I know that regions of the UK have received heavy snowfall this year; that's the common occurrence here in New England. Of course, when our wedges were new, winter driving was not only common but expected - you bought your sports car anticipating year round use
.
For two winters after purchasing my Spider, circumstance forced me to buy snow tires and use it as my winter vehicle. It handled winter conditions, snowy roads and cold starts brilliantly. Although it had lasted through 25 winters already, it took only two winters of driving [on snow covered and salt-coated roads] for the sills [and other parts] to start rusting away. New sills were welded in a few years ago and I've tried to avoid driving it in the salt since then.
Recently, though, work commitments have forced me to leave this island on occasion and travel onto the mainland. My '66 Land Rover can certainly make the trips, but it's a noisy and chilly vehicle for highway use.
So for my last trip, the TR-7 boarded the ferry and gave me 4 hours and a couple of hundred miles of pleasurable driving to Portland, Maine. It took me an hour to dig it out of its icy cage and snowbank, but once underway with new snow tires, it handled the drive as well as ever.
You can forget the pleasures of living in your wedge if you have to wait two-three seasons to drive it. This car is brilliant for a classic sports car: firm and direct enough to give you the requisite feel of the road, but with a heating/ventilation system to keep your body warm and face cool for a long drive. The car is a joy to see from the inside or the outside!
I'll get it to a car wash to wash off the inevitable salt when I return to the mainland this weekend. It reminds me that we're only a few months away from spring!
Jeff
Jeffrey Aronson
P.O. Box 90
Vinalhaven, ME 04863
USA
'80 TR-7 Spider
'66 Land Rover Series II-A [2]
'66 Corvair Monza
www.landroverwriter.com
