Joy of 306. Live and in color

[loserone]

One of our neighbours gave me them last year as a housewarming present.

 

 

I'm not even kidding, he saw the cars outside and said "I've got loads of pug bits, do you want them?"

[RoadworkUK]

That's mental! I remember a kid at school's Nan bought him "a book about cars" one Christmas. It was a Haynes manual for a Nissan Bluebird. He was ten.

[loserone]

Here's the replacement to the car they came off

 

[Jon]

On 7/13/2021 at 9:05 AM, loserone said:

These?

I have a full set, tell me how to get the to you or come to the northern meet.

30 minutes to resolve the situation of missing obsolete car bits: faster next time, please!

 

[RoadworkUK]

This post is sponsored by @loserone and @320touring (see above). Cheers dudes!

Right now, all is go for FOTU... although there was a HNNNNG moment on Tuesday night, when it suddenly became obvious that the 306 had nom nom nommed its way through its front pads, partly thanks to a seized O/S caliper.

A very nice man in a garage currently has it. The brakes are sorted, though (I've been too busy with work to do it myself), and a fresh pair of Falkens are going on tomorrow morning.

Other than that, No Sleep Til Grimsthorpe.

[RoadworkUK]

Grimsthorpe was achieved! And better still, when we got there we found that all kinds of other humdrum machinery had gathered in the same spot.

We joined the queue, which when we arrived at about 09:30 was rather slow-moving, although I gather it was flowing like molasses or container ship bunker fuel a bit later in the day. The queue seemed to be a 50/50 split between cars that were obviously arriving with a view to being shown, and more nondescript stuff carrying people who just wanted to gawp at old rammle. It seemed that the parking attendants had the job of either recognising one from the other or passing a spot judgement.

Consequently, we were assigned parking in The Car Park. With all the Nissan Jukes, Vauxhall Mokkas and whatever other dreck people have the misfortune of using for transport in the modern era.

Presumably the car park filled up a little later on, but the poor old pug did feel a bit like it had been sent to sit in the corner. I was quite surprised that the W124 in the bay next to us was in the same boat.

It seemed, though, that the parking director people had been getting their sums wrong a bit. Soon after we arrived, a gang of Peugeot 205s who had also ended up in the overflow car park of despair upped sticks, making me think that words were being had. Similarly, a chap in an utterly immaculate late Rover 416 was a little aggreived at being separated from the show and tell side of the party, particularly as he had actually paid for a ticket (mine, as with many on here, was from the "come and get 'em" giveaway earlier in the year). When he returned with a satisfied grin, I thought I might see if I could promote the 306 to the main stage, too.

Fortunately, just as I was approaching the most senior-looking person at the gate, a much later, tidier 306 was waved through to the display area.

"Hi, I don't want to kick up a fuss, but I was a bit surprised and disappointed that we'd been put into the non-display parking"

"Oh, okay... well, what are you driving?"

"A 306 that's about four years older and markedly more shite than the one you just waved through".

"Ah, okay, no problem. Pull up back here and we'll push you through".

 

Victory.

I mean, I felt like a bit of a petulant child, and it really did go against my nature to whinge so pathetically, but I actually felt that I owed it to the car. And also to my wife, who owns the damn thing. Not really knowing how FOTU worked, with the 306 being a 1995 car, I thought it my key to participating. And, truly, the high-mileage, base-spec, category N-marked, primer-adorned 306 XN i1.4 is by some margine the most unexceptional car in our domestic fleet.

Especially with a missing wheel trim.

However. As has been documented above, an initial act of extreme generosity from @loserone was underwritten by selfless effort on the part of @320touring, leading to what are possibly the world's last four remaining Peugeot 306 XN wheeltrims — unique to that model and probably either NLA or £££££ from Peugeot — being relayed 320 miles plus from beyond Glasgow to the middle of Lincolnshire, and gifted to us.

There is a part of the 306 forever dedicated to you. Cheers, guys.

In fact, having just returned from the Harwich Beer Festival in an agreeably well lubricated state, the Scottish touch was applied.

That's a very happy Mrs RoadworkUK, with a fully trimmed 306 XN, and three more spares should the worst happen again.

We were interviewed yesterday by a Hagarty journalist, asking probing questions about the car and why we have it and that kind of thing, and Mrs RWUK was a bit baffled as to how to answer. See, when she was 18, she needed a car and this one was better than the black Fiesta that was at the same used car dealership in Colchester. Sixteen years later, she still has it.

