The team at the Leicestershire Triumph factory was called in to help try and recreate the famous motorbike jump from The Great Escape.
Mechanic-turned-racer-turned-TV presenter Guy Martin approached the engineers at the Hinckley factory to adapt one of their Scrambler models to make it light enough and tough enough for the dramatic stunt.
In the original 1963 film Steve McQueen tries to outrun a chasing pack of Germans by jumping over two border fences into neutral Switzerland – only to end up tangled in a mess of barbed wire.
Photos of the actor astride a Triumph bike – built at the long-demolished Meriden factory in the West Midlands – are now part of movie history, gracing publicity material for the film to this day.
While the 1962 TR6 Trophy that was used all those years ago has been lovingly restored and now has pride of place in the visitor centre at the current Leicestershire Triumph plant.
Steve McQueen refused to ride a German BMW, by the way, because he loved the British bikes so much, with the original now valued at £1.5 million, and “runs a treat”, according to Guy.
He travelled over to Southern Germany to recreate the jump for Guy Martin’s Great Escape, which is on Channel 4 at 9pm this Sunday night.
To prepare, he brought in a professional stuntman, a historian to find out about the real great escape, and even a professor of physics to look at the science behind getting a big bike off the ground.
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He also called on Stuart Wood, one of Triumph’s top engineers, to help get adapt one of their Scrambler 1200 XE bikes.
Guy said: “The eventual goal of all of this is for me to jump both of the fences in one go, and do it in exactly the same field that they did the film in 57 years ago.”
The original jump – which was done by American stuntman Bud Ekins – was added to the original Great Escape script to keep bike obsessed McQueen happy. The actor even doubled us a German rider in the movie so that he could get on two wheels.
The Triumph that Guy used had its suspension upgraded by his stunt co-ordinator Andy Godbold. Stuart Wood, meanwhile, worked on the forks, changed the springs to make the landing a bit softer, and took some of the weight off – including a phone charger – over at the Hinckley factory.
A new paint job was added, knobbly tyres bolted on for grip and a lighter exhaust, along with a bit of hand-painted gold pinstriping on the tank.
Triumph builds around 65,000 bikes a year, making it the biggest British motorcycle manufacturer and has more than 700 dealers across the world.
To find out how Guy does, you will have to watch the show on Sunday.
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But, before the jump, and after six months of training and planning, Guy told the cameras: “I’ve got a plan – s**t or bust, let’s just go for it.
“You can sit and dither, but the worst that could happen is that I’m going to crash on a bit of wet grass.
“I’m not good at much, but I can crash. And if I crash through the fence, at least I’m getting into Switzerland.”