1965 Triumph Herald 1200 Saloon

1965 Triumph Herald 1200 Saloon in Sklavoi tis moiras, Movie, 1966

Class: Cars, Sedan — Model origin: — Built in: — Made for:

Vehicle used a lot by a main character or for a long time

Comments about this vehicle

Author	Message
-- ◊ 2020-01-26 01:42	-- Last edit: 2020-01-26 02:43:06
dsl ◊ 2020-01-26 20:35	This one's puzzling - it has some quirks which open up some questions about other Herald sightings in Europe, which can be pursued but don't yet reach clear answers and are not explained in the Herald sources I've found. As seen, it's a solid-roof Herald 1200 which ticks all the expected boxes (rubber bumpers, 1200 script badge on rear, no badges on rear wings) apart from having a 12/50 grille; it has small front sidelights as used until 1965, so while it looks new-ish, it's not brand new for film. The 12/50 grille is the odd element, and caused confusion on another Greek sighting of a white solid-roof Herald which seems to have an identical detail mix to this one. So maybe Heralds for Greece had 12/50 grilles as a specific local market quirk?? It's possible, and I'm not excluding it as an explanation. No trace found for any local assembly - not very likely, but the Reliant Ant TW9 tricycle pick-up with the Herald 1200 engine was built in Greece by MEBEA to establish a faint link. But there may be other factors to outline. Firstly we have a clear pattern of Herald 1200 Convertibles for many Europe markets displaying 12/50 grilles after perhaps 1963 (discussion here. So maybe this happened more widely with 1200 Saloons as well?? Unable to pursue this suggestion further at the moment. Secondly from a different direction, Seneffe built solid-roof Herald 12/50s according to this entry and discussion as confirmed by a Herald expert who I contacted. Apparently UK 12/50 sunroofs were brought in from Weathershields of Birmingham and fitted on the Herald assembly lines, but it was impractical to supply overseas plants so they only built solid-roofs. However those photos raise the possibility that alongside the Belgian 12/50s, ordinary 1200s were being fitted with the 12/50 grille. This again is unresolved, but if it's true it might explain why we have a fair number of sightings of solid-roofed "12/50s" in our collection, particularly in Scandinavian countries. Or you can plausibly argue that cold countries did not want sunroofs on their (possibly Seneffe-supplied) 12/50s. Just to clarify at this point, UK 12/50s always had the sunroof, better cabin bits, uprated engine and brakes, red plaque 12/50 rear badges, and same badges on rear wings (until Sept 66 removal for last year of production). I can't take these points any further as things stand as there are no references elsewhere for these funny unexplained quirks. But it seems clear that there were quite a few of them below the radar. Until more info is uncovered, I think this is best entered as a 1965-ish Greek spec 1200 Saloon to sit alongside its previously mentioned chum. And may well have been a Seneffe build. Update - now seems Malta supplied Greece (and Israel) with Heralds. And we now have a good selection of Greek Heralds (saloon, convertible and estate) almost all with 12/50 grilles. And with some Maltese Herald sightings in Malta to add to the mix, it looks as if 12/50 grilles were normal for Maltese builds. -- Last edit: 2021-02-24 20:40:00

Author

Message

--

◊ 2020-01-26 01:42

-- Last edit: 2020-01-26 02:43:06

dsl

◊ 2020-01-26 20:35

This one's puzzling - it has some quirks which open up some questions about other Herald sightings in Europe, which can be pursued but don't yet reach clear answers and are not explained in the Herald sources I've found.

As seen, it's a solid-roof Herald 1200 which ticks all the expected boxes (rubber bumpers, 1200 script badge on rear, no badges on rear wings) apart from having a 12/50 grille; it has small front sidelights as used until 1965, so while it looks new-ish, it's not brand new for film.

The 12/50 grille is the odd element, and caused confusion on another Greek sighting of a white solid-roof Herald which seems to have an identical detail mix to this one. So maybe Heralds for Greece had 12/50 grilles as a specific local market quirk?? It's possible, and I'm not excluding it as an explanation. No trace found for any local assembly - not very likely, but the Reliant Ant TW9 tricycle pick-up with the Herald 1200 engine was built in Greece by MEBEA to establish a faint link.

But there may be other factors to outline. Firstly we have a clear pattern of Herald 1200 Convertibles for many Europe markets displaying 12/50 grilles after perhaps 1963 (discussion here. So maybe this happened more widely with 1200 Saloons as well?? Unable to pursue this suggestion further at the moment.

Secondly from a different direction, Seneffe built solid-roof Herald 12/50s according to this entry and discussion as confirmed by a Herald expert who I contacted. Apparently UK 12/50 sunroofs were brought in from Weathershields of Birmingham and fitted on the Herald assembly lines, but it was impractical to supply overseas plants so they only built solid-roofs. However those photos raise the possibility that alongside the Belgian 12/50s, ordinary 1200s were being fitted with the 12/50 grille. This again is unresolved, but if it's true it might explain why we have a fair number of sightings of solid-roofed "12/50s" in our collection, particularly in Scandinavian countries. Or you can plausibly argue that cold countries did not want sunroofs on their (possibly Seneffe-supplied) 12/50s.

Just to clarify at this point, UK 12/50s always had the sunroof, better cabin bits, uprated engine and brakes, red plaque 12/50 rear badges, and same badges on rear wings (until Sept 66 removal for last year of production).

I can't take these points any further as things stand as there are no references elsewhere for these funny unexplained quirks. But it seems clear that there were quite a few of them below the radar. Until more info is uncovered, I think this is best entered as a 1965-ish Greek spec 1200 Saloon to sit alongside its previously mentioned chum. And may well have been a Seneffe build.

Update - now seems Malta supplied Greece (and Israel) with Heralds. And we now have a good selection of Greek Heralds (saloon, convertible and estate) almost all with 12/50 grilles. And with some Maltese Herald sightings in Malta to add to the mix, it looks as if 12/50 grilles were normal for Maltese builds.

-- Last edit: 2021-02-24 20:40:00

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1965 Triumph Herald 1200 Saloon