The Thruxton Bonneville was developed for homologation purposes and it was entered into British endurance races by local agents.

In 2004, the reborn Triumph Motorcycles factory at Hinckley adopted the Thruxton name for the Thruxton 900, an air-cooled 360° twin derived from the company's Bonneville, with hallmark café racer modifications, including rearset footrests, small flyscreen, analogue instruments, reverse-cone exhaust silencers, and seat cowl.

[3] Both 1200 Thruxtons have traction control, ABS, and ride by wire throttles featuring three modes, sport, road, and rain.

By contrast, when the Hinckley factory started to design new parallel twins, it was deemed vital to make the new bikes adopt similar "retro" styling to their Meriden predecessors.

Triumph's desire for "retro authenticity" prescribed a tubular cradle frame, a decision which caused the bikes to be heavier than they otherwise might have been.