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What a beautiful morning to look at some cars and chat with friends! Unusual for me, I landed first with @Tim Coles and @Ian Podmore (great to meet you by the way Ian!) arriving in formation shortly after and then @jumbojack (with son Jack unusually up before noon! 😂) in the MEV. What a great line up! On top of the classic cars we always see at Curborough, it was the Marcos Club meet so we were surrounded by interesting examples of Mantula's, Mantara's etc. They were all doing a few laps of the track, very similar to our own Curborough days, just a bit more sedate and with more spectators. What really grabbed our attention was a beautiful Lotus Carlton who actually took to the track for a fairly spirited lap or two! Lovely to see a car like that being enjoyed as it should be 👏👏👏 Tim got chatting to the owner of a stunning Healey 100 and discovered it was actually a kit car. It's a really accurate recreation on Ford running gear that definitely had me fooled... parked next to one for us 70's children, a mint Capri 2.8 injection 😍 Tim dashed off to check the reg of the next car to make sure it wasn't his old car brought back to life as a ringer 😂 A fab little impromptu meet, and my first as an official AO! Hope you enjoyed it and all got home safely, see you next time 👍 A few more pics for all you fellow car lovers!

Snap I made one too but mines fibre glass

I don't recall ever posting a picture of my home made half hood, so here it is, the rear section gets added to create a full hood, but in this weather I wanted some draft as well as keeping the worst of the UV off me. Yes I'm parked on double yellows ( everybody does it ), the shop went mental when they were painted on as customers now have to park outside or in some cases block driveways of the residents, causing more issues - councils eh....

Here’s a little clip of one of the passes. I now have hundreds of GB of video to trawl through! 🥵

It’s the automotive equivalent of crack cocaine; do one alpine/mountain passes trip, and you’ll be planning the next before you know it! Its not just the passes though, there is just something so beautiful about that area of Austria, Italy, Switzerland, France etc. Plus particularly (but not just) around the Austrian side, the road surfaces are generally very, very good. The worst we saw, I think, was in Italy, but even that was no worse than a bad day in the Peaks. We also have found almost all the people we met to be very friendly/welcoming with 99% responding well to the cars.

As a rough guide - I reckon £1200 in all. Food, coffee stops, beer, two nights in a hotel, camping the other nights, fuel, a few tolls etc. Euro tunnel was pre booked months ahead and so not included in that (another £160).

Don't worry Andy I've got the cake sorted. Raspberry and blueberrie sponge cake at Bourton on the Water. Delicious 😋

@AndrewBClarkethe naughty corner is my safe place !!! I know where I belong 🤔 but don’t worry with you and Andy missing in action ,more cake for me 🤗

Just chilling today. Knackered! ….zzzz. done the maths though- 2583.9 miles covered. £754.35 spent on fuel (using a chase pre pay card so you don’t get hammered for exchange rates and also it is quick and easy to use and unmanned garages/toll roads are no issue either) to note - Italy was cheap, Switzerland was expensive- all were cheaper than the UK 😂 I took euros for camping food and beer etc and pre paid the couple of hotels on card also. Not to bad really is it?

thanks for submitting the initial post

Yep, we’ll be there , don’t know what state the car will be in as not getting home till late Saturday so will have a weeks worth of dirt , brake dust, water/antifreeze/rust and dead flies 😳 but we’ll go for the used look or park in the corner, see you Sunday

Day 9 so we had an early start. Enjoying some roads out of Luxembourg, then on in and out of Belgium and France all the way back to Calais. we did some fantastic roads through the Ardenne Forrest which I have done previously on bikes so it was great to also do them in the car. We even got on the Chimay circuit which was closed ready to start the classic bike racing weekend! (But quickly got turned around 😂) the weathers been so hot, we’ve been so lucky. No rain. No roof required. my car hasn’t missed a beat which Iam so grateful for and now feel like I’ve bonded with it totally! Trust her fully and found the limits (quite a few times!) 😂 everyone enjoyed the trip. Few minor technical issues along the way with a couple of cars but we all got there. Cheers to all the guys for the fun and banter, organising this and their expertise to make it what it was. I estimate 2600 miles ish. 8 countries, countless mountain passes. The cars had so much stick and in extreme heat and altitudes. Fantastic experience that will stick in my mind for ever. just sat waiting at the tunnel now for the next train back to Blighty (to enjoy the forecasted heat wave!)

