It was a rather rainy afternoon on February 1st, 1993 when a much younger me, a high school senior aged 17, was driving home from school in Hamilton, NJ. No more than 50 feet from school grounds, I made a rookie driver mistake and turned left in front of oncoming traffic that I couldn’t fully see due to a truck turning left in the opposite direction. In my defense the car that hit me was speeding around a curve, but still it never should have happened and it was my fault. The result was a totaled 1981 Ford Granada. It was a 12 year old poop brown grandma’s special with 16,000 miles, a like new interior, A/C, and power everything. What a waste. But was it?

What began as bonehead move started a love affair with Little British Sports cars (LBCs) that has lasted my whole life. My replacement car, a 1971 MGB, began to teach me a Maker's Mindset: Diagnostics, Fearless Practical Problem Solving, Grit, and Determination. It gave me a sense I could tackle anything. Along the way I have met amazing people, collaborated on challenging projects both in-person and virtually, and made many new friends to learn and grow with.

So, Under the Bonnet is here as a personal journal of the different work I do to my LBCs and other projects that strike my fancy.  It also allows me a medium to store images and videos for my own use (I often forget when, how, and why I did things years previously), to share with others within my local Triumph club (the New Jersey Triumph Association), and on sites I visit. Nothing found within these pages is a suggestion or endorsement for any action on any of your own projects or purchases. It is just a journal of how I got the job done on mine.

~Allan