KruJoe

...cont... After an overnight pit stop at Castle_Cleland, we continued north to the lads' unit at Thornaby. Pops_KJ for a day out, a spring chicken in his mid 80's at the time. Last pic of that day, just down the road... not Mike_Knight's 944, but somewhat similar.

Thank you Rich... I've just found the other pics from that rescue A selection: " Are you sure you want it, Angyl? " " It's purple. So yes. " Mike appeared less enthusiastic. Also on the scene: @DodgyTom

Just sneaking in as the sun sets on the month at Castle_Cleland... New plates on But can't compete with the other entries.

That looks proper posh! Well above our pay-grade.

Thanks for the heads-up, you had me worried for a bit there... until I had time to lay down in the dust: Sorry some of them are upside-down, they look fine on the laptop until they're uploaded. Yes, there are some crusty bits, but I'm sure nothing my MOT man will knock me back for. I'll let him have an honest poke about before I get under there with a wire brush and the underseal. It's a shame some numpty has mashed the front of the sills jacking it up, but what can you do? The trailing arms, the weird Y-shaped rear subframe, and its brackets to the sills are all the wrong shade of brown, but still look solid. Other than that, quite relieved really, and the back half of the exhaust looks recent. Which is nice.

Thank you sir, I'll keep them in mind for next time, but I have a pair on the way from DMB:

More piccies: Regular viewers will know this location well... The man himself ^^

I'll get some pictures and measurements for you Free to a good home. It's heavy!

The Shrew has been in our (breezy) top shed for a few days with the windows down a bit. It's drying out nicely but the driver's footwell is still wet. Tomorrow I'll bring my VAX home and give it a good sucking, then I'll put a dehumidifier machine in there for a few days. Hopefully that sorts it, if not, I'll consider those things. I think the wet in there was caused by the driver's window dropping while parked in the rain. That's a 1998 Galaxy brochure jammed there to hold the window. I didn't do that. The brochure has suffered, but we'll have a look at it later, I think it's more substantial than the one in the 40min video. The switch and motor are ok I think, but it made nasty cable noises. Someone's been in here before. The only thing broken I could find was a plastic tab on the gearbox bit, so that'll repair. And the mangled cables. I'm not looking forward to wrangling that lot back in. But found this on eBay, for £5.36 delivered, thought it rude not to. That might make life slightly easier, I hope there are instructions!

My algorithm is algorithming. The latest: With a very youthful James May, and a shrew grey Aspen

The outside of this thing is in amazing shape really, for a 27 year old Ford. But not perfect... Some lacquer damage on the bonnet and A pillar... ...and an impressive giffer glue job on that mirror. That's the only rust I've found so far (OSR arch). And there's this dampness in the screen, which is a shame, but so far it's only really affecting the black bit around the edge. What do we think that sticker is? I don't think it's factory, so I'd like to get rid.

I assumed it would be a Zetec but that looks like the old DOHC as seen in Transits and late Sierras. I doubt very much that I'll be fitting a tow bar and pulling owt with this. It just doesn't feel man enough, and I need the 4WD for towing in and out of steep, wet fields. So we'll struggle on with the SX4 for now. However this looks over towing spec: From that launch video. I wonder how it would manage up a wet slip-way?! A VR6 4motion might have a chance, but not an Aspen!

Snap! Spotted this one dormant in Chiang Mai, of all places.

I've learnt all sorts from these clips, interesting stuff. Like where to find the fuel cut off switch. 😅 Thank you both for sharing the vids Who knew that a 40 min review of a launch brochure for a moderately dull car could be so entertaining? Thanks!

As you may know, I don't do Facebook. I only opened it on an old burner phone so I could converse with the seller. So I'll save the screenshots of his advert here if that's ok