{"id":1843,"date":"2016-09-15T12:00:50","date_gmt":"2016-09-15T00:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thesurgery.co.nz\/?p=1843"},"modified":"2018-02-11T12:06:37","modified_gmt":"2018-02-10T23:06:37","slug":"1968-triumph-herald-hark-this-heralds-angles-sing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thesurgery.co.nz\/services\/restoration\/1968-triumph-herald-hark-this-heralds-angles-sing\/","title":{"rendered":"1968 Triumph Herald – Hark This Herald’s Angles Sing"},"content":{"rendered":"
When David Burke-Kennedy went to visit the owner of this beautifully restored Triumph Herald, he was surprised in more ways than one.<\/p>\n
You can\u2019t help smiling when you reach the end of the long driveway to Andrew Cowsill\u2019s pristine 19th-century house. His shinier-than-new 1968 Triumph Herald sits beaming proudly in front of it \u2014 as if to upstage the beautifully restored and landscaped villa. If this was being written for a classic house, garden, and car magazine, you\u2019d be hard-pressed to know which to focus on first \u2014 the romantic charm of the house, with its narrow staircases, low sloping ceilings, and walls and mantelpieces crammed with collectables from over several centuries; or the head-turning nostalgic linear Italian design of a car, which is almost a third its age? Given the title of this magazine, the Triumph Herald it is. And it is stunning, having been beautifully brought back to life by the talented team at e Surgery, after having had at least six previous owners.<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t what Andrew Cowsill was looking for. \u201cI was looking for a first classic to work on, something like a Volkswagen Beetle or Karmann Ghia,\u201d he admitted, \u201cbut the ones I looked at on Trade Me made me think, what a lot of work.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018Other stuff you may like\u2019 popped up on screen, and there was this Triumph Herald advertised for sale by The Surgery.<\/p>\n \u201cI rang him and asked him to tell me everything that needed doing to the car.\u201d<\/p>\n His reply was, \u201cA few chips in the glass and some minor corrosion in the hubcaps.<\/p>\n \u201c That\u2019s all. It\u2019s not Concours condition, but you can drive it, enjoy it, and put it in a club show …\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI began to bargain,\u201d Andrew said, \u201cbut The Surgery informed me someone else was coming to buy it later that day. Well, he was asking less than what I\u2019d budgeted to do up something else. So, I bought it there and then, unseen!\u201d e little Triumph set him back around $13K, but it came complete with receipts for repairs and restoration over recent years of around $55K. Back in 1968, the car would have cost $2149 new \u2014 about $36K in today\u2019s terms.<\/p>\n For Andrew, that day might have felt like all his birthdays had come at once \u2014 in fact, coincidentally, it actually was around his birthday. \u201cAnd this was my present,\u201d he said, laughing.<\/p>\n The Herald\u2019s birthday was back in 1959 when the Standard-Triumph International company of Coventry launched it with a do-or-die fanfare of stunts and publicity that made the British motoring public sit upright. In late 1958, prototypes were driven from Cape Town to Tangiers \u2014 with every mile and stopover filmed for subsequent PR campaigning. Such was their performance, few changes were needed when the car went into production with its four-cylinder 948cc overhead-valve engine and manual four-speed gearbox.<\/p>\n The Herald was targeted at the emerging and increasingly affluent middle-class Briton \u2014 this was, Commissioned to design the new model by the Standard-Triumph board, Giovanni Michelotti created an eye-catching two-door saloon with razor-edged style notable for its large glass area, which promised 93-percent visibility. Its engineering was also different from alternatives, with its body mounted on a separate chassis instead of being monocoque entire front hinged forward to provide engine access. Every panel, including the roof, could be unbolted \u2014 which made it easy to later create coupe\u0301, convertible, and estate-car styling, as well as the original two-door saloon.<\/p>\n It was no surprise that the Herald\u2019s launch at London\u2019s Royal Albert Hall on April 1959 was also an attention-grabbing stunt captured on lm. Four apprentices wheeled out the car in sections and bolted them together in three minutes. e end product was subsequently driven right across Europe, virtually as assembled.<\/p>\n The car was promoted and perceived as having a certain fashionable chic at a time when being fashionable counted \u2014 in music; lifestyle; and, of course, fashion itself.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n While praised for its Italian-inspired looks, easy driving, visibility, easy access for repair, and a turning circle so tight that the car could almost be driven up its own exhaust pipe (it boasted the smallest turning circle of any production car at the time), the 25.7kW (34.5bhp) Herald was panned for its average performance, handling, and high price. It was initially a slow seller and quality was adversely affected as production was stepped up to meet demand.