Wanted old campervan wanted

[Alexg]

All the best Bollox. How will the bread knife react to you stopping to admire/ photo / swoon over continental automotive dross every 100 yards? My Missus suggests I need a fucking life but we do normally make-up toward the end of the holiday.

[nigel bickle]

Bon voyage,mon ami.

 

Have a good trip, enjoy wherever/ whoever/ whatever . Trust you are heading for warmth, and avoiding Eastern Europe.

 

Look forward to the write ups.

[skattrd]

Enjoy Mr. B and have safe travels, fingers crossed the Talbot is trouble-free.

[cort16]

Bon voyage or what ever the French equivelant is.

[Mr Lobster]

Massive respect Snr_Spudz.

 

Enjoy!

[seth]

Look forward to reading your foren automotive exploits

[retrogeezer]

Have a cracking time xbol, glad I found this thread before you set off!  

 

What a laugh it will be, me and the Mrs had the best time ever when we got the cheapest package deal to Crete we could find, hired a car and drove all around the island stopping at different places for 2 weeks. A bit different I know, but not knowing where you will end up day to day is great. Enjoy my friend. 

[purplebargeken]

That looks bloody ace. Have an outstandingly brilliant time!

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Alright shiters

 

I'm writing from a campsite in the beautiful Ariege region of the pyrenees having driven this old van right the way through France. On the Thursday befpre setting off (meant to go on the Sunday) the starter motor died resulting in a stressful Friday morning ringing round for a replacement. £160 later GSF did the biz and we were back in the game, starting much better than ever before thankfully. The van has loosened up a bit over the journey and now sits at 70mph OK where before it felt a bit strained. Averaging 29mpg so not brilliant but we are quite well loaded. All the water heater, cooker, gas fire, fridge etc are fully functional which is not bad considering how old they are!!!! I can see why these things are so expensive, a lot of though has gone into the packaging etc and all the cupboards & carpentry inside look hand-made.

 

 

I like the van more and more. The gearshift is appalling despite having an upgraded gear linkage and the drivers seat is a horrible flat thing that knackers my back (its a camper seat that folds flat to make part of the bed) However the engine is a peach, it handles very well and is fun to row along. It has an amazing turning circle. And the 80's styling is growing on me, particularly the chiselled-off rear corners. Its giving me a horn for a LHD Fiat Ducato or Peugeot J5, these have a column shift and with a proper seat I reckon I'd proper enjoy bombing about in it. You'd probably get a few more MPG without the high roof as well

[Cavcraft]

Nice one, how's the shite spotting going?

[chaseracer]

This is not helping me to resist buying a proper Renault Master and hacking the parents' caravan apart! 

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Shite spotting is a little thin although I did spot a yard full of dead Alfas yesterday that nearly gave me a rectal prolapse. Sadly I was tanking along and could not stop to photograph it all. I have also been to an excellent shite museum that had a guillotine, an SD1 and an Alfa Romeo tractor among other things, I'll bosh up some pics whan I have a better internet connection. IN the meantime slam your eyeballs against this little sweetie:

 

[Alexg]

What a delight!

[PiperCub]

Is that a Simca 1300?

[PhillipM]

This is not helping me to resist buying a proper Renault Master and hacking the parents' caravan apart! 

Used to pick up knackered Masters for £300, nick the transaxle for the racer, weigh 'em in for £300....now all you nostalgic buggers are buying the rot boxes and they go for 3 grand, cut it out!

 

I do have a LWB Merc camper we might sell if anyone else has the itch, been stood outside for a while and needs some welding mind, but starts and drives okay.

[ruffgeezer]

This is not helping me to resist buying a proper Renault Master and hacking the parents' caravan apart! 

 

 

Save that for when you've bought a Renault master then, I reckon you'd rather hack yourself about than load one of them up with shitty old melamine and damp cushions.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Went back to have a look at those Alfas today:

 

 

 

This Alfetta looks alright actually but the front end is a bit high suggesting its twink has been half inched. Nevertheless, WOULD.

