I recently attended a gathering of friends made through the Morris Minor Owners’ Club and, as always, we made a point of travelling in a classic car – in this case, my friend’s 1969 four-door Morris Minor saloon. It is a daily driver that’s used to covering thousands of miles a year – this time involving a rainy journey from my home in West Yorkshire to Coventry, and then onwards to Worthing. However, a mere eight miles into it, while humming along happily on the motorway, a worrying engine misfire presented itself. Worsening at an alarming rate, it turned into an almighty backfire and, before we could plan a stop, the car came juddering to a halt. The situation we found ourselves in was horrendous; it was dark, rain was…
