My grandad had a 1964 Triumph Herald 1200 in mustard green with a red interior with a valve radio . If still on the roads it would be 55 years old . 4 years older than me . Every Sunday he would wash and polish it with me helping . With grandad saying don’t get chrome polish on the paint work . I felt like a king when I was in it . You could have given me a choice between a Rolls Royce and a Herald . And I would pick the Herald hands down . The silly so and so sold it to the coal man . Broke my heart . Every time I see a Triumph I have to have a look and all the memories come flooding back . Sadly the Triumph has gone to the big garage in the sky . And sadly granddad has passed . If I close my eyes and listen and I can hear the distinctive engine tone and hear grandads voice saying don’t get chrome polish on the paint work and I can see grandad and the Herald and a younger version of me . Happy times . Car of my dreams . Memorises of my child hood.
I had one and it never let me down. For the price which wasnt overly expensive, it ran like a dream. The motor was boody tough and almost bullet proof. I traded it in after three year and 60,000 miles. Then bought the Triumph 2000 which was the most wonderful car I have ever owned. With its 2.0 L six and brilliant suspension, the 2000 served me well for many years. I sold it privately with 130,000 miles in the speedo, and although the engine was now tired , the new owner rebuilt the motor from the ground up and believe it still around to this very day. great cars in their day.
I loved my 61 Herald. Aussie built, converted from 948cc to the "big" 1100cc engine. Spitfire differential, front disc brakes, and Dolomite 5.5x13 rims. Donated to a Triumph car club in 2018. Like losing your first born child. I wish I still had it.
My first car was a 1965 Herald 1200 and it was a lot of fun. It turned on a sixpence and you could site on the front tyre to work on the engine. Not that you needed to do much of that, all it ever needed were plugs, points and oil changes.
I had a herald built in 1962 I kept it going for eight years two gear boxes and one engine thanks to local scrap yard, took me wife kids many times on holiday to Weymouth. Fantastic little car. Easy to work on great to drive. Happy days 😊
Old Harry CBE tells about Michelotti's failure to design the car properly - and hey, presto - around 3:12 a miracle happens and the ready car dashes along in Northern Africa. Could there something be missing in between - like 10 minutes about the problem getting sorted out and the thing getting built?
An environmental star too - one of the best classics for the Planet : Annual CO2e emissions for Triumph - Herald 1200 (sal/est) 61-70 travelling 1200 miles is 0.35 tonnes (at 34mpg). Offset 200% of emissions and become climate positive for £17.65
This was called the Standard 10 in India. Then the Standard Herald came. Then the Gazel. All very good cars. Herald - it was a superb little rally car for many years in India - through the late 60’s, 1970’s and early 1980’s...
My most beautiful car was my little triumph 250 herald . It was 1200 detachable hard top to convertible . I put twin sis carburetor or it and it was great except the rear swing axlel
I watched a Herald rumbling along on a rough edged tram line one day when suddenly the right front wheel shot up into the guard and then it blocked the tram line, I and some other volunteers lifted the nose of the vehicle and we parked it up a side street, I soon saw the problem, this car was probably the first to use nylon suspension bushings, great before they wore through, and in this case the metal forging in the outer lower wishbone was worn right through and that thumping on the tram line caused the bolt to pop right through, I asked the driver if he had heard anything whilst driving but he said no and this was understandable given the pressure in the bearing point.
I had a Herald with one failing. The rust on the outriggers was problematic. Rewarding was necessary each time they were renewed. Would still buy one as I loved it.
I bought a 1962 second hand one for 420 quid. 1964 I went to work in the west coast of Ireland. Kilrush Co. Clare in fact where it got a lot of attention. The manure strewn roads did a job on the chassis with the rear left wheel tie rod poking its way through the chassis sub section. that was an easy repair however. The front wheel trunnions had ridiculous plastic bushing. Seriously some of the engineering was really flimsy. But this was the sixties!
Nice old British cars. I like them very much. But how bad those vehicles must have been that the whole British automobile industry went down the drain?
The panel fit on the Herald was really terrible. Like all British cars, they leaked water in even a light rain. Electrics failed, gauges failed, the radiator failed. To this day I can't understand why it was so popular.
I owned a few, none of them leaked. Maybe the export version was better than the home version. Also, they made a great basis for a home built "sports" car.
Relative to most standards by which modern cars are judged, then yes, the Herald could be said to be “rubbish”. But relative to the competition, whilst on sale, the Herald was a seriously competitive car. Depends how you look at it ... In any number of ways older cars are rubbish compared to modern ones. If that’s your viewpoint, go and buy a Nissan Leaf, rather than watching videos about Triumph Heralds.
@@alexanderheath6662 so someone with a differing opinion should "crawl under a stone"? I hope it's a big stone, because there needs to be room for me. They were a rust prone pile of crap.
