To the North

Just cold and grey

SAAB to .... You guessed it. Six foot uprights won't fit in the Aston.

Still above 10 Degrees

SAAB again - rain predicted so left the Aston in the garage.

Warm Winter Wednesday

December 28th and 11 degrees.

SAAB past 176k on the run back from Germania too. Not even needing the warm seats this winter.

Not quite Spring

Aston re-washed and run around for the crack. Nice run round the usual circuit - and Halfords of course - having located the water feed pipe to the Golf.

Now looking at wood store /bike shed/car port for the front...

Murky start in Germany

Mist in the hills but no snow at all - 400 miles to go.

Dull day in Deutscheland

And the wardens were out too ...

At Chunnel

SAAB Dash

Quick early dash to the office in the drizzle in the SAAB. Need to prepare for a few hundred miles tomorrow.

No Snow forecast - glad I bought the snow chains but not the winter tyres - 11 degrees today.

Golfing in the wet

Seems that the Golf has a few leaks - resulting in wet carpets.

Also went Karting - James won (well he was the best Brazill).

SAAB again

Back in big warm SAAB for first "-1" degree start.

Sunday Golfing - "Four"

Suspension very poor fully loaded. Four up it was bouncing on the tyres over bumps - needs fixing. All the way back from London.

Saturday Golfing - Two under par

Two tyres that is. And the small spare is probably dangerous too.

Focus Five

Rain ahead of sleet we're warned. Which arrived at lunchtime.

Golf missing rear tyre now to...

Hurrah for public transport

Late first thing due to signalling faults into London

Late out of Paddington due to unspecified delays to Slough

Late and dangerously overcrowded back to Paddington

Tube delayed a bit

Looking forward to tonight's trip from Liverpool street though.

More Focus Days

Just backwards and forwards again.

The Electric Menace

Wow - my first sighting of a car charging on a street in central London.

Let the train take the strain

Great slogan. Now running more than an hour late on a journey of about the same.
At least I can read and write while I wait.

Focus again to the station - needs petrol and my SAAB needs 2 new tyres. Well after 170k miles it needs a set.

Small Cars have there place

The Focus runs backwards and forwards to the station in an easy efficiency.

You can see the attraction of the small car - although the Focus is probably small medium sized at least.

This one is a good spec too which helps. I would add heated seats perhaps if I could but not much else.

So that's one car in the fleet sorted - now for the rest ...

Dull wet Sunday

A bit of Black and Blue SAAB action.

Aston Cleaned

Then off for some more night shots.

Blast - past a gritter spraying salt everywhere.

Night shots were OK ish.

Four Times Focus

Popping around in the blue Focus - eking out the fuel. Need to fill up next week.

Frost again on it's way.

Modes of Transport

Focus to start with, on to train, by foot to office then taxi across London - tube back, then train and Focus home.

Must wash the Aston soon - I don't think I'll be using it much in the next few months until the winter ebbs.

Focus again

Wet and Cold - I still think if we stopped the clock in 2000 cars were good enough.

Focus - but not that Frosty

And wintry rain on the way home.

Brrrrr 2 degrees start

Golf fixed - fault with ignition. Switch was broken behind the ignition. It would have foxed me forever.

Bubblitious

308 back into the first bubble. Getting colder but no sign if snow yet.

The e-type into the bubble with the frame. It takes about an hour and I'm not sure it's worth the extra hassel.

Then went out taking pictures of the Aston at night by the marina. Need to work out how to take better shots. 

Finally the Alpine is still sitting unloved.

62 not out

62,000 miles exactly when I left today - early December and still warm and dry enough for a run in the 308.
Nice drive back looking at the greenish glow over the White on black dials.

Antiques by Aston

Golf to garage first thing - then popped out for the day antique hunting in the Aston. It hit me how small the vantage boot is.

And it still 'shimmies' on rough roads.

E-type also got a run out in the late evening - it's not as fast but keeps up with modern traffic and speed limits ok.

SAAB vs 308

Well SAAB is big and practical, but 308 sounds nicer and can carry lots of scrap metal to the yard.

Blast - Golf GTI has electrical gremlins. It has sat in the rain though.

Golf to Grimaldi

308 all done. Forgot the MOT - so that was rushed through and then it failed on a bad earth - DHO ! So it had to be fixed then and there.

They had this Iso Griffo in for work. Looked nice. Some 355 spiders that did not and a brace of Maserati and Lambo v12's...

10 to 12

It's back to 10 degrees again heading for 12. Blue SAAB as it's likely to rain.

308 pick up tomorrow.

Leaves on the line ?

Well, leaves in the garage - seem to blow in when ever I open the door.

Aston was snug and warm - despite the 3 degrees and the "ice warning" flashing up on the dash. Temp went down to 2 deg by the river, I so was driving a bit gingerly.

Very practical this e-type

Even a run to the bottle bank is an occasion in an e-type.

And when people point and stare it's nice too.

Night moves

Well 4:30 ish. But virtually dark - Mind you it's still 11 degrees.

Off to B&Q.

Treats never cease.

Aston in the drizzle

Just spitting anyway.

12 degrees though and then the rain stopped on the way in - which was nice.

Still 9 degrees first thing

Warmest November since records began I heard.

Damp start to the day - so Blue SAAB time again.

So it's 9 degrees at 8:00 am and 10 degrees at 6:00 pm.

Winter must come soon ?

Black SAAB Blues

Yep - needed 2 front break cylinders as they were siezed.

Also 308 needed new front hub as it was cracked and calipar was loose. Plus suspension is uneven each side...

