Its actually a Triumph TR 3 story. College in 1960, very snowy nite,
western Penna., New Years Eve. Had taken a young lady (they were all
young then) quite far from home (she lived at home....big, mean,
uncouth father who detested me) to a road house known for good
entertainment and a lax attitude towards underage drinking. As the
evening wore on, the weather got worse and the state police issued a
bulletin, closed the roads. Staying overnite somewhere was not an
option. I had to get her home. Snow had gotten to about 8", except
where drifted to 5 feet. Came roaring down the mountain, snow surfing
and making good time....30 MPH maybe, intending to have momentum for
the next long upgrade. Out of the gloom appears a police roadblock.
I made a quick decision that I feared her father much more than the PA
State Police, so blew thru the barricade and up the next hill. They
gave chase halfheartedly, but I had such a lead they gave up. The
snow was deeper here and the TR began to slow down as the Michelen Xs
lost traction. I found that I could continue to make minute forward
progress if I just barely spun the wheels. Soon, even that didnt
work. I put the car in third gear and after setting the choke for a
fast idle RPM, got out of the car and pushed while the young lady
attempted to steer from the passenger side. (For some reason she was
by now terrified and refused to get in the drivers seat....she was
also a non driver.) This clever procedure worked well until we came
upon a wind swept dry spot on the road at the top of the hill. You
can imagine the rest.... I tried to catch up but by now was a bit
"winded" and was unable to overtake the rapidly accelerating TR. I
remember shouting sage bits of advice like "turn off the ignition",
etc, but we were no longer in communication. I watched in fascination
as the little red tail lights disappeared down the hill, into the
swirling snow and gloom of night. With trepidation, I followed the
tire tracks in the virgin snow for about a half mile where they
disappeared into a snow drift. Dug out the car and got it back on the
road.....no damage to my nearly new TR 3....she was Ok too, except for
the hysterical screaming. Jeesh. The roads turned out to be better
on this side of the mountain, so the remainder of the ride was slow
and uneventful (except for that constant screaming). Sweating
bullets, I got her to her house around 0400 (this was 1960, boys and
girls; people had been forced to marry for less than that in those
days). Turned out that her parents had gone to a party a mile from
home and as good citizens, had heeded the road closure and had spent
the nite with their hosts......they didnt get home till 0900 that
morning. Even though I had pulled it off so cleverly, she refused to
ever go out with me again....
----- Original Message -----
From <Ajhsys at aol.com>
To: <spridgets@autox.team.net>
Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 10:26 AM
Subject: Re: FW: Hooray. . . . Snowy Midget Stories
> OK, here's mine, but it isn't a Midget story, it's my old Triumph
story.
>
> Back in 1969 (I think) I was coming home from work in light to
moderate
> Philly snow. Maybe two inches on the ground. (2" of snow!) I get
in the
> right lane to turn onto Route 309 expressway and this BIG station
wagon turns
> right from the left lane to do the same. She cuts in front of me
and my 15"
> Michelin X Radials can't stop me in time to keep us apart. The left
corner
> of my front bumper dents the RF door of the wagon a bit. (No damage
to my
> '67 TR4A IRS.)
>
> We both stopped, and this beautiful girl (maybe 17 years old, I was
18 or 19
> at the time) gets out and she is really shaken up. Her first
accident. I am
> just as cool as James Bond...especially after I saw her face! She
said that
> her father was going to kill her. We determined that she was at
fault and I
> had no damage, so there was no need to take it any further. I gave
her my
> personal business card, (I was a photographer at the time) and told
her that
> she should call me if she had any problems. Then she drove out of
my life
> forever...
>
> Shortly after that I married the future Ex Mrs. Hefner. Sorry to
end that on
> a downer, but it's a true story. (Beat that, Larry!) Ah, memories!
>
> Allen Hefner
> SCCA Philly Region Rally Steward
> '77 Midget
> '92 Mitsubishi Expo LRV Sport
>
|