ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,191
Club RR Member Number: 170
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May 23, 2018 17:19:41 GMT
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Only about 10 years!  It seems stupid, doesn't it? I know. But I have my reasons, or so I thought. One was cost; given that I've done holidays cheap over the years it really does skew your concept of holidays. Back then I really didn't earn much either! That and I usually always had a holiday planned for the year many months in advance. This limits really what you can do, or I did let it. The second was I never felt my cars were to the standard of going there. I knew they'd get me there, but I always thought it would be Concours stuff on display! I found out a few years ago that this wasn't the case. But I did some amazing trips elsewhere in that time, so Laon soon became forgotten and despite seeing the odd poster up I always dismissed it and went to the 'meh, it's similar to what's in England' attitude towards it. But the articles I read about the Laon Historique years ago had me wanting to go once more! Seeing as this year I didn't really have a holiday planned there was one thing for it, but to actually book something! Firstly, I went to book the accommodation, the sites and so on. I tried booking it myself. That is, going to the LH organisers and paying them directly, as well as sorting out my own accommodation. I had booked a place smack bang in the middle of the old town.  The entry fees for the rally I also looked into. And so I then started doing the costs. And yes, I was sad enough to use Google/Excel sheets do this exercise. In short, I was going to be cheaper than what Scenic Car Tours wanted, the main operator for the event. If you did a like-for-like comparison I may have been a lot cheaper in some instances. But sometimes you then forget about the other parts of a show. The people. I don't really love meeting tons of people I admit but it's always good to break bread with fellow owners. And to be honest, the cost difference wasn't loads once you accounted for the days, the hassle of booking things and the flexibility offered. And so, predictably, I went with the Scenic Car Tours option. It wasn't much more in hindsight and it probably did take away a good chunk of hassle and time going from previous experience. That and hotel bookings sell out months beforehand! I did actually book somewhere in town but I ended up cancelling. To be honest, Scenic doesn't charge a fortune for what they do, which would become apparent later!  So, I had the accommodation, the rally and the ferry crossing taken care of, all in one! I then needed a willing partner in crime. So I went to a usual holiday goer of mine and he agreed to come along. We then needed a car! The list was looking something like below, which we could drive. -BMW E46 M3 -BMW F80 M4 -Citroen DS21 Pallas -Mini 95 Pickup -Lotus Elan (70s) -Mercedes W124 250D -MkIV Mondeo 2.5T -'07 Saab 9-3 1.8t Convertible. Firstly, the Mondeos and Saabs were out! A little too modern for the event and in all honesty, despite the rarity of the Mondeo 2.5Ts and their cult following they just weren't special enough to us for the event. The Saab didn't even drive that well in terms of getting you excited! The M4 was possibly still far too new! I originally discounted my M3, thinking it was too modern. I was aware for years that The Independent Porsche Enthusiasts Club (www.TIPEC.net) often took down 996 and 986/7 Generation Porsches but it still then wasn't enough to convince me. The Elan isn't ours, but it's known to it. It's not been run in 7 years and some unobtainable parts created a roadblock for us. So that was that out. The Citroen was considered. This would be the very same Citroen that did the wine tour in Burgundy last year. But if we were honest, we got quite lucky on that trip. While the car was repaired and briefly working it went wrong again! For the work required it seemed silly to do that, especially with crazily busy weekends! Remember, I had been doing work and upgrade to my M3 in that timeframe, including adding CarPlay, and getting the big ends changed! All in March, and partly in April. To compound things further, there was housework going on behind the scenes, and family weddings to attend! Thinking of the TIPEC case I reconsidered the M3 once more. There have been E30 M3s go up at least 5 years ago, and Monaros too! But that would be too easy and I suspected I wouldn't be the only E46 M3 owner there! The Mini we did consider, but a long trip to France in an 850cc Mini was never going to be thrilling! The M25 after is not exactly a safe place! And so the W124 entered the frame! The very same car that was mocked by many, including me. The same car that I bought at the start of winter as a 'winter' smoker. It was the very same car where mission creep was slowly kicking in! The drive of the old boat was enough to even swing my friend into thinking it was a sound idea, albeit with him being hesitant to take the car out! But it's a rare old beast in this country in 2.5 Diesel manual form, and despite their cast iron reputation they are now old and things can indeed go wrong! Perfect! That's sorted then! All I had to do was start on a number of easy jobs, but with quite a number of small jobs! With it being March and the Mercedes being in the unit I knew that I couldn't become complacent and sit on my laurels! But would I get there? Could I get the car ready? Would it be done right? Would I even be able to road test it? It was driveable, but by no means perfect!  |
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Last Edit: May 23, 2018 17:34:06 GMT by ChasR
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,191
Club RR Member Number: 170
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May 23, 2018 21:17:19 GMT
