The
Triumph Herald was a small two-door car
introduced in 1959 by the Standard-Triumph Company
of Coventry. Body design was by the Italian stylist
Michelotti, and the car was offered in saloon,
convertible, coupé, van and estate variants.
Towards the end of the 1950s, Standard-Triumph were
enjoying success with their range of 2-seater
Triumph sports cars which they offered alongside
their range of Standard saloons.
The small cars in the range were the Standard 8 &
10, powered by a small (803 cc or 948 cc) 4-cylinder
engine and competing with the Morris Minor, Ford
Popular and Austin A35. However, the plain-looking
but innovative Standard 8 and 10 models were never a
huge success, and by the late 1950s were due for an
update; Standard-Triumph therefore started work on
the Herald.
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Michelotti was commissioned to style the car, and he
quickly produced designs for an up to date in looks,
two-door saloon with a large glass area. Due to
difficulties with Fisher & Ludlow their body
suppliers, having become part of an uncooperative
BMC, the company decided from the start that the new
small car should have a separate chassis rather than
a monocoque construction, even though this method
was becoming outmoded.
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Triumph Herald 948cc Coupe.
About 1960
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The main body tub was bolted to the chassis, and
the whole front end hinged forward to allow access
to the engine. Every panel – including the sills and
roof – could be unbolted from the main car. This
method of construction had certain advantages, not
least that different body styles could be easily
substituted on the same basic chassis; accordingly,
in addition to the original coupé and saloon models,
a van, convertible and estate versions were all on
offer within two years of the release.
Mechanically, the new Herald was a mixture of
traditional and modern engineering. The Standard
10's 4-cylinder 948 cc OHV engine was used, mated to
the same model's 4 speed gearbox with synchromesh on
the top three gears and driving the rear wheels. The
excellent steering was by rack and pinion (affording
the car a 25 feet 0 inches (7.6 m) turning circle),
with coil and double-wishbone front suspension. The
rear suspension was a brand new departure for
Triumph, offering independent springing via a single
transverse leaf spring bolted to the top of the
final drive unit and swing axles.
The styling was modern and the interior bright,
thanks to the large glass area, which gave 93%
all-round visibility in the Saloon variant.
Instruments were confined to a single large
speedometer with fuel gauge in the saloon (a
temperature gauge was available as an option), and
the dashboard of grey pressed fibreboard. The coupé
dashboard was equipped with 3 gauges: Speedometer,
fuel, and temperature gauges, together with the
refinement of a lockable glovebox.
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1962 Triumph Herald 948cc
Convertible
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The car was well equipped with standard loop-pile
carpeting and heater. The Herald was offered in a
variety of bright contemporary colours and number of
extras were available, including twin carburettors,
leather seats, a wooden veneered dashboard, Telaflo
shock absorbers and paint options. The choice of the
"Herald" name suggests that the car was originally
intended to be marketed as a Standard, as the name
fits the model naming scheme of the time (Ensign,
Pennant, and of course Standard itself). By 1959,
though, it was thought that the Triumph name had
more brand equity, and the Standard name was phased
out in Britain after 1963.
The new car was launched at the Royal Albert
Hall, London on 22 April 1959, and was fairly well
received, but it was not an immediate sales success,
due to some extent to the cost approaching £700
(including 45% Purchase Tax) which made it more
expensive than most of its competitors.
Additionally, the separate chassis initially
resulted in noises from the flexible structure as
well as problems with water leaking into the car. In
standard single-carburettor form the 38 bhp (28 kW)
car was no better than average in terms of
performance, with 60 mph (97 km/h) coming up in
about 31 seconds and a maximum speed of 70 mph
(110 km/h). The new rear suspension was also
criticised for leading to tricky handling on the
limit. However, the car was considered easy to drive
with light steering and controls and excellent
visibility, and very soon became highly popular with
driving schools, ease of repair being a strong plus.
Owners enjoyed preferential insurance premiums
because of the Herald's perceived safety.
The Herald 1200
Standard-Triumph had staked a lot on their new
car; the company was experiencing financial
difficulties at the beginning of the 1960s, and was
taken over by Leyland Motors Ltd in 1961. This
released new resources to develop the Herald, and
the car was re-launched with an 1147 cc engine as
the Herald 1200. The new model featured
numerous detail improvements, including white rubber
bumpers, a wooden laminate dashboard and improved
seating; quality control was also tightened up. The
twin carburettors were no longer fitted to any of
the range as standard equipment, although they
remained an option, the standard fitment being a
single down-draught Solex carburettor. Disc brakes
also became an option shortly after the 1200 was
introduced. The new car was much more pleasant to
drive than previous Standard Motors saloons, and
sales picked up, despite growing competition from
the BMC Mini and the Ford Anglia.
