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Thanks for all the comments guys, i quite like reading what you're writing too, and appreciate your input!  This was the photo that started me writing this thread, and here's the original thread retrorides.proboards.com/thread/174588/marmite-car I had no idea when i wrote this little thread and poll that anyone would be interested in it any further than maybe answering the poll, i'm still really surprised at it's popularity! Are we ready for a bit more? How about ANOTHER trip to Germany?! So we got back home from Germany, happy in the knowledge that within a couple of weeks, my Trailer and Opel Rekord would be returned to Pistonpopper towers. 14 days came and went, then the 15th, then the 16th, the 17th, the 18th, the 19th, and finally on the 20th day, and still with no word from the RAC i thought that i should phone them up and see what the heck is going on. I called them up, and got passed from person to person until over an hour later i was talking to someone about where my trailer and car had got to. The person i was talking to informed me that the RAC would not be recovering the Opel Rekord that was on the trailer, and this is why neither had been returned to me. Why not i said? The representative from the RAC told me that the car on the trailer is not covered by my policy, and therefore if i wanted them to recover my car also it would be a further £1400 + VAT. What? Why would you not recover the car as well? Well, apparently becasue they didn't know there would be a car on the trailer, it's not covered. I said, why would you not expect there to be a car on a car transporter trailer? What kind of idiots are you? Anyway, this just went round and round and in the end i figured that i was getting nowhere. The outcome from all this time spent talking to some fool from the RAC was this, they said that they would recover the trailer, but not the car, they would however recover the car for an added £1400 + VAT. Or, they would recover the trailer, and i could arrange to recover the car myself! Ok i said, you recover the trailer, and i will have the car recovered myself. When can i expect my trailer to be returned to me? It shall be returned to you in 14 days time! Hmm, i've heard all that before, ok i said, i'll wait for the trailer to be returned and i'll make my own arrangements for the recovery of my car. To say that i was feeling a little disillusioned about the RAC was probably the understatment of the year!  The arrangements that i decided upon to get my car back went like this, i hired an even bigger trailer than mine, hitched it to the back of my Ranger, and at 06:00 hrs on 23 December 2014, with Mrs Pistonpoppers words ringing in my ears "BE BACK BY CHRISTMAS EVE!!" I pointed the nose of my Ranger at Stuttgart 664 miles away, and headed off with my brother!  For the second time in a month i found myself at Dover waiting to board a ferry to Calais, and it was windy... Very VERY windy!   Oh joy!! As the ferry rocked about and i tried my best to walk in a straight line, i decided that i was a bit hungry, and a spot of breakfast was the order of the day. As we wandered to the resturaunt on the ferry we were greated by the smell of warm fresh vomit!! Great! Oh good, hopefully we can find somewhere out of the smell, and maybe get a bite to eat. To be honest, while i was standing in the que i sort of lost my appetite a bit, and instead i opted for a bottle of 7up, and a bag of crisps! Good healthy breakfast then. We ate this out on deck, because although it was very windy, and raining, it wasn't smelly lol! No time for sight seeing on this little trip, however i did still manage to see a few sights while out on the autobahn...  Thank goodness for that, i thought i was the only one who towed a shed!! As night fell we arrived in Stuttgart, of course the garage where my car was had closed for the day, which i knew before setting off, however they were going to be open for a few hours the following morning, which i also knew before setting off. So i had checked my brother and I into the Holiday Inn for the night, which was very nice! The following day, up bright and early, good breakfast at the Holiday Inn, and off to pick up the broken Rekord. As before the staff at Hübl were extremely nice, and helpful, however, at first they didn't want to release the Rekord to me, as in their opinion it was down to the RAC to recover it (and i agree with their opinion!), but in the end, after calling the RAC they decided i could take it, but they wouldn't allow me to take my trailer, as the RAC had told them that they would be rocovering it. So, i paid them a small fee to cover the storage of the Rekord, and they helped me to load it onto my trailer. They even then stood outside and waved me off, which i thought was a nice touch!  Not content with just sticking a big "International Rescue" emblem on the back of my truck...  My brother thought it would be hillarious if my Rekord had one as well! For the second time in a month i was filling up at this petrol station, i know you're probably thinking that its not very unusual to be filling up at the same petrol station twice in a month, and i agree with you, but this petrol station is 664 miles away from my house...  Right then, tank full of go-go juice, point the nose at Calais, and stand on it!! I looked at my brother and in my best Hans Solo voice said, "punch it Chewie!" and we made the jump to light speed!  She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts! I have to say, that this old Ranger, with its 2.5 litre TDCi engine sure did have some get up and go, and with Calais showing as 454 miles on the satnav, and supposedly the journey was going to take and estimated 7 hours i knew we would really need to get a wriggle on, and really stand on it as the last ferry out of Calais as it was Christmas eve was at 18:00hrs, and it was 11:00hrs before we left Hübl in Stuttgart! So with mrs Pistonpoppers words still ringing in my ears, "BE BACK BY CHRISTMAS EVE!!" I welded the accelerator pedal of the Ranger to the floor, and went for it!! By 17:00hrs...  We were waiting to board the second to last ferry to leave Calais before Christmas!! I told you i welded the accelerator to the floor! (theres a small chance i may have exceeded the speed limit a touch!)   I cant tell you how relieved i was to be finally on the ferry, heading for home!! WHat you're looking at here is a photo of triumph!! We headed straight up to the resturaunt to get some celebratory tucker before the place smelled of vomit! As we sat there eating our dinner there was more good news...  Look how flat and calm the sea was, the crossing back to Dover was exceptionally flat, and smooth... Lovely! Once back on English soil i decided that i didn't need to exceed the speed limit anymore because i was no longer trying to get to Calais before the last ferry left on Christmas eve. So the 132 mile drive back along the motorways from Dover to Winchester took just under three hours, the traffic was light, presumably as most normal folk were already home on Christmas eve tucking into the Quality Street!  