oldcar Posted December 25, 2018 Share Posted December 25, 2018 (edited) Hello again;' it is quite some time, possibly years since I last posted anything on "Our cars & Restorations" Not because of anything other than I felt that my very British Lagonda Rapier would be more at home in the area devoted mainly to English Cars. All my other projects have been of European origin. It is good to see that so many of the "Old Names" are still persevering with very often the same cars. However my main if not sole reason for this "Post" is to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and lots of Happy Motoring in the New Year. oldcar, aka Bernie j. Edited December 25, 2018 by oldcar (see edit history) 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinmass Posted December 25, 2018 Share Posted December 25, 2018 Thanks Bernie, glad to hear from you and hope you are doing well.....Merry Christmas!👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Bruce aka First Born Posted December 25, 2018 Share Posted December 25, 2018 Well, dang it, Bernie, how ya doing? You have been missed. Merry Christmas to you and the little lady. Enjoy the sunshine. Well I remember Christmas in the pool there versus snow here. Ben 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keiser31 Posted December 25, 2018 Share Posted December 25, 2018 Merry Christmas to you, sir. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luv2Wrench Posted December 25, 2018 Share Posted December 25, 2018 Great to hear from you Bernie! You English project cars grew on me to the point I had to get one! Didn't get one as unique as some of your's but its been fun to work on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldcar Posted December 26, 2018 Author Share Posted December 26, 2018 (edited) Thank you all so that you know that I am not slecking off todays photographs of my work bench. Who knows what I am working on? Bernie j. Edited December 26, 2018 by oldcar (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hidden_hunter Posted December 26, 2018 Share Posted December 26, 2018 Merry Christmas, looks like the entire east coast had great weather for working! Shame the cricket is looking like it’s going to be a boring game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Bruce aka First Born Posted December 26, 2018 Share Posted December 26, 2018 7 hours ago, oldcar said: Thank you all so that you know that I am not slecking off todays photographs of my work bench. Who knows what I am working on? Bernie j. A nightmare?. No idea. Looks complicated. Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dictator27 Posted December 26, 2018 Share Posted December 26, 2018 (edited) Wilson preselector? Edited December 26, 2018 by dictator27 (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dictator27 Posted December 27, 2018 Share Posted December 27, 2018 ENV75? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldcar Posted February 28, 2019 Author Share Posted February 28, 2019 Hello, I have not looked in here for quite a while. You will no doubt be disappointed with me. I finally gave up on getting this gearbox "right" and it is now on it's way to Germany for Peter Meyer the world acknowledged Guru on Preselectors to look at it. The curse is the since sending it Air Freight from Australia to Germany, 1/. It has gone on a cooks tour, at one stage declared as "lost"! It has now been recovered and should get to Peter no later than early next week/month. The pest of it all is that in correspondence to Peter I have realised where my problem lay. We were originally planning to take the Lagonda on one last visit to the UK and France, but without some sort of magic, we have now run out of time. We will still go but there is no comparision between driving a Rented Citroen or Peugeot and the Lagonda with the top down (as usual). It takes 8 to 10 weeks to ship the car (by sea) and after my experience with the gearbox there is no way, even if I could afford it, would I send the car by Air. Below is a photograph taken on one of our earlier visits to France, typical of the deserted country roads Helen finds for us to travel along. You can just see one headlamp at the bottom of the photograph. Driving along these roads in a new rental car just does not compare! Bernie j. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldcar Posted February 28, 2019 Author Share Posted February 28, 2019 Without doubt it is those rural roads in France that call me back every time, More especially Roads like the top one where you can drive for hours and not see another car. Roads that stretch out ahead of you seemingly without an end. The mystery of what is over that next long climb. To me at least, they are what call me back every five years. If you have never driven along one you can have no idea! What makes them even better is that my life navigator enjoys them as much as I do. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldcar Posted March 6, 2019 Author Share Posted March 6, 2019 On 2/28/2019 at 9:30 PM, oldcar said: What makes them even better is that my life navigator enjoys them as much as I do. I am extremely fortunate in my choice of wife, Helen as a dedicated Francophile , hastaken charge of arranging which events we will attend, where we will stay and what we (she) want to see. Based on my experience in our previous visits to France, I am really looking forward to this years adventure. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldcar Posted March 15, 2019 Author Share Posted March 15, 2019 (edited) And now another five years have gone and we are about to commence another Tour of England, France and ? My first task on arrival in England will be to put the fully rebuilt gearbox, which will go directly from Germany where it is being overhauled to England, back into the car. The good people at "Cars Europe", at Chedburgh, Suffolk in England, they are my UK Shipping agents, are making some workspace and the use of a four post ramp available to me. This should take me a day and perhaps a half to have the car drivable. It is already loaded up with all the stuff we may require "on tour" but that we do not want to be carrying on and off aeroplanes. This of course includes a bag with all the necessary spanners & the nuts and bolts etc to complete the gearbox installation. My purpose made "Cradle" for lifting the gearbox on a trolley jack is also packed in the car. We are already entered in three Rallies in France. These are all events that we have participated in before. You can check them out on google, The Fougeres Rally, The Chante Loup les Vignes (Historic Hillclimb), and the Cadillac (the French Town not the Car) Circuit Decouverte. Added to this my devoted "Life Navigator" has most of our three months "touring holiday" planned. I guess it is all this that keeps us alive. But why is nothing simple? Bernie j Edited March 15, 2019 by oldcar (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldcar Posted March 15, 2019 Author Share Posted March 15, 2019 I almost forgot the include the last photograph in the above sequence. Bj. . 