I'd said:
> >>John, I think the "flecked" dashboard was only found on the very earliest
> >>(maybe 1959 only) Heralds. I'm not sure if the change in finish coincided
> >>with the "realignment" of the switches and knobs, but by 1960 the dash was
> >>more or less just flat/matte/semi-gloss black. (At least those I've seen
> >>here in the States!)
On Wed, 2 Sep 1998, John Gillis wrote:
> > If that is your experience it must be only in the States. The only
> >time I have seen plain black is when a wooden dash is removed and the
> >fibreboard under is a plain colour. All others have always had the fleck.
> >Mike Costigan mentions it in his book and again makes no reference to a
> >plain version, even through the change in styles.
And Bill Kelly, original owner of his car, concurs with your assessment.
Nothing at all against Mike Costigan, whose knowledge is vast and whose
book is wonderful, but that book (like so many other Triumph tomes)
doesn't focus at all on variants destined for other than the home market
or produced outside Coventry. There is always the possibility that there
were "variations on a theme" for other markets that are not covered in
his otherwise excellent book.
But it would not surprise me to learn that the relatively few intact
original early dashes I've encountered over the years had previously been
repainted in attempts to preserve them. I do know that was true with one
car I parted out; there was some flat-black overspray around the
windscreen posts inside the car (red car, btw, so the black was pretty
obvious). And another early car I spotted just this past weekend had an
almost semi-gloss black dash. It, too, was an obvious repaint. But it
beats the more usual alternative: cracked, rotted or almost completely
disintegrated (which describes the dash in my Coupe' and probably
described the dash in my convertible before it was replaced eons ago with
poorly and hastily cut plywood!).
As for reproducing the finish, I wonder if it could be all that difficult
nowadays. There are all sorts of "spatter" finish and other texture-finish
paints on the market. Surely experimentation with some of these could
duplicate whatever this finish really is (I'd love to actually, personally
SEE an example of this someday :-) ).
Meanwhile, I happily stand corrected! Again, that is what makes these
lists so wonderful; there is such a wealth of information and experience
out there.
--Andy
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* Andrew Mace, President and *
* 10/Herald/Vitesse (Sports 6) Consultant *
* Vintage Triumph Register <www.vtr.org> *
* amace@unix2.nysed.gov *
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