The Triumph Vitesse is a Beautiful, Sonorous, '60s Super Saloon

In 1959, Standard-Triumph launched an all-new small saloon car - the Herald. But three years later, the Herald was converted from being a conservative, upright runaround, into a fire-breathing monster - courtesy of the famous Triumph straight-six, the same engine that would later power the TR5 and TR6 sports cars.

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[Rjhs]

As usual Ed, no fuss, no palava, no hyperbole, just well-researched facts engagingly presented.
Lovely little cars, these, and I thoroughly enjoyed your video.
Many thanks.

[ragnarragnarson]

When i was a young child my father had a very early Triumph (Standard Triumph before it became BMC) Herald, it was grey with red leather seats and a walnut dashboard, lovely car

[quicknickdriver]

A gorgeous car and great presentation. These were around in my childhood along with the rare gt6 and more common herald. A teenage dream car. That styling and the straight 6 sound. Thanks Ed

[seanhumfrey]

Excellent Ed. The crazy idea of the Vitesse came from chief engineer Harry Webster who wanted to get from Canley to home in Kenilworth and back swiftly at lunchtime. The prototype he used was too powerful for the gearbox and so 1st was blanked off. The car was nicknamed the Kenilworth Dragster! (From Graham Robson, former works competition manager, historian and prolific author)

[Devon_Architect]

My very first car back in 1970 was a Vitesse convertible. Wonderful! Swapped it out for a GT6. Lucky boy.

[-Eckhart]

My mother owned a BRG Herald 1200 which I was ferried around in between ages 9 and 12. It was the car in my life when I caught the car bug and so Heralds are a part of me. Amazing to hear you praising them to the skies (well, the sportier version) half a century later. You're praising bits of me.

[SteveB]

Being born in the mid 60's, seeing this car brings back a lot of memories from my childhood days. I very well remember seeing these on the roads, with those slanted twin headlights making them stand out. It is great seeing these old classics being presented on your channel, and your style of presentation really does these old classics some real justice. Very enjoyable viewing.

[vizmortlock]

I have a restored mk 1 Vitesse convertible 2 litre. Always draws a crowd whenever she is parked up or on a run even from younger folk which is great. Even though it's a genuine factory convertible with correct door locks, on the odd occasion, the drivers door dies swing open ( usually on a roundabout), to the surprise of other road users.

[markiesmith]

Spot on! - The Vitesse WAS perceived as classy car for classy middle class (young) professionals in the '60s and early '70s - the comparison with the BMW M3 is a good one

[philtucker]

Ed that was another wonderful episode, featuring one of the most beautiful and amazing saloons of the sixties. I was still at junior school when these first came out but got to ride in one of my big sister’s friend’s convertible Herald one day!
It’s these experiences that got me hooked as a devoted petrol head and if you could have seen all of my school exercise books, every one of them had performance cars sketched all over them 😊- I’m 68 now but I’m still the same! Bless you lad.

[mantarayal]

Thanks mate...took me back a bit..in NZ our family had every single model, starting with the speckled dark grey metal dash, moving to wood (so flash), and ending with the 13/60 which we had when I got my licence and thought was just the beans. But then my older brother bought two Vitesses - a green one with a cream side stripe, and then a white one, which remains one of my family's best cars of all time. And we LOVE our cars!!

[SteveDentonClassics]

Brilliant video, so well detailed. I really hope that you get snapped up for a TV show Ed, you deserve it mate 👍

[Rust_in_Time]

The Vitesse was a superb design - a sports saloon before such a thing existed. I've got one of the 500 Australian built 12/50s - a Spitfire-engined Herald with a Vitesse bonnet and local luxury touches. Fabulous little thing and such a shame they're not better known. There are fewer than 10 left on the road and mine is the only saloon to my knowledge.

[johnstrickland]

I have a herald 13/60 that was my dads at uni. I love the car so easy to work on and a great way to learn basic mechanics.

[alanjm]

Dad had one of these. I was only a kid, but I really loved it, all the woodgrain inside, the gauges...

[BRED]

Another excellent video.

Your delivery of car reviews is superb. A pleasure to watch.

[alan-]

Very well written review. Worthy of autocar, carfection, etc.

[peter]

Lovely little car, popular when I was a youngster. The bonnet arrangement is a home mechanics dream, making work on the engine a doddle.

[OXOtwo]

Thanks Ed. One of my favourite classic cars. The triumph Vitesse. I would absolutely love one.

[MartinBaldock]

I worked for Ansteymiles of Maidstone for a while, the Kent distributors for Triumph, and so had the pleasure of driving the cars of the mid-late 60's. My personal favourite being the GT6, with the Vitesse Mk2 coming a close second.