Mission accomplished! However, as i pulled up outside Pistonpopper towers i did feel the need to phone Mrs Pistonpopper to tell her that i had unfortunately missed the last ferry out of Calais! I won't bore you with the actual words she used, mainly because it would look something like this,  She's got quite a way with words my lovely lady!! She was not impressed at all lol. Needless to say, ten minutes later when i did walk in through the front door, she was a little bit happier, but still not impressed, so that would look like this, !! Yup, she's quite the wordsmith!! I'll tell you what though, i was shattered, but so pleased to be back home with my little family for Christmas! Plus of course, i now had my Opel Rekord, and my trailer would be home just after new year. Good times! Anyhoo, during all the driving to Germany type fun i was having i thought that i would take the Talbot out for a bit of a spin, as i'd not been out in it for a looooong time! After I had been driving for a short while when i thought i could smell petrol, just a little at first, but then, all of a sudden, quite a lot! I decided to stop and have a look. I got out, and saw to my horror, that petrol was not dripping out, but pouring out from the front of the car. I turned the engine off at this point, because as cold as i was, i didn't really want the inferno that was keeping me warm to be my car!  I parked up, and as i hadn't left town i wandered off home to collect the Ranger, and my brother to tow the Alpine home for me. As you may remember, it's always a laugh when my brother is involved in the towing of any of my cars, as farcebook gets littered with images of my car being towed. This time however was different. After the last time he broke down in his Porsche 944, and i did it to him, he didn't seem to want to play his photobombing farcebook with images of me broken down game anymore, which suited me just fine! So we hooked the Alpine to my Ranger, and towed it home. Once home we had a good look at where the petrol was coming from, and pretty soon diagnosed that the fuel pump was knackered (thats a technical term!), and it was just pouring straight out of it as soon as you tried to start it up. I jumped straight on 'tinternet, and tracked down a new fuel pump. The pump arrived at Pistonpopper towers just before i did on Christmas eve, but as I was still driving home from Germany i didn't get time to fit it, but i figured that i'd fit it on Christmas day sometime between eating the Turkey, and listening to the Queens speech!  I was assured by the ebay seller that this was the pump i was looking for, and for just £20 my troubles would be over!  It wasn't, and annoyingly it was going to cost me to send it back to him, so i've still got it. To be fair to the seller, it does say that it is for Talbot Alpines etc, except for the Alpines sold in hot countries, or Sweden! So if you're after a fuel pump, part number FP116 for your Apine, Solara, Horizon, or Rancho, then let me know, £20 and it's yours! Not being able to fix the mighty Alpine on Christmas day was a bit of a bummer for me as I was hoping that the car would be fit to go to Romsey's Annual Boxing Day Classic Car and Bike Meet, held every year since 2002 appropriately in Romsey, on, er, Boxing day! If you're ever in the area on Boxing day, it's worth a visit. |
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120y
Part of things
Posts: 423 
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I enjoyed this thankyou I remember these being new my best friend at school(still friends) 35 years later was an apprentice mechanic with Peugeot/Talbot. I think the time is right also for the Talbot Tagora to get more love, not many left but its another car that gets better as it gets older.  |
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1996 Renault Clio MK1 1.4 RT Auto
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good to see it again, really wish i could have bought it when you put it up for sale.
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düdo
Part of things
wide as house
Posts: 770
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Great car, great thread. Very entertaining.
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is that a super bomber on the roof rack ?
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is that a super bomber on the roof rack ? Yes it is, it belongs to my nine year old daughter, it's one of her favourite bikes in her collection, here's a marginally better photo of it:-  It's quite a long way from being perfect, but it's solid, it rides ok, and she loves it, so it's good all round really! It's funny, but i am so glad that the Pistonpoppets love stuff like this. They could both have brand new bikes if they wanted, like their friends all ride, but for some reason or another, they prefer stuff like this, i think it's kinda cool! Anyhoo, after not fixing my Alpine on Christmas day as i'd hoped i decided that i would still attend Romsey's Annual Boxing Day Classic Car and Bike Meet, but as the Alpine was out of action, i elected to take the Mustang, i'll not bore you with a picture of it, as quite frankly, they are everywhere! However i shall put a small selection of photos i took at the event up for your viewing pleasure! I'm not going to caption them as i don't want to look like an idiot when i get the model name wrong!  I know i shouldn't, but i love this thing!     Gorgeous 'A' series Opel Manta! One of my Brothers has a couple of these, it's on the 'want' list for me!      As i'm sure you'll agree, there was something there for everyone. My personal favourites were that Pink thing (As i said before, i dunno why i love it, but i do!), the Lancia Stratos, The Manta, and to be quite honest i like the Hillman Avenger Tiger too! Quite a good, if very cold, day out! The following day, 27th December, desperate to take the Alpine out for a spin i went to my local motorfactors to see if they could help me out with my fuel pump problem. Five minutes later, and for just £31 I picked up this little beauty...  And, although by the time i got back home it was starting to get dark, i soon had it fitted Pretty much by poundshop torch light! Damn it was cold!   Pretty soon the Alpine spluttered into life, and i set off for a 40 odd mile joy ride, y'know, just to make sure everything was working ok!  Everything was ok, and after about an hour of driving around with no particular place to go i was back home, thawing out in my lounge with a cup of tea and a couple of Mrs Pistonpoppers home made mince pies. |
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I see that you are considering painting the plastic bits?
How about spraying them in a very dark (almost black) shade of brown, like the "chestnut brown" used on old VW Buses?
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194? Willys Jeep MB 1965 Volvo 544 Special 1968 Opel Rekord 1975 Opel Kadett Estate 1985 Mercedes-Benz 230E 1985 Datsun 720 King Cab 4x4 diesel 1997 Volvo S70 2.5SE (ex. "Volvo544special65" - changed to more reader friendly username.  ) |
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Cool car. Cool write up! Got me in trouble with SWMBO for reading this and not working on my own car's (cool wife eh? How many men can say that, ha ha)
Do you live in the Eastleigh area? Reason I ask is ghat I see a Mustang the same colour most day's entering as I leave.
