Last day treat

Came across a few classics in Saint-Briac-sur-Mer. Two early XKs and a couple of Citroen DS's

 

 

 

About 300

About 300 mils to La Denilias in the Aero, in the pouring rain late at night for most of the French side too. In bed just before midnight UK time.

SAAB took it in it's stride. Oh and not including the watery bit it's only 285 miles.

Another Zero

Or 10 feet in the Aero.

Delivery van

Used Caterham to take a set of bike wheels to Ipswich.

Worked well strapping the box on the back of the rack. Not much visibility though.

Then Run out in the Aston. Noted that it's only done 30 miles this month.

So little

Perhaps a mile tops in the Aero - just round the corner.

But bumped into an old friend.

4 miles

Short Aero hop. 

Just by foot

Full drive, but just on foot. 

Another pottering day

Warm again:

I could have waited until13:13 I suppose too. 

Fun in the Winter sun

13 plus degrees and it's December 23rd - time to burn some more fossil fuels before they stop me.

So I got some of the fleet out at last - as the sun shone and I was off work.

Aero - utility run to bottle bank through crowded village.

Then Caterham - fitted new shower cap and ran to shops, petrol and...

 

 

.. a quick photo opportunity.

 

  

Then Aston for a blast - got smiles and thumbs-up at petrol station too.

 

Rounded off with Aero to Karting.

Aero again

Beginning to get used to the A12. Spotting the ruts and missing bits.

No exciting cars on the run for weeks.

Golfing in the rain

Slight hesitation in turning the key. Then started fine. 

Run to Witham good - then the heavens opened all afternoon - but home find too. 

Lights quite dim - although that could be me. 

Splashed back

Aero through the torrents.

Then loaded the lawnmower.

Utility time again.

London by Aero

A few classics in the street Lower March road - not swamp as they suggested - probably less than a dozen.

Saw this nice Lancia Flavia though. Coachbuilt Lancia Flavia's, Vignale convertible in fact. 

Back to Aero

Another utility run to work. Nothing of note on the roads at all...

Golf Run

Another warm day - slight drizzle on the way back.

Dark on the way down:

Golf running well apart from ...

Feels like a wheel is out of balance

Radio still poor

Noisy - booming exhaust

Temp runs low then heats up when stationary

... and tick-over 'hunts' sometimes quite a lot.

Dull running

Aero week - warm though - 16 degrees this evening. 

Crash on the way in and broken down car on the way back. 

Almost time for a break. 

Passing 90k

Speedo clicked over tonight. 

And yes I was stationary when I shot it. Only 110k to go. 

Dull and damp

Not very cold although did heat the seats a bit. Just AERO. 

Silver blob

The bubble fully inflated once the vent was shut and it now takes up most of the car port.

Dreary drizzle all day.

B3

Third Bubble up and running.

Slow drizzly day. Span cars around - Golf hard to start but cold and damp. Caterham slow to start but then it was not warmed up and that's 2 weeks (?).

First Alpine onto the base:

Then Inflate - zip hard to do up and no way to hang it from the rafters.

Inflated in just shy of 10 mins.

Finally moved Caterham back into the garage.

Let's see how it survives tonight's wind.

Friday Aero

Popped out to meetings that's all. 25 miles tops. In the rain.

Back to Aero too

SAAB run to the station in the gloom and back again in the rain. 

Back in the black

Well red light is off. 

Car ran fine on the way back so off we go again. 

Wrong Number

So they claimed - wrong part delivered so no Alternator today.

Let's hope it's in tomorrow.

So lift to station in the MK7.

Bad Golf

Started well in the gloom. 

Then the little red light came on. 

Mind you found an electrician and did not break down so might work out OK tomorrow. 

SAAB lugging

Run to load SAAB up with stuff. 

Then evening lift in big Merc that was so low in the back it was hard to climb into it. 

Winter Saturday

Golf off SORN and run round the block - it was a grey and windy day - car went well though. Kept clean under the cover for the last month. One tire a bit down, oh and the chrome door handle on the drivers side is loose...

Then warmed the Alpine and ran to the shops. Not actually that cold - with warm German hat and gloves - but I'd need a blanket on my knees for a trip to Witham. Filled up with petrol in preparation.

Finally I swapped the badge on the SAAB. Just used boiling water to loosen the old glue and then prised it off. Took three goes to get it on level.

