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I'm going to get Bev a club membership account so she can read what you're writing about her and can vent her spleen about you.

Well it was to be a late birthday present but in the end it turned out to be a slightly early Christmas present. I ordered an ST3, LHD and European homologated, at the end of July after falling out with Caterham who had promised specifications and prices at time of order that they couldn't/wouldn't deliver when the build was about to start. I'm UK resident (Thames Valley) but spend an increasing amount of time in France, which is where I ultimately want to live and register the car - hence the need for LHD and a EU certificate of conformity. Simon Westwood was really helpful in fine tuning the spec and budget - the car was due to be delivered in mid-October - but, hey ho, timeframes slipped a bit. However, the wonderful French president has decided to change the rules on 'luxury' cars. To the end of 2012 the CO2 'fine' on first registration for an ST3 was 700€ (plus registration fees of 500€). For 2013 Holland raised it to €2000 (+ reg fee) and made the rules applicable to be those on first registration in France, not first registration in the EU as previously. From 1/1/2014 the fine is €3000 with promises of more rises in the years to come (basically to price non-French cars out of the market). All this is by way of saying that I decided to take the plunge and make the first registration in France, took the new plates over to Westfield on 3rd December and collected the car last Monday 16 Dec. My first drive was ~280 kms from Kingswingford to Poole in pi88ing rain. The following day it was 26 hours on the Poole-Santander ferry and then on Wednesday 1hr 30 to Bilbao. This was where we encountered the first problem. With only 65 mm ground clearance under the sump guard empty (so around 50 mm loaded) the car got stuck on the threshold leading to the hotel car park and had to be lifted off by passers-by! Next morning it was 550 kms in the even pi88inger rain and intermittent fog patches to Quillan in the south of France where our other house is. A break light switch failure left us feeling more than a bit vulnerable. We got back around 16:30 in the last of the daylight - 952 kms (+ 1200 on the ferry) from Kingswingford on the cars first journey! We managed to find a suitable bottle to celebrate. Yesterday Simon and Mark sorted out how to solve the teething niggles by despatching some spare parts to our local garage for them to fit. Really excellent service and far removed from the utter arrogance I experienced at Caterham and their local French dealer. So today the car was washed and I went for a 100km blast - under clear blue skies and - for the first time - with no hood (but a new woolly hat). What a fantastic experience. I now feel I am really one of you! I have a few pics if someone can tell me how to upload them Cheers Alan Redhouse

as well and signing this if it is reopened we should try and get a mass entry…. I love a weekend by the seaside :-)

im going out tomorrow dinner to get bevski and the lazy git willem some overalls to wrap up for xmas presents ,maybe they will get the hint that the promise of help at the start of this year means actually helping and getting your hands dirty working not just popping down to the workshop to pick up your new car or popping down to have a headlamp bulb fitted , let the war beggin

It is difficult to get it right. You need to start early finding out what she likes and then look at that. From experiance, Theater and dinner, spa day, are all winners. As for youngsters, that is a whole new ball game of pain, caused by being allowed to grow up with no one ever saying no to them. I was telling a group of when my daughter was younger and she was moaning about the quality of her mobile phone. I fixed that by smashing it so she did not have one to moan about. I was shocked that a group of grown men were all saying they would never have dared to do that as the back lash would have been unbearable. I never had an issue and she learnt a valuble life lesson.

never had any issues with my caged full cage 1. getting in and out - easy - and iv had 2 discs fused 2. the pillars are miles away from your head - if your going to hit the pillar - wear a seat belt 3. when I rolled my rush it had zero protection - we hit a deer - what would of happened with nothing strong sticking up in front of my head? hit a cow, horse? any animal it will decapitate the driver. 4. rac roll hoops don't give much protection at all - they will only work if you are on a flat road - and have a minimum 2in head clearance [from engine block to roll hoop] - theres a lot of stuff to hit on public roads - theres a lot of sticky out things I know what id have after rolling over - trust me it makes you think again how close you come to death

What about one of these each? Ideal for kids - well, they were when I were a lad!!!

Just received a box full of embroidered work shirts from Cleggy and his Co., ready for our Autosport Engineering debut. Great price, quality and quick turn around! Thanks Clark Del

I second what Gadget says, to save having to store the tub and also risk damage it is better not to collect the bodywork until you're ready for it. I'd read a few horror stories about fitting the tub, but mine went on a treat as it was litterally the day after collection that I dropped it onto the chassis. A chassis also fit's nicely on the roof rack so you wont even need to hire a van Although it was fun trying to get it in the garage to unload