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The 18th June was possibly the hottest day of the summer, and after 20 miles in a black car, we really felt it! Phyllis performed faultlessly, however, and can be seen in the customary rally position in the above photo. The bonnet is raised for two reasons; firstly, to enter the show, as some of you may already know, and also to cool off!

The rally, although small, was organised very well (even down to the sunshine!) and the whole day was enjoyed by all. In short, it was a very successful outing for the Malvern Branch. Dear Phyllis didn't win any prizes, but then again, there were plenty of others who didn't win, too, so she shouldn't feel too bad about that! Personally, I think the Brasso Brigade did quite well out of the judging, although I didn�t notice any car transporters...

Our problems arose on the way home, as Phyllis started to splutter and lose what little power she has. Suddenly there would be a surge of power, and then just as quickly it would disappear. Not a good thing on the dual-carriageway with three-up!

About half a mile from home, she decided that enough was enough, and she spluttered to a halt in a side road. I tried to resuscitate her, but to no avail. The poor girl had lost the will to get up the hill. Luckily, my Grandfather lives on the said road, so it seemed that all was not lost.

We pushed her to the nearest safe haven, my Grandfather's garage, where she sat for two hours, while I walked home. It didn't take me the whole two hours to walk home, though! Give me some chance to have a cuppa!

It was after two hours that the telephone rang, with my Grandfather on the end of it. In the background there could be heard the gentle chugging of a rather woozy Minor. It turned out that having sat quiet for a bit, she had recovered enough to come home! The next morning, the recovery operation began in earnest. The car was reclaimed from the garage and deposited on the drive at home. Rags, and spanners, and all sorts of paraphernalia were taken out, and we set about looking for the problem.

The plastic vacuum pipe had (somehow) elongated in the heat, and fallen onto the hot exhaust manifold. Although the pipe was melted through, it shouldn't have caused such a problem, as many people writing to the Morris Minor Owner's Club Message Board told me.

We left the engine running for a little while, and then noticed that the fuel pump was getting very hot! After further investigation, it was revealed that it was sparking on only one point. The points were cleaned with a corner of The Daily Mail (best thing for it, in my view - too much doom and gloom, and no Minors!), and so far, Phyllis was plainly much happier!

[ I�m sure you�ll be interested (and a little sad, I hope) to note that the whole unpleasant experience repeated itself six months later and I have since had to invest in a genuine Lucas fuel pump. Funny that it did it again on the very same dual carriageway... Anyway, the �solid clunking� of the new pump is much more reassuring than the gentle clatter of what was, I gather, a pattern part, so I think that I was lucky to get the extra 6 months grace out of it. ]

Anyway, back to the past tense...

As for the plastic pipe, once burned - twice shy, I say, so I replaced it with a metal one from an MG Midget. I would have used a Minor one, but all the stockists in the area had only got the plastic push-on variety. Thankfully there is an MG parts specialist only round the corner! Phew!

Even though Phyllis managed to break down on her first outing, I still think it was a great day out. I might even try again next year. I'd like to be able to get a few more rallies in than this year - the prospect of A-Level revision put me off the idea of going out for about three months! That, of course, is all behind me now, and I just have teaching practice to look forward to! Oh yes, and paperwork, lots of paperwork! Who say�s I�m only going to work 9-3:30?!

Of course, you know the real reason why the poor old girl gave up, don't you? You see, while dear Phyllis was parked with all the other gleaming examples; where was I and the rest of my group? Yes, that's right! In the orchard, under the shade of the trees. I reckon the old girl got lonely as well as rather hot.

A wise man once said, �you are never so alone as you are in a crowd�! Here endeth the first philosophy lesson.