Yoss

It won't be any quieter with the roof up, trust me. You just get used to it. I have the same engine in my 1300 TC. Actually it's the same spec as a mk3 Spitfire, I don't know if there's a difference between mk3 and mk4, I think it's mostly cosmetic isn't it? I've been messing with mine today. Fitted all new studs to the head as last time I had the manifolds off I didn't realise one of the studs had almost unwound and was only hanging in by three threads. When I did the nut up it just pulled the stud out of the head. So I've been running it with only seven of the eight studs fitted. It was running OK but it was only a matter of time before the manifold gasket was gonna give way. Fortunately there was plenty of thread left to put a new one in. A lot of them were looking a bit pitted anyway so I've put all new ones in and threadlocked them in so they should all stay in place next time I have to remove the manifolds, which happens on a regular basis. These engines are as simple as it's possible to be so if the rough running turns out to be something more serious they are a pleasure to work on. Obviously there's all sorts of things to try before that, just saying if the worst comes to the worst no job is particularly hard.

So it says Spitfire IV on the bonnet not 1500 so I'm guessing it's a 1300? If so, even better. The 1300 is a much nicer engine. I may be biased.

Found this Dacia in Hungary a few weeks back which looks a similar size and style though obviously much simpler and, I'd imagine, cheaper.

Maybe just me then. By the time I've finished with a car I usually think this is fucked, nobody will buy this and just scrap it. I've honestly scrapped more cars than I've sold by a factor of quite a lot. It's why I kept buying Triumph 1300s because I already had a garage full of spares for them. And why I now do the same for Favorit/Felicias.

That's not modern, that's just new. Not saying it's not a great feat of engineering but they just recreated something that once existed but had all been scrapped. Again, using the word 'just' doesn't do justice to the feat but I mean what if everybody had continued to develop the steam loco for the last 70 years. It's just something I ponder from time to time.

Surely a heavier train going downhill would not be a hindrance? There would have been no need to massage the figures at that point as it was two years before Mallard did it's run so they already had the record. I'll admit I don't really know enough about either to make an informed decision, I just knew there was enough evidence to at least make an argument out of it. I'll also admit I don't really do steam, I prefer a big diesel but I saw 05 001 at the railway museum in Nürnberg in about 1986 and was impressed by its sheer size. So much so that I have a model of it in my loft. One of the few steam locos I own. And the other three are all German too so I might be a bit biased. The A4s are certainly more elegant, this is more like streamlined brutalism but it certainly makes an impression. I also sometimes wonder where we would be now had diesel and electric not been a thing and they spent a further 70 years refining steam. What would a modern steam loco look like, or had they pretty much reached their pinnacle in the 1950s? But with a combination of modern materials and electronics what would we have now? Steam and electronics don't sound like they would go together but an oil fired loco could probably pretty much drive itself with modern control systems.

They don't see what we see, even when looking at the same thing. And vice versa.

Allegedly. Mallard achieved its 126mph going downhill and broke immediately afterwards. The Germans 05 002 achieved 124.5mph on level ground and did many more high speed runs before and after. Just saying.

That doesn't look too bad at all. What looks like a fairly long list can be be boiled down to a set of brake pads (cleaning up around the rear whilst doing the pads should fix the service brake), a dust cover, a mystery rear suspension component (I don't think any of my cars have one of those) and some messing with the emmisions. To buy an S Class sight unseen off the internet from yo drift wide boy slammers with a short MOT sounds like a recipe for disaster. So that MOT looks like a win to me.

Coming out of my mums earlier and I saw this one with the roof all bent in the other side. Could it be the same one? Yes it is! That's really special. I'm now imagining a very narrow arch bridge. The fact there's a bit in the middle where the frame is that's not bent like rest would actually suggest a low branch. So he did one side on the way in and the other on the way out. As for the body side, that was something nice and sharp.

Well it made me smile. Have you seen an Amazon van that isn't covered in dents? No me neither but this one is particularly impressive. They must have found a very low and narrow bridge. Admittedly coming from a postman this is very much pot kettle black but most of our vans are over ten years old. Amazon drivers seem to have got their vans in to the same state in a matter of months.

Yew trees have been around even longer than Jimmy Saville, it seems unfair on them that they now all get tarnished with the same reputation.

Why aren't we on that list? I'm on here longer than all of those put together. Are you telling me I'm in a minority?

The best car my mum ever had was her 114 GSI (they've rebadged it you fool etc...). That was a great little thing to bomb around in. Unfortunately she had a light front end knock, somebody pulled out in front of her and she couldn't quite stop in time. At first glance it looked OK but then you realised the wing had moved back and was catching on the door. For the last decade or so she has had a Micra CC resprayed Honda Jazz pink with stick on sparkly bits everywhere. She's 77. Funnily enough I've never borrowed that.

Some interesting panel gaps all round that and plastic wheel arch covers only on the back to hide the rust. You would put them on the front as well just to balance the look. Also an interesting spec with fog lights and alloys but non colour coded mirrors. And the subtlest rear lip spoiler I've ever seen, indeed I wouldn't expect any non Felicia lickers to even notice it is about an inch deeper than standard. Over here you could only really get a base 1.3 or a fully loaded 1.6. In Europe you could get all sorts of things in between. This is of no interest to anybody except me I realise. Still wouldn't hesitate to get in and drive half way across Europe.

Last few. Now I wouldn't normally stop for a Deawoo Kalos, not even a booted one. But three in a row? That's gotta be worth a point. Or a pair of Baleno estates?

As does this. Although I might be the only one who thinks so. I've seen pictures of these but had never seen one in the flesh. Bonus Škoda Tatra combo.

But this deserves its own post.

Dacia pick up!

This, whatever it is, is on Spanish plates. That must have been a memorable journey. And this is a booted Big Punto. As is this. Badged as a Linea This is quite a line up. Ibiza, Audi 80 and two booted Fabias. Close up of the Seat.

Is this a Mazda? Like a 323. Obviously they never made any 323 for more than 3 weeks before they moved on to the next one so I get confused. It's just that's not a badge I recognise but it looks a bit like the Eunos badge they used on JDM MX5s.

And just some random stuff.

Station Parking, Hungarian Style. This is self explanatory. They were all taken a stones throw from a train station, usually from a train window. Bit different from the way things are over here.