MadaboutKitcars

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It doesn't have the correct permissions and it won't let me see it.

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Fabulous! I'm sure you'll be very happy together. Come on, give us the full story of the repatriation.

Excellent!

So what if half of it doesn't work and it's flat out at 35mph, it looks a million dollars.

Welcome home '66.

Looks great fun, whats up with the clocks?

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I'm getting flashbacks again.....

I had 3 women (on separate occasions!) blow me kisses while driving my Sammio and even my wife still prefers the 'little red car' over the 'big red car'

nice too see it on the road great...stuff

Looks good , i remeber painting that one Long time ago now. That one was one of the first ones

35 mph in a 30 mph zone (?) - and video evidence too...!

Looks and sounds great...

so were has it been .....has it still got drum brakes could do with a spitfire 1500 in it and by the looks of it a bush kit on gear box but i always like old 66 hope you have a lot of fun with it .....nice.

Hmm, wasn't going to say anything myself, but...

Have you checked the speedometer for accuracy? '66 is running on 15's as I recall, which'll raise the final drive considerably.

You might find that 35 indicated is closer to 45 actual, which could be bad for your licence.

You could either: drive by the nearest speed camera at an indicated 30 and see if it flashes, or, bung a sat-nav/i-phone speed ap/gps speedo in and see how close the two readings are.

Elephant-in-the-room question, btw, but how much did you pay for '66?

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hi paul D ...that's funny u have mine & barry's cars as wall paper as i once had old 66 as mine..look forward to the full story of old 66

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So the price was right...well done.....

On with the story.

Woke at 3.am Bank Holiday Monday. ( is there really a 3 o'clock in the morning??) Hit the road at 3,20 am. full car transporter trailer behind the 2.2 litre turbo diesel Renault Espace. Bit of a shock to its system, it normally just gets the tip runs.

From Emsworth up the A3, round the M25 & down to Dover by 6 am. Return trip on the 'My ferry' for the rig was £125. Good value! half the tunnel price. Fully equipped with headlamp beam deflectors, two breathalysers, two flourescent jackets ( accessible from within the vehicle), replacement bulb kit, etc. etc. Half*rds shares got a boost from me for sure.

In France for 9.30 (10.30 euro-time) and hit the road: Keep right, Keep Right! Into Belgium, Brugge, Gent, Brussels, Into Germany Cologne, Bonn, koblenz, Mannheim, Karlsrhue & so to Stuttgart by 8.10 in the evening. A couple of 5 minute 'comfort' stops on the way and 725 miles in a day all at 50 miles an hour!

Thank god for Satnav or I would have struggled to find Marks place, although his directions were spot on. Arrived in a massive thunderstorm, and did the deed. Mark was a true gentlemen and never suggested any variation on the deal. I had to press him to count the Euro's. He even thew in a set of twin SU'S he had bought and not got around to fitting, the racing fire extinguisher and a first aid kit.

It turned out in converastion that he had previously owned an Aston Martin, and currently had a Porsche targa from the seventies in his double garage. The problem with the Sammio was over German registration, he had only been able to legally use it on the local race track. The TUV guys were not apparently impressed with the 'Boudica chariot ' style wheel spinners - nor the plastic wind deflector screen. Brooklands aero screeens with laminated glass might have passed, but I think he had lost heart by then.

After an hour and twenty minutes loading and paying it was back on the road.
On my own...
in the dark...
in the rain...
With a trailer...
On the wrong side of the road...
limited by law to around 50 miles an hour and no overtaking..,

I found an "Auto hof" to park up in and get some sleep. The first service station I have ever seen that had its own Casino building and supermarket size 'Erotic Emporium'. There were so many Eastern European lorries parked up they were backing up the sliproad onto the motorway. I KEPT GOING... HONEST !!

Red Bull is not all that it's cracked up to be.

After grabbing a couple hours kip in the back of the Espace near Koblenz it was daylight at 5 am & back on the road to Calais for 10.30. Managed to swing an earlier crossing than booked and bade it home to Emsworth for 3.15 pm.

One thousand four hundred and seventy five miles in 36 hours whilst towing a trailer and pretending to be a lorry. Not everybody's idea of a fun weekend, BUT I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT.

As for the 'elephant', well Towed its a fair question. It was £750 as advertised, but in Euros. Mark even swallowed the exchange commission. He's a partner in a legal firm so I hope he won't sue me for saying so. It did however cost me about £500 to go and get it, but I have no regrets.

'66' is back home where she belongs.

Cheers,

Paul D.

Nice Paul! Will come and have a look. I look forward to racing you in the Burlington! Seeing as you only passed your test last week your clutch control is coming on very well!
ound:

Paul D - Sounds like an epic trip, but I am sure it will be well worth it.

Obsessed you say? I'm writing this reply before breakfast.

Anyway, I've got to go and get ready for work!

Good luck, Paul.

And what does the wife think....

Great story Paul, and stuff of legends!

Bet the story of the "great expedition of 2013 to collect a stranded maiden" will be elaborated on throughout the generations to come ound:

Good to see '66 back in the UK, and ready for the summer!

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