 

Too cold and dull to get anything else out.

Dull Friday

Commute again - should have taken something less comfortable. 

Wheels

Liked the DB10 wheels though.

No Astons today

Just AERO, A12 and all the rest.

Might fire up the Golf next week if the weather holds.

Pics from yesterday though.

https://picasaweb.google.com/104957271505502925743/DB10

DB10

Popped down to Grange for an evening that included sight of the DB10 from Spectre.

Hard to get a decent shot with the crowds. 

Also took a wonder through the service bay which was just as interesting.

Another wet day

Not so busy on the roads and the hard rain cleans the windscreen.

Aston was this month's winner with 46 miles - nothing to write (home) about either.

Run to the coast

In the Golf MK7 as it was looking dull, wet and stormy.

Did start the Alpine though, ran fine sitting in the garage.

Loads of Loads

Aero in action for various utility runs. Clearing the boat with the Golf, off to the dump etc.

Checked mileage and classics hardly run all November. Storms due tomorrow so nothing doing then too.

Utility Run

Aero again -- up and down the road. Nothing of interest out there.

Bentley Boy

Very new, very large Bentley Continental soft top cut across the lights late so I let it in. 

Rear lights were interesting ovals. 

Late but quick

Late run back 35 mins in light tragic but darkness all around. 

Passing the time

Yet another delayed train - 40 mins is par for the course. Tree 'resting' on the overhead lines. 

Didn't mind - spent the time reading the V12 Vantage article in the mag again - basically saying how wonderful the car is. 

OK so it's a Aston friendly mag - but never the less they identify the good bits I enjoy. 

Shame it's Winter, dark, cold and wet - and I'm late or we'd be off for a blatt tonight. 

Perhaps at the weekend. 

First Ice

Frozen car windows this morning. 

Just crept to -1 deg in the way out. 

Winter has arrived. 

Bubble Day

E-type into the bubble in the morning cold.

It took about 3 hours to get everything set up and the car back in. It too almost 30 mins just to inflate.

Then a run round the block in the Caterham - cold but not freezing - but probably only 5 degrees outside,

Finally took the Aston to the shops to keep it in use too - then back on the charger.

Under a mile

Aero to recycling tidying up.

That's all.

Weekending

Easy run in - getting colder on the way back.

Aero running well. Nothing of note on the road for days.

Two cars just

Both the SAAB and the MK7 in the car park at Manningtree station today - I wonder if they had a chat ?

All the Eights

Insulated box

Drove Aero home as the storm raged outside - music on and warm inside there was no sense of it. 

Moderns really can isolate you. I expect a bad run in tomorrow. 

Rolling down

To Witham - weekly commute starts in the Aero - can I squeeze out 3 more trips on one tank - no.

Sunday it must be the A1

Run back from the north fine - highlight was an earlier spotting of a Gilbern in a drive. I think it was a Genie. 

Oh and Steve's latest addition to hand collection - Superminx. 

Whatever you say - active cruise control is great. 

NEC day

Run up in Mk7 Golf. Then delights of a big Vauxhall Insignia Estate.

Exhausted walking round the halls - too many dull cars too.

Ferrari stand was standout - if a bit modern. Only the 288GTO was a classic. 

Still Commuting

Easy Friday - tried 'Night Mode' again - fun but not sure why ?

Spotted something of interest

Saw a Marcos leaving a petrol station this morning - does not sound much but when it's a dull commute it is. 

Wandering around

But no decent cars even in the city today. 

Another Novelty Plate

This time C 10 SED - Closed.

Well that and a MX5 with a spoiler the size of a mountain were the only highlights on the commute.

Following Satan

Well Satan was following me and hit lights kept blinding me. Audi Q7 or something.

So I pulled over to let him past and noticed his registration... S2TAN. I guess S4TAN would be worse but I wonder if they would issue it.

Plated up

Got the numberplate on the Etype - with less drama than I had thought. 

Then put the Ferrari in its winter bubble, tyres up to 45psi - same with Etype which I'll put away in a couple of weeks. 

Then early afternoon run to the shops in the Caterham. Quite warm and snug - although it's still 14 degrees and a dull overcast day. 

Side by side

Parked next to another SAAB 95 - similar colour but a bit bashed up - oh and a diesel. 

Then popped into Audi to look at the new R8 - it looked fine but I was not a fan of the spoiler. 

