[Stanher]

Originally Posted by funkykar

Started seeing this Herald near my home since a few days. The roof appears chopped off. I promise you more and better quality pictures in coming days

Originally Posted by ruthvikmagal

Good find saar ,though I hate chop tops . Please try to contact the owner if possible and get more details. I think its a Mk2 though can't say from the pics.

Good to see more Heralds turning up in Bengu!

Although, would've been all the better had they been kept more original...! Not just the roof, it seems to have lost much of its original cosmetics!

I too think it's a mk2 although hard to say- could be that the front bumper guards are missing, as the rear ones are.

[anjan_c2007]

Sighted this 1974 Standard Gazel today. It has come for repairs and the owner hopes to restore it.The indicators,tail lights,upholstery and many portions of the body need urgent TLC.The front balance rod can be seen crudely bolted to the axle.The rear differential is leaking. The gear lever reminds us of the older Standard Super 8/10 and Pennant.The Heralds had a more aesthetic gear lever.Even the dashboard looks quite drab in comparison to the early 1960's Heralds (with the white dialed Smiths meters), that had perhaps the best dash from among all the Standards.

[ruthvikmagal]

Looks to be in decent condition, compared to other Gazels atleast Good to see another Standard getting restored

[Stanher]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

Sighted this 1974 Standard Gazel today. It has come for repairs and the owner hopes to restore it.The indicators,tail lights,upholstery and many portions of the body need urgent TLC.The front balance rod can be seen crudely bolted to the axle.
Even the dashboard looks quite drab in comparison to the early 1960's Heralds (with the white dialed Smiths meters), that had perhaps the best dash from among all the Standards.

Well well well, looks like one decent Gazel, as ruthvik said. Restorable, with the major stuff intact.

Hard to find the side-pattis though, although I have one long patti in aluminium that can be cut to fit the panels where smaller pieces go.

The front balance rod is original to this car.

Incidentally, I remember, from the regn. that this same car was offered for sale online by a dealer in Pune, on quickr or some site last year. 'was put for sale @ 1 lac or so!

Here is the only pic. of it that was in the ad...not surprisingly, it didnt look like it needed so much work in this pic.!:



Good to know that the owner is taking interest in it, although I dont find the quality of the patchwork too good! 'hope for the best.

The tail-lights can be easily obtained a they are used on some local buses/trucks (Neolite brand I think- original ones were Hella)

Side-indicators impossible to source now I guess- fiat 1100 ones were also used so they can be sourced.

To each their own but IMHO the dash was perhaps the only well-designed part of the car! Compared to most of the exterior atleast. It's supposed to be painted silver though.

Incidentally, my father's '74 Gazel was in the same colour. Only it was the later (and IMHO, less attractive) model, had the 'fixed' bonnet.

[anjan_c2007]

Originally Posted by Stanher

Well well well, looks like one decent Gazel, as ruthvik said. Restorable, with the major stuff intact.

Hard to find the side-pattis though, although I have one long patti in aluminium that can be cut to fit the panels where smaller pieces go.

The front balance rod is original to this car.

Incidentally, I remember, from the regn. that this same car was offered for sale online by a dealer in Pune, on quickr or some site last year. 'was put for sale @ 1 lac or so!

Good to know that the owner is taking interest in it, although I dont find the quality of the patchwork too good! 'hope for the best.

The tail-lights can be easily obtained a they are used on some local buses/trucks (Neolite brand I think- original ones were Hella)

Side-indicators impossible to source now I guess- fiat 1100 ones were also used so they can be sourced.

To each their own but IMHO the dash was perhaps the only well-designed part of the car! Compared to most of the exterior atleast. It's supposed to be painted silver though.

Incidentally, my father's '74 Gazel was in the same colour. Only it was the later (and IMHO, less attractive) model, had the 'fixed' bonnet.

Thanks Shyam for the inputs.So your family too owned this kind of a Gazel! I am however surprised that this had an asking price of Rs 1L.But it was definitely in a better condition in the picture you have posted.
The bolted balance rod /torsion bar appears to be an afterthought on the original design by India's STAMPRO.I am not sure if Heralds had such a torsion bar. No perhaps! You can elaborate.

Originally Posted by ruthvikmagal

Looks to be in decent condition, compared to other Gazels atleast Good to see another Standard getting restored

Thanks ruthvikmangal but as you and Stanher say, I am not so optimistic about the quality or the kind of restoration the car will undergo, as it is lying like this since about a month.