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So I had a few things to do! As you can see the Mercedes wasn't much of a looker! Some of you will already know what I did as per my thread. But for the rest, here is a brief rundown of what I wished to fix/do before I left Blighty: -Fix the iffy headunit wiring; it was terrible and the speakers kept turning on and off on their own accord! It sounded terrible too! As in really bad! -Seat bolster had worn. This isn't an issue to many but I am aware how badly a foam can deteriorate without a cover! -Brakes would intermittently drop to the floor and require pumping up! This was by far the main issue I wanted to fix! It is possibly the reason the car was for sale in the first place! This would require investigation. -Cure the crank seal leak; it was dripping pretty much everywhere I took it! -It stank like an old man inside. That came into point 2. -Sort out a few diesel leaks within the engine bay -Spare wheel was useless; it was an alloy spare; my car is on steel wheels making fitting the spare a big no-no with the existing wheel nuts -Aux belt tensioner was so out of alignment it looked like the belt was about to come off any second! That's not what you want on a trip with a car accumulating a few miles! -Clean up the engine bay; it was filthy thanks to the crank seal leak! -Sort out the steering. Mine's not bad but one balljoint had play and the steering felt like it could be better despite being a 'boxed system. -Install a sub -Give the car a wax and a polish! With the event being in May and work only starting on the car in April it seemed like a tall order! Especially with family events and house work to contend with! The diesel leak was down to poor hose clips and tired pattern hoses! With some Cohline hose and new clips the leaks were gone for good! The first thing to sort were the brakes! I previously bled the brakes but the problem came back. I then noticed that one wheel would get very smelly and hot. And no one likes the smelly kid in the corner! With that decided I figured the brake caliper was shot. As soon as it was removed my fears were confirmed. The rear caliper had been seized for quite some time! I was hoping just to change one but on further inspection the other side wasn't much better. But at least with two new rear calipers I could trust the braking system.   The headunit wiring was a nightmare! The speakers were all out of phase bar one, the method behind the wiring was shocking, and it was dangerous! All of the wires were twisted together and then stuck into masking tape, with the postive wire being bundled into the negative wire, with only a tiny amount of masking tape to keep the whole thing from catching fire! Or blowing a fuse! The head units would dim like mental too due to the poor connection. With that in mind I changed the wiring and soldered in the connections, in addition to tidying up the loom, to make it look a little more factory. It went from this:  To this, albeit with tape to tidy the loom a little further.  I also had the crank seal changed. Seeing as the aux belt had to come off I dealt with that problem at the same time. This actually started off very well! I found that the tensioner pulley and tensioner itself had been recently replaced! I knew the car despite a lack of history had more parts replaced than I was told about but this was certainly a welcome bonus! The misaligned tensioner was down to a very loose tensioner bolt! This seemed strange but it would make sense later on. The crank pulley bolt came undone by turning the engine over with the breaker bar on the floor; bear in mind that the crankshaft bolt is tightened to 320Nm!  However, despite how smooth things go, things can come to bite you hard! And yes, I had one of those moments! The woodruff key fell off the crankshaft into the sump! It's fair to say that my heart sank a little here. I knew that removing a sump from a W124 isn't that hard a job once the engine is raised on a hoist. But I was worried that I'd be in for more problems, in particular the risk of sheared bolts from attempting to remove the sump! Roadkill do make this look very easy! But then again, working 15 hour days on cars probably allows for the impossible to happen! Not really a choice for us mere mortals on RR with jobs and so on! That would create a problem that would really push the deadline on the car! Thankfully, the second woodruff key for the oil pump was still on, and so prior to removing the sump, I removed the oil level sender and grabbed my trusty magnet. Within the hour the woodruff key was removed! Phew! With that in mind I bought a new key from Mercedes and wasted no time in cleaning up and reassemblng the front of the engine Before I knew it. I had a clean engine bay, a new crank seal installed, a new Dayco belt in addition to a car that didn't mark its territory wherever it went.  I still had the small matter of correctly torquing the crank pulley! Without locking the engine correctly I could tell it was done to at least 150Nm, quite a way short of the correct figure. But we'll get to that later. I would end up buying a tool begrudingly and using it with care! Thankfully this ensure the pulley was tightened correctly! Wow, 320Nm is bloody tight! The tensioner bolt turned out to have the same issue. The bolt is meant to be done to 100Nm, in the timing chain cover! Yup, that is not a misprint! With a firm tug of a breaker bar I had the pulley lined up in no time! To be honest, I never would have gone that tight without consulting the manual!  While all of the above was going on I sent the seat away to Stu at the Trim Shed! It seemed crazy to let the bolster get destroyed for the sake of worn material, especially when Blue seats are super rare in the Mercedes world. I saw a couple of blue interiors go for £100 a set in similar condition to my ripped driver's seat, in addition to Blue MB Tex seats seeming not to exist! I did consider beige leather seats but I knew it could come back to bite me! Still, after the retrim, it transformed the tatty interior of the car and really improved things! Simultaneously, the seat runners were freed courtesty of a vacuum and WD40, truly helping one to enjoy the W124 experience. The wet vac of inside also erradicated any iffy odours as did removing what looked like ancient leaves buildup under the seats!  With a week left to go it was fair to say that the car was almost ready, with some serious issues like the brakes and wiring dealt with! I then decided to the balljoint on the centre drag link. Along with a new steering damper this weighed up the steering a bit more and make the car more stable over bumps in the road! Always a bonus     ! Finally, I somehow had the car ready a week before we were due to go! I just had one thing left to do. A mop! The paintwork on this car isn't the best I wasn't expecting in miracles and in truth they didn't happen! But some careful application of 3M Fast Cut Plus, Meguiars 105 and 205 as well as Collinte 476S wax soon had the car looking a little more presentable! Oh, and some new period numberplates for the car.     ![]() farm1.staticflickr.com/957/40306882160_a84fbf2667.jpg![]()   Before I knew it the car was ready! All I had to do now was to test it! After not driving a car for a couple of months and messing around with key parts, it's always unnerving driving an old retro! But I needn't have worried! The car behaved perfectly! It drove beautifully and I soon felt that W124 charm coming back! With a 200 mile test drive done over a week it was finally time to hit the Dover docks. On that Friday morning I truly was in for a treat! But would it last?   |
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What a cracking read, thanks for posting and I look forward to the next installment! Loving the Merc too.
