(first posted 6/12/2012) Many of you are going to read “Triumph Herald” and instantly have a visceral impulse to reach for your touchpad/touchscreen/touchsomethingoranother and move on to a post about a car a bit more comfortable and familiar. A Pontiac Tempest, perhaps, or maybe even a GTO? Something you can actually relate to, not an obscure footnote of British automotive history. So I’m setting myself the task to make the Herald more…accessible to you. What could it be? Thinking hard….
(three hours and some glasses of Pinot Noir later):
Aha! I’ve just come up with a highly fascinating and compelling correlation between the Triumph Herald and the Pontiac Tempest that will leave you positively breathless; let’s take it further; even with the GTO! And no, this isn’t one of my flights of fiction, although I suspect strongly that I’m the first to come up with it. We’re making history here; or re-writing it, anyway. Let’s see…where to start…it is a bit tenuous…but here goes…
In the mid-fifties, most small British cars were odd little affairs; shrunken-head versions of slightly-less odd slightly-bigger cars. Like this Austin A30, which might be the most “cartoonish” car ever.
Standard-Triumph’s own Eight, the predecessor to the Herald, suffers from the same syndrome. It certainly looks like it should have earned a role in “Cars”. The eight pence that Austin spent on the A40’s stamped grille was deemed too dear for the poor Eight.
The Morris Minor was a decidedly better design, but then it was fathered brilliantly by Alec Issigonis. But all of them were highly conventional: front engine, rear wheel drive, and more leaf springs and solid axles than a Conestoga wagon train. The birthplace of capitalism was constrained in that commodity in the lean post war years, and its automobiles mostly showed that.
But a new decade was dawning, and the bigger British auto firms felt the need to show the world that they weren’t actually turning into living fossils, despite the seeming enduring success of quite a few of that genre. So the new decade would be ushered in by radical new thinking, beyond lever-action shocks and cart axles. The result was a generation of new small cars, especially at BMC, which embarked on a complete transformation to highly-modern fwd cars, starting with the 1959 Mini.
One (me) might well consider this period in the UK as somewhat analogous to the 1960-1961 compact revolution by the Big Three in the US. And it wouldn’t be such a stretch to see the bold Mini comparable to the equally-bold Corvair, despite their vast differences.
Ford UK already had the conventional and relatively less-cartoonish Anglia, and held back to see how the Mini would make out.
After taking one apart, costing it out, and deciding there was no profit in that, they stuck to the tried and true conventional formula for their new 1963 Cortina. A British Falcon, if ever there was one.
GM took exactly the same approach with their 1963 Vauxhall Viva; a Chevy II indeed. Or 1.5 of them.
I was going to compare the rugged Hillman Minx to the Valiant, then realized that Raymond Loewy designed it, recycling all the brilliant ideas that went into that dud of a 1953 Studebaker sedan. So let’s call it the Lark stand-in. I guess the Brits didn’t really have a Valiant. Their loss.
And Hillman’s charming rear-engine Imp didn’t appear until 1963, so we won’t call it the Brit Corvair, although it sure borrowed its styling.
Standard-Triumph was in a very bad way financially about the time it developed the Herald, and its body builder, Fisher & Ludlow, had moved into the BMC camp. Given those very real limitations, the Herald was a mixture of old and new indeed. More old than new, actually, but with some clever aspects. And some questionable ones.
The homely Eight/Ten had been a unibody construction, by Fisher & Ludlow. Now triumph had little choice but to use a frame, which did make it easy to also use the whole chassis (with some easy modification) under the Spitfire sports car.
Having accepted that home-brew styling was not a British quality to admire at the time (excepting Jaguar), and lacking the automotive equivalent of Saville Row, the fashionable thing to do was to hire an Italian designer. Pininfarina had become the in-house tailor for BMC, so Triumph went with Giovanno Michelotti. The result makes it clear why Pininfarina was top dog then. Like most things Michelotti, it’s certainly distinctive, and has some almost-elegant angles. And the Herald saloon’s visibility may never be bettered.
Thanks to the frame and the necessity of using small pressings, the Herald’s external body plays a very limited structural role. There was a benefit to that, since variants were easily created, in an almost Lego-like way. Many parts just bolted to the inner structure. But the Herald’s rather unusual construction turned out to be labor-intensive, and made the car essentially unprofitable.
And here’s the real benefit to that frame and unstressed body parts: the tilt up bonnet: a feature that brings tears (of joy) to mechanics. And the central attraction is the Herald’s 1147 cc engine. It was an enlarged version of the 803 cc engine first developed for the Eight in 1953, and would eventually grow to 1500 cc in the seventies. A very versatile engine indeed. This 1962 was rated at 39 hp; a sportier 12/50 model that arrived in 1963 sported 51 hp, thanks to the Spitfire.
