My Triumphs

I've owned five Triumph Heralds in my time, two when I was a teenager, and three in more recent years. The first two were old bangers bought for next to nothing but were my daily drivers for some time. I always liked my Heralds and decided when I could I would buy one to restore.

My chance came once the kids had all left home and I had few spare quid in my pocket, I thought what's the point in having money spare when I can throw it all away on an old car - so I went out and bought a Herald 13/60.

This car was my pride & joy for five years but all along I was hankering for a two-tone green hardtop 1200, just like the first one I had when I was 17. I personally think is the best colour scheme for a Herald. I spent months looking for the right car and eventually found a '65 model but had to travel 175 miles to get it. The drive back was a bit nerve wracking but worth it, it drove almost perfectly apart from a notchy accelerator cable and a slipping clutch.

Around the same time the opportunity came up for a free '68 1200 Herald for spares. The offer was too good to refuse so all I needed to day was get it transported from Hereford to my driveway, which I was able to arrange for £125. When the car arrived it was in a poor state after standing for four years but after pouring in some fresh petrol and re-fitting the battery, which had been stored in the foot well, I managed to get the engine runing.

I soon began to realise that, although very tatty looking, this car was too good to scrap so I set about spending a little time and money and got it through the MOT about three months after buying it.

This is how it looked soon after arriving after a quick wash and putting some air in the flat tyres.

So despite my two-tone '65 Herald having almost a full MOT I decided to take it off the road and complete a full chassis up restoration.