[Tr-gang] Milestones

[Herald948 at aol.com]

Not so much a "milestone" for me, but oddly noteworthy the more I think  
about it.
 
Both my daughter and my son have had more than passing interest in Triumphs 
 over the years (wonder why?), but various circumstances have kept them 
from  actually owning one. My son and I started down that path a couple years 
ago in  beginning to refurbish and assemble too many piles of stuff into what 
still is  destined to be a near-stock 1970 GT6 convertible. ;-)
 
Meanwhile, the 17-year-old, 250k mile Toyota Paseo that served first my  
daughter and then my son started behaving badly in multiple ways. Not 
terminally  so, but enough so that it will require some real dedication of time and 
bits. So  it will remain in our hands as a last-ditch spare, and / or ????
 
Meanwhile, my son needed a car to commute to college. His mother had  
stopped driving a 2000 Saturn LS almost two years ago in favor of a new Jeep  
Patriot. For incomprehensible reasons, it remained in her possession. Ian had  
tried briefly last year to drive it, but the clutch and shifter just didn't  
agree with him (first standard shift he'd driven). Not surprisingly, since 
they  were popular in the UK as driving school cars, my Herald got him 
driving a  standard in short order...and LIKING IT! ;) Meanwhile, the Paseo had 
received  some significant repair, and it was back in service.
 
But the Paseo acted up again big time several weeks ago, and Ian decided it 
 was time to look for something else. Long story short. What did he end up 
with?  An unbelievably clean and solid 1981 Subaru GL four-door. Truly an 
ex-California  car, with the only faults being a missing piece of rub molding 
on the LF fender  and a missing badge on the trunk lid. Amazing, there is an 
NADA book value on  such a car, and this was well below that book value. 
The proverbial steal, and  from a dealer no less, but a surprisingly cool 
dealer that usually sells and  also details cool European stuff.
 
Ian's thrilled with the car in every respect (even though it's an  
automatic), and he's looking forward to keeping it clean and maintained. I did  have 
to laugh when he noted yesterday that "I have to let it warm up a minute;  
can't just drive off from cold!" I'm still used to that with the Herald but  
don't think about it with the modern cars, of course.
 
It took a couple of days for both of us to realize, though, that he's  
driving a SUBARU that's a: arguably "collectible" and b: eligible for HISTORICAL 
 license plates....
 
[I have pictures if anyone is dying of curiosity.]
 
--Andy  Mace

*Mrs Irrelevant: Oh, is it a jet?
*Man: Well, no ... It's not so  much of a jet, it's more your, er, Triumph 
Herald engine with wings.
--  Cut-price Airlines Sketch, Monty Python's Flying Circus (22)

Triumph 10 /  Herald / Sports 6 vehicle consultant, The Vintage Triumph 
Register: _http://www.vtr.org_ (http://www.vtr.org/) 

Check out the North  American Triumph Sports 6 (Vitesse 6) and Triumph 
Herald Database: _http://triumph-herald.us_ (http://triumph-herald.us/)