Ok already; so where does the Tempest fit in with all of this? Swing axle rear suspensions; that’s how. Triumph and Pontiac both decided that the modern compact of the new decade needed independent rear suspension. But using a 1930s design may not have been the best idea. Actually, in the case of the Herald, it was the worst thing about it. It was a crude affair, with a transverse leaf spring strapped across the top of the differential, and initial positive camber. And led to the common refrain: “Hark The Herald Axle Swings”
The Tempest (CC here) wasn’t quite as unruly, but could bite too if provoked in the wrong way. John DeLorean and Triumph were both in pursuit of a noble goal with limited resources, and BMW (and others) proved that to be a futile undertaking. By 1964, The Tempest was back to a live rear axle, and Triumph eventually revamped their swing axles (on the later Spitfires), to give them gobs of negative camber. Better, but still not right.
Otherwise, this was a rather decent little car for the times. Nothing brilliant, except perhaps its amazing 25 foot turning circle. Take that, Mini!
Let’s take a look at our featured CC, which has finally escaped its digital prison after three years. I saw this on Hwy 99, heading out of Eugene, and gave pursuit. Hark, a Herald! Hadn’t seen one in ages, although they were common enough in the early sixties, especially in Iowa City. But they were pretty much all saloons.
This cute-as-a-button convertible is still in the hands of its first owners, who, if I remember correctly, picked it up new in England and brought it home, where it’s become a beloved member of the household.
Also a pampered member. I’m not sure how much of it has been redone over the decades, but the dash has received some nice wood planking, better than the original laminate. The Herald was praised for its very light steering, along with that tight turning circle. Makes for a fine city car.
The upholstery has obviously been redone too, and I can’t say whether the original was white. I’m a bit doubtful of that, but its possible. I know this shot is three years old, because our local newspaper isn’t as wide as that anymore, nor as thick.
This 1200 has a single Solex carb, but there were versions with twin side-drafts too, borrowed from the Spitfire.
Ok, so we’ve made the connection with the Tempest; how about the GTO? It was called the Vitesse, and obviously had a face meant to convey a bit more gravitas than the Herald. And like the Tempest got a bigger engine to turn it into a GTO, so did the Herald. But not just a bigger bore, but two more cylinders.
Except for those two grafted on cylinders, the Vitesse engine was essentially identical to the Herald engine, and one can find a “seam” on the block between the third and fourth cylinders. The result was one of the smallest production sixes ever: 1596 cc. It generated 70 hp, with twin Solex carbs. In 1966, it was enlarged to two liters, and now made 95 hp and scooted the Vitesse 2-Litre from 0-60 in eleven seconds. Not bad, for 1966. Outside, the US, that is. The Mustang made the Vitesse a very hard sell in the US. The six was eventually enlarged to 2.5 liters, as used in the TR-6. Quite a bit of growth, from the Eight’s humble 803 cc four.
The Vitesse came in saloon or convertible body styles, and has an enthusiastic following. How’s this for a paint job?
No one will accuse Vitesse advertising to be copying the GTO’s. But then the Vitesse came out in 1962, when the words GTO still meant a Ferrari.
So have I convinced you sufficiently? If not, at least you’re still here.
Not bad Paul I guess these are quite rare in the US but plenty survive in NZ most have had the roof unbolted and turned into ragtops. I owned a 61 1200 sedan at school and years later swapped a boat for a 64 coupe with twin carbs headers and wide wheels. The Standard 8 begat the 10 with opening boot lid chrome grille and other luxury features thats what donated the motor for the Herald The 6 cylinder engine was from the Standard Vanguard shrunk down to 1600cc for the early Vitesse then reenlarged to 2L for the 2000 GT6 Vitesse and a 6 cylinder will go into a Herald easy the Stanpart bin is a very interesting place if you can understand the range of cars everything fits. By the way notice the MK1 Cortina in the background of the Anglia shot pretty rare pairing in the US
That shot of the Anglia with the Cortina in the background is by Laurence Jones. I rather suspect they’re both owned by the same person. Otherwise, the odds of that would be astronomical. I haven’t seen either of those outside of the Bay Area.
I commented on the Cohort as to why Lawrence didnt shoot both. Those cars were very common here once but are now rare sightings
I read “Triumph Herald” and instantly had a visceral impulse to reach for my mouse and open the article about it – being a car that is a comfortable and familiar in NZ! In fact, other than the Tempest, every car pictured above is familiar to we Antipodeans. I like the bigger Triumph sedans, but the Herald’s not really one of my favs. The styling seems a bit naff, and the rear camber is just odd – love that photo of the 3-wheeling Herald, proves my point! I believe they’re pretty fatal in rollovers too – there’s no strength in the pillars or roof. Mind you, James May’s Herald-yacht was a very funny part of Top Gear UK.