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldcar Posted March 26, 2019 Author Share Posted March 26, 2019 (edited) Just a week or so has passed since my last post and anyone "tracking" the container ship Al Safat will know that it has already crossed the bottom of Australia and about to head towards Singapore en route to the UK. Meanwhile in Germany, Peter Meyer the Preselector Guru has found one or two more problems or potential problems that he needs to fix, fortunately he carries a good stock of the parts most commonly required, mainly small parts. Having said that he has given the major components a clean bill of health and has started to re-assemble. This will allow ample time for him to finish his part of the job and to send the gearbox to England, to "Cars" in England where it will stay until I arrive to put it back into the car Anyone interested in the "process" of shipping vehicles around the world should take the time to look at their web-site https://www.carseurope.net where they explain such things as obtaining a "Carnet". This entitles an owner to temporarily import their car into a country for a short stay without the need to pay Customs Duty. This is basically how we are able to "Take the Lagonda on Holiday with us". In fact we are just one of a significant number of people who take their cars to Rallies and Major "Shows" etc, etc all around the world, even as we do, to extend our enjoyment using the car to take us to all maner of places the normal tourist would not and could not think of visiting. You just need to look at some of the photographs that I post from time to time toget some idea. Todays photographs include a group of French Hunting Horn players who are a feature at the Fougeres Rallies, entertaining the participants during one or two lunch stops. Something that I imagine not one other person looking at this has ever had a chance to enjoy. The sound of these once heard, echoing off the surrounding ancient stone walls, is never forgotten. Edited March 26, 2019 by oldcar (see edit history) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldcar Posted April 3, 2019 Author Share Posted April 3, 2019 Hands up all those who have seen anything like this in the good ole US of A.......... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Bruce aka First Born Posted April 3, 2019 Share Posted April 3, 2019 Bernie, my hero! Oh, to be a fly on the wall [ windscreen? ] on one of your trips. Safe travels. Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldcar Posted April 4, 2019 Author Share Posted April 4, 2019 Hello Ben There is nothing to stop you from doing the same, The US of A is much better served with trans-Atlantic shipping than we are and it is about half the distance. You are even used to driving on the right and your cars are left hand drive. You may be surprised how welcoming the French people are when the see one of your cars. There is a good system of smaller and uncrowded roads if you keep off the Motorways. With modern "sat-nav" aids there is no problem of getting lost AND even if you do get lost it is all part of the adventure. You only need a few words in French and you will find that lots of people welcome the chance to try out their English. A smile goes a long way! It is not true that the French hate tourists, certainly they can spot a "Rent-a-car" a mile away but they are passionate about "Old Cars" and love to talk to the owners as something new and different in their lives. All you need to do is meet them half way and with a smile. It makes all the difference. Go on give it a try, Take your 1950 Buick and an open mind. Keep out of LARGE towns and use small "No Star" hotels and B&Bs Bernie j. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldcar Posted April 5, 2019 Author Share Posted April 5, 2019 Don't rush into just anything, do some research. Plan ahead, just for the fun of it, contact our good friend Patrick Rollet, (prkconseil@free.fr) he is the organiser of the Fougeres Rally and very involved with the old car scene in Normandy in particular. He speaks and writes very good English. Mention our name (Helen & Bernie) as an introduction. We find that it is easier to ship the car to England and then take a "Cross Chanel Ferry". We Use "Cars UK' in Chedburgh to do all the import and export paperwork. David Brown is the person to talk to there. He may even suggest a reliable US Shipping agent. "Cars" has a website that you can look at. https://www.carseurope.net/ Rather than use the busy Ferry ports we use one of the smaller ports e.g.. This year we are crossing from Poole to St Marlow. Look it up. We try to avoid the M25 around London it is always busy. Going from Cherbourg to Poole you can travel north of London using smaller local roads. Our contact, Tim Sawyer, at Hagertys(UK) will organise the necessary UK/Europe Insurance for you. Once you make a start, you will be amazed how easy it is. Bj. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldcar Posted April 19, 2019 Author Share Posted April 19, 2019 (edited) The latest in this saga is that the gearbox is now safely in England and the Rapier on board the Container Ship "Al Safat" is about to go through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean. We are counting the days until we fly out of Australia headed first to Paris and from there to England. https://www.vesselfinder.com/vessels/AL-SAFAT-IMO-9349497-MMSI-636017670 Bj Edited April 20, 2019 by oldcar (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldcar Posted April 21, 2019 Author Share Posted April 21, 2019 (edited) Changing the subject only slightly, what seems like a very long time ago I rescued a (Fiat) OSCA roadster from a boat builders yard here in Australia on Port Phillip Bay. It was a magic little (1500cc) car but as with nearly all my projects it was run in some local Historic Racing events before being sold. It appeared once or twice driven by the son of the purchaser, never to be seen again. The photograph with it parked next to a Mini gives you some idea of its size. Where is it now? It had a fabulous 1500cc 4 cylinder 2-OHC engine that just loved to "Rev". It just goes to show, I have had some interesting "Post WW2" Cars too. This one as with so many of my project cars has dissapeared from sight. No Doubt shut up in someones "Private Collection". Bernie j . Edited April 21, 2019 by oldcar (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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