TriumphRally.org - Triumph Rally

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.

New Car?

Despite the bad news, we have no intention of giving up and shall be going to Mongolia in July - there is no question of that!

We are ever hopeful that Tallulah will be found, and in good condition. But at this stage in the day, as I am sure you’ll understand, contingency plans must come into play and surprisingly, It looks like we may have already found another car to go in; another Triumph from the 70’s of course, but sadly not a Herald. We came to love Tallulah and this other car will be no replacement.

Updates will be provided soon; a lot is in the air still and understandably we can’t commit to anything until we are sure.

Our Triumph Herald has been STOLEN!

When we went out to go shopping this evening we noticed to our disbelief that Tallulah was missing from her spot in the car park. After confirming with the landlord and care taker of the property that they had not removed it, we came to realise that she must have been stolen.

Who on earth would steal a £281 classic car? It wasn’t even in a roadworthy condition. We hadn’t even thought about insuring it because we didn’t think anybody would be able to steal it, let alone want to steal it. There is no way they could have driven it out of there, the fuel tank was disconnected, the rear had been taken off, if anyone had seen this car on the road they would have surely called the police straight away. If anyone were to steal it, they must have had a van or a trailer. We just can’t believe anyone would go through so much trouble for a car which monetary value is so low.

However, this lovely characteristic car certainly had a lot of value to us. And we want her back. I just hope this isn’t someone’s sick idea of a April Fools joke. Or maybe not, at least then there would be hope of getting her back.

Challenges Ahead

We watched “the Long Way Round” yesterday and we realised that we have a lot to do before the rally. So far we have:

• Bought a car (back in November, and drove it from Bristol to Coventry)
• Taken the car apart (to inspect the state of it and convert it to a saloon)

Which leaves us with a very sad looking front of a car.

Charity:

Together we have managed to raise over £200 for charity, but we want to raise over £2000! On the 10th of February we went to the Triumph Show and Spares Day near Coventry. We had a nice big stand with two tables and put up posters and a huge banner. This is what happened:

• We talked to a lot of people
• A lot of people told us we were crazy
• We talked to a couple of journalists
• We had loads of fun walking around and looking at some awesome Triumphs
• We raised aprox. £3

Although we didn’t raise much money, we did have an good time, especially talking to the guys doing the Triumph Trans American Charity drive. However, we have a lot of money to raise before July and I’ve got a full time job, Chris C and Chris R have got their final university exams - so fundrasing will be more difficult than we thought!

On a positive note we have had a lot of publicity, in the Coventry Telegraph, The Coventry Observer, we’ve been on the radio, the awesome people behind OLPC News (thats One Laptop Per Child) wrote a blog entry about us… but none of this publicity has seemed to generate any donations.

If you’d like to donate to our charities, please visit our Justgiving page. Thank you!

Kit Preparations:

We still have not done any real preparations for the trip. We need vaccinations, we need visas… Getting a Russian visa will be the worst, and especially for me as I have to get it from the Russian Consulate in Norway. Who, can you believe it, do not accept applications by post. And I can’t really afford traveling to Norway just to get the visa, nor will I have any time off to do it, I’m already using all of my holiday allowance on the drive to Mongolia. Sigh.

If you think you might have some kit to spare, please see the KIT NEEDED page. We need all sorts of stuff. Parts for the car, camping equipment, medical kit… Everything will be very much appreciated!

P.S. And of course there is the issue of me not actually having a driver’s license. The media keeps brining that up for some reason. But I’m learning. I’ve had 6 two hour lessons so far, with BSM. Last time I learnt to do a sweepy reverse to the left. And my theory test is coming up soon, so wish me good luck for that! Alright, back to work…

Not Yet a Triumph!

In July 2008 we will be driving from Coventry to Mongolia in the Mongolia Rally. That’s 10,000 miles - across 18 countries, 3 mountain ranges and along some of the world’s worst roads and it should raise a bucketload for charity!

You can read all about us using the links at the top of the page. On the right you can learn about the charities and by donating you will help us reach our goal of raising £1000 for each charity. All the money donated goes straight to our chosen charities and will be very appreciated.

This is our noble steed (a 1970 Triumph Herald 13/60):

Latest News (6/2/08):
We have a stand at the Triumph Show & Spares Day on the 10th of February, where we shall be raising money for our charities. See you there!