They are using a nice demarkation for the old ones - first generation. 

The Lamborghini was the same blue though. 

Best one was the second hand R8 - but it was too similar to the Aston - same colour. But only 65k - perhaps my winter car ?

Comfortable Seat

and a nice CD player in the AERO.

Splashing through puddles today but Friday's are easier on the road. 

That's my train

The problem is that it's going backwards. 

One broken train and it's chaos. Only about an hour late though. 

Well AERO tomorrow and try the A12 again. 

Wet weekend forecast - probably need to leave the E-type in a bubble now too. 

Another AERO trip

Slow run in - reasonable run back. 

Lift Music

Well no music - but the fastest bit of my journey today was probably the lift down tonight.

AERO back from the station on the early train and queued to get out out.

Still wondering which to put in the outdoor bubble.

Fog etc.

Foggy day with delays/crashes on the A12 so I took the SAAB to the station and then the train. 

Took longer and was more expensive - but an easy run. 

Left out

Somehow, I left the Caterham outside with no cover on last night - in the fog and the cold. A bit damp this morning - so I sorted it out ran the engine to warm it up too.

Also cleared the all the wood out of the SAAB - too foggy for any real classic action though.

Looking for an outside bubble next to keep one car in - but which one.

And the MK2 Golf was winner of classic miles in October.

Oh and I missed the deadline for the Caterham picture contest - dho.

Classic Commuting Car

Car	1986 VW Golf GTi
Miles this month	316
Latest costs	Nil (pending parts)

Even though the Mk2 Golf won the most traveled prize of the classics this month - it's hard to pinpoint any exciting episodes.

Most of the miles were in the runs to work - Witham to be exact. It stood up well to stop/start and full stop motoring with minimum fuss - a slight overheating when stuck in traffic for long periods but nothing to be worried about. OK it still drips from a leak somewhere but it survived its short stint as my commute car.

Is it still the giant killer it was ? It goes well, there is a nice noise from the exhaust and nippy responsive steering. I’m not sure it goes round corners on rails though. The lights are good for dark nights and the thin A pillars giver good forward visibility. The bad points as a commute car are the seats are a bit small for me and lack back support - but that is vs the SAAB which are orthopedic armchairs. There is a bit of wind noise, the de-mist is weak and the rear screen gets dirty so quickly it’s like someone is just spraying dirt on it every trip - just like the MK7 though which also seems to get filthy very quickly at the rear.

Looking back the Golf has hardly had a pampered life in the last 4 years. It started out 'as advertised' with a full service history - which evaporated when we went to look at it - although it was the best of many we'd looked at. We bought it knowing it was going to be a car that would need constant tinkering but then that’s not such a bad thing.

Subsequent investigation when looking for parts confirmed it as a Wolfsburg car - which in my mind makes it a truer Golf - the fact that the windscreen wipers go the wrong way points to the early production run - as if the VW management were not sure that it was worth tooling long up for the lacklustre UK market at the time. With more than three million unemployed the mid-80’s UK economy did not look a good prospect especially with the spectre of global recession in the wings for everyone.

Off the production line in 1986 it sold quickly into the second term of Thatcher's Britain while the red paint matched the colour of the braces worn by the aspiring young things working in the newly deregulated financial markets. I wondered if it ever did a circuit of the newly completed M25. It arrived in turbulent times in the car market too, with Nissan starting production in Sunderland, Austin Rover betting its survival on a joint venture with Honda and Peugeot dropping the old Talbot brand but hanging on at the old Rootes factory a few more years.

It’s been bumped and bashed, rusted and repaired in equal measure but still has the makings of a sound car. Treating it to a full wash and wax, detailing the bumpers and a quick vacuum just showed up all the bits that needed doing. It looked the part though and even my crude welding is holding up.

So it's now on SORN, on the battery charger and put away for six weeks until James comes back - although I think it deserves being used in early December - as long as the snow and salt hold off - to keep it fresh.

Like all old cars, it appreciates being used. 

In good company

The fleet is back together again.

Trip in MK7 to pick up the 308 first thing - gosh it looked good amongst the other exotic metal.

Will SORN it though now for the winter siesta.

Next was the AERO lugging wood around. I think we got 1.5 tonnes in the back.

Then a Caterham run to shops in the dying light. Tried to find a spot to take autumn themed photo afterwards.

Final run on the MK2 to fill with petrol before another SORN.