1963 Herald 1200 Saloon - Valance query

[th1360]

I recently saw a 1963 Herald 1200 saloon on eBay

One of the photos shows something attached to the front valance that I do not recall seeing before.

It is probably something obvious but was interested to know what it was and its purpose is

[Keith]

Starting handle hole cover. It was an optional extra, I've got some somewhere but never fitted them.


Keith

[herald948]

Odd to see on this late a car...unless the registration doesn't truly tell the age of the car and it is older than the "A" registration would indicate!

[Mark Hammond]

herald948 wrote:

Odd to see on this late a car...unless the registration doesn't truly tell the age of the car and it is older than the "A" registration would indicate!

It might be.  In the 80's the DVLA would allocate A suffixes when a car was purged of its valuable registration plate.  Nowadays they issue a non transferable age related plate.   That car looks like an early 1200 though and a starting handle was offered as a dealer fit accessory according to my 1963 edition of the Owners Repair Manual.

Mark

[herald948]

I do know that the "Mk2" Herald chassis lost the guide hole for the crank that had been atop the front crosstube, and I assume that, at about the same time as that change was made, the nut for the crank pulley on the front of the engine lost the "dog" to engage the crank? (All assuming original chassis and engine, of course!)