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Not (Even) A Triumph

Well unfortunately the other Triumph mentioned fell through, and there’s a sad realisation that Not Yet a Triumph are not going to be able to go in a Triumph.

As time goes on and we have less and less time to work on the car, the state in which we would need to find a Triumph gets better and better, and more expensive. I asked Karl Dandridge - the guy who so kindly offered to give us workshop space and help in his Triumph workshop, whether he thinks we could find another one at such short notice? I said it needn’t be perfect, or even a herald, just solid; he replied that they weren’t best known for that! And they were getting harder to find. Usually they’ll look much better than they are - something we had already found out the hard way with Tallulah. And we had already spent out what we had for a car - that money has gone, and the only way we can afford to still go is to use the money set aside for fixing up Tallulah.

We know it’s been less than a week since she was stolen, and we would love to find her, but even if we find her in exactly the condition she was in, which is unlikely, we have lost the time we had allocated to work on her - we spent the week visiting scrap heaps and cars and talking to neighbours. We have degrees to finish and full-time jobs, so both time and money are becoming a real issue. The theft could not have come at a more critical time, and the irony is that she would have been safe at Karl’s workshop by now for us to start work on her next week.

So the final contingency plan comes into play now - we had always been offered my brother’s car now he is getting a new one, just in case we couldn’t finish Tallulah in time (the faith our families have in us!). The major advantage to us now is that we could pretty much drive it there tomorrow without any modifications; it’s a ‘93 Vauxhall Cavalier 1.7TD. We’ve had it in the family since new and it’s done (to my recollection) less than 90,000 miles. This model has the Isuzu diesel engine, good for at least 300k miles and even though it’s from the 90’s is still a relatively simple set-up. More space, reclining seats with head-rests and 4 doors all make this a much more attractive option with our sensible hats on. It will have more value in Mongolia too, as the spares for a very common Japanese engine will be no doubt easier and far cheaper to find than a Triumph, and it only has no value in this country because so many of them are sill around and it’s not the newest model.

All-in-all a tough decision, but we decided on the challenge before the car, and as much as we want to drive a Triumph on this once-in-a-lifetime journey, there will be other opportunities to prove the reliability and worth of older cars.