[Stanher]

There is this young chappie in Secunderabad with whom I got acquainted on facebook a couple of days ago, and he sent me this pic. of a 1965 Herald mk1 that his father owned; it was bought in 1994 by his grandfather who got it done up and gifted to them, when this boy was born. They had it until 2006 when, he said that it had become 'old and rusty' and difficult to maintain so his father sold it to a broker for the princely sum of......Rs. 6000/-!!!

I suspect that it was a scrappie who took it! If only I'd known these people then....!!

He regrets his dad having let go of the car now, but in vain I guess...!

Incidentally, I happened to show this pic. to my mechanic who recognised this car by the number, said it belonged to an elderly customer of his when he worked at a garage in Secunderabad (now defunct), and it was sold around the same time (1993-94) It wasnt done up like this then though.

[Stanher]

'saw this rare Standard 8 parked at a local mechanic's when I visited Bangalore on Sunday. This would be the 5th surviving one in the country.

I didnt get to check it out much as I was told the guy isnt very friendly! But it has the original badge on the bonnet and speedo inside.

I'd also posted this pic. on the Standard Motor club forum where a member pointed out that it is actually an early 8 that came with the sliding door glasses, going by the fuel-filler present in the body wing rather than lower on the rear mudguard.
So maybe it was a kind of intermediate model or was converted to the 'normal' glasses by one of the owners.

Looks quite well-cared for.

[SuperSelect]

Shyam, doesn't the '8' resemble the 'Super 10' in any way ??

Or is it that ??

[Stanher]

Originally Posted by SuperSelect

Shyam, doesn't the '8' resemble the 'Super 10' in any way ??

Or is it that ??

You're right ravi- the 8 DOES resemble the 10/Super 10 more or less, the reason being that the latter was derived from the former!

Apart from the engines, the only differences were the the change in the fuel tank filler position and the external opening bootlid on the 10. Plus I think the B-pillar trafficators as seen on this 8 were discontinued on the 10s.

BTW, I forgot to mention that if this car were an early 8 as speculated, it should've originally had twist and pull door handles instead of the conventional buttoned ones fitted here.

I'm sure the trend of 'upgrading' a car to modern specs existed among our people even in the old days as it does now.

[SuperSelect]

Originally Posted by Stanher

I'm sure the trend of 'upgrading' a car to modern specs existed among our people even in the old days as it does now.

I agree ! Even among Fiats - swapping parts was common.

So we had Selected Super selects, and Super selected Selects.

Plus we had Presidented Delights, Padminied Delights, and Padminied Presidents.

Oops, sorry for Fiatjacking the Standard thread.

[Stanher]

Originally Posted by SuperSelect

Oops, sorry for Fiatjacking the Standard thread.

Not at all! What you said was in fact very relevant. BTW, someone from the Standard Motor Club forum told me it isnt possible to change the windows to the 'normal' types without changing the doors...now that'd mean this car originally did come with these windows...hmmm!

Anyways, will leave it for now!

[Stanher]

Sorry if it seems like a back-to-back post but my net being too slow, I didnt have time to take a chance, having many pics. to upload, so didnt include this.
Incidentally, I feel its better if I dedicated a separate post to this car- another Standard in B'lore I've been wanting to mention all the more, made this my best Bengaluru trip so far! No exaggeration!

A 1962 mk1 Herald (although I was told by the owner that it was first registered in Jan '63) owned by an elderly advocate whom I met through my friend (they being neighbours) there.

He's the 2nd owner, the first one having been a doctor. It was originally with a B'lore regn. (MYB) until the previous owner took it to his native Kerala and then finally changed again when he was back to B'lore in the late 80s!
It's a very original car with few changed/missing items. The owner intends to restore it shortly. I was told it was white earlier then repainted in the present duotone colours before he bought it. Although I reckon, it being an early Herald, originally came in the same or a similar 'duotone' colour combo (what I refer to as the 'half-saree' colour combo!) and then repainted in the white at some point of time. The original red upholstery on the seats is still intact under the present dark brown I was told.
Being an early Herald, it'd originally come with the peaked dual-bulb front parking lights (impossible to find in India now- I've got 2 lenses and 1 whole light through ebay UK.) and also the black pressed cardboard dash, which was unfortunately damaged when the mechanic tried to remove an extra guage fitted into it (they crumble easily with age) hence replaced with the present wood-veneer one. A couple of cosmetic parts seen missing were unfortunately lost/flicked when the car was at a garage.