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Living the dream. Restore's classic car's for a living!
Project Racer: '99 Arosa
Project Touge Outlaw: '87 Porsche 924S
Project Street sleeper: '95 BMW E34 540i/A Touring
Project Mafia: '04 BMW E53 3.0d
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is that a super bomber on the roof rack ? It is, it belongs to my nine year old daughter, it's one of her favourite bikes in her collection.  i have an early 3 speed search light bomber www.darrenh.co.uk/car_various/bomber78.jpg |
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I see that you are considering painting the plastic bits? How about spraying them in a very dark (almost black) shade of brown, like the "chestnut brown" used on old VW Buses? I have not to be honest, but i'm only planning on doing the grille, and i'm thinking that it should either be Antelope Beige like the rest of the car, and how it would have come from the factory, or Satin Black, because i've got a couple of cans lying around. Although, i am still sort of liking the green! Cool car. Cool write up! Got me in trouble with SWMBO for reading this and not working on my own car's (cool wife eh? How many men can say that, ha ha) Do you live in the Eastleigh area? Reason I ask is ghat I see a Mustang the same colour most day's entering as I leave. Cool wife indeed, mine has been taking the wee wee ever since i've started writing this, and my other thread, the Twelve Cars In A Year! saga! She says it must be a guy thing, writing about it! A woman apparently wouldn't waste time sitting there writing about it, or even reading it, she'd be too busy out ther driving it! I wonder if she's right, perhaps i should integrate some kind of survey lol! As for living in Beastleigh, i don't, but i don't live far from it either. However, thats not my Mustang you see, i've seen it about a bit too, but thats a V8, and mines a V6. When i bought mine i'd not seen another one that colour, then this fella rocks up, now i see him everywhere lol. I found a search light bomber in a hedge last year, it was with several other mountain bikes of the era I kept the lot! It's pretty tatty, but afer a good lubing, and a new chain, brakes, and tyres it's rideable just about, infact my daughter and I went out on a bombing run today, it was a pretty good ride, but it really wants fixing up, i'll get around to doing it... Someday!  As it look just five minutes after being dragged kicking and screaming from the hedgerow that had obviosly been its home for many years! |
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Bomber thread derail indeed lol, but yours is still a lot prettier than mine, where did you get the new decals? I'd better be careful, at this rate i'm going to turn my thread into Pistonpoppers Cycle collection, i've probably got too many, and i could talk about them all day lol... Moving on After my little mission to Germany was finished, and then i did another one to collect my Opel Rekord, its now time to put my Ranger up for grabs on fleabay, but not quite yet, time for one last mission. This time, nothing too far, just 16 miles or so down to Southampton docks! Why you ask? Well...  To collect my new toy, a 1968 Plymouth Barracuda fastback! Cool lol! I have wanted one of these since i was about 4 years old, and i wanted it to be green, so it has to be said, i'm pretty happy! Incase you're wondering, no, this will not be part of my Twelve Cars In A Year fiasco. Mainly because i actually bought it last year, so i'd feel like i was cheating you all lol!  So, load it up...  And lug it home... Damn thats a pretty looking thing... And the Barracudas not too bad either!! Now it's time to list my Ranger on fleabay! Oh, better have some pretty pictures of it before i go on lol!     Yep, this was a great truck and i was sad to let it go, but you can't keep them all, so onto the bay of E it went! So i listed it, and the ad read like this:- " Hello and welcome to the auction for my old but well loved truck, a 2008 Ford Ranger crew cab 4x4. If you are looking for an immaculate truck that looks like it just rolled out of the showroom, this isn’t for you, but if you're looking for a good little truck to go to work in, or haul your kids about in, then you're in the right place! To be fair I’m not even really sure I want to sell this little beauty yet, as, once i've sold it, it will be bound to get snowy and icey this winter! Since I have owned this Ranger I have used it more like my personal car, than a work truck, and I have used it to ferry the kids to school, go shopping, take rubbish to the dump, drive across Europe on holiday twice, infact I have used it for every purpose that you would use any family car for, and it has been fantastic, never let me down, and never missed a beat! Having said that it has been a work truck during its life, and therefore has the odd little knock, scratch, and blemish all of which add to its character I think. The bed is lined with a proper Truckman plastic bed liner, and I have added a proper Truckman top to it, which makes it quite a good van, or if you need it to be a pick up, the top can be removed pretty quickly. It also has a ball and pin type towbar, and electrics which are all in good working order. My truck rides on a set of 18" Lenso alloys which I think suit it quite nicely, and I will also include in the sale of this truck another set of wheels complete with very good winter tyres.
Inside the cab the seats and driving position is very comfortable, will seat five adults in reasonable comfort, the seats are in pretty good shape and have no rips, but they do have some stains from spilled drinks. The interior of the truck is all in quite good shape, and everything works as it should, however, it would all benefit from a good valet! The stereo is quite basic with just a CD player, and AM/FM radio, but it works nicely, and is even loud enough to drown out the noise from your screaming kids, however I have not yet found a stereo loud enough to drown out the noise from the bellowing wife! It has central locking, and power windows on all four doors. The heater/aircon, and fan all work as they should, and warm the truck up quite quickly in the winter, and cool it down quite quickly in the summer.
Under the bonnet lurks the Duratorq 2.5 litre TDCi engine with just over 159,000 miles on it, although that will increase as I am still driving it a lot! It has quite a lot of power, and even loaded up it pulls like a freight train, and will return about 30 mpg depending on how heavy your right foot is of course!!! Mechanically it is great shape, and makes no clunks, whines, or other noises from the engine, transmission, back axle, suspension, or brakes. It is MOTd until the end of March 2015, and to be honest I can't see there being any problem with getting another MOT on the old girl. The underneath, the floorpan, chassis, etc are all in very good condition.
