Morris Minor vs Triumph Herald

[Luxobarge]

An interesting thread.

I've never owned a Herald, but we do currently have a Minor.

Yes, Minors are good, but to put some balance on the "spares" situation - spares are still pretty easy to get for Heralds, especially engine parts and other more common parts, so don't think that spares would be a major headache for this car. OK, so it's not as good as for a Minor, but vitually nothing is. And regarding Minor spares, my experience is that they are cheap and plentiful (so much so that you can reputedly build almost a whole car from spares should you so wish) but very often the quality of the spare parts is woeful - I've had quite a few parts that are so poor they are almost "not fit for purpose" so don't get too carried away with the "Minor spares are easy" thing.

The other thing is that for £1500, you will get a Minor that DEFINATELY needs work, fully functioning "needs nothing" Minors start at over double that, so bear this in mind too. I don't know much about Herald prices, but you might get a better Herald than a Minor for that money.

Overall then I'd say that there's not much in it - Minors are VERY common, so the herald will be a slightly more interesting car to own, and probably slightly less "old fashioned" to drive - depending on what you want this could be a good thing or a bad thing. Certainly the comments above about one being a chassis car and the other a monocoque are valid, I know that working on the engine on a Herald is bliss, because access is so good, most of the time you can sit on the front wheel while you work! However, the minor was designed for a flat-four, so there's loads of room in that engine bay too.

Your call at the end of the day, I think you could be very happy with either car to be honest!

Here's our Minor, bought for £3.5k 5 years ago:



Cheers

[hobby]

I would suggest that the Herald was more of a "ladies' car"

Couldn't resist... Personally I prefer the Herald of the two, I always think the Minor to be over-rated... Neither would be of any use to us as the Minor's boot is tiny (unless you take the spare out) and the Herald's ain't much different... Neither made for wheelchairs... Though I suppose the estate version of the Herald might take it...

[JPB]

On the road for a mere £500! So even cheaper than solid, tested Minors usually are, well worth a look, especially as it's in London, accessible even from up here by bus, the fare being £14 one way, presumed similar regardless of your location.
A great candidate here. In Leicester that one, so arguably even easier to reach for viewing/haggling purposes. That one also has an unleaded head, servo-assisted brakes (doesn't make it stop any better but reduces the effort needed to bring it to rest) and is just the sort of thing that could provide very cheap (depreciation-free) motoring and not give you any cause for massive concern.

And there are many, many more. Unless you need a spotless and nigh on perfect car like Luxobarge's one - which it would be a shame to use daily all year round, IMHO** - then I'm sticking to my long held and oft-proven belief that there are Minors out there that don't cost the earth.

Look at the list on the Minors for sale site that provided thae links. Some are clearly overpriced, but that doesn't guarantee that you'll find them better cars than the cheaper ones.

**Of course it can be done, but the better the car, the harder the job of keeping it that way. A slightly less pristine example could be caked in Ensis from the waist down and it wouldn't matter!

[Seth]

Plenty of love for the Minor here!

When we were looking for a second smaller classic to share between myself and my then girlfriend I tried both and bought a Herald. The Minor felt like a much older car, as it is, having been designed a decade earlier. We still have the Herald (and she's been my wife for some time too!). I had an A35 as my first car so have experience of a car with A series running gear.

I think at the low end of the market you get a much better Herald for your money than you do a Minor. For £1500 I'd expect to find quite a smart looking Herald or a Minor that looks a bit tatty. And from those I have seen, a slightly tatty Minor can be hiding all kinds of horrible secrets in its monocoque. The separate chassis of a Herald does have the advantage that you can have a car that looks a bit tired but is structurally sound. Almost all will have had welding work carried out to the chassis/outriggers replaced etc at some time and so the important thing is to check that this has be done to a decent standard. Almost everything can be done with the body in place (I have!)

The spares situation is probably much the same for both with most things being available and plenty of suppliers dotted around the country. Both are also basic enough that any competent mechanic ought to have no difficulty.

Again, upgrades for both are easy and well documented, 1275s for Minors or 1300/1500 Spitfire transplants on Heralds are bolt ins. Herald has the benefit of being able to be fitted with a Spit O/D box too (they didn't come with them from the factory). Some early and all 12/50 and 13/60 Heralds had disc brakes.

You have to be doing something quite silly to upset a Herald's rear suspension so don't listen to the naysayers who tell you you'll end up backwards in a hedge. They were praised for their all independent suspension handling in period roadtests. The front suspension went on to lead a double life under many a Lotus or single seat racing car. Minors too were praised for their steering at a time when most cars still had steering boxes and they had rack and pinion. But then the Herald too has R+P.

If you are undecided between the two cars the best thing to do would be to look at any that fall in your budget and buy whatever looks best for your money.

[Steve76]

Thanks for the good advice guys.

I sold my Lambretta at the weekend for more than expected so I now have a budget to £2k.

I think I will tread cautiously for the moment and watch the market whilst fighting the impulse to rush out and buy the first classic that takes my fancy!

I've seen quite a few split screen Morris Minors advertised. Apart from not having to MOT them are there any advantages over a Morris Minor 1000? I know the splits have a smaller engine but is that much of a disadvantage?

[Luxobarge]

Splitties are worth more, so for a given amount of money you will get a car in worse condition, so I think it depends on what you're looking for - a more interesting car with more work required, or a more common car that will need a lot less work - your call really. And yes they are slower, but again that's a completely personal issue, and depends a lot on what you like in a classic car and what you want to do with it. Personally I find the lack of performance part of the charm and character of a classic, and it ADDS to the appeal for me, others on the other hand want their classic to perform and behave as well as a modern car, and will immediately want to drop in a V8 or something - again, your call!

Cheers

[rich.]

fighting the impulse to rush out and buy the first classic that takes my fancy!

i suffer from this too

[Martin Evans]

Split screens will be pre 1956ish and fall into two categories; 803cc A Series or 918cc (Pre BMC) sidevalve. As has been said, these earlier models will (More so in the case of the sidevalve) carry a premium, so I'd go for a better example of a less valuable model (And stick to a two door as that will be less work). The last (1962 on) 1098cc models gave 48bhp (The 948 was 37bhp), whereas the 803cc models gave 30bhp and the sidevalve a bit less again (Perhaps a bit more torque, hence it was higher geared than the S2); both are flat out at 60mph. The 948 A Series was a much better engine than the 803 and it has been said that the crankshaft of the 803 engine is just a bit of bent wire. I don't think the early Austin gearbox was that clever and when BMC were developing the Series 2 Minor (Basically seeing how the Minor went with the Austin engine), they had trouble with the Austin gearboxes, so they fitted some test cars with a Morris gearbox (Of the type fitted to the original sidevalve cars), that was at least stronger.

[tornewtsam]

I've not had either but the difference seems to be whether you want to associate with the old dears of "Last of the Summer Wine" or nurse Gladys Emmanuel from "Open all Hours". Personally I'm a Triumph fan and would prefer the Herald, especially when you see what can be done as per the feature in PC this month. Triumphs were generally better equipped and the modern driver would (in my opinion) feel more at home in one than a Minor. They also look more modern but then it depends on what you are looking for or what look you are going for

[Steve76]

Just to throw another car into the mix. What about a Ford 100e?