Cooling system re-plumbed again! This time with a Dunnell Water Rail. I had re-plumbed it with silicone hoses a few months ago using the OEM thermostat housing but a pothole managed to break that... Installation looks neat and seems to work. Waiting for MOT appointment later this week before I can do a proper road test. Had to do a few bracketry mods to support the coil pack and fuel filter. Probably needs a bracket made up to support the bypass pipe. I've a few videos of the fitting stages that I'll try to put together over the next week or so.

I was in good company today. Autobahnscotland.co.uk had a meet in Queensferry so popped along to do a nosey.

I've sold my rather raw Zetec Westie and I'm looking around for the next plaything - it might be another Westie, or it might be something different Just seen this on Autotrader - does anyone know anything about it? https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202205316358153?sort=relevance&postcode=ws152ha&onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=Used&radius=1500&advertising-location=at_cars&make=Westfield&include-delivery-option=on&page=1

Hi all! A handful of us are planning to go to Curborough (Netherstowe Ln, Lichfield WS13 8EJ) tomorrow morning for their Breakfast Meet. No run out planned, just a meet up for a chat, a brew and look at a few cars 👍 We're planning to land between 10 and 1030. For those that haven't been before, it's free entry. They also do a reasonably priced, (no frills) bacon or sausage sandwich if you want to ruin your power to weight ratio for the drive home 😂

Marcos, Glen used to have one as a daily driver years ago, very uncomfortable apparently, he would have liked to have seen them today so thank you for posting the photo's.

When I took my seats out after we got back I found 5p Can't swear to it being there before we left though.

We've not finished our adding up yet...............

Yes mate, we'll meet at the services (DE65 6DX) for 9am before taking the normal route up through Wirksworth 👍

Welcome Bill, it's not really advisable to publish your email address in an open forum, but if you are happy getting possible spam then ok. As far as pics go, as a trial member you are limited in what you can do and see on the forum. There are parts of it that currently you can't see. If you are able , I would suggest becoming a full member and then the whole forum is open to you, as well as posting as many pics as you want ( within reason).

Yep I'll be there

Naughty corner for @aeg again!!

Welcome to the world of getting old 😁

New owner blatted away from my house an hour ago with a smile reminiscent of the one I had when I first picked up the car. I have to say, I had some seller's remorse as it drove away - it really looks rather good! Still, I now have a nice wedge of cash in my bank account that is crying out for the next project. I'll be keeping an eye out for anything that takes my fancy, but I have a funny feeling that the yellow peril won't be my last Westie. I fancy trying a Westie that's a bit less raw - squishy seats, screen, roof for the occasional outing in less than perfect weather and maybe even a heater....

Sorry, I was rambling I usually find a satnav will provide plenty of ‘interesting’ diversions. Still use maps myself and the satnav in my MB is a blithering idiot so I never trust it. Can’t recall if I mentioned it elsewhere or earlier, but I fitted a cycle speedo to the car long ago after a diff swap ‘cos I couldn’t be bothered with the hassle of getting the speedo recalibrated.

Thanks Ben. as said great document of your trip, great to see new ( to me ) vistas and I do hope one day I can see them for myself. Great memories to treasure. 💗

NV Carbon make them in either woven back or wetlay depending on budget. Think I've seen some cut and reuse the existing body panels by flaring them.

Good turn out on the last Gaydon meet and this time helped with this good weather, some showers through the evening..but not too much of a problem! Shipston is a good place to be ..bordering the Kineton gathering (watch the speed bumps 😩) and Whichford with the Norman Knight pub to help on those hot evenings while talking numbers over all the bikes and cars 😎 As Rob said..Long Itchington dinner worth a visit but bike nite Thursday…!, Sighted an orange Westfield in Southam this morning 15th July, early (6.30ish am) but I was in a big white ambulance but good to see out in my working day.