Great write-up Paul, loved the Uk-USA car connections!
Yup, I would have thought the Herald isn’t obscure just because of the Top Gear connection.
I see these for sale occasionally in Canada, since we have more brit cars from the mother country, but can’t imagine why anyone would want one when Spitfires are practically a dime a dozen.
Other than to make a sailboat of course…
One would want them BECAUSE Spitfires are a dime a dozen.
A few shots from period street racing shows Heralds sideways wheels cocked inelegantly but leading Minis, my coupe had a leaf ot two removed or something else done to give it positive camber it was harder to provoke a lose on corners
Heralds did have one significant first though they were the first British car with greaseless front suspension it was all nylon bushed so when you service invoice said grease and oil change you knew you are being ripped off.
how dare you our wonderfull saloons were not shrunken headed,lol,lol,lol have a look at the fairthorp atom …a fine motor car,lol
Standard-Triumph’s Harry Webster later denied that the purchase of Ludlow & Fisher had anything to do with the decision to make the Herald body on frame. He said the major consideration was that they wanted to build up their business in overseas markets where they would need to be locally assembled from CKD kits, which (at that point, at least) made unitized construction problematic.
Webster said Standard-Triumph planned to do the Herald (codenamed Zobo) in-house, although no one was terribly happy with what their stylists came up with. He’d heard of Michelotti through a mutual friend, who said he was really, improbably fast. Webster didn’t believe it until he went to see Michelotti in Turin and watched him design the car in a few hours — in fact, by the time Webster was heading back to England the next day, Michelotti had already done scale drawings! Pretty amazing, even then.
I think Harry Webster was being economical with the truth regarding the construction. They had to make a virtue out of necessity.
Yes Harry Webster is full of it the colonies had been assembling unitized cars since the Vauxhall 10 of 1939 and all the other unitary cars from the UK by 59 when the Herald debuted BOF was considered very old fashioned.
Nonetheless, that’s what he maintained, and it bore mentioning.
Like Bryce I had a ’61 1200 sedan ( early Heralds were 948cc) and over a period of time I gave it the works. First 4.1/2 and later 5.1/2 inch rims ( low profile tyres were available by the late 60s ) , special re-cambered rear spring, disc brakes from a Vitesse, roof with fitted sunroof from a Herald 12/50, and a Mk 2 Spitfire engine. It was possible to convert the rear suspension to virtual double wishbone layout, same as the Mk2 Vitesse, but by the time this was available my heart had been stolen by a Jaguar. I think Herald front suspension parts were widely used by low volume sports and racing cars of the time, since few cheap cars had rack+pinion steering and double wishbone front suspension with telescopic dampers.
The Herald was very advanced for not having lots iof grease nipples neading attention every 1000 miles. Only the drive shaft joints needed greasing, and the front suspenion lower joints needed gear oil from a grease gun.
I was going to mention that, a lot of single seater race cars used part or all of Herald front suspension
I had never seen one of these until I saw James May turn one into a sailboat on Top Gear. That was too bad, because it seemed like too nice of a car to be plopped into the water.
The styling is very interesting. Not beautiful, but interesting. I guess interesting is better than dull.
What I find interesting about British cars of this period in the USA is this: For quite awhile, Triumph was practically a household word. But only because of the TR series, and later the Spitfire. It is interesting to me that as popular as the sports cars were, the similar but more utilitarian versions never got any traction here at all. I suppose that sports car drivers were willing to put up with a bit of personality in their cars, while drivers of small sedans were not. So, the British sold us fun but troublesome sports cars and the Germans sold us dull but reliable economy cars.
And Paul, your great analysis starts with a tempest and results in triumph. It heralds a new standard in automotive journalism.
Part of the reason that British sedans (other than Jaguar, of course) never took off in the US is that they didn’t have the performance. Take a British almost-anything out on, say, the Pennsylvania Turnpike and run it for 4-8 hours at the speed limit. Then do it repeatedly. Then see if your car lasts a year.
In all fairness to the British, the French and Italian small sedans weren’t any better. European sedans were built around the concepts that speed limits were something like 50mph, and normal travel distances wouldn’t have taken you out of the border of Massachusetts. In fact, only the Volkswagen Beetle could do a multi-state turnpike drive and not be fazed by the experience – which has a lot to do with why it was the only real success in American back then.
Things were getting better as the 50’s closed (the British discovering motorways didn’t hurt), but even thru the mid-60’s if you wanted high speed, long distance travel with a British nameplate, it had either better be limited to two wheels (and you’d do a lot of rebuilding due to vibrations), or it had to be expensive (aka Rover, Jaguar, etc.).
Sports cars were a whole different matter – they were made for (relatively) high speed performance, and usually weren’t driven long distances. Which is why they survived in America.