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Last Edit: May 24, 2018 6:29:34 GMT by daver555
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,191
Club RR Member Number: 170
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May 24, 2018 16:30:47 GMT
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What a cracking read, thanks for posting and I look forward to the next installment! Loving the Merc too. Cheers! The Merc had a somewhere mixed reception there, possibly moreso than the M3 may have done! But I can come to that later. Damn, I must lose the Ted Moseb-isms! Turning up at the Docks really was quite something! From this moment I knew it was going to be a great trip! There was such a variety of cars there for everyone! Part of the guys there were waiting to go on the Spa Classic tour, also done by Scenic Car Tours. You may not like the TTs but age hasn't treated them badly! The Z3M Roadster was a lovely thing!  Laon 2018 Friday & Saturday (1 of 51) by Charlieboy, on Flickr So, a variety of Cobra reps, a clean NSX, XKs and Granadas of varying marques all in one place? This is the place to go! These two cars would end up sharing the hotel car park with us! That is the Maserati Bora, and and the 997 Carrera S.  Laon 2018 Friday & Saturday (8 of 51) by Charlieboy, on Flickr It was then a case of cruising down to Laon. This is where the W124 really excels. It's not exactly a racer but it can hold motorway speeds superbly! I did seem to be overtaking alot of cars too without breaking the speed limit! But Scenic laid on a mini show for us on the first day. That was to take place in Arras! I didn't realise it initially but I had been here a few years ago! Then it was full of XMas Market traders. Now, it was full of classic cars! Which one for you? The Blue Pill or the errr...... Black pill?  Laon 2018 Friday & Saturday (9 of 51) by Charlieboy, on Flickr The Jag presence was strong there! The D-Type Replica was a lovely looking thing too! It was a shame for it to have been driven there on a trailer mind you!  Laon 2018 Friday & Saturday (11 of 51) by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Laon 2018 Friday & Saturday (12 of 51) by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Laon 2018 Friday & Saturday (16 of 51) by Charlieboy, on Flickr There's my mate looking chuffed! I don't know why, he had only paid his bit and turned up at this point! Maybe he had the last laugh with being a passenger for then:  Laon 2018 Friday & Saturday (17 of 51) by Charlieboy, on Flickr This 'B brought back many memories for me! I often thought recently that I shouldn't have sold my 'B. But if I did have it I'm not entirely sold on the black! Either way it was a nicely finished car for a Sebring:  Laon 2018 Friday & Saturday (20 of 51) by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Laon 2018 Friday & Saturday (21 of 51) by Charlieboy, on Flickr These may be on the edge of retro, but when was the last time you ever saw one? It was the only ST to make it there, amongst the plethora of MkI & II Escorts and Granadas!  Laon 2018 Friday & Saturday (22 of 51) by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Laon 2018 Friday & Saturday (25 of 51) by Charlieboy, on Flickr This Carrera 2 looked lovely! Just as the doctor ordered!  Laon 2018 Friday & Saturday (27 of 51) by Charlieboy, on Flickr A special mention goes to this chap in the Fiesta! He was quite a youngun who was clearly a grafter. By the looks of it the car wasn't just a chequebook exercise! There were a couple of standout cars. I may make a thread for them, but more with the owners I met! It was well executed however! I do wonder if he is a RRer here?  Laon 2018 Friday & Saturday (28 of 51) by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Laon 2018 Friday & Saturday (29 of 51) by Charlieboy, on Flickr There are more shots here to look at! Of course, this album will be growing over time. With the Arras car show done, meeting some people and enjoying a spot of lunch, it was time to go to my humble abode in Laon and get used to a few things. The first was the lovely achitecture there and the 'Frenchness' of everything. The other? Stairs, and hills. Big ones, and many of them! Stay tuned for the next installment!  Laon 2018 Friday & Saturday (31 of 51) by Charlieboy, on Flickr |
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Last Edit: May 24, 2018 16:32:54 GMT by ChasR
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keyring
Part of things
Posts: 913
Club RR Member Number: 47
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May 24, 2018 21:30:46 GMT
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Great read! Really looks like a show to go on the 'one day' list. Some awesome looking cars there, MG Bs are really starting to grow on me massively lately
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May 25, 2018 13:49:35 GMT
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Enjoying this one Chas. Used to love Portsmouth docks on the Le Mans trips. Then you'd slowly meet the guys on the way down as you stopped for coffee sorry, Calvados breaks.  |
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Last Edit: May 25, 2018 13:50:05 GMT by georgeb
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,191
Club RR Member Number: 170
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May 26, 2018 16:04:43 GMT