I see what you did there…

Day 8 Anothwr early start allowed us to enjoy two or three of Austrias amazing and empty mountain passes we soon then entered Germany. By now the temps were really up and we hot footed it a couple of hundred miles to get into France with the intention of finding an Ibis or something for our last sleep. touching 41 degrees today it was to hot at times but the D roads through rural France kept us focused. The problem was it was Bastille day and everything was closed. Even finding water was an effort! we continued into Luxembourg and then found a camp site for the eve and enjoyed a Steak and few beers with the boys. the final 300 mile push in the morning back to Calais will hopefully get us on an earlier train home with a bit of luck

Day 7 Today we travelled about 290 miles through Italy’s Dolomites and later on into Austria. The Dolomites and numerous mountain passes were something else! Perfectly smooth fast twisty with lovely switch backs. Well worth an early start before the traffic builds. Easily the best roads I have ever driven on we’re today in the Dolomites. The Westfield is so perfectly suited to them! I chased an Audi R8 all the way up one of the passes. I think it surprised us both, hair pin after hair pin he wasn’t getting away! We had a few nice stop offs for coffee and ice cream etc and another pic nic in a random picturesque spot somewhere in Italy! Once we crossed the border into Austria we did the Timmelsjoch high alpine pass (toll one) and it was worth every one of those 17 euros. Fast flowing and almost empty provided some entertainment! We had no destination planned today so when we reached Solden, Austria we went to the first camp site we found and it was spot on. Secure underground parking for the cars and a nice little area to pitch out tents. Lovely staff as everyone seems to be across Europe anyway! Well tomorrow is day 8 and we start to change direction and head towards home via Germany, France etc… The train is booked for day 9 so we have two days to cover 800 off miles which should be comfortable sticking again to D roads and avoiding motorways. I think tonight will be the last camping night if we can find a cheap Motel on route tomorrow. Here’s a few pics from today….

Cannot believe this hasnt sold . These are a great engine all aluminium block Always have plenty of fun with these when i get my hands on one

Always welcome to have a try 😀

I'm sure @AndrewBClarke will run you round to convince you of the V8 comfortable lifestyle he leads! 😉

No idea yet. I'm really smitten with the Aston, so I may try to find a later one with the 4.7 engine ('cos more capacity is always a good thing, right?). A Fiat Panda 4x4 is beckoning for the winter months, as the Aston on Michelin PS4S isn't really an ideal winter car.... I might try a Westie with some creature comforts, as one of the downsides with my current car is that it's a bit compromised (bit too loud, quite buffeting, a bit frantic to drive, zero creature comforts - great when you'e in the mood, but a bit much at times. A SEight with a screen, roof, heater and soft seats is probably as far removed from mine as it's possible to get - it would be interesting to drive one just to experience it

245 miles today we left at 8 this morning and just home at 5.30 Met up with Scott and his loon at corgarf then on to a coffee, bacon roll and raspberry tart at Glenshee , onto Pitlochry and out Tummel bridge to Rannoch station tearoom and met up with Graeme and Bruce . DISASTER the cook was ill and there wasn’t any cake 🥲 Anyway a wee blether and lunch then it was over to Trinafour and up over the moor, hopped onto the A9 to Dalwhinnie , then onto the cafe at Laggan Bridge for coffee and cake 😃 before heading back up speyside home.

Flying the flag on Stelvio!

At last, the weather and my location have coincided with a First-Thursday-of-the-Month, and I got out with some of the Shropshire and Mid-Wales team for a run out from Criggion to Lake Vrnwy (photos) and over the Berwyn mountains to Lake Bala. And back again, 'cos we could. 120 miles of excellent weather and almost no traffic.... just a few sheep. ETA... thanks for being the Guiding Shepherd, @Nic Chase (NICO) - Shropshire & Mid-Wales AO; great run... must do it again some time soon.

All packed and ready for the alpine passes

Stopping for a rest to admire the view from the top of Sychnant pass. The scenery is not bad as well.

I can attest to that too! Slightly embarrassing to watch the little sigma scamper away from me in the Peaks with a 100bhp deficit 😂 Lovely motor, some lucky person will be getting a cracking car 👍

I wanted to do the club day but it landed on the same Friday as a work event 😭

Work for me again sorry😟

Car is now provisionally sold - new buyer collecting next weekend after I've got the new V5 (I've put my personal plate on retention)