[limey]

A stoopid plastic lever under the gearbox had snapped. The effect was that the gear lever (stick shift?) went from being all muscular and definite about which gear it was in, to resembling a limp dishrag and flapping from side to side all over the place. I could, just, get it into some sort of gear, which is how I drove it about 2 miles from where it happened, onto the ferry and off again on my beloved island home but the clutch objected more and more until it eventually billowed plumes of smoke out from under the bonnet as I attempted to urge the car up a hill away from the ferry terminal, and I had to roll the car back against the flow of traffic into a car park ... I was delighted that I managed to get the car onto the island, but convinced the gearbox was a goner. The AA (roadside assistance) fixed it temporarily with a cable tie and I had the lever replaced today.