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Enjoying this one Chas. Used to love Portsmouth docks on the Le Mans trips. Then you'd slowly meet the guys on the way down as you stopped for coffee sorry, Calvados breaks. Cheers! There was a vibe about the stops as you'll see later! After enjoying a few beers and having a meal it was time to go to bed and to recover from walking the many hills of Laon! You almost need a holiday after walking all of those massive hills, especially since we were staying in the outskirts of Laon! But at least there were a few cars to admire right in the heart of the old town! The first one was an Aston Martin DB2/4!  Laon 2018 Friday & Saturday (32 of 51) by Charlieboy, on Flickr This fabulous 2002 Baur was a great looker too. Did they ever made a full on drop top I wonder?  Laon 2018 Friday & Saturday (33 of 51) by Charlieboy, on Flickr Of course then we retired back at the hotel. That wasn't so bad after all, with some wonderful stuff in the car park! The E-Type there wasn't the most concours example I've ever seen but it did have a lovely honesty about it despite the photos making it look great:  Laon Friday and Saturday Shots. by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Laon Friday and Saturday Shots. by Charlieboy, on Flickr And what about the Mercedes? Despite being called a taxi, and the multicoloured car it got down to Laon very well indeed! The MPG was also the best I have ever seen from it! After filling up at the local petrol station my findings showed it to have done 46MPG! 46! Yup. No higher tyre pressures, nothing like that really! It seems a good service and fixing the brakes really helped things there! I was doing about 80MPH going down towards Laon too! The very next day was the day all of the fun would begin! From seeing a load of bits we were now seeing a load of other cars, both from France as well as Belgium!  Laon 2018 Friday & Saturday (34 of 51) by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Laon 2018 Friday & Saturday (36 of 51) by Charlieboy, on Flickr Yup, it was getting busy! These pictures only cover one of the two car parks as well at Parc Foch!  Laon 2018 Friday & Saturday (37 of 51) by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Laon 2018 Friday & Saturday (39 of 51) by Charlieboy, on Flickr You have to love a Capri in such style  Laon 2018 Friday & Saturday (35 of 51) by Charlieboy, on Flickr When I was speaking of the French being there I wasn't kidding! Just look at those chinos! It's a lovely 356 Replica there mind you!  Laon 2018 Friday & Saturday (40 of 51) by Charlieboy, on Flickr Another mention goes to this chap! It's a 1999 Alpina B3.2! This car is a great example of how retros should be owned! Despite having what some would call a high mileage of 121,000 miles it was immaculate from the top to the bottom of it! The seats were in perfect condition, and the bodywork also! Sure, it had been titivated in the past but the car is in use, enjoyed and I understand is a regular attender of the Circuit Historique, just how retros should be done and enjoyed.  Laon 2018 Friday & Saturday (42 of 51) by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Laon 2018 Friday & Saturday (43 of 51) by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Laon 2018 Friday & Saturday (44 of 51) by Charlieboy, on Flickr Some people however were not as lucky as the rest of us! Paul who some of you know here had his fantastic Cortina Crusador Estate come down to Laon, which I believe is his second time! For those that don't know this car is sporting a wide arch kit of sorts, possibly made by Paul himself, a 5 speed 'box along with a Scorpio Cosworth V6! The difference here however is what induction it has. His is now sporting Tripple Webber IDFs! It sounds absolutely awesome and it really compliments the looks of the car!  Laon 2018 Friday & Saturday (46 of 51) by Charlieboy, on Flickr Unfortunately for Paul, one of the Webers decided that its float would get stuck. It ended up with him have a carburetor flood itself and then catch fire, right in the Dover Docks! It's crazy to think I was having a conversation with him only an hour or so before he went on! Thankfully and very luckily he had the fire put out, albeit with now a messier engine bay full of extinguishing powder! Paul however, is not one to get down by such things! While he missed the boat scheduled for him, he did make it down in the end, and what a pleasure it was to meet him  Laon 2018 Friday & Saturday (45 of 51) by Charlieboy, on Flickr If you lust after Renault Alpines this is the place for you! There were more of their fair share here and how great it was to see them all!  Laon 2018 Friday & Saturday (47 of 51) by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Laon 2018 Friday & Saturday (48 of 51) by Charlieboy, on Flickr Left or right?  Laon 2018 Friday & Saturday (49 of 51) by Charlieboy, on Flickr Before we knew it, we had our rally plan and were ready to go! The Mercedes actually did the rally superbly! There we were in comfort and even on the forrest roads it was a joy driving the old girl around! if only it had more power behind its right foot! It was great going through a number of towns and admiring the French scenery! But I have to dash out for now! More will come soon! All I shall say for now is that we ended up at this place:  Laon Friday and Saturday Shots. by Charlieboy, on Flickr |
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May 27, 2018 22:42:32 GMT
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I have to say, I opened this thread when you first posted it, saw the first picture, and realised that this thread would take some proper attention and time, so I promptly exited and came back this evening to peruse at more leisure. Enjoying this immensely.