I had a long chat with the gent about the car (and Heralds in general); this happens to be his third Herald(!), the first and second ones having been a '67 mk2 and a '65 mk1 respectively. He's owned this car since the late 90s. He even has an OHH REE GEE NAL rare Standard Herald manual (although I'm not sure if it came with this car as it dates from 1966) that he kindly lent me to make a colour xerox of and return to him. Which is done.

He'd been driving the car as a convertible for a while and as the only 'herald' badges on these cars are on the roof, which was taken off, he fitted an additional pair of badges on the rear wings so the car didnt lose it's identity in the eyes of the average public!

A few unusual things I noticed in this car are- firstly the front bumper, which seems of the later mk1 (with the 'vent' in middle and the flat protrusion for the numberplate, which the early Heralds' bumper did not have) and more surprisingly the trim around the tail-fins, which was common to the UK Heralds but never came on the Indian-market ones, except for the later mk2 and mk3 Heralds!

Also this being an early Herald again, has the 'Standard' badge on the bootlid at a slant beside the number as on 64-65 Heralds (like mine) when it should've come on the top centre, just above the numberplate light.

These do make this particular car unique. Anyways, she'll look her best I'm sure, once restored.

















In addition, I was emailed later some older pics. of the car when it was briefly made a convertible. The tonneau covering/protecting the interior looks like a neat job.

[ruthvikmagal]

Is that a Jaeger speedo unit?
And I was just a phone call away. I wouldn't have minded accompanying you to to the xerox shop..er, to see the Herald

[thebulletboy]

I've known the owner of this car for many years now (We were neighbours some years ago) and this car has always been a very well-loved and cared-for vehicle.

Incidentally it was the owner of this car who introduced me to team-bhp some years ago! He is an ardent car enthusiast and an absolute delight to talk to, his favourite topic being, of course, his vehicles! I remember how upset he was when some bits of the car went missing a few months ago.

Originally Posted by Stanher

Being an early Herald, it'd originally come with the peaked dual-bulb front parking lights (impossible to find in India now- I've got 2 lenses and 1 whole light through ebay UK.)

You would be surprised at the kind of parts you can still find! Here are photos of some original Herald parts I have collected over the past few years on my trips (both India and abroad). Some of these (including the Lucas England lenses) will soon find their way to this very vehicle over the next few weeks! i.e just as soon as I get off my lazy behind and drop off the parts! :-)

[Stanher]

Originally Posted by ruthvikmagal

Is that a Jaeger speedo unit?
And I was just a phone call away. I wouldn't have minded accompanying you to to the xerox shop..er, to see the Herald

Yup these were actually Smiths (that made guages for most British cars back then) but I was told by Karl that Jaeger was a licencee of Smiths (or the other way round)

I got the xerox done here though. It was rather by chance that I got to meet him as he was out that day and returned only in the evening. I had only an hour and had to get ready to leave after that.

Originally Posted by thebulletboy

I've known the owner of this car for many years now (We were neighbours some years ago) and this car has always been a very well-loved and cared-for vehicle.

Indeed, it is; that is evident. And yes, he is indeed knowledgeable about Heralds, he wished as much as I did that day, that I only had more time to talk with him. He also told me of one of his relatives who owned the 7th Herald that was assembled at Standard Motors, Madras. twas a Black one with the bonnet handle. IIRC, he mentioned the person who had it was an IAF Officer who kept getting transferred frequently so the car was re-registered atleast 5-6 times in different places.

You would be surprised at the kind of parts you can still find! Here are photos of some original Herald parts I have collected over the past few years on my trips (both India and abroad). Some of these (including the Lucas England lenses) will soon find their way to this very vehicle over the next few weeks! i.e just as soon as I get off my lazy behind and drop off the parts! :-)

Wow, that is quite a treasure-trove of parts you have there- almost as big as mine!
Do you mind sharing the story behind these? ie. do/did you own a Herald as well?

The front parking light lenses are the correct ones for the car! Do you have the whole assemblies or only the lenses btw?

The tail-light lenses are all not the correct ones for Indian Heralds though- they were a later variant made for the UK Heralds. The reflectors for these are quite different. The Indian Heralds all had the Lucas L636 (although the local ones never had this marked on them) with a diffuser each inside both the sections for the indicator and brake light (pics. attached), which the ones in your photo dont have. The design pattern too is different as you can see.

Good that you have the pieces for the roof rear trim- I had offered him some that I have but looks like he will now get them far more easily through someone in his own city!