Well that's it then

Brexit day. At 23:00 we officially left the EU. Not sure what that will mean - but I suspect we'll be going back to Green Cards and possible International Driving Licences...

Car wise just a ride along in the Mk7 - a 'made in Germany' car - VIN states W - Wolfsburg, Germany. So was the Mk2.

No need to trouble the Planet

Indoor day - looking at stuff and keeping out of the drizzle.

Wondering if someone else bought that car ...

Short SAAB dash

Just a quick run to Harkstead - still a bit light at 5:00 and the junction on the ponds is very busy because of the closed road.

Aston Run for SAAB Blade

Aston to the shops in the sunshine looking for a rear wiper blade for the SAAB - as an excuse to get the car out. Which they did not have.

As I came back to the car I got a txt telling me the battery in the fob is low - I'm sure I only changed it 6 months ago.

Too rich for me

... and that's from the man who regularly takes his Aston Martin V12 to the shops.

I also used the SAAB too - for the recycling and a charity shop drop off - so I'm saving the planet really.

The 'rich' bit is because I spotted a nice Riley Special - over £100k. Looked nice, but probably sold though ...

Mopping Up

Dull-ish grey day again - weather wise.

So I took the Caterham out to collect the mop and go round the block.

Went well although the roads were wet and mucky - as was the car when I got back.

But no water on the garage floor - which is encouraging.

For 7cm more

Measured the seating in the Caterham to see how wide it was vs the Riley Brooklands Special.

The Riley is 7 cm smaller - which it turns out makes a lot of difference it seems - 93 vs 86 cm.

Have asked what size a gorgeous (and very expensive) Riley Imp is...

Zig-Zag but no way through

SAAB out to Colchester and through terrible traffic as normal. Not sure what they are doing. Then got lost coming back out.

Run to see EB etc. early evening in the dark and murk too. There is a way around the roadworks - through the back hills. We tried to zig-zag through the barriers but the road is fully blocked - I must pop out and take a look.

Swedish drop off

SAAB to drop off five boxes of DVDs and old PC games.

Listened to the ways of saving power and boiling less water and having the heating down a bit are ones we should follow...

Mind you the number of new 4x4 monsters in the car park probably needs a lot less kettles.

Singer to Harkstead

Well SAAB out late afternoon in the mist and cold. We'd forgotten the sewing machine was in the back of the car - a Singer.

Mist another day

Although there was a small Alpine in the logo for the group of us going to Spain late Summer.

I better get the car ready then !

Normal service resumes - with a twist

Aston out to the bottle bank mid morning.



Getting a bit dirty in the winter muck.

Also noticed it 'twitch' when accelerating up the slip road. I must not forget the power of the beast - and the fact that the roads are a bit salty and wet and cold ...

One run - then everyone of them turns up

SAAB out first thing to look at a sewing machine base with Nana - I am living life to the full.

Then Birthday meal with family and cousins. I've now got an off road driving experience to take - interesting. Then a surprise gift from James a huge poster of all my cars...

It's much better in the flesh.

Nice Sign - Nasty Sign

Literally a nice old sign spotted in a small museum in Woodbridge.

Mk7 to see a film in a boat shed where they are building a life size replica of the Sutton Hoo longboat. Should have taken another car but the parking was a concern and as it turned out it would have been.

The bad sign is the new 40 mph limit that starts on the Freston Hill. It does go past the Freston crossroads though so it should slow a few people down on that. To quote the paper 'The nearby bus shelter was destroyed in a separate incident involving a car in November 2009 and had to be replaced with a more modern shelter.' 

Quite.

I've got this covered too #183

Started the day with the new E-type magazine arriving with another of my pictures on the front cover.

I'll need another frame now.

Then Caterham out in the sunshine and around the block.

There was no 'wet patch' on the floor - but we'll see if there is anything there after the run - once it's cooled.

But SAAB to station late afternoon in the drizzle.

Wet coat was my excuse

Well - I was about to go to town in a fantastic vehicle ...

But my coat was still wet so we postponed the trip.

But I did notice another of my pictures made Low Flying.

Jobs Jobs Jobs

SAAB out and about again.

Bottle Bank and shopping.

Ho Hum.

At least the Macro car park was not flooded this time.

Bypass bodge and blowing

Ran the ticking Golf to the garage first thing.

Then I worked on the Caterham all morning to get the dipped beam working again. Took most things apart in the end as it was obvious that there was power to the switch and so to that end of the wire - but not to the headlight end. I could not trace where it had failed though so I ended up running a new wire.

