Regular contributor Les has sent a number of car photos in the last few years, including this one of his Triumph Herald.
The Herald was a popular little car in the 1960s, and this example dates to early in the decade, when they still had the nice big chrome headlamp surrounds. Later Heralds, known as the 13/60 and fitted with the 1296cc 4 pot engine, adopted a different style of grille, along the lines of the 6 cylinder Vitesse model, itself based on the Herald underpinnings.
2. A Herald on a camping trip.
The next photo is one I found in 2009, it shows a pre-prefix Triumph Herald parked on a campsite, with some caravans for company. This is also a 1200 (well, 1147cc) version. The registration, 163 HON, indicates a Birmingham registration, in this case a reg. dating to post-February 1963. The Herald seems to have quite a lean to it, either it is parked on uneven ground, or else a trunnion in the front suspension has given way. Thankfully the owner is a member of the AA.
The Herald was unusual in that it had a separate chassis, when most manufacturers had long since switched to monocoque construction. Triumph went down this route due to problems getting reliable supplies of a complete monocoque from outside body manufacturers. The separate chassis option gave Triumph a useful platform onto which different models could be based. The Spitfire, GT6 coupe, Bond Equipe, and Vitesse can all trace their running gear to the original Herald. The Herald was available as a 2 door saloon, a convertible, estate car, and as a light commercial in the shape of the Courier van. A 4 door version was available locally-assembled in India (the Standard MkIII).
3. A couple with their red Triumph Herald 1200.
This next shot turned up a while back, and shows a classic Triumph Herald in glorious technicolour rather than black and white, which makes a nice change. The couple are stood with their bright red - Signal Red? - Herald 1200, registration number EPF 491B. The location of this photo isn't known, although the EPF registration series was used in Surrey from September 1964 onwards. The Herald is still very shiny at the time of this photo, and shows no sign of either rust or fading paintwork (a common problem with red cars). Despite being a youthful example of the breed, the fit of the bonnet is nothing to write home about.
(Please click the thumbnail to view full-size images.)
4. An early LHD 948cc Herald in Belgium.
Jean-Marie gave permission for this photograph of his parents, with their early LHD 948cc Herald, to be included on the site. He says that the car started out painted in Spa White, but was later re-painted in Cactus Green. Eagle-eyed Herald fans will notice a couple of details that mark this out as a very early example. The first giveaway is the large centre handle fixed to the centre of the bonnet, which was soon deleted (early advertising artwork for the 1959 Herald, which features a car with the handle, can be seen here). The second is the lettering on the forward edge of the bonnet - most Heralds sport the letters "T-R-I-U-M-P-H" but the first examples instead bore the model name "H-E-R-A-L-D".
5. Herald at Heathrow.
Kevin emailed over this next photograph, taken by his father during a holiday to London in the 1960s. It could have been added to any one of several pages, but as the Triumph Herald is in the foreground, here it goes. The beigey-brown colour will no doubt be recognised by someone, not the most inspiring of shades but "of its time" I suppose.
Slightly more colourful is the Thames 307E (Anglia-type) van parked close by, which is joined by a grey Vauxhall PA, a Bedford CA, a Commer PB minibus, and an Austin or Morris lorry. In fact there are two of these BMC commercials, the other can be seen driving along the road to the bottom left of shot. Rarest road vehicles of all are probably the Thames Trader articulated airport buses, in the livery of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.
A BEA (British European Airways) airport shuttle bus can be made out in the distance, approaching a BEA-operated De Havilland (later Hawker Siddeley) 121 Trident jet, one of four that can be seen parked on the apron. A Vickers Vanguard, connected to a tug, is also present.
6. A 1961 Herald, in a busy car park.
Thanks to Val and her husband for the following addition to the Herald photos page. A 1961 two-tone Herald takes centre stage in this old photo, surrounded by a plethora of other British-built classics. Alongside the Triumph rests an estate version of Ford's popular 105E Anglia, a type that joined the Anglia line-up in Ford dealerships in the September of 1961. To its right is a BMC 1100 or 1300. The two-tone paint scheme of this four-door example suggests that it is one of the slightly more exclusive versions of BMC's ADO16 line, probably the Wolseley 1100/1300. Visible in the distance beyond the ADO16 is a Ford 100E Escort estate, while next to that is a Land Rover. Glimpses of two more estate cars - a Hillman Husky, and a Mini - can also be spotted, close to a Mk3 Ford Zephyr. Two Morris Minors, a saloon and a Traveller, are also visible, as is a grubby 105E saloon.
A grille badge, plus a sticker in the rear window, confirm that the Triumph Herald's owner was a member of the AA. They had wisely chosen to fit a pair of aftermarket wing mirrors to their car, plus a single spotlamp. Neither of the visible road wheels has a hubcap on it, perhaps there'd been a spate of thefts in the area recently, or else the owner had removed them to prevent them going missing. Being an early-ish example of the Herald, it has the large chrome centre handle attached to the centre of the bonnet's top panel. Owners of later Heralds had to make do with lifting up the one-piece front end from one side or the other, after un-latching the side catches.
7. A Powder Blue 948cc Triumph Herald, Paul's first car.
After spotting me publish Val's photo of a Herald (above), Paul posted a snapshot of a similar Herald - his first car in fact - taken back in 1970. It was finished in all-over Powder Blue, registration SNJ 847 - a Sussex series that first came into use in May 1960. Paul paid 50 pounds for the car, and kept it for approximately three years.
One of the Herald's "features" was a somewhat-basic independent rear suspension, one that could be encouraged into spectacular bouts of oversteer if bends were approached with too much vigour or, worse, if a fast bend was being negotiated at speed, during which the driver backed off the throttle completely. I remember my first Spitfire being equally exciting en extremis, and Paul concurs: "Being a young bloke and intent on going around bends quicker than the Herald's suspension was capable of, gave me a lot of opposite lock practice when the thing went into hopping mode!".
Paul's Herald was around ten years of age at the time of this photo. Rust was beginning to make its presence felt, notably in the wheel arches which were very prone to rusting. Other areas of the Herald also prone to rust include the chassis outriggers (side, and at the rear beneath the boot floor), the floorpans, and the bulkhead which would receive a battering from road muck thrown up from the front wheels. Thanks for the picture Paul.
Other motor car photos, a mixture of images both from my own collection and others sent in by visitors to OCC, can be found in the car photographs section, which now runs to many pages. A more detailed write-up on the various Herald variants can be found here.
A factory magazine, dating to 1962 and titled Standard-Triumph Review, can be found in the car magazines section.
Triumph cars photo collection.
The following video, now on the Old Classic Car Youtube channel, features a huge mix of photos including Herald & Vitesse saloons, convertibles, coupes and estates, plus oddball one-offs and even the Indian-market four-door Herald.
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Old Classic Car (C) R. Jones 2023. Content not to be reproduced elsewhere.
