Meet the Owner - Rich Philpot and his Triumph Herald 1200 Coupe
15th May, 2020
‘The original Herald design sketch was of a coupé. To my mind, it is the best-looking body style for a Herald, and the two-tone red and white paint is also my favourite colour combination’. And Rich Philpot’s 1963 example is the epitome of the Triumph that you could ‘Park With Pride!’.
The Herald made its bow in 1959 in both Saloon and Coupe forms; Rich is also the proud owner of a very fine example of the former.
The Convertible debuted a year later, and in April 1961 the revised Herald 1200 featured a 1,147-cc engine and improved interior. When Autocar evaluated the Saloon, they regarded it as ‘another model of which keen and sensitive drivers will approve’.
Coupe production ceased in late 1964; by that time Triumph offered the Spitfire and the Herald 12/50 saloon with the “Skylight” roof.
Rich first encountered 359 DTH circa 1997/1998 when ‘my brother saw an ad in a paper in Wales’.
Alas, ‘I missed out on buying it on that occasion’.
However, the new owner ‘didn’t get on with it in daily use so advertised it again. I drove to Port Talbot to view it, agreed to buy it and returned with a trailer to collect it in April 1998. I sold it in 2001 but bought it back in 2002’.
Today the Philpot Herald Coupe frequently attracts comments from the public to the effect that either they ‘once owned one’ or ‘somebody they know had one. Aside from that, I have had comments saying that it’s a beautiful car, that they were easy to work on, but the reaction that surprised me most was from a couple of young lads who drew level with me at 40mph on the Coventry Ring Road, wound the window down and asked “What is it?”’.
Such a reaction to a Herald Coupe is wholly expected – to borrow a line from Neil Innes it really can ‘brighten up your day’.
It should also be remembered that when Rich’s car was registered in October 1963, it had virtually no domestic rivals.
There was no equivalent model from Austin-Healey or MG, Vauxhall would not produce a coupe until the Firenza in 1971 while the Sunbeam Rapier Series IV was larger and more expensive than the Triumph.
That left the Consul Capri, a 2+2 with a slightly different image to the Herald Coupe.
The tail-fined Ford seemed to represent “the last days of the Teddy Boys” as well as being a car of unabashed US aspirations. You just knew that it would appeal to motorists who watched 77 Sunset Strip and who affected a mid-Atlantic accent in the Southampton branch of Woolworths.
By contrast, the Triumph’s world was one of Hepworth’s sports jackets, the BBC Light Programme and bottles of salad cream. Plus, with the splendid Philpot Triumph, lashings of ginger beer.
WITH THANKS TO - RICH PHILPOT
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