The other versions of the Herald were also
selling well: the convertible was popular as a
genuine 4-seater with decent weatherproofing, and
the estate made a practical alternative to the
Morris Minor Traveller. The Triumph Courier
van, basically a stripped-out Herald estate minus
the rear seats with steel side panels, was produced
from 1962 until 1964, when it was dropped following
poor sales. The coupé was also dropped from the
range in late 1964: by then the Triumph Spitfire had
taken away most of its market share.
A sportier version, the Herald 12/50, was
offered from 1963-1967 and featured a tuned engine
with a claimed output of 51 bhp in place of the
previous 39, along with a sliding (Webasto)
vinyl-fabric sunroof and standard front disc brakes.
The power output of the 1200, which itself remained
in production alongside the 12/50, was subsequently
boosted to 48 bhp.[1]
Performance test
A saloon was tested by The Motor magazine in 1959
and found to have a top speed of 70.9 mph
(114.1 km/h) and could accelerate from 0-60 mph
(97 km/h) in 31.1 seconds. A fuel consumption of
36.4 miles per imperial gallon (7.76 L/100 km;
30.3 mpg-US) was recorded.
The test car cost £702 including taxes of £207.[2]
The Herald 13/60
In October 1967, the range was updated with the
introduction at the London Motor Show of the
Herald 13/60.[1]
The Herald coupé having by now been discontinued,
the 13/60 was offered in saloon, convertible and
estate bodied versions. The sunshine-roof remained
available for the saloon, but was now an optional
extra rather than a standard feature. The front end
was restyled using a bonnet similar to the Triumph
Vitesse's to give a sleeker, more modern appearance
and the interior substantially revised, though still
featuring the traditional wooden dashboard. Interior
space was improved by recessing a rear armrest in
each side panel.
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Triumph Herald 13/60 Convertible
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The engine was enlarged to 1296 cc, which
essentially involved fitting the unit already
employed since 1965 in the Triumph 1300, and fitted
with a Stromberg 150D carburettor, offering 61 bhp
(45 kW) and much improved performance; front disc
brakes became standard. In this form (though the
1200 saloon was sold alongside it until 1970) the
Herald lasted until 1971, by which time it was
severely outdated in style if not performance. It
had already outlived the introduction of the Triumph
1300 Saloon, the car designed to replace it, and was
still selling reasonably well, but it no longer had
a place among the range of newer cars in the large
British Leyland line-up. Also, due to its
labour-intensive method of construction, each car
was selling at a loss.
The decision of Triumph to build a new small car
in the late 1950s paid off handsomely. Total Herald
sales numbered well over 300,000, thanks in no small
part to the number of variants made possible by its
separate chassis design. Saloon, convertible,
estate, coupé and van were only a part of the
Herald's total contribution to the Standard-Triumph
range: the Triumph Vitesse, Triumph Spitfire and
Triumph GT6 were all based around modified Herald
chassis and running gear with bolt-together bodies
and were hugely successful for the company. The
Vitesse front suspension was used as the basis of
1960s Lotus cars.
Today, there remain a large number of surviving
Heralds in the UK, with keen enthusiast support. The
most common are the saloons and convertibles;
estates are now getting rare, and the coupé is
extremely scarce. Rarest of all is the Courier van,
with only a handful of known survivors.
Production figures
- Herald 948 saloon: 1959–1964, 76,860
- 948 convertible: 1960–1961, 8,262
- Herald coupe: 1959–1961, 15,153
- Herald 1200: 1961–1970, 289,575
- saloon: 201,142
- coupe: 5,319
- convertible: 43,295
- estate: 39,819
- van: approx 5,000
- 12/50: 1963–1967, 53,267
- 13/60: 1967–1971, 82,650
International
production
Heralds were assembled in a number of countries
in addition to the United Kingdom, the separate
chassis being used as a jig to assemble kits
exported from Coventry.
In the 1960s, Standard Motor Products of Madras,
India manufactured Triumph Heralds with the basic
948cc engine under the name Standard Herald,
eventually with additional four-door saloon and
five-door estate models exclusively for the Indian
market. In 1971 they introduced a bodily restyled
four-door saloon based on the Herald called the
Standard Gazel, using the same 948cc engine but
with a different rear axle, avoiding the Herald's
"swing-arm". The Gazel was discontinued in 1977.
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Triumph Herald 13/60 Estate Car
1970
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