Bristol 410 RPM

[Geoff Kingston]

My 411 rev counter over reads because it is the wrong type for the type of electronic ignition system fitted so that could be one possibility.
Two thoughts that would get me looking at the transmission, with the car parked in neutral with the engine running accelerate gently up to 5000 rpm., the accelerator should be near the floor.
If when you are driving at 5000 rpm and the pedal is in the same position I would say it is almost certain to be a gearbox problem, if you are sure it is not stuck in second because you say you can manually change down then it must be slipping, I am surprised it is not hot enough for you to smell if that is the case but if you check the transmission dipstick and the fluid is very dark, has a burnt smell to it and feels a bit gritty then you touch it you almost certainly have a band problem in the transmission.
I am not sure what happens when the torque converter fails as that has never happened to me but we have had a lot of problems recently with an American Ford gearbox which the specialist is now convinced is related to the valve body, it has so far destroyed two sets of top gear clutches and bands. The Chrysler gearbox is much better, more robust and I am told a lot easier to rebuild if it does go wrong.
If it is a gearbox problem I would strongly advise changing the torque converter at the same time and flushing the oil cooler or better still fitting a new independent oil cooler then there is no risk of residues of contaminated fluid causing more problems.

[PEU186F]

One coasts into a lay by (in our case on the A34 with the traffic thundering past), an enormous Italian lorry parks up behind you, the driver gets out on the near side, swings a shower head out of the side, strips off completely and enjoys his shower. My wife was entranced.

One presumes a second shower head on the other side for use on the continent

Now for the technical bit. In our case all that happened was that the front end was just disconnected from the back end, no drama but no drive either. I am told however that there is normally lots of noise but no drive.