The comments addressed in this series of messages about
these stranded folk are just plain sad - and I really feel
for them.
Been stranded - was not amusing.
Question is - do any of the occupants of this poor FFR have
any mechanical skills at all, and were tools and a small
parts kit packed along for just-in-case?
Or Glub forbid does anyone have a AAA card and a cellphone?
No offense intended here - but I wouldn't drive a 25-to-50
year old Rolls Royce that far without a toolbox in the
trunk.
When I bought my first Rover and drove it home (knowing
little about them, nothing about Diesels and being rusty in
my wrenching skills) I had a chase car with a toolkit and
loads of consumables aboard. My chase car had a cellphone
and I'd carefully planned for all the what-ifs, from blown
tyres to blown engines.
There's been a lot of discussion on the list here over the
years about preparation for trips and how to deal with the
ineviable issues. Unless the vehicle in querstion was a
complete rebuild that had had a shakedown period I don't
think I'd have gone more than an hour or two without a
toolkit and spares aboard.
Heck, I know my Rovers better than my tongue knows the roof
of my mouth and I still don't take long trips w/o tools and
spares aboard (and yes, that includes the Range Rover....).
it's not that my cars are unreliable - Glub and you all
know how anal-retentive I am about maintenance. Nor do I
suspect the reliability of my cars over anyone else's - but
old things break sometimes no matter how well maintained.
Witness when I bought my 58 Rover on the other side of the
pond. I was buing a daily driver truck that had seen
regular maintenance since it was revived from a barn - but
I still packed a small toolkit in my luggage and bought
spares over there to take about with me.
Just as well I did - my starter packed up in a motorway
rest stop halfway from Loughborough to Southampton. It
wasn't wiring or the button - the starter itself was shot.
I ended up changing the offending item in my hotel's
parking lot the next morning before putting the truck into
the care of the shippers.
When I picked it up in Baltimore I did the same - and
arranged for a rest stop halfway home for me and the truck.
At the stop it got a full lube check and a tune up, as it
had been running rough. Turned out the plug wires were the
originals...not bad for 40-odd years coated in oil.
It just bemuses me why anyone would consider making a
multi-thousand-mile trip like that with no planning for
difficulty or expectation that there would be sone. On that
long a trip I'd think about a faily maintenance regimen
just to ensure the health of all the participants.
I know I'm not the only one thinking this way - to judge
from the resounding silence when the initial call for help
went out.....
ajr
=====
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