 

 

This 75 is a twinspark, I had one of these back in the day and it was one of the best-driving cars I've ever had. Would love another

 

 

This one is a 2.4TD FOUR HEADED MONSTER!!!! Fuck yeah. If I didnt have another 6 or 7 weeks of meandering round Spain not earning any money ahead of me, I might start chatting the lad up about this.

 

 

The same yard had this interesting AX 4x4 - quite a few good 4x4's round here as we're right in the midst of the Pyrenees so there must be a lot of snow to deal with

 

Such as this:

 

 

 

FOUR WHEEL DRIVE BITCHES!!!! Jesse Pinkman's ride, this looked a flippin minter although the paint was flat as a pancake. Love the headlight treatment on this one and the massive TOYOTA 4WD BADGE.

 

This K10 Micra was well smart apart from the DIY OSF indicator lens

 

 

Finally I spotted this splendid Spanish-plated M5 in a quiet motorway services. Complimented the lad on his excellent OEM turbine alloy wheels and he was well chuffed and explained what metal all the various parts of them were made out of. He had a bad stammer though so it took ages. Sounded the bees knees when he blezzed away out the services.

 

[crapcarcollector]

Living the Alfa action. I would love that 75. Or Alfetta, we'll all of them really!

[Vin]

Excellent report there Alf Bollox. Alfa content is superb. AX 4x4 - who knew? Not me. I like.

 

I'm hammering the 'Michel Thomas Spanish' CD's as well.

 

FYI. He won the league for Arsenal with a last minute goal in the last match of the 1988-89 season. Against Liverpool. HTH.

[SambaS]

Nice one Mr B... Have to agree, despite new uprated linkages my gearchange is utter shite too, although 'as good as they get' according to someone with lots of these. So we both did it - I gave my flat up and have been full timing in mine exactly one week now. Plan for Croatia next year. Enjoy the rest of your travels

[Lankytim]

Has that 75 got Rover hubcaps on?

[Timewaster]

Has that 75 got Rover hubcaps on?

Yes. Yes it has.

 

It gets better and better.

[KruJoe]

AX 4x4 is a new one on me. WOOD.

 

 

 

Most (all?) of the Tercel wagons we got in the UK were these 4wd ones. Our own Dodgy_Tom had a red one recently.

Those lights are unusual, and reminicent of early Justys, like this one ont' 'bay just now.

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252112145206

[mat_the_cat]

I never realised about the AX 4x4, until I spotted one over there in 2009:

 

[phil_lihp]

I recall the instruction manual for my AX contained references to the buttons and dashboard lights for the 4x4 system, rather odd really as they never came to the UK.

 

Mr B, if you'd be so kind as to pick one up and bring it back here, that'd be ideal.  Thanks.

 

I hope the trip's going well, it's good to see someone actually sacking off work and going off to follow their dreams (or rusty Alfas) for a bit rather than just talking about it to their work colleagues!

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Hows it going gang? I'm now almost in the middle of Spain and the Talbot is going great guns!!!! No FTP's so far!!!!

 

 

Spotting is VERY thin, I have only seen a single Seat malaga which is very disappointing but I did stumble across the STREET OF DREAMS a couple of days ago; Cop a load of this!!!!

 

 

 

 

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Also picked up a local classic car mag with plenty of oddball crap in, mainly was attracted to the 'SEAT MALAGA INJECTION BUYERS GUIDE' on the cover, which I will try to share with you when time allows

[Pillock]

You really do spoil us! 

[Lankytim]

I really fancy those SEAT fiat clones. Similar to the FSO 125? When I went to Tenereife in 2001 lots of the local RUDE BOYZ smoked around in them. They looked the nuts!

[cort16]

How is it living in a 300x500 space? I guess with the weather it's okay to camp out?