Got to do something this Christmas Day that (sadly) I've not done since 1969:
drive a Triumph on Christmas Day! I realize that's no big deal to many of
you, but here in upstate New York's snow and road salt belt, that's not
something
done often around here with any collectible car.
I'd almost pressed the Herald into service last night, after discovering a
flat tire on the winter Honda Civic. But I ended up changing the tire instead.
Too much fog and rain, and too little defroster capacity in the Herald.
Earlier this afternoon, I went out and started the Herald again and went for
a quick ten-mile trip around the area. It's only been about two months since I
last drove the Herald, but I'd already forgotten how much more fun it is to
drive that as opposed to a Civic CX Hatchback. The Honda is very capable and
satisfactory transportation, and it's difficult to aruge with fuel economy
ranging anywhere from 38-45 mpg (slightly better than the Herald's 30-35 mpg),
but
it just doesn't have the same "spirit" as that little white Herald sled and
its 40 tiny but spirited horses propelling it. ;-)
Oh, and that last time in 1969? That was in a Herald as well. Mom, Dad, Sis
and I took Dad's Herald to the Midnight Service on Christmas Eve, in the
beginnings of what ended up being about a 26" snowfall. Somehow, that
wonderful
little convertible made it almost all the way home. We turned off the "main"
road
onto our street, whereupon the car immediately buried itself in well over a
foot of unplowed snow! We walked the .2 miles the rest of the way home, then
returned sometime after noon on Christmas Day to try to retrieve the car. By
that
time, we'd had pretty much the full 26" of snow, and it was pretty tough even
finding the car in the snowbank. But we found it, dug it out and managed to
get it home!
That car always looked pretty funny with original 5.20 x 13 tires in the
front and "huge" 6.00 x 13 Armstrong Norseman snow tires in the back -- gave a
nice hot rod-style "rake" to the car -- but it was surprisingly good in most
winter conditions.
Last night and today were much easier on my latest Herald, though. We've had
about 4 ft. of snow already this December, but this week's warmer temperatures
and yesterday's 2-3" of RAIN took care of almost all of it. And the roads are
now mostly free of salt residue.
Have a Merrry one, everybody!
--Andy Mace
*Mrs Irrelevant: Oh, is it a jet?
*Man: Well, no ... It's not so much of a jet, it's more your, er,
Triumph Herald engine with wings.
-- Cut-price Airlines Sketch, Monty Python's Flying Circus (22)
Check out the North American Triumph Sports 6 (Vitesse) and Herald Database!
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