales while the shop is now located in the village of Ashford, near Heathrow Airport. It was Degens who popularized the Triton special in the early 1960s, creating a template for the Norton/Triumph hybrids that changed motorcycling in England and beyond. After spending his late teens as a fast-riding Ton-Up Boy, he switched to racing where he won British titles and perfected the art of tuning classic British twins and singles. By 1965, his race-tuned specials were so popular that Degens operated a small assembly line, churning out several made-to-order Tritons per month from Dresda Autos in London. Two of his prestigious Barcelona 24 Hour Endurance Race in the mid-sixties and seventies.

We’ve visited Degens several times over the years and his fiery determination to be the world’s best specials builder never waned. Still roadracing into his 70s, the loveablebut-gruff engineer’s work will continue as the new owners will be offering sales of the extensive Dresda parts line, service and complete Triton builds going forward, said Vann, who has served as Degen’s chief welder and mechanic in recent years.

Most special of all, several of Degens’ racing motorcycles will be on offer at the Spring ham’s come April 22-23 in England. Among the historic treasures being offered is the blue and silver 1965 Barcelona race winner, an original, 1965 Paul Dunstall-equipped Norton Domicacer 500 and a rare 810cc Dresda Honda CB750 racer, complete with bold 1970s paint on the full fairings and a re-worked featherbed replica chassis. Estimates for the bikes are not outrageous at $9,000 to $30,000, which is quite reasonable for some of cafe racing’s most treasured machines. CR