1960 Triumph Herald Coupe

Description

The Triumph Herald was huge news in 1959 with its pretty styling by the Italian maestro Michelotti and a tight 24-foot turning circle. An unusual tilt forward front-end gave brilliant access to the engine compartment. There were two versions, a conventional two-door sedan and a coupe. Early cars were powered by a 948cc engine, but larger capacity engines followed (culminating in the 6-cylinder Vitesse, quite the performance car!). The Herald superseded the old Standard Ten and the change of name from Standard to Triumph perhaps meant that senior management at the company had come to realise that ‘standard’ had come to mean ordinary rather than excellent (as in the Cadillac sense of ‘Standard of the World’). Heralds were assembled in Australia by Australian Motor Industries in Port Melbourne. Many prospective bidders may be surprised to learn that these cars actually raced at Philip Island in the first three Armstrong 500 races (1960, 1961 and 1962) with a modicum of success.