Roll over to preview

Without the gift of clairvoyance, it can be rather difficult to plan ahead without making the occasional mistake. Sometimes, however, those mistakes can turn out to be blessings in disguise. Let me explain...Last issue I reported on the desire to have a Triumph with more power than my 1200 Herald in which to tackle next year’s Historic Counties Run, so I bought myself an Acclaim. This month I sampled Mike Barrett’s Herald 13/60 (p34) that has been fitted with a 1500 engine and overdrive gearbox, and decided it was a cracking combination that kept the changes discrete, but made the car much more comfortable for long distance travel. By a strange coincidence, a chance conversation with David Aspinall at Anglian Triumph a few days later revealed that a similar drivetrain will shortly be available from a Spitfire owner who is convertinghis car to six cylinder power. So I have agreed to buy it, making the Acclaim technically redundant. The only problem is that I love it – find out why in the feature on p78. And since it has just sailed through its MoT and costs peanuts to run, I think I shall keep it for a while longer. And in a final twist to this saga, there is my 1946 Standard Eight Tourer project. The engine in this is almost beyond economic repair, but I will soon have an 1147cc Herald engine and ’box spare that I know are good. What do you think I should do?