Thank god I'm running the inexpensive Aston to work at the moment.

Something squeaking

Looks like the brake pads are loose - seems unlikely - may be a cylinder is seized ?

Black not Blue

Bad noise from front though - something not right at all.

In the dark it looked like the front break pad was out of alignment ?

Misty Morning

Mist everywhere first thing - SAAB back to B&Q. 

Too ill to take Aston out in afternoon sunshine.

Back to Blue

B&Q run in the SAAB was the best I could do despite the sunshine.

Muck and leaves

Aston getting dirty now. Should I garage it for the winter ?

Mid November

And mid temps. Back over 10 degrees.

SAAB run in - they are still selling SAABs I see so I should be ok for a second hand one from 2013/14.

No Frost ?

Aston was tucked into the garage so no frost for me - actually no frost anywhere - great drive in looking at the mist in the fields though.

To Hull and back

Well what else was I going to say - 446 miles later. Oh and this was supposed to be the bridge.

Car Train Car Car

SAAB to work and train to Norwich then car to Ipswich then Car home.

Quite varied but quite dull too.

Weather getting colder at last.

SAAB Humour

Nice numberplate. So SAAB drivers do have a sense if humour.

M1 5AAB

Service time for the Italian Tin

Run over to Grimaldi's for the service.

Always lots of great cars in there.

Seems to have many Lamborghini in there.

Gridlock on my drive now

Just got out between the cars this morning.

Also saw an Auntie Rover (P4 75) doing the school run.

Gray Day Gray Car

I followed a nice Aston Martin Vantage V8 home today AM08 AMV - it was dark but anyone seeing us in convoy would be impressed

Grid Lock

and no Information.

Crash on the main road in - crash on the road out - big 24 wheel crane on the other approach road and then a grain lorry overturned that evening.

More Autumn trips

SAAB - just past 174k at the weekend.

This morning I'm off for a coffee - and possibly to drive down muddy country lanes and to top it all - drizzle predicted all day.

James taking Golf out for the first time on his own too.

Weather or Not

Noticed most of this blog is about the weather as much as cars. That's because one influences the use of the other.

Anyway SAAB today as rain was forecast - no real rain came.

Autumnal Aston

Slight drizzle as well as fading light. Took Aston for a 'warn the engine' run anyway. It sat in the garage all week.

A little Apline Love

Decided to get up early and start to fix the Alpine at last.

Wheel cam off easily then there was no countersunk screw to undoo - almost drilled out what looked like a broken one. Luckilly I just undid the four bolts and off came the drum.

It looks like the brake cylinder is fine - just a bit of leaking oil from the seal around the hub.

Tackled the steering and that seemed fine too...

Gave up for the day in disgust.

SAAB splashes out

Rainy day - just pottered to work in the drizzle - November.

Dull start to the day

Focus again - just running down the tank.

Popular Ford

All missed up - Focus get's used to the station again. You can see why they sell so many.

Dull run to Newark

Early start and run to Newark - SAAB did not miss a beat though. Long wheelbase and fat tires make it very good on long Journeys.

Analogue Aston

Seems the clock needs manually changing when the hour goes back. Fine but I dropped the cocktail stick down the side of the seat - which annoyed me.

Tyres

308 needed a lot of air in the tyres especially the rears - drove a lot better too afterwards. Clocks went back and night came early.

Saw massive white American Pontiac TRANS-AM at petrol station - the owner reckoned 18 MPG.

Golf and the Fleet

Popped out with a driver in the Golf down the Suffolk lanes. Noticed how 80's the dash is - very Square with all square switches and most dials. Like the Lamborghini of the same era.

Ran a few miles in the others - well 3 out of 4 including the squeaky steering column in the e-type. Oiled it well. Need to sort the Alpine. Aston in the dark - warm wind with the music on. Close to getting used to it.

The joy of the train

No lights or heating for half the commute in to London.

It's only dark and a bit cold - actually quite mild - had worse.

Focus to the station again - easy to drive and easy to park - I can't see why they sell so many of them.

Re-Visit Alfa

Picked up e-type from Abbotts.

Still had the nice Alfa in there.

How many times ?

I seem to change a front bulb every few months - not that I'm counting...

Time for Service

Ran the e-type to Abbotts for a service. They had this Alfa in the service bay. Nice !

Alfa Romeo 6C 3000 'Disco Volante'

Autumnal Feel

Autumnal look too with all the leaves on the drive.

More news of electric cars in the paper. Definitely pushing them.

What chance do we give the petrol car in 25 years ?

Drive home was good. One nice comment when stopped at the crossing and one as a group passed me in their car when I was filling up. Feeling like Winter though in the cold wind.

Let's go Golfing

Oh and a quick trip in Mr E too.

Crossing the bridge again

SAAB run to Portsmouth.

Gentlemen start your engines

Cold - so the car started with even more drama and noise. See how she goes in the cold morning run.

She went fine of course.

First Frosty start

Focus iced up but I parked under the trees so went in - in the SAAB.

Temps are falling

6 degrees this morning. Slid down to 5 on the run in. Cold but clear.

SAAB time again - running a bit rough on the journey. Oh and I smacked the wing mirror on the ticket machine at the station - that woke up the spider that lives in it.

Massive Merc

Parked outside the hotel in London.

Focus in the dark but no frost - yet ...

Cold 6:30 am start. Car started fine - I never did get time to clean it.
Mind you I washed the 308 and Aston yesterday - so that's some of the fleet clean.