You know those moments where you're presented with two choices: you can sit at home and wonder "What if?" or just say "Screw it! Let's do this!"? This trip was the result of one of those moments:
Nürburgring_24hrs_20140621-22_062 by mwggriffiths, on Flickr
2500+ miles
13 days
2 world famous 24hr endurance races
7 car museums
17,000+ photos
And more cool old tin than I can remember!
....All in a car bought two weeks previously with no MOT for £250.
What could possibly go wrong?
----
Lets rewind to Summer 2013:
The dates for the Le Mans 24hr and Nurburgring 24hr were announced, and they were only a week apart - I've done Le Mans before and loved it but I've never even been to the Nurburgring, let alone watched their 24hr. A plan was forming in my head, but how could we fill the time in between the two? Well I've always wanted to visit the Porsche Museum....
After a bit of Googling and consulting friends and colleagues my Google Maps plan looked something like this:
Easy right?
The plan briefly consisted of:
Part 1: Preparations
Part 2: Le Mans
Part 3: Musée Matra
Part 4: Cite de l'Automobile
Part 5: Porsche Museum
Part 6: Meilenwerk
Part 7: Mercedes Museum
Part 8: BMW Museum
Part 9: Audi Museum Ingolstadt
Part 10: Audi Forum Neckarsulm
Part 11: Nurburgring 24hrs
(I'll add links to each post as we go)
Tickets were bought, ferries and hotels were booked. The car was a simple choice. My daily driver E30 318iS: Fast enough, frugal enough, comfortable enough and completely reliable (30,000 miles in 2.5 years so far) and cool enough to park up with pride at two of the biggest motorsport events in the world:
IMG_0888 by mwggriffiths, on Flickr
----
Then.
BAM!
A wild Nissan Juke appeared and re-arranged my front suspension...
...Less than a month before we were due to leave.
Balls!
My insurance company is useless - despite it clearly being the other guys fault, and him admitting liability they weren't going to provide me with a courtesy car.... I'm not going to name names, but I'll simply state their mascot is an elephant
So the hunt was on for something cheap that stood a good chance of being able to do the distance reliably and comfortably.
We tried to look at a 190e but the seller wouldn't give me his address so I could come and view it (!). We considered a few other things, but I eventually settled on something I'd owned before, knew, and could be picked up for pence:
It's a 1994 E36 318Ti Compact. Not exactly "ooofft" worthy is it? But it's basically an E30 underneath, had 6 months tax and was only £250!
A week of tinkering later and it flew through its MOT first time with no advisories!
A quick trip up to Oulton Park a few days before we left for the BTCC was all the run in it got, but it seemed to be mechanically ok.
We were in business!
BTCC_Oulton_Park_20140608_027 by mwggriffiths, on Flickr
The full set from the BTCC is here for those interested: www.flickr.com/photos/mwggriffiths/sets/72157645353977401
The biggest issue was the paintwork. You had to see it to believe it! The red had faded, then a previous owner had decided to rattle can large sections of the car red again..... Without using any masking tape! I decided I couldn't make it any worse.... but I'll let you be the judges on that!
On went some 15" Alpinas I had lying around and a 3M carbon vinyl wrap hid the worst of the "respray" job on the bonnet:
Could it make it to Le Mans in one piece, let alone survive the rest of the trip? Find out in Part 2.
Nürburgring_24hrs_20140621-22_062 by mwggriffiths, on Flickr
2500+ miles
13 days
2 world famous 24hr endurance races
7 car museums
17,000+ photos
And more cool old tin than I can remember!
....All in a car bought two weeks previously with no MOT for £250.
What could possibly go wrong?
----
Lets rewind to Summer 2013:
The dates for the Le Mans 24hr and Nurburgring 24hr were announced, and they were only a week apart - I've done Le Mans before and loved it but I've never even been to the Nurburgring, let alone watched their 24hr. A plan was forming in my head, but how could we fill the time in between the two? Well I've always wanted to visit the Porsche Museum....
After a bit of Googling and consulting friends and colleagues my Google Maps plan looked something like this:
Easy right?
The plan briefly consisted of:
Part 1: Preparations
Part 2: Le Mans
Part 3: Musée Matra
Part 4: Cite de l'Automobile
Part 5: Porsche Museum
Part 6: Meilenwerk
Part 7: Mercedes Museum
Part 8: BMW Museum
Part 9: Audi Museum Ingolstadt
Part 10: Audi Forum Neckarsulm
Part 11: Nurburgring 24hrs
(I'll add links to each post as we go)
Tickets were bought, ferries and hotels were booked. The car was a simple choice. My daily driver E30 318iS: Fast enough, frugal enough, comfortable enough and completely reliable (30,000 miles in 2.5 years so far) and cool enough to park up with pride at two of the biggest motorsport events in the world:
IMG_0888 by mwggriffiths, on Flickr
----
Then.
BAM!
A wild Nissan Juke appeared and re-arranged my front suspension...
...Less than a month before we were due to leave.
Balls!
My insurance company is useless - despite it clearly being the other guys fault, and him admitting liability they weren't going to provide me with a courtesy car.... I'm not going to name names, but I'll simply state their mascot is an elephant
So the hunt was on for something cheap that stood a good chance of being able to do the distance reliably and comfortably.
We tried to look at a 190e but the seller wouldn't give me his address so I could come and view it (!). We considered a few other things, but I eventually settled on something I'd owned before, knew, and could be picked up for pence:
It's a 1994 E36 318Ti Compact. Not exactly "ooofft" worthy is it? But it's basically an E30 underneath, had 6 months tax and was only £250!
A week of tinkering later and it flew through its MOT first time with no advisories!
A quick trip up to Oulton Park a few days before we left for the BTCC was all the run in it got, but it seemed to be mechanically ok.
We were in business!
BTCC_Oulton_Park_20140608_027 by mwggriffiths, on Flickr
The full set from the BTCC is here for those interested: www.flickr.com/photos/mwggriffiths/sets/72157645353977401
The biggest issue was the paintwork. You had to see it to believe it! The red had faded, then a previous owner had decided to rattle can large sections of the car red again..... Without using any masking tape! I decided I couldn't make it any worse.... but I'll let you be the judges on that!
On went some 15" Alpinas I had lying around and a 3M carbon vinyl wrap hid the worst of the "respray" job on the bonnet:
Could it make it to Le Mans in one piece, let alone survive the rest of the trip? Find out in Part 2.