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skinnylew
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 5,546
Club RR Member Number: 11
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This is making great bank holiday Monday breakfast reading in the sun. Looking forward to the next part |
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keyring
Part of things
Posts: 913
Club RR Member Number: 47
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May 28, 2018 19:31:43 GMT
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So many beautiful cars over there! I'm massively jealous!
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May 29, 2018 16:55:54 GMT
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Great pictures, and a good read! I don’t post here often but that’s a good mojo booster - thanks.
Matt
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,191
Club RR Member Number: 170
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May 29, 2018 17:53:14 GMT
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I have to say, I opened this thread when you first posted it, saw the first picture, and realised that this thread would take some proper attention and time, so I promptly exited and came back this evening to peruse at more leisure. Enjoying this immensely. I'm glad it is! It seems silly I avoided it for ages eh? But us RRers can be like that at times! This is making great bank holiday Monday breakfast reading in the sun. Looking forward to the next part Cheers! It's time to update it! I was going to do it yesterday but I was busy waiting for my driveway to be repainted, so was out of the house! Arrrggghh! But now I can relax and get back to the Status Quo. So many beautiful cars over there! I'm massively jealous! You can imagine how jealous I was of the cars there! There's more to come too! So, I hinted that I was heading over to Chimay! What I didn't detail was that it was part of a road rally! This isn't everyone's cup of tea and I must admit I had my hesitations about it! It's not like my mate or I have a stellar reputation for getting to places either! But, it's the taking part that counts, right? Maybe.  Chimay Shennagegans by Charlieboy, on Flickr But in truth, it was actually pretty good! Yes there were some boring parts at times but these times are what you make them! It's about having a laugh, trusting your instincts when the bloke in front of you wonders off another way, and most of all, being fair! Which is why of course we switched the driving at various parts! I do have dull video footage of yours truly driving about the place but I'll save that for another time  . At least until my PC gets past the buffering part! But before we knew it, without really getting lost, we got to Chimay! And what a treat we were in for! You could almost tell the event was made a little for Brits! Upon completing the rally we got treated to a glass of Chimay at the end! No, that is no joke! Oh, and a sandwich! But I was hoping to escape some public matters back at home! It seems you can't always escape them all however! But we all like different things eh? It seemed the Royal Wedding being on the big screen did attract over various people. From France, Belgium and of course, the UK.  Chimay Shennagegans by Charlieboy, on Flickr But, I'm not writing about this to comment about the lady from Suits. No no no. I'm here to talk about why all of us made the pilgramage over to Belgium! Chimay, the race circuit and the cars! And man, there were some cars there! It's almost hard to know where to start from! Firstly, I did feel sorry for this Jag owner! It overheated just outside of the entrance! But why would you try to restart and overheated engine, especially in slow moving traffic! Thankfully, others thought the same and pushed him to the side of the road where that could be fixed later. Trust a Jag to show the side up! The other Jags seemed fine I must say. Including one I will mention later .  Laon Friday and Saturday Shots. by Charlieboy, on Flickr I mean, it was only a field full of cars. Really:  Laon Friday and Saturday Shots. by Charlieboy, on Flickr OK, I lied:  Laon Friday and Saturday Shots. by Charlieboy, on Flickr While you had a plethora of BL and Ford stuff present plenty of Renaults and Simcas were around!  Laon Friday and Saturday Shots. by Charlieboy, on Flickr This Peugeot was sublime to look at! What a quirky thing!  Laon Friday and Saturday Shots. by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Laon Friday and Saturday Shots. by Charlieboy, on Flickr If you think the British made quirky sports cars the French were of course the best at it!  Laon by Charlieboy, on Flickr Basic Motoring at its best! But which is it for you? The elegant 2CV or the more "fun" Mehari? You have to love how the French can lay a meal on the back of a car and do a great lunch!! It's something more of us should do at shows!  Laon by Charlieboy, on Flickr But I'm leaving the highlight of the show for me. A truly wonderful Simplex made it down! It had people guessing how many cylinders it had and what it even was! But wow, just look at that! And yes, the bloke really did drove that from Laon to Chimay and stuck to the route! Many hero points to many that!  Laon by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Chimay and Laon by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Chimay and Laon by Charlieboy, on Flickr Was it a 3, 6 or a 12 cylinder? Who knows? It did sound great however! But it was then time for the parade to start come 4pm for the trip back to Laon. I should have filmed more in hindsight but there is always next time. Or maybe you folks might come down as well .  