Triumph Herald Courier Vans

Chris contacted me, after having seen a photo of a Courier van in the photos section, the actual van (ACU 212B) that he'd just purchased...

Triumph Courier van

Chris has been into these classic vans for some time, having previously owned a Courier van registration 1678 VC, which is now with a new owner undergoing restoration. He admits to being a bit of a Herald 'nut' ... "I sold my previous van in 1999 and regretted it, this latest car has always been local to Newcastle on Tyne, until I bought it, it has had minor restoration done, but is in very good condition with just 38,000 miles on the clock.

This mileage is believed to be correct, and is reflected in the way it drives - tight and quiet (well - quiet up to 55 and then it's ear plugs time....just like my old one!). "

He is also the Herald Consultant and West Midland Area Organiser for Club Triumph, so obviously has Heralds (and the rare vans especially) on the brain! the photo of his earlier Courier van, reg. 1678VC, was taken during the Round Britain Reliability Run, organised by Club Triumph.

More info on the Herald van

Apparently only 4,600 Courier vans were built between 1962 and 1964, making them quite a rare find nowadays. Genuine vans have an engine and commission number beginning with GA (as did the 1200 saloon), worth checking for to make sure you're not looking at a modified estate, with chassis numbers on the Courier beginning with 'V'. The van was launched in Feb 1962, based on the estate but with the plain grey trim that could be found in the basic 948 saloons, including less padded seats and the 948 S grille. Tyres were 5.60x13 crossplies, on wider 4.5in rims. The van model was discontinued in October 1964.

Thanks for the photos Chris!

More of your cars can be read about in the classic car stories section.

Further Courier van thoughts!

Shortly after putting this page on the site, Ian dropped me a line, with his memories about these car-based commercials:

"My Dad bought a Courier brand new in September 1962, from a garage in Manchester. Just like the one in the picture, it was grey (did they only do them in that colour?) and was registered 4774NF. He needed a small van for work but found most of them really crude and basic - it would have been one hell of a comedown from his car, a Mk2 Zephyr. Other vans such as the Anglia and Minor were much cheaper but far less civilised. The Courier, as we know, was really a Herald Estate in thin disguise.

Just to make things a bit different, the old man painted the van's bumpers silver, to simulate chrome. It worked damned hard for the next two years, lugging full loads of builders materials all over the place. In fact, he probably asked too much of it, because at one stage the rear leaf spring broke under the strain. On the other hand, the alleged precarious handling of the Herald range didn't manifest itself - once we took a corner at too high a speed, somehow got round it, and Dad said "good thing we weren't in the Zephyr, we'd never have made it".

Eventually, it had to go - it clocked up no less than 72,000 miles in 2 years, and even though it was still going strong, a bigger van was needed. This time it was real van, unfortunately - one of those Thames 10/12 jobs."

Thanks for sending that over Ian!!

Other Triumph info on oldclassiccar:

Spitfire & GT6 screensaver
TR2 - TR6 screensaver
My 2.5 Spitfire from years ago
Free ads sections for all Triumphs inc Herald
Triumph Clubs

Custom Search

Old Classic Car (C) R. Jones 2023. Content not to be reproduced elsewhere.

Website by ableweb.