To be honest, I'm never really sure what to write when it comes down to selling my car, but to summarize this is a great little reliable, economical, solid, comfortable truck, but it is a bit rough around the edges, a bit of a diamond in the rough. So, if you're interested in it the best thing to do is, have a good look at the photos, please ask questions, or better still come and have a look at it! It really is a fantastic pick up, and I have thoroughly enjoyed owning, and driving it! I love the fact that its Tonka-toy looks are backed up by genuine off-road, mud-plugging ability, this is a great little truck! It drives perfectly no matter what the surface is like under it, and it’s comfortable to drive. I have set a reasonable reserve, which I am not prepared to discuss, but until the reserve is met, I am prepared to take reasonable offers as I have advertised my car for sale elsewhere, therefore I reserve the right to end the auction early until the reserve has been met! If you have any questions, or you'd like to know more, or maybe come and have a closer look then please let me know."I thought that was a fairly good, and accurate description of my Ranger, after being on ebay for ten days a guy jumped in and won it in the last seconds for just £3,745.00... Bargain! He was pretty keen to come and collect it too, and pretty much called me up when the auction ended. The following day he showed up with his mate to collect the truck, and this is where it all goes a bit sh1tfaced! They then haggled with me, and offered me £750 less than they won it from me on ebay for. We argued for about an hour, they test drove it, had a good look around it, and carried on haggling. But i was having none of it, so in the end, i was pretty urniated off, so i said forget it, and started to walk off towards the house. They then said fair enough mate, and gave me the money, and told me to count it, which i did rather stupidly by holding the end of the wad of notes, and quikly counting the other end. We then signed the paperwork, and they headed off, smoking the tyres of my old work truck the length of the street as they left! I then went inside, and counted the money properly, only to find i was £160 down where they had folded some of the noted in half which meant i counted it twice! That annoyed me! Anyway, later that night i got a phone call from them saying that the truck wouldn't start! They were very unhappy about this, and wanted to know what was wrong with it. I was at a bit of a loss to be fair, because if driven thousands of miles in it and never had any problems at all. So i told them that i didn't know as i've never experienced any problems with it. Apparently it was ok when it was cold, but once the engine is warmed up it refuses to start on the key, the engine turns over freely, but it wont start, although apparently if they tow it, it will bump start! They then said that they were going to take it to a garage, and have them look at it, and they'd get back to me. Well, i'd not heard from them until some four days after they picked it up. So they ring me up, and said that their mechanic can't find a problem with it, as it doesn't throw up any fault codes, but they said that where they've been trying to start it, now the immobiliser has packed up, and this is a problem only the main dealer can fix because the truck only came with one key? I don't really understand, but there you go. Then they said that they wanted their money back as the truck doesn't work. To which i replied that when they bought it from me four days earlier it was working, and it worked fine. But it is an old truck with 160,000 miles on it, so things can go wrong with it at any time. But after another hour or so, we were just going around in circles as they want to bring my truck back to me and get their money back, Actually at first they said i needed to come and collect it and bring them their money back! I was actually starting to feel quite threatened by what they were saying. They then said that i didn't want 30 odd gypsies turning up and demanding their money back, and to be honest, this has frightened me a bit, and i didn't know what to do, i definately didn't want to find 30odd gypsies banging on my door!. Obviously i don't want any trouble, but there was nothing wrong with my truck when they drove away with it... Also of course, when the deal was done, i mailed the documents to the truck to the DVLA, so if i did take the truck back, they would still have the documents when the DVLA send them to them! Strangely enough when they showed up before we even talked about the truck i had a feeling that i shouldn't have sold the truck to them, I wish i'd stuck to my gut reaction when they showed up and started haggling oveer the price, next time i'll just walk away! I really should've thought something was up when they said that they needed a van quick as their Transit engine just blew up! I wondered why you would want a Ford Ranger pick up, if you usually use a Ford Transit van, but of course, they've both got the same 2.5 litre TDCi engine, i wonder if my TDCi engine is now in a Transit? I mean they've had four days to do it... Not that it helps me though. I did try explaining to them that they couldn't bring back the Ranger without the documents, but of course this wasn't getting through to them. It's funny, a couple of years ago i bought an old Beetle, and on the way home it broke down, in the rain, in the dark, in the winter, on the M25! I was probably 15 miles from where i bought it from! Did i call the old owner up to complain? No, i called the AA, they came, towed me home, and the next day i took it to a garage who repaired it for me, then went home and left the fella good feedback! It was a good little car, i was just unfortunate and it broke down the firt time i owned it. I think if you buy old cars, occasionally they will let you down. You just need to take it in your stride! Incidentally, that was the only time that Beetle broke down, it was a lovely car! The stupid thing is i keep thinking, what if they're telling the truth? I mean, it's an old work truck with 160,000 miles on it, so things do happen to break. I'm fairly sure it didn't break down, as it never broke down on me, however, i never drove it like i stole it!! And even if something did break when they were driving it that is unfortunate, but still not my fault, so why do i feel bad about it? Anyway, hopefully this will be the end of it, and i'll not hear from them again... Keep everything crossed!  So long old friend... It's been great! |
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ben-dover
Part of things
You can't polish a turd, but you can roll it in glitter...
Posts: 360
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Good to see the Talbot is still going, have you still got the blue Volvo 240 or has it now passed on? I loved that car!
