Panel Van Slog

SAAB down to Horsham to collect the Alpine door panel. Slog down the A12 (roadworks x2) then M25, M23. 

We were rewarded though.

The chap gave me both a o/s and a n/s one - well after cheeky Jana asked for it ! Nice of him though. He'd had both a Tiger and a Harrington so it was in his blood.

They fitted snugly together - but what am I going to do with it ?

Slog back was even worse though - M25 blocked by an accident so 20 mins delay and then A12 2x and a 30 min delay. Ho Hum.

Dropped them off at Lees as we were almost passing - so the project can move forward again.

Tracking one Down

Lee managed to get a door skin for the Alpine - off ebay - so we'll see how good it is tomorrow when we collect it.

SAAB jaunt to Harkstead pm, for a spot of DIY and then Petrol and finally Stutton. 

Not that interesting though.

One Down - One Out

Popped off to see the Alpine pm in the SAAB as it needs a new door skin to move the project on.

Not so easy to find those.

Anyway back home the murky clouds had cleared so I took the Caterham out at last. 

Hot Hot Hot by halfway through the run - although going very well - and about 22c outside (70f). I was worried about the temperature gauge not working so I checked once I got back.

Oddly the gauge and the thermometer were reading nearly the same. Good.

SAAB Play Pen

Popped to Stutton to collect the trolley and the GT's decided to use the boot space as a play pen.

Then another SAAB jaunt to Harkstead because the dark clouds loomed.

There goes Summer.

Mr E off for a Service

Dropped off the Jaguar first thing at Abbotts with a list of niggles. Fuel draining back, Horn and rattling from the brakes.

Lets see what the find.

Then PM ... Aston out to save the planet.

ION: Russia seems to be wondering what the Wagner Group Mercenaries' rebellion will mean - now the leader seems to have struck a deal with Putin ?

308 Gets a Run

Pottering rides in MK7 am, then pm Harkstead after which we checked up on the Swede we've not used for a month. Looked good in the sunshine.

Then I sprang the Ferrari for an evening run. Getting a bit dusty I noticed.

Not that you can really tell.

What to do Now ?

Home now and jobs to do. Including cleaning the MK2.

Looked good on the run to Harkstead, although the rev counter went off line again on the drive back.

Then decided the E-type needed warning up before the service next week. 

ION: Wagner Group Mercenaries are reported to be marching towards Moscow - that's not going to end well...

Last Day Capers

Off in the misty morning to the port.

The boat had the Fog Horn for the early part of the sail too - not sure what the captain could see ?

Flat sea though and easy off at the UK end with an empty boat. Just over two and a half hours run home too.

A total of 695 miles when we got home. 

Oh and the light was out.

Chunky Chap

Final day of pottering around, walking ot the the small fort at St Malo and more shopping.

Another bottle bank run in the trusty SAAB then back to the Dinan Port for supper. 

Waked past this chunky thing - UK registered too on the way there and back.

It's not one Lomax - it's Two

Light resolutely on all day. 

Spotted an odd car late on in the main Dinan car park. It looked like a lomax - 2cv kit. 

And low there were two identical ones there !

Light on - off - and on

Off to the shops and then a recycling trip too

Then off to a ruined Chateau. Light was off when we set off for the ruin and was back on when we got back to the car after our visit. Then stayed on for the rest of the journeys that day.

That's more like it

Hot and humid day so off to a coastal walk in the morning.

Home via the little roads and then the shops. Afternoon more slow runs and the engine light came back on as we left the diy store.

Sunday Come-down

So after all that automotive glamour we went shopping Sunday morning. Then off to a small marina near the road bridge we cross - Port de Plaisance. The check engine light was off again though.

Here we were rewarded with a nice Peugeot 404.

 Odd as we saw a Peugeot 204 last time somewhere else.

Finding Cars - or The Full Circle

Having checked the plan with an organiser the pervious evening we were confident we would find the cars when they went for their run to Saint Jacut de la Mer. We were not disappointed.

I would estimate about 100 cars were on the run - everything from the unique cars in the Concours through the rare and sporting, down to the humble.

I did like quite a few - like this bright orange Renault Alpine.

A few of the people were in period dress, like the English couple in a Singer Le Mans and this couple in the Hotchkiss but most of them seemed to be reserving it for the evening.

Not all the Concours entrants were on the run either.

Then we parked up near the park and walked to the Dinard Prominade. The Concours cars were just parked in a line by the Casino but made quite a sight never the less.

All the others were in the closest car park or the streets nearby like this Austin Healey 3000.

Then we walked back to the park for the final parade and prize giving. Guess who won ?

Yep - the first car we saw, that Delage D8 120 S de Villars. So why did we bother !

Slow drive back in the trusty SAAB and I'm already wondering about next year.

Chasing Cars

Off the crowded ferry and on to the French home. 

Some jobs and shopping (engine light went out) then off to look for the cars in the Dinard Concours. Spotted this as we parked up - a 1938 D8 de Villers Delage that looked the part.

So I thought we were in the right place - but not a lot else was to be found. We did find the place they were dropping off the trailers though and spotted a couple of nice American cars.

This was a 1929 V8 Cadillac 341B.

So we wended our way home again - engine light ablaze.

The Well Trodden Path

Had the car washed ready for the run - and it looked fine again.