I assume that somewhere along the length it is broken...

I also found a few odd bare wires and bad connections along the way which I tried to fix.

In the end it all was working again though.

There was also a little leak from the front bottom hose - so I tightened that up. Will see if that still leaks quite quickly.

Then picked up the Golf - the oil change and clean had got rid of the 'tapping' but uncovered an exhaust manifold blowing noise. Ho Hum. That will have to wait for the MOT though

Mini-International

Run in the MK7 to look at the Riley Specials - 110+ miles away.

Conclusion is that the foot pedals are very important and the space you have for the feet is small in a special. The steering wheel is also very close and the cockpit is very small. Especially for two.

I thought the Brooklands Special was the nicest in the flesh. Although not sure I could drive it.

Here it is looking like a small Aston Martin International.

Just riding along again

Mk7 passenger back from Harkstead - after I walked there in the late afternoon gloom.

Garage visit

I did pop into the garage - but failed to even turn on the lights.

I did make a start on the next book though - and noticed that I've not bought a car since 2015 - so it's well overdue.

Luna-Tick

SAAB to the coast to look for the moon at Felixstowe.

I managed to miss it though as I was looking in the wrong direction and in the wrong position.

I should have checked the VR app before I decided to change my position ...

Oh and hopefully to 'tick' from the Mk2 is just a blocked oil way the garage think.

Two Cars - Two Problems

Caterham out and for a longer run in the gloom of mid-afternoon.

Sounding less like a rabid machine gun and more sewing machine working in a well oiled bath. Not sure which I like better but the car seemed to go nicely and the roads were dryer so I did push it a bit more one the tyres were hot.

It did seem to have a new rattle though - I suspect it is the exhaust again.

I took it across the bridge for a longer run and came out of the shops to find a 2 year old boy admiring it with his Grandparents. Even though Grandad thought it was a Morgan I let him (the boy) climb in and steer - which he liked.

Run home fine but when parking up I found out the lights are back to their old tricks - side and full beam are fine but there is no dipped beam ... Now how did I fix that last time ?

The Mk2 out for the evening run to the RGEA get together. That sound like it had a new 'clicking' which went away when the clutch was depressed ? Still seemed to go well but kept 'clicking' on the way home too.

Anyway I'll investigate in the light.

Aston Shopping

Just a quick pop to buy anti-foul for the boat and then a slow run down there to take a look at the boat in the impending rain.

The tins were so heavy they even left a set of rings in the boot.

Alpine in Shock Order

Well I spent the day doing admin etc. but did squeeze out time to order the Alpine shock absorbers - they should arrive in a week or so.

Bar Crawl

Aero to B&Q - for once - to get some aluminium square section to make a camera mount.

Oh and used it as a ladder to got into the green bin too.

Shot-Lived Chauffeur Job

A passenger ride in the MK7 today as Jana gets back to driving. She's not driven since 25th November - about 40 days.

Then a lift in another Golf - MK6 I think - with blue green dash lights.

Missed Another

No driving today. Working on stuff I guess.

Bits keep falling off too.

Looking for the winner ?

Dull start to the year - rain in the air - but no salt. So my auto activities were restricted to looking at cars on the web and reviewing last year. In December the Golf Mk2 was the most used followed by the Caterham and the Aston - in almost joint second place - if at less than half the miles though.

Looking back at 2019 the Alpine pipped the Aston, both at over 1k. The full scores being:

Alpine - 1027
Aston  - 1016
E-Type - 715
Golf MK2 - 658
308 - 416
Caterham 7 - 383

That's well over 3k in the classics.

On the moderns the SAAB at 5896 only just beat the Mk7 Golf by 201 miles. That might have been reversed if Jana had not hurt her foot and therefore missed driving to Peterborough in November.

So vs the previous years ?

Well, 2019 was almost 2k down for the classic fleet vs 2018 and about 1k less than 2017.

Overall (not including the Golf Mk2 which James used a bit) the total millage for 2019 was just over 15k which was well down on the 2016 peak of over 24k.

Looking back at Dec 2016 I find the Ferrari down (in some part due to the starting problem) and the Caterhan even lower. Only the Alpine really got long runs. The least comfortable and oldest.

..And that my friends points the way - it's got to be an older car on the cards - just where do I to put it and do I keep the rest of the fleet ?

Though in the present 'Climate' - pun intended - do I really need another car ?

New Year - Same old, same old

SAAB to the shops (0.5 miles) as walking was not on.