On Heralds in the mid- to late-1960s (and perhaps Spitfires and other small
Triumphs as well), spare sets of keys were taped to the bottom of the
windscreen washer reservoir. A friend and I found them first on my Dad's
1964 Herald during summer 1968 when he and I decided we could repaint the
car and fix some of the damage from a front-end crash the previous fall.
(That's another story in itself -- I was 15 at the time, and neither of
us knew much about bodywork and paint.)
In later years, I found sets of keys for several different Triumphs in
that same location.
I also remember seeing new Austin Americas on the local dealer's lot, and
I was surprised to find the spare keys screwed to either the firewall or
somewhere on the front inner valence area -- anyway, in PLAIN SIGHT!
Meanwhile, for the first several months of owning my first TR3A in 1972,
I started it using a paper clip or whatever metal was handy to bridge the
two terminals on the extraordinarily accessible key switch. Finally, the PO
came up with the key! It's not likely, though, that anyone else would ever
have been tempted to steal that car, considering its appearance! :-)
--Andy Mace
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