Chimay and Laon by Charlieboy, on Flickr And so we came back to Parc Foch, Laon once more! The W124, like for the many drivers acrossed the world proved it's worth! It had been a very dependable and humble companion!  Chimay and Laon by Charlieboy, on Flickr But let's get back to the Frenchies. Or rather the Alpines! Maybe the Citroens  Chimay and Laon by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Chimay and Laon by Charlieboy, on Flickr Another 2CV you say?  Chimay and Laon by Charlieboy, on Flickr How about a French registered TVR? Or even a funky Matra?  Chimay and Laon by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Chimay and Laon by Charlieboy, on Flickr As always, there were a few breakdowns even back at Laon. In the case of this pair, who really did almost look like a bunch of 70s mechanics/racers their downpipe caught the exit of the car park, leaving them with a massive blow! This Elan looked very tatty, with bilstered and cracked paint wherever you looked! Under the bonnet however it was very clean! Gone was the expensive and now hard to find brake servo. But on were a pair of new Sidedraught Dellortos, refurbished head, larger capacity rad with two Kenlowe fans, CV jointed rear end amongst a lowering job. If some cars can be used to partially express the RR way this Lotus was it! No rhyme, no reason! Just there to be enjoyed and unlike a few Loti, be reliable! Well, I guess it couldn't even do that, even if it was the bloke's fault to a degree!  Chimay and Laon by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Laon Friday and Saturday Shots. by Charlieboy, on Flickr Despite it being 6pm by this point it had been quite a long day, but a superb one! Yet again, we went back into town and slowed down for the night! There was one more leg left of this adventure. But it seems I can't stand still these days! That update will arrive soon! |
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mk2cossie
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,948 
Club RR Member Number: 77
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Sounds like a very good weekend was had by yourself ChasR  I love that Matra 2seater tho, quite bizarre and awkward angles on it but it just draws me in  |
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May 30, 2018 10:05:20 GMT
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Nice to see that Capri from Goblins actually being used.
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96 E320 W210 Wafter - on 18" split Mono's - Sold :-(
10 Kia Ceed Sportwagon - Our new daily
03 Import Forester STi - Sold
98 W140 CL500 AMG - Brutal weekend bruiser! Sold :-(
99 E240 S210 Barge - Now sold
02 Accord 2.0SE - wife's old daily - gone in PX
88 P100 2.9efi Custom - Sold
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Man, I'd do this trip just for the Chimay leg...
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b3nson
Part of things
Posts: 886
Club RR Member Number: 22
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This is exactly what these cars should be used for, looks like a great trip.
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'99 Fiat Coupe 20V Turbo
'08 Panda 100HP
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,191
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Man, I'd do this trip just for the Chimay leg... The Chimay leg was certainly a sweetener that day! So, after alot of driving and coming back to rest and chill with like-minded enthusiasts over a couple of beers, off we went to our humble abodes and to see what the Sunday would bring! Sunday for us was a bit of a waiting game for around 2 hours! It was the day of the town parade, which is the common theme to Laon Historique. To some people I am aware that waiting isn't what we do best! But then with 700 cars to do the Parade it is to be expected, especially with the entire town pretty much shut down in order for this to happen! With this in mind I went for a bit of a scout before things began coming into action. With 700 cars around however, it's not like we didn't have enough things to see! Where do I start? Thankfully, the Merc's crustiness of its wing was nicely disguised by the lovely 911 Carrera in front of it, or so its stickers stated on the side of the car!  Laon 2018 Sunday (1 of 42) by Charlieboy, on Flickr There were plenty of TR7s at the show, with many being of the V8 flavour, as you may have seen previously in the hotel shots. But this was the only Grinnall over there. hoopsontoast , keep yourself contained here .  Laon 2018 Sunday (2 of 42) by Charlieboy, on Flickr The Corsair Owner's Club also made a massive effort! Crayford Convertibles were amongst the cars along with the estate versions! It's funny, I don't mind a Corsair these days, but I did find them quirky for a very long time  Laon 2018 Sunday (3 of 42) by Charlieboy, on Flickr An ale or a wine sir?  Laon 2018 Sunday (4 of 42) by Charlieboy, on Flickr The Fords may be not perceived as classic but they are both now on the 20+ year old mark! The ST200 was a very clean example, and I honestly can['t remember the last time I saw an RS2000 4x4!  Laon 2018 Sunday (6 of 42) by Charlieboy, on Flickr Here is a token gesture of the number of cars. That was just for one of the 6 areas we got told to wait in prior to the parade!  Laon 2018 Sunday (10 of 42) by Charlieboy, on Flickr Which brings me onto another car that caught my eye. Say the name 'E-Type' and what comes to your mind? Stock Series 1.5? On wires maybe? Owned by a gent who has time for no-one? Maybe it's something you see at many shows! This was a little different!  