Restoration of a Triumph from Britain - Greater Cincinnati Automobile Dealers Association
« Blog Home

Restoration of a Triumph from Britain

A.J. Baime of the Wall Street Journal has told the story of Tim Olson, a retired school teacher from Illinois who purchased and restored a 1960 Triumph Herald.  He bought it off of Craigslist in 2012 for $4,000 and then began a full restoration.  He didn’t know much about the car’s history when he first started the restoration; it was when he began taking it apart that he learned more about it. 

Because the car was only made for a short period of time, the parts were hard to find.  However, with the help of the internet, Olson was able to find parts oversees in New Zealand, Australia, and Norway.  Olson later found that the car originally came off of an assembly line in Britain, on April 2, 1960, and was then sent to the Chicago area.  The mystery of his car’s history was unfolding as more time went by.  It all came together when Olson took the car to a nearby town for a car show, and a stranger recognized it from his childhood.  He told Olson stories of the car – about his time spent with it on family trips, and was later able to show photographs of himself at 6 years-old with the car!  Pretty neat coincidence, huh?

Olson says the full restoration of his 1960 Triumph Herald took 2 years, and that it was hard!  While he says he’s glad he did it, he also admits that he’d never do it again.  Interesting way of putting it.  Guess there’s something for everyone!

triumph1 triumph3 triumph4 triumph5