TriumphHerald

01

Origins

The Herald of 1959 looked thoroughly modern — crisp Michelotti lines, a huge one-piece bonnet that opened like a jaw — but its structure was a generation old by choice. Standard-Triumph could not source large pressings after its body supplier fell to BMC, so the Herald used a separate chassis with bolt-on panels, which turned constraint into character: it was simple to repair, easy to build in kit form abroad, and the basis for a whole family — Spitfire, Vitesse, GT6. Its party trick was a turning circle of about 25 feet, tighter than a London taxi, thanks to swing-axle rear suspension that also gave it lurid breakaway if provoked. Over half a million were built to 1971, and it kept Triumph alive long enough to become Leyland's sporting brand.