Hark, the Herald

Not long after Jill and I were married, it became apparent she should have a car of her own. I usually drove the Rover, and while we also had a Chevy pickup she preferred something smaller, a car that could "turn on a sixpence," like a Triumph Herald.

The Herald had been introduced by Standard-Triumph in 1959 to replace the Standard Ten (which had been sold under the Triumph name in the United States). While the Ten had a unitary body, the Herald was given a cruciform chassis in order to simplify the sourcing of body panels from outside suppliers. It used a version of the Ten's engine, and came in four body styles, sedan, convertible, coupe and estate wagon. The estate version came later, in 1961. Only the sedan and convertible were regularly sold in the United States.

As it happened, we found a 1966 Herald convertible not far from home, at a modest price (from which the seller was happy to bargain). Jill quickly cleaned it up and enjoyed it, particularly in summer months. Our son Nick was fascinated with it, always eager to help me work on it. It could indeed turn on a sixpence, or a dime - much more nimble than our neighbor's Cadillac, if a bit intimidated by eighteen-wheelers.

Mechanically it was very similar to the Triumph Spitfire - in fact the Spitfire was derived from the Herald, not vice versa. In order to tighten up the steering, I was able to buy a Spitfire steering rack from a junkyard and bolt it right in.

The chassis frame that was the Herald's virtue was also its fault. Made of light gauge, box-section steel, it was prone to rust. After about four years I began to run out of places to weld reinforcements on the frame. We sold it for a modest profit, and I'm sure the next owner, if he could weld, had fun, too.

Triumph's greatest triumphs in the US were sports cars; the sedans and estate cars never seemed to catch on. Triumph sedans were popular in Britain until the late 1970s, but the day of the British sedan in the US had already passed.