“In fact, only the Volkswagen Beetle could do a multi-state turnpike drive and not be fazed by the experience – which has a lot to do with why it was the only real success in America back then.”
Wir fahren, fahren, farhen . . . . I had that record back in ’75!
Yes, in Towson it was “British Motors” (or something like that) and an ever-changing palette of cars and brands. Fun place to hang out though, although the mechanics weren’t very friendly 🙁 Wonder why?
In San Francisco, it was “British Motor Cars Dist. Ltd.” on Van Ness Avenue and in San Rafael, we had E.F. Sweeney Motors (eventually Annex Motors MG/Jaguar/Triumph). I do remember seeing some Heralds in my youth – a 50/50 mix of 2 door sedans and ragtops.
Don’t think as a kid I ever SAW a British Motors Distributor, Ltd. or Sweeney/Annex Motors British car mechanic. Probably too busy in the shop or assisting the tow truck drivers (plural) bringing in the many cars into the shop . . . . . Peeked in the Sweeney garage as a kid . . . saw many a car “bonnet up’ . . . . quite a few sans engines . . . . quite a few parked in back of the shop with tags hanging on their rear view mirrors two/three deep. . . . . should’ve told me something way back then in my childhood.
Quite right about long distance travel. However, I drove a ’61 Morris Minor from New York to Oregon in the late sixties. I burned a valve in W. Virginia. But, with just three active cylinders it made it the rest of the way.
I rented a Herald convertible in Malta once for a week’s stay there. I rather enjoyed driving it. Of course when the entire nation is only 17 miles end to end, you can’t go very fast or very far.
“I had never seen one of these until I saw James May turn one into a sailboat on Top Gear.”
It’s funny, I caught the tail end of that episode recently, and was wondering what kind of car James had. I thought they were referring to it as a Herald, and made a mental note to look it up, but hadn’t got around to doing so. Now Paul has done most of the work for me…
I was not familiar with these, either, and have no specific memory of ever having heard the phrase “Triumph Herald” before. Probably a combination of 1) these cars not having sold as well in the U.S. to begin with as Triumph’s sportier models, 2) most non-VW European small cars from the late ’50s/early ’60s import boom being long gone from this part of the country by the time I was old enough to pay attention to cars (I was born in 1970 and grew up in Massachusetts), and 3) if I ever did encounter one, just saying “Oh, it’s a Triumph” (or “Oh, it’s some old British import”) without really understanding exactly what it was.
Wikipedia indicates that these were built from 1959 to 1971, although I’m not sure if they were sold in the U.S. during that entire period. There was apparently even a “van” version — which looks like something along the lines of what Americans would call a sedan delivery — for a couple of years in the ’60s.
Woof. That 1963 Vauxhall Viva looks like a Soviet defector, and not the good kind. It hurts my eyes.
West German actually it began like as a Opel Kadette
It didn’t…. The Kadett and Viva were separate designs from Germany and England. No parts shared, just a bit of GM family resemblance.
British and German GM design didn’t converge until the Vauxhall Chevette / Kadett C of the late 1970s.
There was a lot of design commonality between the first Kadett and Viva under the skin, see here:
http://vauxpedianet.uk2sitebuilder.com/vauxhall-ha—viva
The second HB Viva looked so very different because it shared very little with its predecessor; it was almost like starting afresh.
I wonder if the Triumph would have done better with a V6? Perhaps Americans could have more easily wrapped the heads around that.
Doubtful. By the early 60’s, British cars already meant sports cars and Jaguar. Plus the British dealer network was never terribly strong – or motivated. When you’re selling sports cars easily (because your only competition is the Corvette), why would you want to put major effort into selling sedans that would have to go up against the big three, for starters?
Johnstown, back then, had a British dealer (mainly Austin and Triumph), they survived the 70’s BL crash by taking on Subaru when nobody took them seriously. Note: Not a Triumph or Austin dealership, a British dealership. You never knew what makes would appear on the showroom floor (Jaguar’s were way too expensive for Johnstown). You could be fairly certain, however, that what was on the showroom floor had two seats and a cloth top.
V6s were almost unheard of then in the US, or anywhere, back then. The 90 degree Buick V6 was the first ever, but was uneven-fire then, and a rough-running thing, created by lopping off two cylinders from the V8. There was no love for it, and it gave V6s a bad name. Buick ditched it after a few years.
It was the era of the inline six, the communality with the fours made them much cheaper than a proper 60 degree V6, something that was very exotic back then. Plus, they ran so smoothly and sweetly. Hence the Vitesse.
But the I6 issue is how much room is required under the hood. If you can fit an I6 you should be able to fit a narrow angle V12 😛
When Ford UK were using a V6 in their big cars, the engine bay was long enough for a straight 8. They used a V6 for cheapness ( they had to make a V4 for the Transit) so they put the spare tyre in front of the motor to fill up the space.
