> Yes, but once you've had a Triumph you'll never go back ...
True confessions of a mixed up girl ...
Whilst I was rebuilding the TR3 I bought a '68 BGT to use as a commute
car. I was commuting about 45 mi each way over a mountain range and not
only was I needing to refuel the Land Rover every other day (a little
over one and a half trips to work with an 11 gallon tank), traffic was
treating me as a stationary object uphill going past at about twice my
best speed.
So there I was commuting in an MG but spending all my free time and then
some trying to figure out how all those parts fit together and what the
heck was a trunnion anyway?
With 60 series tyres on alloy knock off rims and sway bars front & rear
it didn't handle badly. It could fit a bale of hay in the back with the
hatch up and was the driest car in a rain storm that I owned.
But alas it just didn't quite seem to fit in. As the TR3 neared
startup, I found myself using the knock off hammer several times a week
to persuade the electric fuel pump to pump. A replacement developed the
same reluctance after a few months. In between I tried appeasing the MG
god by installing a set of new gross jets only to have the jet on the
rear carb stick open at startup at random intervals. As I found myself
alternately using the knock off hammer on the rear carb and on the fuel
pump I started to perceive that the MG god was not smiling upon me.
Unless it was a malicious grin as I found myself on the way to work
wearing a dress and down on all fours trying to reach under the body
with the knock off hammer.
The bonnet latch failed once on the freeway and wrapped the bonnet over
the windscreen. I safely stopped the vehicle and rebent the bonnet as
best I could. After unsuccessfully looking around for anything to tie
the bonnet down I removed my pantyhose and used it to tie the bonnet down.
Once the TR3 started awakening from the slumber I sent the BGT off to
the penal colony down under. It went into the hands of a retired
university professor near Brisbane who wanted to try his hand at making
wine and British car restoration.
I knew from the first tentative catches of the engine that my TR3A cared
for me much more than the BGT did. I'm sure it was just a case of
jealousy with the BGT knowing my heart was really with the TR and the
Land Rover. It just knew it was the least of the three and that I knew
it as well.
There has been much less strife in my life since I sent the MG away. The
TR and Land Rover never argue or get jealous of one another. I think it
is because their driving missions are very different and they are not
competing for my driving time. My 3 prowls the mountain roads much more
effectively then the B ever did.
TeriAnn
1960 Land Rover Dormobile, owned since 1978
1961 Triumph TR3A, owned since 1986 (The new car)
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