Well, it appears we have a plan of sorts. Open up a map of Europe, start at London, and draw sort of circle to the South East. That's our route. And that's pretty much our methodology too.
The pic's pretty big, so give it a while to download if you're planning on inspecting it more thoroughly.
The black route is our 12 country route: England (bit of a cheat that one), France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Leichtenstein (should be through there in about half an hour), Italy, Slovenia, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany and Netherlands. If we get time - or if the cars are still running - we'll try for the red route, which adds Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland to the tally.
We're ramping up the activity now (well, you'd think so with only three weeks to go wouldn't you?). Jon has secured some publicity in the Watford Observer (we're going big time baby!), and we're having some pics taken for the article in a couple of weeks. Watch this space.
The boys have also been busy trying to resurrect the Chevy Van. They arranged a recovery truck to pick it up from its field, but the Chevy was 6 inches too wide to fit on the back, so it remains in Reading awaiting plan B. If we can get it back to Herts, we have plenty of manpower waiting to work on it, so we'll see how we get on. It's still a long way off being roadworthy, so there is also a plan C.
Plan C is my 1997 Ford Escort LX, ready to step up to the challenge if we need a third vehicle at short notice. Not quite a luxury motor, I know, but I got it off eBay for £260, so it's within the '£500 rule'. And let's face it, it's probably more likely to get round Europe than the Jag.
Speaking of the Jag, we've had tyre trouble. The old wheels have 'metric' tyres, which are notoriously hard to get hold of and very expensive (£150!!), and three of them aren't great. So we've bought a set of imperial wheels off eBay with three good tyres for a paltry £50. Whether they fit or not, we've yet to see. If they do, we need two of those and we're pretty much set to go. The stereo has been fitted and speakers rewired, and although the engine's a bit lumpy, it seems to go alright, so fingers crossed.
The BMW should by now be fitted with its monster 1000w amplifier (you can tell where our priorities are can't you?), so at least if the engine starts to fall apart no-one will be able to hear it ove rthe stereo. Rich is apparently very attached to the beamer, and drives it everywhere he goes. Rumour has it that at night he pops down to the garage and sleeps on the back seat. It's a lovely relationship.
2 comments:
Chevy Van arrived in Herts this morning.
I saw Richie and his motor at the jumble sale (we thought it was really good jumble until we saw Richie behind the wheel). I was just wondering how you say "seedy" with tact, when Kelly said "It's a bit of a pimpmobile, isn't it?". So, for the benefit of Richard's colleagues, can you pls confirm this nocturnal relationship is conducted purely in the garage?
Post a Comment