A daunting first drive.

After buying the Triumph Herald 1200 on ebay, a fortnight ago on the 26th of September, it was time to drive up to nottingham (a good three-hour drive) to collect her (10th October). Despite a well needed loo break the journey was relatively uneventful. We introduced ourselves to the previous owner and went through the paperwork, by this time i was anxious (and quite rightly, there were alot of firsts to happen today; first time driving a car in 9 months, first time without an instructor, first time in nottingham, first time in the Herald, first time on a motorway and lastly first time calling the recovery service!!) but ready to get going.

After an embarrassing and shakey start, which was made clear by the fear on my dad's face, who by this time had declared his need for a change of clothing, we had made progress and had made it to my auntys house on the outskirts of nottingham. We then proceeded to have lunch, or rather for my father to get drunk and ease the pain of the further 3 hours of the journey home!

On leaving the lunch venue, we cruised in the sunshine along some lovely country lanes, by this time i was much more in control of the Herald, after getting used to it the hour before. Two miles later we were greeted by an unwelcome smell of burning rubber. This smell soon disappeared (whether this was a good thing or not we were unsure, but the main thing was that the engine was still running and we were still moving!

For the next 3 hours or so the journey was uneventful, much to our surprise, but then we hit the M20 and everything went down hill (however the stretch of M20 was infact up hill! Perhaps the cause of our problem?), the speedometer drastically decreased from 60 to 50 to 40 within a matter of seconds, I think by this time we were sure that we would make it home, afterall we can't have been far off 20 miles from home. After a nice 20 minute break on the embankment of the M20 and a suspected gearbox failure, our taxi home had arrived (or rather a herald-sized taxi with a winch and a very hospitable cab!) The driver himself was a keen classic car owner and was very sympathetic towards us, which made the last 20 miles home a warm and communicative half-hour (if abit ungratified!)

After a very enjoyable yet disappointing day, We were all pleased to be home (including the herald) and a beer and pizza was the only way to celebrate surviving such an adventure. The herald now resting in the garage is awaiting a new gearbox and some TLC.