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That's still a lot prettier than mine, where did you get the new decals? it was (he says, past tense) a place called retrospect bmx. he sold decals for almost everything (including search light, super and 5 speed). found out in the last few days he is selling up due to ill health  |
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Good to see the Talbot is still going, have you still got the blue Volvo 240 or has it now passed on? I loved that car!  That was a lovely car, but sadly due to not having enough time to play with it and enjoy it, i had to let it go. A shame really as i really quite liked it, and even considered keeping the Volvo, and selling the Talbot, but we had a vote, and i was out voted, so for now, we've kept the Talbot, and sold the Volvo.  Not long after this photo was taken i sold the red 240 Estate too  I'm just down to one Volvo in my collection now, and it's the white 262c, which i'm not even sure i really like at all if i'm honest! This is the trouble with having an old car hobby, or even just a car hobby, when you have a collection of cars, you can't drive them all at once, and subsequently, some get pushed to the sidelines a bit. Since i started trying to buy, and sell a car a month, my "regular" cars have been a bit neglected of late, and none have been more neglected than my little Pony, this was the last time i drove it... And that was back last SEPTEMBER!!  It dawned on me the other day that it had run out of MOT, i was planning to take it for a spin, and i thought to myself that the MOT was soon, i'd better check when it runs out before heading out onto the open road with it. Good thing i checked too, it ran out last month!! BUM!! After finding out that my MOT had already expired i started to think about the last time i drove it, it was Boxing day to the previously mentioned Romsey Annual Boxing Day Classic Car and Bike Meet!! That was aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaages ago!! Since then i've been busy driving a Vauxhall Frontera, then a Rover 416 Tourer, and currnetly a Vauxhall Omega. So a quick look around the Mustang for anything that might need attention before the dreaded MOT... I don't know why i dread the MOT, but i feel exactly the same about taking my car for a MOT as i do about taking myself to the Dentists! Anyway, the only thing i could find that needed attention was the rear fog light was cracked. I never liked the fog light they put on for the SVA when i brought it into the country, it always looked cheap and horrible, but it did the job. So i figured that now was as good a time as any to upgrade to a prettier fog light.  Thats better! I bought this small pair which were made from stainless steel, and have glass lenses, and they're pretty damn bright too! I bolted these on using some brackets that i had made up from an old bed frame (I know, it sounds bad, but they looks ok now it's done!) and i thought that was it, i'm good to go Booked the Mustang in for a MOT, and then took it there! This is where it didn't quite go according to plan. Firstly, leaving the thing with it's handbrake on for 3 months was bad, it just didn't want to move, but then after a couple of minutes trying to go backwards and forwards to ease it off, it freed up, and i was away to the MOT station. The MOT went well, except of course the handbrake didn't work now, the cable was seized, and therefore now that i had managed to get the handbrake off, i couldn't get it back on again... BLAST!! Still, not to worry, i've got ten days to get it fixed, so i drove home, and jumped on t'internet to get me a new one. Usually i go straight to the States for parts as they're usually cheaper, but i was in a hurry. I found a company that was selling them on ebay in the UK, and promised delivery within the week, so i bought the new hand brake cables from them and paid them straight away in the hope that i would get them sooner... Ha haaaaa, what a laugh! It's been six days since i ordered them, and i'm still waiting! I called them up to ask where they had got to, and apparently they're on their way and should be with me soon, within the next five to ten days!! Hopefully it will be within the next day or so as i need to get them fitted, and have it re-tested before my time runs out and i need to have a whole new MOT. Time will tell!! |
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Apr 27, 2015 20:26:03 GMT
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Time did tell, and as of writing my handbrake cable has still not arrived, apparently they sent it out, but it just wasn't delivered. So after a week or so i phoned them up again, told them i still didn't have it. So they said they'd send another one out, but that has not been delivered either. I asked them to send it to me by recorded mail, which i was prepared to pay for, but they said that they'd sent it by parcel forces regular service... Still not got it, still got my Mustang with no MOT so i can't use it.  So now i've done what i should've done in the first place, order one from Americaland. Annoyingly it was half the price (including shipping!) of the one i originally ordered from a supplier in the UK, and they say i should have it within a week or so... Even more annoyingly, i'll bet i do! Anyway, as i said before, time will tell! So, what else have i been up to with my little automotive adventures? Well, there was Wheelsday. Now, for those of you that don't know Wheelsday is probably the first show of the season put on by a bunch of people called the Surrey Street Rodders. This is a great show, and i have been attending for about 25 years, and for the last ten or so i have been able to attend, and show my car. Last year (2014) was MASSIVE!! And it all got a bit out of hand, and lots of people got upset when they couldn't get their car into the show, fortunately for me, who was in the que stupidly early in my Karmann Beetle convertible, i got in, but my Dad who joined the que two hours after me in his Mustang didn't! My dad, and brother were ok about this and wandered around the show anyway. However lots of people who didn't get in the que early enough for whatever reason, and therefore didn't get into the show were very angry about this, and posted various angry messages on various forums expressing their displeasure. So, initially SSR decided that they weren't going to put a show on this year, which was a shame, but eventually decided that they would, but it was going to be different. If you wanted to show your car, then you had to send a photo of it, and apply for a ticket to show it. So, i applied to show my 1968 Plymouth Barracda, which i thought they might quite like.  Obviously they didn't, so i didn't get in, and i felt, like a lot of other people who weren't lucky enough to get selected. I was a bit ticked off about this, and thought about throwing all my toys out of the pram, having a massive strop, and not going! But as it's become quite a tradition in my house, and Mrs Pistonpopper, and the Pistonpoppetts wanted to go, so we decded to go in the Talbot intead, it needed a bit of a drive out to be fair, i've not driven it in ages! Anyhoo, because it was a little damp under foot, alot of people who did actually get tickets didn't bother showing up, therefore when we got there i was directed onto the show field in my Talbot... YAY (I er, think!!)  