Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Ellis]

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Buyers in the 1960s were offered a huge choice of luxury cars be they Ford, Jaguar, Vauxhall, Rover, Humber, the BMC 3.0 litre saloons and there were more.

What could you buy if you wanted a small luxury car though?
Ford had nothing to offer retired people who wanted, or as it is called these days "downsizing" from a big luxury car. Vauxhall similarly had no small plush car but there were two which fitted the description very nicely.

The Triumph 1300 from 1965 onwards and the Vanden Plas 1100 from late 1962.

I remember the Triumph 1300 being announced and the first one in my area was a slate blue example in November 1965 bought by a retired civil servant. There were two Vanden Plas 1100s already in the area, both grey coincidentally.

My late father was interested in the Triumph and he seriously considered buying one in early 1969 because he didn't really like his Rover 2000.
I thought the Triumph was "an old man's car", my mother thought so as well and it was with a sigh of relief that he bought a new Wolseley 18/85 Mark 2 in August 1969. I would have preferred him to buy a Ford Cortina 1600E but............

I did not drive a Triumph 1300 but drove three Vanden Plas including a 1972 automatic for a few days when my Ford Escort 1600 Sport was in for warranty work. I liked it a lot.

One Daily newspaper, the Daily Express I think, called the Triumph a mini limousine and nearly every review of the car was positive.

Both cars, the Vanden Plas and the Triumph 1300 had nice interiors although the Triumph only had vinyl and attracted similar buyers.

They were competitors in 1965 but how would you assess their status and relevant qualities?

Were they the British "small limousines"?
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Starting Handle Expert

1964 Jaguar Mark 2 3.4 litre
1962 Land Rover Series 2a 88"
2002 BMW M3 E46 Cabriolet

[Billf]

There is one of these in the village near us.

With the roof chopped off at top of the doors level. Don't see it much in the winter though. Looks like he used an axe to do this though.

[Rick]

I've never owned one, but the fwd Triumph 1300 has always struck me as an overlooked, decent quality, car of the era.

As for the VdP, dad's had this smart low-mileage example for a few years now. I'm not keen on the auto box, but otherwise it drives well and is very comfy.



RJ
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[lowdrag]

Of course, if you wanted to downsize even more there were the Hornet and the Elf. Always liked the "club" interior of the latter. A Vitesse perhaps? Had a Herald but never the Vitesse. No a little Elf would do nicely for me, or the Radford Cooper version of course.

[Ray White]

Rick, is your Dad's car a 1100 or 1300? I learned today that they offered a 1275 version but was it badged as a 1300?

I remember the Princess 1100 having a chrome plated rocker cover with the "Princess" script in black. Also "P" on the hub caps.

Were all 1300 Princess' automatic? I remember servicing a 1100 version with twin carbs and a manual box. My sort of car. (I also liked the MG version with two tone paint and distinctive side trim)

My Dad did a roaring trade in replacing rotten rear sub frames when these cars were current. Finding a good one these days must be difficult I would have thought. The real problems arose when the sub frame mounting plate rusted away from the body. I seem to remember this was the end for most 1100/1300's.

[Rick]

[52classic]

I always wanted a Triumph 1300, which was a strange ambition for a youngster because they were always considered an old man's car.

For me it was the sound of the doors closing, the flat glass of the side windows and the dash which had a hint of Rover P5 about it, all giving the car a mini limo image.

However, it was rust in the front end which let them down and whenever one turned up at auction it would have a hump backed appearance to the front wings caused by imminent failure of the suspension top mountings.

I also seem to remember a weird system of transfer gear which permitted clutch replacement in less than an hour! The small Triumphs were a strange but eccentric family and you have to consider the FWD 1500 (which seem to have all but disappeared) the Toledo and the Dolomites to understand where they were at.

[Rusty]

I was always rather partial to the "better" models from the Rootes group ! Things like the Humber Vogue and the Singer and Sunbeam models from the same era. Would you blokes consider them too big to be a "small " car ? Out here they aren't thought of as particularly large.

[Ray White]

I wouldn't consider those Rootes Group models as being "small" and neither, probably, would the prople who bought them new. More an in between size, if you like.