Then packed again - and as ever it always surprises me how much we take each time. 

Hot drive down to Portsmouth. Not a lot on the roads of note but lots of roadworks at Wisley and for the next couple of years it says too.

Guess what ? Check engine light when we started up after getting petrol. Just like last time in February.

It's Ferrari Friday - not

So SAAB out early on to drop Oliver off. Looked very scruffy - the car not Oli that is.

Hard to tell here though. Then later on I took it out to get it filled with petrol and given a clean - it has got so dirty again with the leaves, dust and pollen.

And Friday ? Well the sun was shining still at 6:00 so we went off in the Ferrari to the recycling.

It just felt like it was Friday.

Aston Aircon

Did the SAAB fluids and tyres first thing before the heat got on the car. I did not wash it though as it will get soaked in the thunderstorms to come. 

A little air here, a little water there. Oh and some oil and windscreen washer fluid.

Aston to the shops PM.

Nice to feel air-con is still working well.

Horns and Heat

Escaped the Cow blockade as we left the common. Lots of very large cows with very large horns seemed to be migrating. Coming a bit close to the car for my comfort.

Then having passed them we took the route back that passed Bicester to pop into the Blue Diamond workshop. We just spoke to the security chap on the barrier and he let us in.

We were shown around by a nice chap - they had lots of cars in there, an Imp, a MPH and other Riley's as well as a Lovely looking Lagonda - but it was smaller than I'd expected. Very hot day though so we wondered around a bit more but it was really too hot to spend much time there.

Then a slow very hot run back - as it touched 30 degrees - and bad traffic on the A14 due to the roadworks. Don't worry though it will be over by Summer 2024.

Only VW Audi Parking again

Here we are at LV in the sunshine after the rain - oh and before the rain too.

Definitely spot the similarities. We were off to Highnam Court for the car show in the MK7. Some fantastic Bentleys by the house - but they turned out to be 'fakes' - well recreations. Shame.

During the day it rained hard but some nice cars stayed out - here is an interesting DKW.

A rare 1000s deluxe with an enthusiastic owner. Then at the very end of the day we spotted a car behind the house. It turned out to be a MG YB from the 1950's. Looked like a small Derby Bentley. 

This was a nice colour combination and was added to the list - although there are none around.

Passenger Pidgons

Passengers in the Audi A3. Bumpy roads and sports suspension do not for a comfortable ride make - in the back anyway.

To the West

Packing up for the run to LV and Gloucestershire in the bright sunshine and I thought the MK7 needed a treat.

It got a £10 car wash - which made it look far more presentable. Then finished packing and off we went.

More German only Parking

 Bumbled through the day with little jobs and then took the MK2 off to Harkstead (via the Creek).

You have to wonder what marque have been parked there if we had won the war. Oh hang on ...

Sounds Better at Speed

Imp gear box oil checked first thing. It took about 250ml of oil after about 890 miles.

Then SAAB out for an unexpected jaunt - Harkstead - and then the Creek for not a lot.

Then Ferrari out to the shops as it was clear blue skies at last.

Always fun watching the reaction from the B&Q crowd.

Finally I took the Caterham to the RGEA meeting. Here I am hidden behind the 'Mini'.

Seemed to run nicely at speed on the A14 and I only felt it was running a bit rough was on the road home. So I wonder if it is the surface itself making the car shake a bit.

It's Cold not Cool

MK2 to for lunch at the Creek. I noticed some of the headlining is falling down already.

So cold I should have eaten in the car.

Dog Walkers and Detectorists

 SAAB mid morning with pallet and tools to the Allotment. This is on the way back though.

Then lunch at Felixstowe on a breezy day. E-type parked up opposite. I was sitting out of the wind watching as it was attracting looks from dog walkers and Detectorists and a few old ladies.

Also watching people with the smallest cars, unable to park in the biggest spaces, always odd. 

Then some days I remember it is actually a privilege to be driving around in a 1964 series 1 jaguar E-type and not just something people do every day - odd really.

Passive Soaking

Morning job was to clean up the Imp, but I decided to try just letting loo paper soak up the oil in the plug holes. Looked a bit Heath Robinson/tatty.

But after an hour I went back and it had actually worked - I then tried to get the cam cover to seat better by adjusting the ... er adjustments. Seemed to be better so I decided it needed a test run.

Which is what I did in the afternoon. To see the off-shoots in Stutton [showing Monty the car at the end] and then running around the block. The cover stayed put too.

Later in the evening the sun was still out so it felt like Ferrari Time - did more jobs - dropped things off and then did the bottle bank run.

Joining In by Mistake

Started the day by cleaning the underside of the Imp - quite dirty after the run last month.

Then noticed the head lining in the MK2 had come adrift again on one side so I re-did that with more glue and more framework to push it up to dry.

Then I decided the Imp needed a run in the sunshine so off we went - only to get in the middle of the Tractor convey. The people watching it liked the car though. I pulled over in Stutton as I spotted the off shoot and let them Tractors roll past.

Big buggers compared to the Imp.

Then back the short but scenic way - sounded a little odd by then so at home I checked the cam covers and yes one was off again. So I'll have to clean that up and check the oil level. I'm not sure how I can stop it popping off.

Finally MK2 - complete with wooden framework - back to the creek to look for insects. Found several Golfs there too.