I bought the newspaper on 13 Feb' and right enough the full report was there!
Further to my earlier description, the webasto folding fabric sunroof is red
in colour and the car is also fitted with a pair of wacking great big foglamps
up front.
The registration of the car is OVJ 980G which indicates that it was originally
registered in the County of Herefordshire (VJ) between 1 August 1968 and 31
July 1969.
A couple of photos on the front page of the motoring section, in colour, show
two unfortunate fellows physically pushing the little car around a snow and
ice covered hairpin bend, (I think they are called something else in the USA
?), but you can even see the rear wheels spinning in the photographs, as they
attempt to find purchase on the ice!
They are other, smaller pictures below, including one with what may be an
Austin-Healey Sprite in much the same difficulties.
The caption says "All hands to the rump: several hours were lost grappling
with snow chains and manhandling the Triumph (and others) out of slipperly
situations."
OK, I reproduce here, some of the more Triumph oriented parts of the story,
just for your interest. BTW, the Daily Telegraph always gives Triumphs good
publicity and is therefore the paper of choice for LBC owners here!
With grateful thanks to Peter Hall, who suffered no end to bring this story to
the presses! This guy is some kind of Triumph LBC hero in my book!
'"Pull over there, where there won't be any interruptions", said Tony. "We're
due out in 35 minutes, and I've got to mark up the maps..."
Parking the Triumph in a quiet corner of the Aire de Beausoleil, a service
station alongside the A8 just short of the Italian border, I turned off the
engine, unbuckled the safety harness and wearily heaved myself out of the hot,
cramped cockpit into the chill evening air. Down on the coast, the lights of
Monte Carlo were beginning to glitter under a darkening orange sky.
Stretching in a vain attempt to relieve the tearing pain in my back and
shoulders, I left Tony to his paperwork, walked over to the shop and put a
couple of coins into a machine that dispensed a small plastic cup half full of
strong coffee. I wandered outside, sat heavily on a low wall with my back to
the sea, and watched as pale highlights slipped away over the curving wings of
Jaguars and Austin Healeys and the dusky mountains above us faded into
blackness. Up there, we would face our final challenge, a 200km blast over the
infamous 1,607-metre (1 mile) Col de Turini. For an exhausted driver it was a
daunting prospect, and not a little scary. The regulations allowed us to
cruise down to the finish in Monte Carlo right now, and many competitors were
doing just that; some were even washing their cars. But Tony and I couldn't
cut and run for a hot bath and a cold beer. We had to tackle this last night
section. We had no choice.
OK, who wants to hear the next bit, unless you think this is a waste of our
bandwith ?
Yes...I thought as much...
L
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