Description
Triumph Vitesse – Owned 50 years/ Utterly Original
The Triumph Herald was launched in 1959 and, like the Spitfire, was designed by Giovanni Michelotti. The Vitesse was introduced in May 1962 and was an immediate success providing sports car performance (it was faster than the Sunbeam Alpine) with four seats.
Our Signal Red/ Black stripe with black trim interior was bought by Mr Gordon Stokes from Camden Motors Birmingham for the princely sum of £788 on 17th November 1965. He negotiated 10% discount and options selected included the smart duo-tone paint, tonneau cover and chrome extension to the exhaust pipe!
The car has never been restored and is utterly original – right down to the protective padding in the hood aperture under the rear deck – we have never seen this still in place. Maintenance items that Mr Stokes did replace in later years included reconditioned gearbox, new clutch, unleaded head, starter motor and ring gear.
In 2003, after nearly 50 years of ownership, Gordon and the car won the Best Unrestored Vitesse at the 2003 TSSC international Show – he had been runner up for a number of years before. The car finally passed from his ownership to a close neighbour on 16th November 2015…1 day short of 50 years of ownership
On the road today the car drives as it left the factory. The 1600cc six cylinder engine is beautifully smooth and we have just had the gearbox rebuilt (there was a slightly weak synchro on third gear). Brakes, suspension, steering are all excellent and the car is a genuine pleasure to drive.
The body has never been removed from the chassis, the panel gaps are as good as when they left the factory (it is a Triumph), 90% of the paint is original and the chassis is superb with no corrosion
The interior is, again, utterly original – seats, dash, carpet and those pads in the hood stowage area…we don’t believe there will be another car in the country with these.
Original, unrestored Vitesse’s in this condition with low owners/ warranted mileage are almost impossible to find – they have all been restored and most have non-original specifications.
We expect the car to find an appreciative new custodian very quickly.