It's funny, twenty five years ago when i was driving my original Chrysler Alpine i would have never dreamed that there would ever be one on the show field at Wheelsday, let alone be an Alpine that i own lol! I wish i'd washed it before we left! Funny how times and attitudes change, as ever it was a good show, and we wandered around pretty much all day taking in all the cool cars etc and getting soaked to the bone in the process! So here for your viewing pleasure is a few photographs of the cars that i thought were pretty cool... Enjoy:-  Yep, it was pretty damn damp under foot!  Poor fella, looks like his suspension has collapsed driving over the bumps to get across the field.  I don't know what it is about vans right now, but i find them to be so cool, especially with seventies-esque graphics!  Very nice little Audi on ATS Cups.  What the Fu... Fu... Fu... Fox picture is that? I'm guessing it started out life as an Anglia... Fantastic!  I'm guessing if you are of a certain age (like me) this car ranks pretty highly in the 'Cars you'd like to own someday' league.  Corsair... Fantastic, i've not seen one for years!  I'm thinking this is a Volkswagen Type 181/182? Although it looks a bit different to any other Type 181/182 i've ever seen.  Er, Beetle powered Ford Popular? I'm guessing it's probably on the whole Beetle floor pan. Obviously i've not put up all the photos i took, i'm a bit tired, and i don't want to fill Retro Rides with my photos of Wheelsday 2015. But hopefully you can get an idea of what the show was like from my few photos. Should you like to look at more of my poor quality photos (and you should obviously!), but this time taken on my Kodak Retinette 1b camera from 1963 using Kodak Vericolor 400 ASA film that expired in 1998, which admitedly means i've got weird colour shifts, golfball sized grain, and poor exposures, but i kinda like it that way. Then here's a link to my other mediocre photos of this event in case you might like to have a little lookey! retrorides.proboards.com/thread/177566/wheelsday-2015-picsWith any luck for Wheelsday 2016 they'll go back to the old method of being selected to go on the show field where if you turn up early enough and the guys on the gate think your cars worthy of showing, they let you put it in the field, this method has worked well for the previous forty years, and i reckon they should go back to it! |
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andyw
North East
Posts: 238
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Apr 27, 2015 21:57:03 GMT
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Enjoying reading this, my childhood was spend in a couple of chrysler/talbot products, firstly a '79 Horizon followed by an '83 Solara.
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richp
Part of things
Posts: 246
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Apr 28, 2015 11:06:59 GMT
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There's something about this car!
I have to say I preferred it on the steels though
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Apr 29, 2015 16:17:06 GMT
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Enjoying reading this, my childhood was spend in a couple of chrysler/talbot products, firstly a '79 Horizon followed by an '83 Solara. I'm glad you're enjoying it. When i write it i always wonder if i'm writing anything worth reading, so thanks for letting me know It's funny, ther've been a few comments like this made about riding around in them as kids, but when i was a kid i didn't even know anyone with a Chrysler/Talbot Alpine, the first time i ever saw one was when my Dad found one for sale and bought it for me to learn to drive in. Pretty much all of my friends parents drove Ford Cortinas, and the few that didn't were generally to be found by the side of the road somewhere with the bonnet up on their Morris Marina!  I want to just move away from the mighty Talbot Alpine for a second, shown here with two of the stars from my Twelve Cars In A Year thread, the Rover 416 tourer, and the hastily added Vauxhall Omega estate. I'm going to have a quick word (actually it won't be a quick word at all!) about the hastily added Vauxhall Omega estate from my other thread of mindless babble Car #3, the March car! So, road trip anyone? Obviously if you want to read the full story of the Omega, just click the link, i just want to tell you about the trip, and maybe share a few photos of it! Yes, i'm off to Germany... Yes again!  Here is my latest purchase out on it's first drive with me as the owner! Yep, it's on the ferry, a completely unknown car to me, and the first time i drive it is to drive it is to drive it 710 miles to Vilseck in Germany... Oh yeah, i'm a special kind of genius lol. Well, i must say that a Vauxhall Omega wasn't on the list of cool cars to own someday, however, my Dad bought a new one when they came out in 1994, and i quite liked it. But, my Dad, for reasons best known to himself always tends to buy the poverty model, and this isn't. When i bought it, i took it round to show to my Dad who was fairly confused as to why i would buy such a thing, but upon having a go in it, he was quite impressed with the comfort levels, and the extra power that the V6 had over his 2.0litre. He even said that it was nicer than the one he had an incredible 21 years ago back in 1994. I still can't believe they've been around so long! Anyway, when i bought it, it had nearly a full tank of go-go juice which i think is a good selling point, so 294 miles after the buying the Omega, here's the obligatory first fill up shot.  This took place somewhere on the E10 in Belgium, and buy now i had plenty of time to give my first impression of life with the Omega, and i like it, it is big, comfy, nice to drive, powerful, i really like it. I juiced it up, and headed off to meet my friends in Köln. 120 miles later i pulled into the parking lot of the hotel, i had now travelled 414 miles that day, and i thought the Omega was going well. As i sat there over dinner telling my friend about my fabulous Vauxhall Omega he became quite interested, and wanted to see it for himself. We wandered out into the car park, and he had a look round it. He told me that he was quite impressed, and infact he had been offered a near identical Opel Omega estate, and had been toying with the idea of having it. He then asked me to start it up, and take him for a little spin in it, DRAT... It started up ok, but immediately a selection of idiot lights lit up the dash like a Christmas tree. Still, not to worry, I decided to shut it off, check all the fluids, and start again. So i did that, all the fluids were still where they were when i left good old England, and everything under the bonnet seemed ok, so i started it, and this time i had no idiot lights, phew, we headed off into the night. The next day was spent driving about Köln, stand by for a couple of random photos i took while tooling around Köln...  Not really sure why i took this if i'm honest, i just thought it was an interesting, and huge statue to have in the middle of a roundabout, and i thought i might share it with you good people!  