Triumphs of engineering
BEATLE John Lennon passed his driving test behind the wheel of a convertible Triumph Herald.
He was able to tear up his L plates in 1965 and was photographed outside Abbey Road Studios in London sitting in the car belonging to record producer George Martin before joining his fellow bandmates Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison to record Ticket To Ride.
The Triumph Motor Company was formed 100 years ago in 1923 and its cars and motorbikes quickly became celebrity favourites.
The Triumph TR7 was even sold as a Dinky model toy when it featured in ITV’s action series The New Avengers – starring Patrick Macnee, Gareth Hunt and Joanna Lumley as a trio of secret agents – in the 1970s.
A Coca-Cola promotional vehicle was also made boasting red and white stripes.
Thora Hird was a proud 1970 Triumph Herald owner in BBC sitcom Last of the Summer Wine. The car was driven by her character Edie Pegden in the iconic Yorkshirebased show. The vehicle fetched £16,500 when it was sold at auction in 2021 in mint condition – more than the initial estimate which put £10,000 and
the car between £15,000.
Triumph Heralds have featured in James Bond films like Dr No in 1962 and Thunderball in 1965, while Sean Connery drove to Amsterdam in a Triumph Stag in the 1971 film Diamonds Are Forever.
Comedian Eric Morecambe also owned a Triumph Herald in the 1960s.
So popular did the cars become that Birmingham City bosses decided to use them as an incentive for their players, who were offered the chance to drive away a new TR7 Sports car in 1976 if one of them could score the sixth goal in a 6-0 win.
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher also paid a visit to the L F Harris factory to see Triumph motorcycles being built in 1987.
What was to become the Triumph Motor Company was founded by Siegfried Bettmann, a German native living in London. He began importing bicycles then set up Triumph Cycle Co Ltd in 1897 when the company started making its own bicycles.
This was followed by motorbikes looks at 100 years of a motoring legend five years later that were widely used during the First World War by the British army. By the end of the war, Triumph was the biggest motorcycle maker in Britain.
Car making soon followed and Triumph brought out its first car in 1923. The 1.4-litre engine type named the Triumph 10/20 launched to lukewarm sales, but the 1920s went on to see a boom in the motor trade and in 1927 Triumph produced the Super 7 to compete with the popular Austin 7. Triumph cars have gone on to become collectable over the years and although the company ceased production in 1984, you will always find classics such as the Triumph Dolomite, The Herald and The TR7 at vintage car fares as well as on film and television.
A less common model was the Triumph Herald-based Amphicar that went on a test drive on a Thames slipway at Marlow in Buckinghamshire in 1965. The car was completely sealed underneath and had twin propellers driven by the engine, allowing it to travel on land and water. It could reach speeds of 70mph on the road and seven knots in the water.
The Triumph Herald was launched at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 1959 and came with a price tag of nearly £700. A Triumph Herald Coupé cut in half was also shown at the Earls Court motor show the same year.
The car itself was designed by the Italian stylist Giovanni Michelotti and it is reckoned half a million were sold over its 12-year production spell. Early Triumph Herald models are now rare and highly sought after. The last one came off the No. 1 assembly line at Triumph Motor Company’s Canley works in 1971.
Later Triumph models such as the Spitfire and GT6 were based on the classic Herald model. Director and general manager Mervyn Sanders drove the last white convertible off the line to cheers from workers saying: “The Herald has been a good friend to us through some difficult times.”
MARION McMULLEN