Findlay's eBay Subaru MV284 Brat

Well, from Whitstable it made it to Chessington then on to Milton Keynes by www.northloop.co.uk relay...



Simon & Neil (Neil's RAV4 in the background) then had the task of getting it to Stanstead to pass it to Dave who filled it up last night ready for a trip to Chester this morning...



So progress from Kent to Aberdeen is, well, progressing. Kev is today's custodian and Mike follows him.

To be continued...

I like that, hope its solid dude👍

Tomorrow we move to Yorkshire! Exact location unknown.

Thus far the consensus is that the blokes like it. Their wives remain unconvinced. My Mrs. has only seen a couple of photos to date. Her reaction on arrival may be somewhat similar to the ladies who have experienced it thus far.

Or even rock 'er world?!

Either way enjoy the Brat - looks a beaut

Cheers

Matt

Guess what arrived in Aberdeen on Monday?



Idiot, Brat & daily.

It drives pretty much exactly as I expected. It's more solid than I expected, the bits that are a bit crusty are easily changeable or saveable. The engine is near silent at tick-over. In fact it's only when it starts getting a bit harsh at higher revs that you can hear it.

So 9 custodians and nearly 1000miles (according to the trip) it has made it, under its own steam, from Kent to Aberdeen in less than 2 weeks.

What were you all moaning about the steering for? It's typically unassisted but lightens up at slow speeds nicely. Just needs a bit more, erm, input!

Initial impressions. The some red paint isn't as bad as I'd expected. A bit of TLC with a machine and it'll be a bit shinier. Quite how the floor in the load bay gets polished I've no idea. Lots of elbow grease and a soft polishing head. I'm working on the basis that the easier I can get the water to run off, the longer the bed floor will last. The silver stripe is painted to last. Wow it's thick. There's a definite lip on the edge of the paint!

No idea how the tailgate opens. This is rather pointless unless it's too heavy to be loaded over the side, anyway.

Iain's football boots clash terribly with the paint. His boiler suit, on the other hand, is very appropriate. Looks like a John Deere classic. Otherwise it's impossible to tell the condition of the rest of the interior as Iain's stuff is there. But it's needing a deep clean.

Both doors need looking at to fill the holes and stop the rot in the centre of the driver's door. There's a wee hole in a double-skinned layer of the chassis leg that could also do with patching as a preventative measure.

The engine is remarkably quiet at tick-over, remarkably raucous at the speed indicator marks. It's also interesting that you can feel the difference in the heat of the coolant, via the heater fans, as you go from light throttle on the flat ground onto a steep hill what.

Mirrors are a bit useless. Especially the rear view which freely moves around. Indicators don't always self-cancel. There's an interface-induced rattle in the dash plastics (Iain may note later that some of the oil drip sheet of cardboard has been torn off and wedged into the gap - Fixed!!). The fuel filler latch is an art in itself. Suspect it's seized and will free off with some WD40.

Otherwise it is a wonderful, characterful thing. I had some smiles and stares as I rove it around in the daylight today although my intention of helping shift bales was ruined by my inability to get out of the office quickly enough.

Love some of the quirky features. The car outline on the dash is highlighted in red when the lights are on. And, appropriately, it has two headlight symbols on full beam. The ventilation buttons. Frameless doors. The crutch handle that engages the 4wd.

Need to get the seat covers off and see how good or bad the vinyl is underneath but I'd quite like to put Impreza seats in. And the steering wheel needs straightened.

A big ol' long to do list.

So, as you may have read, this machine has 9 drivers from Kent to Aberdeen. Each one of them, for reasons best known to themselves, decided to add a little "gift" to the load, as well as give up their time to move it. So today, being the first day I had a chance to look at the thing properly in the daylight, I decided to have a rummage.



The previous owner also decided to empty the contents of the "spares" boxes from his garage. So I have a spare dizzy, HT leads, door handles, cables (unknown as to their purpose), seat covers, and a few other odds and ends. There's also a Haynes manual, a few old invoices, MOTs and a copy of an original MV brochure.

That's an awesome and very brave way to move a car!
And a cool wee thing it is