Giovanni Michelotti proved a perfect fit for Triumph in the 1950s and 1960s. His designs were modern, classy and, perhaps most importantly, versatile. Whether it was a coupé, convertible, saloon or, most importantly for our purposes, estate – the Italian could draw it.
The 2000 and Herald/Vitesse were cases in point, examples of which will be gracing Winter Wagons at the Scramble on Sunday 8 January.
An estate version of the original Herald, with single round lamps, was a factory option, unlike some of Triumph’s rivals who preferred to let private coachbuilders do the conversions. The Vitesse, its faster and more aggressively styled Mk2, though, never left Canley in estate form. Which makes the machine on the Winter Wagons lawn a rare beast indeed.
Just a handful remain in existence, from a small run created by Park Royal Vehicles. The West London coachworks had made its name making buses and was absorbed by Leyland in 1962, coincidentally the same year the Vitesse took over from the Herald.
None of which were anywhere near as handsome as the three-door Vitesse wagon.
The end of the 1960s swore in a revitalised and versatile six-cylinder Triumph, and for the first time the Triumph range had a semblance of familial feel. The new nose penned by Michelotti carried from roadster Stag to PI and Mk2 2000 saloon and estate, and, as with the Herald and Vitesse, the redesign added a touch of pugnacity.
Though the Estate was a factory offering, Carbodies did the hard work with both iterations of the 2000. Yet the face-lifted Mk2 estate was simply that: the rear remained the same as the original, softer 2000.
Remarkably Michelotti’s design remained current until 1977, when intra-BL politics put its weight behind the new Rover SD1 and destined Triumph towards the history books.
You’ll find the Mk2 2000 and Vitesse Estate as part of the Winter Wagons display at the Scramble.