Ford Essex 2.5L V6 appeared in Zephyrs in 66 but it was a reliability nightmare and did V6s not favours, the 3L appeared at the same time in the Zodiac and Capri it was better but not popular. There was a minor industry in NZ retro fitting V8 engines into MK4 Z cars the stock gearbox and diff could cope with up to a 350 SBC or 351 Ford ok.
I don’t remember off hand when the Cologne V6 first appeared, but I think it was about the same time. It was based on the V4, which debuted around 1962 with the FWD Taunus, although I don’t think the six-cylinder showed up until a few years later.
Yes, the Ford V6 was really the first successful mass-produced 60 degree V6, and did much to popularize that configuration. I should have mentioned that in my earlier comment.
That same V-4 almost appeared in the U.S. as the Ford Cardinal which almost made it to market but was killed by committee (Lee Iacocca) at the end of 1962 . . . . running prototypes and some pilot cars were made; that car became the ’63 Taunus in Germany.
Around the time the Herald was launched, BMC did give serious consideration to offering its own narrow-angle V4, which, had it materialized, would probably eventually have had a V6 spinoff. I think it would have been very Lancia-like.
The smoothness of the inline six configuration was compelling, though, in particular because the tendency in those days (particularly in the U.S.) was to take advantage of that smoothness by making the average six a real lugger. By modern standards the specific outputs are awful, but that wasn’t the point — it wasn’t uncommon for American sixes to have their torque peak well below 2,000 rpm.
@ it wasn’t uncommon for American sixes to have their torque peak well below 2,000 rpm.
And I, for one, miss them. 🙁
Having owned one from each of the big three as well as AMC I too miss them.
I’m pretty sure the GMC V6 beat the Buick V6 to market – the 305ci GMC V6 came out in 1960 – but it was a truck engine, albeit one used in regular half-tons.
This was back when GMC trucks and Chevy trucks were different under the skin. GMC had a whole engine family based on that V6, all the way up to a V12 built from two V6s.
http://www.6066gmcguy.org/
Beat me to it.
The GMC light-truck V6 was a 60-degree unit, too. Odd that none of the car divisions thought to borrow the principle or blueprint; especially since for its market, the Jimmy vee was a success – long-lived and powerful.
Not to pick nits, but I thought the Lancia V6 was the first. Wikipedia says 1950. Definitely exotic, so still making your point.
Jeez, as a child I rode in most of the cars mentioned. This article brings it all back – crushed in back seat, damp and itchy wool clothes, that particular British car smell, drizzling rain outside. Good times 🙂
Every time I’m in a conversation and the Triumph Herald comes up I have an annoying habit of reciting the old (R&T sourced?) quip, and no exception here!
“Hark the Herald axle swing”
Thanks for this article,
alistair
Ouch! Google says the full verse is “Hark! The Herald axles swing, corners are a scary thing.” Ha!
British car humour is a whole genre into itself. Why do the British drink warm beer?
“It may be rubbish, but by God it’s British rubbish”
alistair
Why do the British drink warm beer? Lucas refrigerators.
http://www.mez.co.uk/lucas.html
How can those finely crafted British components be falling off when the car is standing still (because it’s not running!)?
R.U.S.T.
Back in the day of the Model T one of the jokes was that Ford was going to supply squirrels to owners to retrieve all the loose nuts and bolts that rattled off the car going down the road.
Because it’s good beer so it doesn’t need to be chilled to disguise the taste.
:o)
People who drink lager in Britain do drink it as cold as Americans or Germans do, but to do that to real ale would be terrible!
Scary? Damn right they are I tried driving mine fast thru corners, its not a lot of fun once the outer wheel tucks under, the second Herald I had a coupe had the wheels cambered out and was a bit more predictable but still very VW Beetle like if you went too fast and while Beetles cope with rollovers quite well Heralds have weak looking roof pillars and Ive seen a couple of flat ones in wrecking yards so yeah I took it fairly easy and survived.
“Hark the Herald axle swing”
Damn; I kept hearing variations on “hark…” in my head, but it never quite gelled all the way. That’s what was trying to come out.
Triumph had, to my eyes, much better styling than either Ford or Vauxhall. That Viva was ugly when I was a kid, and still is. Triumph also got the wheel size and position right.
alistair
could the Rootes Arrow be the Brit equivalent of the Valiant you mused upon in article Paul?
Definitely yes; just a bit later time frame.
The Minx being compared to a Studebaker is very apt Paul Rootes kept that bodyshell in production from 56 to 66 when the arrow range came out all they did was up the power and restyle the rear 1/4 panels and rear window. The arrow lasted into the new century in Iran albeit with Peugeot engines as the Peykan. Rugged bloody oath they are.