I thought this was pretty smart too! Ha ha! Happily the Omega drove around Köln all day, and did this without idiot lights or incident. This pleased me as the following day i had another 305 miles to drive to my friends house in Vilseck. The next day, we jumped into the Omega, flicked the key, and it fired straight up as ever, once again, no idiot lights. By now i was feeling pretty confident that the lights coming on a couple of nights previously was probably due to some sort of small electrical fault, so we headed off to Vilseck. However, forty miles outside of Frankfurt, Oh dear...   On came the idiot lights again, and within about five minutes we coasted to a halt beside the E35. My Brother asked me what was up, and i said that i didn't know, but in my opinion we had possibly run out of electricity. He then got his phone out and started fiddling around with it for a bit. Ever the comedian before we had actually stopped his phone was blearing out Kraftwerks 1974 hit Autobahn which peaked here in Englad at number 11 in the singles charts. (in Germany it did slightly better, which is to be expected, but still only just made it inside the top ten by peaking at number 9) Oh how we laughed! So once we'd listened to all 3 minutes and 28 seconds of this little gem while sitting the other side of the armco on the autobahn we contemplated calling the RAC. I have not been a memeber of the RAC for very long, and i can honestly say that they are utterly rubbish! As you know, sadly, in the last six months i have had to call them twice, both times from Germany, and both times i have been very un-impressed with their service or lack thereof. So, i called them up, gave them my membership number, and told them i've broken down at N 50.34809° E 8.16778°. The first thing they said, was exactly what they said first of all the last time i called them, and that was that i didn't European cover. I said, yes i have, i bought your most expensive cover, with every single option. Oh yes, said the voice, so you have, but do you have your confirmation letter with you? What?! No of course not, why would i, i have the membership card with all my details on it, why would i need a letter you sent me seven months ago? Listen, i said, my car is has broken down beside a busy autobahn, i have my Brother with me who is a diabetic, my wife with me, and we have our two little girls with us who are just 10, and 5 years old. Ok said the voice, well there's nothing i can do for you, you'll need to phone the European headquarters in France. OK i said, can you put me through? No, said the voice, here's the number, and he quickly read it to me! Ofcourse foolishly i wasn't ready for that, and didn't have a pen and paper to hand, so i asked him to repeat it to me once i'd got something to jot it down on. He did repeat it, but with all the attitude of a stroppy teenager! So then we tried to call this number, now for some reason our phones wouldn't let us dial an international number from our current location, so i called the RAC back, and explained the situation, and asked if they could help us? No came the reply, you need to call the European assist number for help, do you have the number. Yes i do i said, but i cannot call a European number from my phone in Europe for some reason, if we could, i'd be talking to them, and not you, could you put me through please? Sorry, came the reply, i don't think we can do that!! While this was going on my brother was busily trying to work out how to call the European number, and eventually he managed it. By now, we had been sitting by the autobahn for a couple of hours, and i was starting to get pretty cheesed off to say the least, and i could feel another outburst coming on that might not help the person on the other end of the phone to want to help us quickly. Realising that my big stoopid mouth was probably about to get us in trouble, i elected my Brother, who is far more diplomatic than i am when dealing with idiots deal with the conversation with the European branch of the RAC, and i sat quietly rocking in a corner!  So, he calls the European branch of the RAC up, tells them our location, and what we think the problem is. Ok says the polite French lady, we'll get something sorted. A couple more hours go by, and now we were all getting pretty hungry, and my kids were getting bored. Still no tow truck, then the phone rings, it's the RAC asking have we been picked up yet? No i said, and we've been here for over four hours now! I'm guessing that you're all probably very busy, but i've got two small children here, and a diabetic adult who is going to need to eat something soon. Ok says the voice, i'll get someone on it. Three hours later, the European branch call to ask if we've been picked up yet, I told her we hadn't, and that now we'd been there seven hours, and luckily for us, we had food with us, so we'd eaten, but i was still pretty ticked off. OK she says, someone will be with you very soon, and half an hour later...  Finally, we're picked up! To be fair to the recovery driver, he said they only knew about the breakdown for about an hour, and they had been trying to organise a garage to take it to so that the fault could be diagnosed, and repaired. We were taken about 7 miles to a beautiful little town called Bad Camberg, where the local Opel dealer, Auto Müller GmbH on Frankfurter Str. 102, 65520 had stayed open late in order to receive my stricken Omega. The owner then asked me to call him in the morning, and they would let me know when it would be ready for collection. I asked my kids what they thought of the trip so far, and the ten year old thinks that its like living an episode of Top Gear, and my five year old just said, never a dull moment Dad!  The recovery driver then took us all to a little hotel in the town called Hotel Taunus, which is at Caspar-Hofmann-Platz 2, D-65520 Bad Camberg. Honestly, it was very nice, and the owners were really helpful. I would recommend it as a nice place to visit, and to be honest, it was a lovely little hotel, in a lovely little town. If we didn't have other places to go, i'd have been happy to have stayed a while longer. Anyway, we were relieved of about £144 in proper money for a couple of rooms, and breakfast for five of us in the morning, which i didn't think was too bad. Besides, as i remember according to my RAC policy, if the car can't be fixed there and then, and we need to stay in a hotel i believe my policy covers it. As suspected the Omega had indeed run out of electricity, and would need a shiny new alternator. Having said that, the Opel dealer said they had an alternator on the shelf, and if the RAC had got us picked up sooner, it would've been fitted that day, and we'd have been on our way! So with the Omega sitting in the Opel dealership workshop for the night waiting for the mechanics to arrive in the morning and fit my a shiny new alternator, we had a wander around Bad Camberg. Honestly, there was nothing bad about the place, it was lovely! Stand by for a couple of automotive related photos...   The following morning i called the Opel dealership who told me the Omega would be ready for collection at 15:00hrs, and parts and labour came to £288 in proper money. So we went down, paid him in cash because for some reason none of our cards don't seem to work in some places in Germany, and picked up the Omega complete with it's new alternator. My Brother and I then drove it back to the hotel, picked up Mrs Pistonpopper and the Pistonpoppetts, flung our luggage in the cavernous bootspace, and once again hit the autobahn. Just as well have a photo of the Omega outside the lovely hotel too!  217 trouble free miles later we pulled into my friends place in Vilseck...  