Laon 2018 Sunday (11 of 42) by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Laon 2018 Sunday (12 of 42) by Charlieboy, on Flickr Hang on! Isn't that on Revolution RFXs? Isn't that a J-Gate? The bonnet has random bulges in the bottom of it! Those seats are very Jaguarish! It's a wreck! It's superb! So. what was the story behind this E-Type? This car is owned by a Scot. I can't remember his name. Maybe it was Jock. It could have been Gavin! Who knows! All I can tell you is that through the very thick cigar smoking Scottish accent was a real character of a man who was welcoming and went out of his way to be friendly with us upon us striking up a conversion about his Jag! It was at this point I found out what the car was all about! It apparently had a race history behind it, which is why it had the fibgreglass bonnet, which is why it had the bonnet bulges in the sides for the catches! Gone was the 3 speed auto and in came a ZF 4 Speed 'box with a lockup converter, hence the J-Gate shifter! The stock seats had made way for the retrimmed Recaros along with a period AC system fitted, perfect for the continental cruising! But this car was not just about added refinement! While the RFXs provided one visual clue, the engine revealed more! Gone were the twin inlet manifolds and in came a set of 6 Weber IDFs! It was not just about show either! With the engine capacity enlarged to 5.7 Litres with an alloy rad and twin fans to keep it cool this certainly sounded like an E-Type that was designed to soak up the problems of the continent and really allow you to settle in for a lovely experience! Now, if only our and the EU governments could arrive to a similar timely solution eh?  IMG_0982 by Charlieboy, on Flickr Yup, we were loving the Jaguar! The verdict was out on the wheels but they seemed to work in my eyes! On ContiSport tyres all round it was certainly going to handle better than a factory Jag anyway! But for those who don't like Jags, have some French Hot Hatch porn. Soak in that goodness!  Laon 2018 Sunday (13 of 42) by Charlieboy, on Flickr Or maybe you want a French number. A true alternative to the MGB!  Laon 2018 Sunday (15 of 42) by Charlieboy, on Flickr Yup! I loved the American La France (ALF) car! What an awesome thing it was!  Laon 2018 Sunday (16 of 42) by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Laon 2018 Sunday (18 of 42) by Charlieboy, on Flickr The first thing to do was to attend a driver's briefing! What we would find out later is this briefing despite appearing to be mandatory was actually taken to be optional by a number of individuals, mainly by the regular Laon Historiquers (LHers). Why? The briefing consisted of a few things: 1) Telling people to be sensible in the town, espeically with nothing but basic barriers to protect people. This one is obvious of course , but I can appreciate it is not obvious to everyone! 2) Alot of time was spent with the Mayor of Laon giving speechs and thanking everyone for participating, from the LHers to the municipal services! Laon 2018 Sunday (18 of 42) by Charlieboy, on Flickr Honestly? I wonder if it was the Mayor's way of saying "I'm aware some of your Bre..., French haters come over here every year and take over our town! You go where you like, speak English with barely a hint of French when ordering anything, drink our wine and treat this place like a tip! But that's OK. Why? You all are handy for one thing; MONEEEYYYYY! So please, let this plague come on by year by year". OK, maybe I really am a cynic! With the briefing out of the way, we carried on with what we did best! Look at cars!  Laon 2018 Sunday (19 of 42) by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Laon 2018 Sunday (22 of 42) by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Laon 2018 Sunday (23 of 42) by Charlieboy, on Flickr This was certainly a treat to look at! I was in for another treat later but we shall see if the video can be uploaded!  Laon 2018 Sunday (20 of 42) by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Laon 2018 Sunday (21 of 42) by Charlieboy, on Flickr What was annoying? This is a car worth well into 6 figures, maybe even 7. Seeing swirls on the paint is one thing; after all, it's great to see a 288 GTO being used; I can't remember the last time I ever saw one! But, FFS please fit some decent tyres on? On Goodyear NCT Mud and Snow all seasons up front (No, I'm not joking!), and ageing Falken FK451s on the back I seriously doubt the car is being enjoyed as much as it could be, even at lower speeds! I seriously doubt fresher decent rubber is that much of a deal breaker on a car like that. It would also seem less like he whacked on some part-worns. But it's his car, and to all intents and purposes it had alot of attention, because Ferrari! If you can get rid of them go on them! Getting into the old town of Laon left you with no choice regarding this  Laon 2018 Sunday (24 of 42) by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Laon 2018 Sunday (25 of 42) by Charlieboy, on Flickr With the parade to go we again went to enjoy a bit of rest! But I still hade one more day left of the show.... |
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Last Edit: Jun 10, 2018 10:26:53 GMT by ChasR
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keyring
Part of things
Posts: 913
Club RR Member Number: 47
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I look forward to each update in this thread!
