Last issue I reported how the project Vanden Plas was about to be handed over as finished, when the steering became a bit vague and a rear wheel bearing collapsed. Having sorted both of those issues, I was once again ready to hand over the keys to the lucky people at Head Office, but decided that first I should take it on one last extended proving run. This was to be a 120 mile round trip to Cambridge, which I felt should be more than enough for me to sign the car off as finished and hand it over with a clear conscience.
I must admit that until this point, I quite liked the Vanden Plas. I’ve always been unreasonably fond of the Allegro on which it is based, staunchly defending it against the usual jibes and criticisms. It seems that this affection must be mutual, because try as a I might I cannot seem to dislodge this particular example from my garage. What happened this time was that I was around 30 miles into my journey and cruising down the A1M at a steady 60mph with everything feeling smooth and fine, when I made the foolish mistake of thinking to myself what a pleasure it was. Suddenly I lost all drive to the wheels. There was no warning noise, no vibration or judder, I just became aware that I was losing speed and that stepping harder on the accelerator caused the engine revs to rise, but made no difference to my forward
