I have just come in doors after saying goodbye, finally, to K801TKH.
It has thoroughly died, after it's last magnificent outing, up the A1, late on Sunday night.
Nearing Catterick, I had a high speed blow-out, sending me off the road in a precarious position. When the RAC man finally arrived, he was barely able to jack the car up to change the wheel because the chassis was bending. Finally, he managed it, after much creaking and groaning.
I sped off - well, I eased away and up to 40mph. All was well. I risked 60mph. I didn't risk any more.
When I saw the sign for the Chester-le-Street turn off ahead of me, I knew I was all but home safe.
Then the exhaust half fell off.
The next 10 miles were painfully slow, with sparks flying off the car, right next to the petrol tank. I knew, when I crawled into Stanley that night, that this was the swansong of K801TKH.
The picture you see here, is the sad beast, minutes before being driven away by Andy, the guy who is saving the day for me with a new car. He will raid a few parts off the old one, and bring them to my new beast. More of that later.
Events march on...
Oh, is that a Ford Escort? I'm sorry. Not one of Detroit's finest, but gets one to places.
Posted by: tom | September 09, 2005 at 04:01 AM
How we mourn the passing of our beloved cars! I have just recovered from losing Viv, my first ever car, a bright yellow Vauxhall Viva. Well, she was yellow until she was stolen and used for a robbery on a jeweller's, heavily disguised with white gloss paint, bless her.
Posted by: Cal | September 11, 2005 at 03:28 PM
Tom: No, not an Escort. It's a Granada Scorpio. I think they do radically different model for over here. What you call a Sierra is way different.
American needs, it would appear, are completely different to UK needs. As far as I can tell, this amounts to us getting smaller vehicles with far less luxury features, for substantially more money.
Great.
Posted by: AndyC | September 13, 2005 at 09:02 AM