These cars have always perplexed me, having had to work on a few. First of all, they are the mothers of all rust buckets, even on Vancouver Island. Getting any nut or bolt off of a Truimph was always an exercise in patience, time and penetrating oil. Even finding a tech who had the tools to work on them was a real challenge.
The cars were in fact quite simple but getting things like tail lights to work was always incredibly complex.
Cars like the 240Z and later, the RX-7 were nails in the coffin of Triumph. At last you could get a sporty little ride that didn’t stop running every couple of days.
On a completely different topic, the Scion/Subaru sports car is quite a buy for the money.
Thanks to me old Cockney mum, who took me on several trips to Old Blighty as a child, I have experienced several of these cars, though only from the passenger seat. I have driven on “the wrong side of the road” (it’s really not that bad, and roundabouts are way preferable to traffic lights), but not in any of these.
My sailor uncle in Portsmouth had a Hillman Minx much like the one pictured. Like my uncle, it was grey and fairly dull but (at least when I was there) never broke down.
Another uncle in St. Ives had a pale green Ford Anglia (St. Ives is in the part of England called East Anglia, which might have influenced his purchase), with the reverse-angle roofline that seems to promise (but does not deliver) a slide-down “breezeway” rear window of an early-60s Mercury. A few years later that same uncle traded up (down?) to an orange Mini, which was probably my favorite of all my Brit rellies’ motors, thanks to its go-kart cornering and the feeling that you were going really fast even when you weren’t.
And then there’s the Ford Cortina, which was throughout the ’70s the UK’s best-selling car. Even on this side of the pond, one of my seventh-grade buddies’ mother drove an early one in white, with the circular taillights that were upside-down M-B logos. Why not waste two minutes of your precious time hearing first-wave British punk rocker Tom Robinson tell you how superior he feels to testosterone-fueled young males driving their souped-up Cortinas with their “racing trim”, in 1978’s “Grey Cortina”?
(British punks hated cars in general, and performance cars in particular; see also The Buzzcocks’ “I Hate Fast Cars.”)
As for the CC du jour, I have vague memories from early childhood of a Triumph Herald convertible that was frequently parked two doors down from where I grew up, owned by a wealthy young man with a double-barreled British surname, who courted and then married our Latvian immigrant neighbors’ beautiful blond daughter. Mechanics may not like tilt-up bonnets, but I sure do. Back when I owned my 240Z, I remember being tempted by an aftermarket fiberglass kit that could do this to the entire front end of your Z-car, just like an E-Type. I suppose the tilt-bonnet conversion was the “Lambo scissor doors” of its time.
And the “shrunken-head” Austin A30, I don’t remember ever being in one — except perhaps in a chop-top version, probably in pink or turquoise, on a kiddie-car ride at some amusement park.
Driving on the “wrong side of the road” is actually quite easy. Especially if you’re using a motorcycle.
Crossing the street, however, is a whole ‘nother matter. Your American/European habits to look left at oncoming traffic can get you killed. I’m only here because of one very sharp local in London during the winter of ’94/95. I came within inches of being splattered by a double decker bus because I was looking the wrong way as I stepped off the curb.
I almost met my fate in Brighton in 1999 . . . but it would’ve been a BMW 5 series that almost sent me to the promised land because I looked “left” first before crossing the street . . . .
Absolutely right.. I’m British and have never had a problem driving on the left in mainland Europe, but have had several near-events as a pedestrian there.
I think it’s because the road-crossing instincts are drummed in from such a young age, it’s as natural as blinking or breathing to look in the direction of the traffic you grew up with as you step off the kerb (or indeed curb).
I still remember the little traffic ditty they taught us in first grade.
I remember seeing one or two of those minuscule Austin A-30’s – imagine, a car that size being a four-door sedan! But I honestly don’t ever remember seeing a Triumph Herald.
Here’s a website I ran across when I sold a license plate to its owner – he’s a Triumph fan to say the least. Where else could you see a purple Triumph sedan that may be the only one in the United States and that is named after magnesium ore?
http://www.triumphcars.com/
http://www.triumphcars.com/current/va8498dla/dolomite.htm
Of course there was a Herald ute. Factory or DIY? Is that a Kiwi plate?
Yeah thats a kiwi plate nice conversion too there is one roaming here a later 1360 model in white Most likely a wagon in a previous life
Cool!
One reason the Austin A30 and Triumph Eight look so funny to us Yanks is how narrow they are. The A30 was only 55 inches wide, while the VW beetle was 61 in. I like to think there was a good reason for this: many British streets are narrow. Even the mighty Rolls Royce had its limits, and went to a unit body in 1965 to get more interior space from its limited size.
