18 October, 2013
Sometimes, a truly remarkable classic car surfaces and becomes a highly sought after commodity due to a unique or unusual quirk. Recently, a 52 year old Triumph Herald from the early 1960’s has been discovered with only 20 miles on the clock, meaning it’s still virtually brand-new, and very, very rare.
So how did this come to be? In 1961, a car dealer in Norfolk sold the Triumph Herald to a customer and thought nothing of it until a number of years later, where he received a phone call from the customer’s family to say that she had passed away. They offered to sell the car back to him, and he made his way to their home to have a look. What he discovered probably got his heart racing as it appeared that the car had not been driven at all since purchase, and only had 20 miles in the clock (as well as the original tax disk!).
Time = money
Of course, the auctioneer has decided to keep the car off the roads, as every mile driven would reduce the value of this remarkable vehicle. It is expected to reach somewhere between £12,000 and £15000 at auction, along with two other barely-used classics including two Triumph Dolomites with around 80 miles each.
The real question here is what will the buyer do with the car? If they drive it, the value goes down so perhaps its destiny is to be a trophy or an investment for the future. Investing in classic cars is now a legitimate practice carried out by many since classic cars have been officially classified as a luxury item.
Of course, the new owner might just want to drive it – it’s not often a person would get the chance to drive an untouched Triumph Herald although they might want to give it a once over to make sure it’s still roadworthy! Whatever happens to it, it’s safe to say that it will need watertight classic car insurance to safeguard against damage or theft – let’s see if they can keep the clock low for another 50 years!
Triumph Herald 1200 Coupe and rear of Herald 4 door prototype
Image courtesy of http://www.tssc.org.uk/
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