It really has me wanting to make the trip myself!
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,191
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Jun 10, 2018 10:57:45 GMT
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I look forward to each update in this thread! It really has me wanting to make the trip myself! You mean not having half of your 1.3mile walk into town over steps and hills hasn't put you off? I guess it' a nice journey down mind you! I'll be honest, I'm glad I went. Most of my previous road trips haven't been car-centric, until recently. We are deliberating a few folks coming over next year, or for something else. On the final day however, no hills would be involved! The meetup point would be at a bowling alley, not even 1 mile away from the hotel. No stairs, nada! It made a bit of a change! But I think the Frenchman in the Volvo must have heard a few of us mentioning the colour of their chinos; they're "almost" out of sight, but they love bright trousers! Maybe we're missing out over here? Or maybe they wore them for a bet...  Laon 2018 Sunday (26 of 42) by Charlieboy, on Flickr One for RetroWarwicK ; I was never aware there was a differing sidelight option for the Clio 220 Trophy. It's certainly an interesting take on sidelights over the UK cars, or the UK cars I've seen so far!  Laon 2018 Sunday (27 of 42) by Charlieboy, on Flickr With the route given to Fourmies and some banter and catching up shared with a few of the LHers it was time to set off:  Laon 2018 Sunday (28 of 42) by Charlieboy, on Flickr But not before we scanned the carpark a bit more! 996s were a car you saw a few of at LH as well as the 986 Boxsters. But I knew that previously as per my pilot post for this thread. What I didn't expect to see were a number of Ford Mustangs! I keep deliberating over getting one, but I can never commit to it! This trip, however, left me a little less unconvinced that maybe a Mustang was for me! Was the Morrocan ta, sorry, Mercedes spoiling me with its handling or are Mustangs a little like MGBs at shows? Who knows?  Laon 2018 Sunday (29 of 42) by Charlieboy, on Flickr The final leg of the trip was to finish at the EcoMusee in Fourmies. This was of course a little different to Chimay, with it showing how life and industry use to be, and how labour methods differed to back-in-the-day.  Laon final shots by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Laon final shots by Charlieboy, on Flickr But I hear you guys; Less about the place, more about the cars! Sure, sure. There were various great things to see, but as always it's not often you see of the same/similar kind next to each other! Which is it for you? The Barchetta or the X1/9?  Laon 2018 Sunday (30 of 42) by Charlieboy, on Flickr For me, this particular X1/9 is working; as long as you can keep water away from the steel!  Laon 2018 Sunday (33 of 42) by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Laon 2018 Sunday (34 of 42) by Charlieboy, on Flickr This time, a few more 2CVs joined the party, as did a scruffy MGA. I was worried m E46 M3 wouldn't fit in. It seemed on the trip two other people felt otherwise.  Laon 2018 Sunday (31 of 42) by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Laon 2018 Sunday (32 of 42) by Charlieboy, on Flickr No, when did you last see an Alvis?  Laon 2018 Sunday (35 of 42) by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Laon 2018 Sunday (36 of 42) by Charlieboy, on Flickr You have to love a pair of French fancies!  Laon 2018 Sunday (38 of 42) by Charlieboy, on Flickr It was however getting towards that time. What I left out previously was that the Scot used the trip to Laon as sort-of stop off point for himself as well as a break! He was taking his E-Type down to Portugal!  Laon 2018 Sunday (39 of 42) by Charlieboy, on Flickr I previously alluded to seeing a scruffy MGA throughout Laon. To many people it was probabl seen as an MGA fit for the scrapyard! This thing did however seem to tell a story, show that less-than-perfect bodywork wasn't going to stop it from being enjoyed often with it mechanically seeming to be sound!  Laon 2018 Sunday (40 of 42) by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Laon 2018 Sunday (41 of 42) by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Laon 2018 Sunday (42 of 42) by Charlieboy, on Flickr With the car admired it was time to head back! No trip back is every fun but you can try where you can! In our case we took a bit of a detour near Dunkerque to take some backroads via Calais Vins. Stop sniggering in the back! Our wine supplies from last year had gone swiftly, Bourgne and Pommard for those wondering! What we didn't realise was how reasonably priced Belgian beers were here! Chimay? Very reasonable. Trappist and Dunkels were not badly priced either! But once we bought a few bottles to satisfy us it really was time to get the ferry home and call it a day. What a trip. What a car and what great people were around us! The poor Merc which was the butt of a few jokes certainly shone through with its charm and relentless nature! Doing 46MPG average as well merely sweetened the deal on the trip! Now, let's see if I can throw up a video onto here. |
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Last Edit: Jun 10, 2018 13:18:28 GMT by ChasR
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Jun 10, 2018 11:40:43 GMT
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Tell me more about clio sidelights! Buy my falcon! I give you good price!
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Ax GTi Turbo
. At least until my PC gets past the buffering part!