Another island nation with narrow streets that drives on the left is Japan. In the 1930s Nissan built Austin Sevens under license (after just copying them), and again in the fifties they built Austin A40s and A50s.
Good point, but I think it might have looked even odder if it had been wider.
On the other hand . . . . Canadian Pontiacs from ’59 through ’64 have the wide track body, but the narrow (Chevy “X” frame chassis) that make them look like a EEE width heavy foot on a small roller skate.
They were built wider in A70 guise exactly the same styling but bigger all over and 2.2L engines.
The “teapot” part is apt, whether you know it or not. Early examples of the Herald had a handle on the bonnet- much like the handle on a screen door. Those examples are known as “Teacup Heralds”, because of the handle.
Note: Wheel Covers (Knave Plates) are directional – the louvres on them are to help cool the drum brakes. Not remembering if they’re stamped “LH/RH” or “NS/OS”.
Paul, surely you’ve already done a CC on the Bond ( Herald in drag ) Equipe or am I dreaming ? There should be a link.
When I find one…
paul or somebody should do a piece on the bond eqipe and bond cars in general ie the fantastic..BOND BUG..
In the meantime, Wikipedia has a nice article.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bond_Equipe
I know a corgi is a British toy car, but the name fits for all of these little buggies. They’re small but seem to take themselves quite seriously.
I note there aren’t any pics of a Niedermeyer-size human in any of the old ads.
They’re only small when viewed from over there… They were normal sized here.
:o)
Imagine how big a ’60s American car looked to people who grew up in ’60s Britain.
By the mid 1970s in San Rafael, E. F. Sweeney British Cars, Ltd. sold out to the Annex Motors Company (originally the San Rafael dealer for Datsun and Volvo). Same Francisco Blvd. showroom near the old Dominic’s restaurant; and by then, it was mostly Jaguars (my first view of a 1975 Jag XJ-6 hardtop coupe was stunning), Triumphs (Spitfires, TR-6’s then TR-7’s), MGB’s and Midgetts and the ill-fated Triumph Stags and Austin Marinas.
In high school, my best friend had a white Herald convertible. We went every where in that car. Always with the top down, summer or winter. Of course, winter on the gulf coast is not too cold. I have many fond memories of that car. Being seventeen, we both were semi insane and lived life to the max. Over the next few years, British cars were my weakness. The first car I bought with my money was a Mini, an Austin 850, $50.00 as is with a bad oil pump. A few dollars and some skinned knuckles later, I was the proud driver of a Mini. Of the other British cars you show, I also owned a Morris Minor, a Ford Anglia and a Ford Cortina GT, although the Cortina was the second generation version. In those days I had no money but a lot of drive. Buying and selling British cars was not a way to make money, but a way to have interesting cars. I This was the era of SCRAM. The Sports Car Rally Association of Mobile, a wonderful group of car nuts. I have included a photo of a Fiat 600 that has a VW 1200 engine swapped in. This was quite fast on the go kart track we used for events. Forgive the house, I was young and cared about nothing but cars. Ain’t youth great.
“Hark the Hearld Axle Swing”. I heard it.. o yes. Picture no rain for days then it did.. oily road … sharp right hand bend. Rear wheels tuck and Hearld went into the weeds then into a ditch high enough to hide the car from the road. Yes .. the whole thing happened in slow motion and B& W!. Winding down the passenger side window and starting to climb out I hear a voice ” Are you alright man?”. An american airforce man had stopped his Corddoba and rushed over. “F—K man I thought you were dead” he cried looking at the wreck. He took me home, to order a tow truck to left the car from the ditch rather than drag it out on line to save further damage. Should not have bothered the impact had pushed the hood up in line with the top of the windshield. The frame was about 1 1/2 foot shorter. Sold the car to a local trader. The rear body sold to Sweden to convfert a sedan into a soft top. Wonder if the rear of my old 13/60 is still around?.
I write to thank whoever posted pictures of the Standard 8, Hillman Minx and the Triumph Herald ( called Standard Herald in India).
Brought back wonderful memories . The Standard Herald – 2 door was the first car I owned.
I want to know if possible why was the rear axle of this car so poorly designed ?
This was the weakest point in this wonderful car .
Shall appreciate a reply at aksingh58@gmail.com.
The rear axle was the way it was for the following reason. It was designed for lower friction crossplies. Radials arrived shortly after by which time it was a bit late to change the design.
” And it wouldn’t be such a stretch to see the bold Mini comparable to the equally-bold Corvair, despite their vast differences”
Actually that is a bit of a stretch to put it mildly. How was the Corvair equally bold? What did it pioneer that hadn’t been done before elsewhere? Bold compared to other American cars of its era but then that wouldn’t be very difficult with their drab unambitious approach to design.
