Long regarded as a treasure in the Triumph community, Herman pioneered the conversion kit for every single classic TR model, allowing owners to take advantage of modern reliable mechanicals and the availability of a proper fifth gear for relaxed highway cruising. Of course, being a Triumph guy and a fellow SCTOA member, the name was familiar, as was the man. Within minutes the comments section to my post was filled with references to the same name – Herman van den Akker. Long a fixture in the Triumph community, Herman’s conversions are considered state of the art in modern transmission kits. Having covered hundreds of thousands of miles in various Triumphs over the years, I was pleasantly surprised by the power output from the relatively stock engine (which was actually a later unit from a TR4) and that the exhaust emitted a raspy growl that made it almost sound like a racecar. The car had just received a fairly comprehensive cosmetic restoration to a good, but not over the top, standard and we were confident that the trip could be completed without too much trouble. That was the plan … Things started out roughly according to plan with an arrival at the seller’s shop at 0630 so that I could leave before the arrival of triple digit temperatures around mid-morning. It started out as many driving adventures have – subject to precious little deliberation but with an ambitious goal to use a British sports car as regular transportation to get from one point to another just like occurred on a regular basis ‘back in the day.’ In this case, the basic plan was to pick up a 1957 Triumph TR3 that we just purchased in Las Vegas and then drive across the desert back to Southern California where the car could replace a pedestrian rental for use during Monterey Car Week.