Hey i know that shed... I left it there about five months ago lol! Stand by for a few more random photos:-  It has to be said that i did feel a bit sorry for Bambi, but he tasted delicious!!  I wish i could remember what the name of this place is, as i'd be telling you all to go there for a bit of a feed! I can tell you that it's in Amberg though, i can remember that much! Apparently the beer bier was pretty damn special too!  I have a friend who says he doesn't "get" sculptures, he thinks they're pointless, and a waste of public money. But for me i like them, i look at them like they're jewelry for the town. I don't really know what this is about, but it was massive, and i think that each of the little rectangles are made by primary school children, i love this, and i love the fact that the children will be able to walk by it when they're older and say to people, that little bit was made by me!  I'm not usually a one for photgraphing my food, i don't see the point really, however here's a photograph i took of my currywürst & frites at the local Imbiss... Mmm, i love that stuff! Sometimes i find that i have to go to Herman Ze Germans in London just to get my fix lol!  I have a bit of a "thing" for bicycles, and i thought this Deutsche Post bike was cool... My brother however thought i was an idiot for photographing it! But look at that frame!! How interesting is that?   Opel Kadett sort of semi-cabriolet, i'd never seen one of these before, and it puts me in mind of those old BMW 3-series Baur convertibles. I like it!  I know what you're all thinking, why have a put up a phot of a Chrysler 300C, well, two reasons, firstly i like the Chrysler 300C, and secondly, because this is a Lancia, and i thought that was a bit odd!  The inside of a Pylon, i don't know why i took this photo to be honest, but i liked the look of it all lit up against the inky black night sky, and just thought i'd share it with you.  Another cool little sculpture (in my eyes) This one is outside the Auto & Technik Museum in Sinsheim, if you're ever in the area, it's well worth having a look around this place, there really is tonnes to see... I'll try and post a few more photos from inside the museum later...   Anyway the rest of the trip went without hitch, and the Omega performed and drove very well, here's a photo i took of it on the way back to England reflected in a building window while i was blezzing through Brussells looking for some sprouts.  Despite breaking down, and having to wait for hours on end for the RAC to pull their collective fingers out their bums (AGAIN!) and get us picked up, it really was a pretty good trip, and the Omega (apart from that one incident lol!) performed flawlessly. However it has to be said that we all thought that the treatment of a so-called professional outfit like the RAC was extremely ametuerish, and shoddy! Speaking of the poor treatment we got from the RAC, i had hoped that, as the RAC still havn't recovered my trailer, and it would appear that they never will i would be able to tow it behind the Omega if i removed the opposite wheel to the one that had the bearing failiure. I figured that if the trailer was empty it should be safe to tow like that. I visited Hübl GmbH & Co, and asked them if that would be ok, but they were reluctant to let me take it, as they said that it was the resposibility of the RAC to collect it for me. I said that i was nearby so i thought as i was close i might aswell take it myself as the RAC were dragging their feet about it. The guys at Hübl were unsure of the legality of towing a trailer that should have four wheels, only having two so the phoned the Polizei for advice, their advice, as expected was NEIN! So of course i still wasn't able to recover my trailer that the RAC initially said they would recover nearly six months ago, however the RAC have told me that they will just send me a cheque to re-imburse me for the trailer, as it would be cheaper for them to do that than it would be for them to recover. But as yet, and now having filled in the forms TWICE as they've lost the first set of forms i have still not been re-imbursed, and to be honest, i very much doubt i'll get re-imbursed for expenses incurred when i broke down on this little trip, but thats a tale for another time... |
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andyw
North East
Posts: 238
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Apr 29, 2015 19:14:38 GMT
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Enjoying reading this, my childhood was spend in a couple of chrysler/talbot products, firstly a '79 Horizon followed by an '83 Solara. I'm glad you're enjoying it. WHen i write it i always wonder if i'm writing anything worth reading, so thanks for letting me know It's funny, there've been a few comments like this made about riding around in them as kids, but when i was a kid i didn't even know anyone with a Chrysler/Talbot Alpine, the first time i ever saw one was when my Dad found one for sale and bought it for me to learn to drive in. Pretty much all of my friends parents drove Ford Cortinas, and the few that didn't were generally to be found by the side of the road somewhere with the bonnet up on their Morris Marina! My dad bought both new - he traded in a Wolsley 6 (landcrab) for the Chrysler Horizon - MUP 607T, in mint green with the checkered beige/tan cloth and beige/tan plastics. I think it was a 1.1. The old Wolsley was too thirsty and I think the appeal of the Horizon was it's economy. 1983 He bought a 1.3 Solara (A599 XNL) in white - it was part of a cancelled fleet order so I expect there was a good deal on. It had a 5 speed box and even had the decal on the boot to tell everyone! That lasted until 1987 when it went in favour of an MG Maestro. |
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Last Edit: Apr 29, 2015 19:15:21 GMT by andyw
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So now i've done what i should've done in the first place, order one from Americaland. Annoyingly it was half the price (including shipping!) of the one i originally ordered from a supplier in the UK, and they say i should have it within a week or so... Even more annoyingly, i'll bet i do! Anyway, as i said before, time will tell!
So, he calls the European branch of the RAC up, tells them our location, and what we think the problem is. Ok says the polite French lady, we'll get something sorted. A couple more hours go by, and now we were all getting pretty hungry, and my kids were getting bored. Still no tow truck, then the phone rings, it's the RAC asking have we been picked up yet? No i said, and we've been here for over four hours now! I'm guessing that you're all probably very busy, but i've got two small children here, and a diabetic adult who is going to need to eat something soon. Ok says the voice, i'll get someone on it. Three hours later, the European branch call to ask if we've been picked up yet, I told her we hadn't, and that now we'd been there seven hours, and luckily for us, we had food with us, so we'd eaten, but i was still pretty ticked off. OK she says, someone will be with you very soon, and half an hour later...