ALTHOUGH the brand in now just a memory, Triumph was a big player in the 1960s and came up with some amazing designs. The company's range in the early years of the decade flagged up a need for a small saloon to gradually take over from the ageing but imaginative Herald which was beginning to show its weaknesses - in particular the lack of a four-door derivative. So it was all hands to the design pumps at the then Leyland-owned firm. The result was a neat and very modern car named the 1300 which was a complete departure from the Herald, looking more like a smaller version of the flagship 2000 saloon. Made at the company's Coventry factory from 1965 it was introduced at that year's London Motor Show and its Michelotti penned lines went down a bundle with Triumph fans who had been waiting for a roomy compact car to drive towards the 1970s. And the 1300 was quite special. It was the company's first front-wheel-drive saloon and was immediately pitched against the Austin 1100 series of cars which had been designed by BMC. But whereas the BMC design employed a transverse engine, the Triumph car featured the engine in a front-to-rear configuration placed over the gearbox. This engine was the same 1,296cc unit as used in the Triumph Herald 13/60. But in fact it was much older, seeing service in its original 803cc form in the 1953 Standard Eight. So this quite simple conventional overhead valve four-cylinder unit was the power behind one of Triumph's biggest market drives for years. Features included a four-speed all-synchromesh gearbox and a very high specification. Publicity material for the 1968 model boasted silent transmission, full-flow heating and ventilation, a driver's seat that adjusts both vertically and axially, an eight-light warning system in a 'pie-chart ' array on the dash, fold-away window winders and even a light in the boot. The interior was well-appointed with full instrumentation in a wooden dashboard, thick carpeting, wooden door cappings, and seats with ventilated PVC upholstery. Not bad for £868. Capable of a whispering 70mph with comfort for four the 1300 was set to go places. I remember this car as a lively drive with a handy 31ft turning circle and a very useful boot with 11cu ft capacity. Its drawback was a rather clunky gearchange. The year 1968 saw the range expand with the addition of a TC (Twin Carburettor) version costing £909 and capable of 90mph. For the extra few pounds this car was a real sizzler and a road test actually upped the official top speed to 93mph. It proved that the 1300 was ripe for further development from the word go and in August 1970 it was restyled and re-engined to become the Triumph 1500 with an engine of 1493cc. But this was only good in parts because the engine may have had more torque but it was actually less powerful and more thirsty. Sales failed to achieve anything like the sales figures of the BMC small front-wheel-drive cars and the manufacturer must have been heartily disappointed because in the early 70s the 1300 was quietly re-configured to rear-wheel-drive and then called the Toledo. This revision went on to provide Triumph with a popular small car until the end of larger-engined Dolomite production in 1980. I would not brand the 1300 a failure because it not only formed the foundation for a revised and useful model range for years, but made such amazing strides in small car luxury and refinement. A total of 113,008 examples of the basic 1300 were built and there still some well-preserved ones attracting interest at classic car shows because of the model's highly individual take on 1960s modernity. | 
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