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n At the beginning of the 1960s, the Standard Triumph Company was hitting the wall financially. Leyland Motors took over, injected much-needed cash, and redeveloped the Herald as 1200. Launched in 1961, it featured a more powerful 29kW (39bhp) 1147cc motor; better seating; better performance; minor embellishments, including Until 1971, when production ceased, almost 600,000 Heralds were produced and exported \u2014 many as complete knock down (CKD) units for local assembly in countries such as Australia, New Zealand, India, Ireland, Malta, South Africa and Peru.<\/p>\n \u201c They were probably the Suzuki Swift of their day,\u201d said Andrew Cowsill. His previous \u2018classics\u2019 were nothing like this. His first car had been a \u201955 Beetle, and this was followed by a MkI Ford Escort and an awesome Audi 100 Turbo, which exploded and died in grand fashion on the Auckland Harbour Bridge.<\/p>\n Back in the day, his father owned a Triumph 2000 \u201cI wanted a car with a wooden dashboard and leather upholstery,\u201d Andrew said, laughing, \u201cprobably influenced by working over varsity holidays as a car groomer at Archibald and Shorter.\u201d<\/p>\n The Triumph doesn\u2019t have the leather \u2014 genuine red vinyl instead \u2014 but it does have the wooden dashboard punctuated with a few knobs and buttons to operate single-speed wipers, choke, headlights, and heater \u2014 for the windscreen fan, not the passengers.<\/p>\n \u201cI bought it for the condition and what I was getting for the money not because I wanted a Triumph, but I came to like it \u2014 in particular, the 1500 Dolomite motor and all-synchro gearbox instead of the 1200cc the standard Herald came with. It\u2019s not fast by any means, but it keeps up well with traffic, and, because it has independent suspension, it\u2019s entertaining on a twisty road \u2014 it gets along at a fair clip.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI drove it back from Wellington with Dad after I bought it, and he reminisced about old British cars and he gave me tips about looking after this one. Done a few long\u00a0trips \u2014 boiled the brakes going from Auckland to Napier, so they\u2019ve been converted from drums to disks.\u201d He now carries enough spares and an original toolkit to virtually rebuild the car on <\/span>site should he need to.<\/span><\/p>\n But how did he find a car in this condition?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n A Hong Kong-based client had contacted The Surgery saying she\u2019d bought a Triumph Herald online in New Zealand and that she wanted them to restore it \u201cback to its former glory\u201d. She told The Surgery that it would be only be used for future planned summer vacations in New Zealand with her partner. e time frame of the restoration was to be about three years.<\/span><\/p>\n The Herald was subsequently transported to Thee Surgery, where the team commenced the disassembly and assessment of the car. It turned out to be a nice original car from the start, but it was rather worn out and had a fair amount of rust in most areas.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n After emailing numerous photos, options, estimates, and quotes to the owner, The Surgery received a reply saying, \u201cPlease go ahead, I want no stone to be left unturned, I want an as-new Herald,\u201d so the project began.<\/p>\n The restoration work was carried out over the following three years. All work was completed in-house at e Surgery, with literally hundreds of progress photos emailed to the owner during the restoration, resulting in a very satisfied client at the end of the three years. Finally, the Herald was completed and ready for delivery.<\/p>\n Then, out of the blue, The received an email from the owner saying that their circumstances had changed and that they no longer had a use for the Herald. She then asked The Surgery if they could sell the car in New Zealand and wasn\u2019t concerned about the price but wanted it to go to a good home, someone who would appreciate it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\nafter all, the eve of the swinging \u201960s, when people had more money, and London was about to be the capital of cool! e newly affluent wanted more than an everyday shopping basket of the type that was being churned out by some other carmakers for the \u2018common\u2019 people … And so, we saw the triumphant arrival of the Herald.<\/p>\n
\na simplified grille, rubber bumpers, and \u2014 what would later prove an attraction to Andrew Cowsill \u2014 a wooden laminate dashboard; as well as overall improved quality. Sales picked up at a time when
\nthe likes of Ford and others were launching new small models such as the Mini.<\/p>\n
\nand a string of MG T types \u2014 TC, TB, and a TD in Palmerston North. e car enthusiasm carried over to Andrew\u2019s brother, who went the V8 route, and his sister has an MG.<\/p>\n