Urchin's Weblog

Over the winter months, I've tried to ease up on the daily use of the TR-7. Even though I mounted snow tires for winter, I've driven it only on the weekends for short distances on the island. Then the "other car," a '66 Land Rover, broke a rear axle shaft.

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Being a Land Rover, the floating axle shaft broke 120 miles from home. Also being a Land Rover, putting the car into 4 wheel drive, or 3 wheel drive in this case, meant that it drove home without incident. My work schedule meant that I had to leave it for a Land Rover shop to replace the axle and put the TR-7 Spider into daily service.

So I enjoyed two weeks of daily driving in the Spider, including some village doddling, several two lane empty road trips of a few hundred miles total, and one 100 mile highway jaunt. Of course, the car ran perfectly and I drove it joyously. During this stint it crossed 99,000 miles on the odometer and returned 26 mpg in mixed driving. It kept me warm in very cold weather but we had no snow during that period - that means no more salt on the roads, either.

The driving experience couldn't be more different than my two Series Land Rovers, both from 1966. They're heavy to drive with huge steering wheels requiring a lot of effort. The engines have great torque at low revs but at only 60+ horsepower and a four-speed, have trouble moving the brick like car at any speed. I've very fortunate to have three classic British cars to choose from for everyday use, though maybe that's why I've remained single, too . Over the years, a lot of "significant others" have suggested that we take "their car" which signals the impending demise of the relationship

So my question to myself is where will I be when it crosses 100,000 miles. I've been very lucky in that the head has not been off, the compression feels good in terms of engine power, the water pump operates silently, and the transmission has only recently started to "graunch" a bit if I don't double clutch into third. I'd love to believe that it has a long life ahead of it. Let's keep driving!

Vinalhaven Island, Maine
USA