Why would a Corvair be any more bold than a Goggomobil of similar vintage which no sane person compares to a Mini. Just because a Corvair is familiar to American readers doesn’t increase its importance or make it relevant.
Indian Standard Heralds also came as four door cars for some reason they didnt use the Triumph name.
I owned a 62 coupe I am 6 ft.3 it fit me like a glove. The could corner as good as any car in the sports car class. the trouble was the carb,s so i built a new new manifold and put on a VW carberator. All and all the car was a blast.
You could have just machined an adapter, like for the folks who put a 2bbl carb on their big block hot rods to save gas back in the 70s.
Curious that at this age it has side markers fitted. The change of the tail lights for the U.S. version (original U.K.assembly has amber over red) is to be expected in the time before amber rear signals became an option in the U.S., but as side markers weren’t introduced until circa 1969/70, presumably these have been added at some point.
The car Paul found and shot has several anomalies it has a 12/50 grille but crossed flags which were only on the twin carb smooth bumper coupe, theres no engine or model designation badge under the Herald script on the bootlid, the wheelcovers arent stock and by the time sidemarkers were required the early style bonnet was no longer in production having been superseded by the 1360 model.
I have built a Triumph Herald based Hot Rod. Seriously. No one ever guesses it’s origins, they wonder where I got the cool independent front suspension from!
It’s now getting a makeover to an Austin 1300 motor…mounted transversely in the rear.
Heralds were cool cars, only letdown is the swingaxle, but I’d say a Z bar would help immensely.
I saw one in Hobart with Holden running gear including diff with huge flared arches to cover the wide wheels it looked ridiculous but probably handled better than stock.
I bought my mother a Herald convertible exactly like this one, only with the 1200 engine and a sort of sandalwood paint color (henceforth referred ti in our family as “Triumph Herald color”) in the summer of 1965, off a used car lot in Anchorage AK. She had set me a $700 limit for a car with which I would teach her to drive, something small and suitable for use the year around, so of COURSE I just had to get a convertible. Not as dopey as it seems: in an Alaska winter one goes out very warmly dressed, and the car’s heater functions primarily as a windshield defroster, so a snugly fitted convertible top (and this one was very good in that way) is as good as anything. The main problem was its hatred of starting from about 15º down, until I discovered the miracle that was the dipstick heater. As for that tricky rear suspension, it worked like a charm on snow and ice, and the Firestone Town & Country tires it wore year around didn’t generate enough lateral traction to make dry roads a problem. It was a very sweet car for the two years or so that she (and we) had it.
BTW, Raymond Loewy almost certainly laid not a line to that pretty Rootes “Ajax” body, except to sign off on it and pay the guys who did it under strictly enforced anonymity. I believe it was Larry Shinoda who was said to do most of it. My favorite version was the little Hillman Husky wagon, the car I had before the Herald. I would like to have either one now, but especially the Husky …
Audax, not Ajax, I believe.
My 1st car was a 13/60 version of 67 vintage.That swinging rear axle put us in a 5 ft ditch
on a slippy road. The hood ended up at the same hight as top of the windscreen! The remains were sold were sold to a Norwegian to convert his sedan.That was in 83. Now worth £3.5K plus!,
In the US, the Vitesse had its 60 seconds of fame as a very competitive under-2.5 liter TransAm road racing car in the early 70’s. They were very competitive against Datsun 510’s, BMW 2002’s and Alfa GTV’s. In fact I believe the 2.5 liter class limit undoubtedly helped their competitiveness although I suspect that was originally intended to allow Chevy Vegas (2300 cc) to compete. In Europe at this time I believe the Porsche 911 was homologated as a “touring car” aka sedan, but they weren’t legal for US sedan (or saloon) racing. I believe Paul Newman raced a Vitesse, and later a Dolomite or 2.5PI.
Oy. One glass too much pinot… I think I’m seeing things…. kinda fuzzy…
I am still trying to get over the fact that they actually exported Heralds to the USA, even more that people actually bought them! I’m thinking the customers were socially awkward university professorial types?
Saw a couple Heralds, or what I thought were Heralds, at a car show recently. The tilt-up bonnet really does look like it would help servicing, and some nice details there! At some point, though, didn’t the Herald go to an “angry eyebrow” look like the Vitesse, but with twin lamps rather than duals?
You are correct. The Herald 13/60 introduced in 1967 had an updated front with angry Vitesse-like features.
Pontiac, my butt. That car screams Studebaker Hawk.
I swear, I did not bring up Studebaker in this discussion! ?
Interesting find, don’t recall ever seeing one of those in person.
I thought these were great looking cars when I was a kid. I bought one of these in a Corgi toy, it was blue and white. I can’t remember if it was a saloon or the fastback roof. Great looking headlight surrounds. Any car article that can work in the word Gravitas, gets my vote.