And it's not through any particular interest in 306s — she really couldn't give a toss about cars per se, let alone specific ones. However, the 306 was her car. She used it, enjoyed it, and started gathering memories in it. And then it became a kind of running joke. Her friends would have new stuff on finance, and she "still had the Heinz Beans-coloured 306". And now, frankly, she wouldn't be without it. To the extent that some mechanical operations (such as a new rear axle we had fitted two years back) don't make any kind of financial sense. But who cares? Its her car and she loves it.

It is the very definition of unexeptional. Which makes it pretty exceptional.

[320touring]

Yaaaaaassssss! Great to see it fitted, and Mrs_RoadworkUK looking happy:-)

 

It was all really @loserone - he had the hubcaps, and arranged the meet that Gave me the excuse to head to greater Durhamshire* to grab them.

I just slung them in the boot and took the glory🤣

 

I've had folks on here do similar for me - good to keep old tubs rolling along!

[loserone]

Only thing I did was put them in the garden for six months 🤣

 

Glad they fit!

[RoadworkUK]

Problem is Mrs RWUK now fears this might be the first step on a slippery slope. With a full complement of wheel trims, and having appeared at "a car show", next thing we know we'll be making cosmetic repairs and regularly cleaning it. Who knows where it could lead. Terrifying.

[loserone]

Have been sent a few pictures of the cars the trims came from

[RoadworkUK]

A light dusting, there. Who needs a Land Rover!

[Brodders]

A shame that it was initially relegated to the modern car park, but at least you were able to get it onto the show field, where it belonged, later on in the day.

These have disappeared very quickly, especially the pre-facelift ones, so it was nice to see one again. Unfortunately didn't get to speak to you in person, but very pleased to have seen it (not that you'd be able to miss it in such a bright and undeniably 90s colour.)

[RoadworkUK]

Rather pleasingly, it seems we've made the final cut for Hagerty's  Unexceptional Stories! 

https://www.hagerty.co.uk/articles/events-articles/festival-of-the-unexceptional/my-unexceptional-story/

You know... I'm not going to lie, I got ever so slightly emotional when I saw that pic and read the story to myself. 

Cheers, Pug.

[BorniteIdentity]

1 hour ago, RoadworkUK said:

Rather pleasingly, it seems we've made the final cut for Hagerty's  Unexceptional Stories! 

https://www.hagerty.co.uk/articles/events-articles/festival-of-the-unexceptional/my-unexceptional-story/

You know... I'm not going to lie, I got ever so slightly emotional when I saw that pic and read the story to myself. 

Cheers, Pug.

Quote

Very soon after my wife and I got together we made a 4000 mile trip across Europe, sleeping and eating in the car – partially because we enjoy the car, and partially because I don’t like spending any money. 

Brilliant. Bravo.

[wesacosa]

great Story.  Bet you are glad you stood your ground and got into the appropriate car park

[JeeExEll]

On 8/1/2021 at 6:31 PM, RoadworkUK said:

Grimsthorpe was achieved! And better still, when we got there we found that all kinds of other humdrum machinery had gathered in the same spot.

We joined the queue, which when we arrived at about 09:30 was rather slow-moving, although I gather it was flowing like molasses or container ship bunker fuel a bit later in the day. The queue seemed to be a 50/50 split between cars that were obviously arriving with a view to being shown, and more nondescript stuff carrying people who just wanted to gawp at old rammle. It seemed that the parking attendants had the job of either recognising one from the other or passing a spot judgement.

Consequently, we were assigned parking in The Car Park. With all the Nissan Jukes, Vauxhall Mokkas and whatever other dreck people have the misfortune of using for transport in the modern era.

Presumably the car park filled up a little later on, but the poor old pug did feel a bit like it had been sent to sit in the corner. I was quite surprised that the W124 in the bay next to us was in the same boat.

It seemed, though, that the parking director people had been getting their sums wrong a bit. Soon after we arrived, a gang of Peugeot 205s who had also ended up in the overflow car park of despair upped sticks, making me think that words were being had. Similarly, a chap in an utterly immaculate late Rover 416 was a little aggreived at being separated from the show and tell side of the party, particularly as he had actually paid for a ticket (mine, as with many on here, was from the "come and get 'em" giveaway earlier in the year). When he returned with a satisfied grin, I thought I might see if I could promote the 306 to the main stage, too.

Fortunately, just as I was approaching the most senior-looking person at the gate, a much later, tidier 306 was waved through to the display area.

"Hi, I don't want to kick up a fuss, but I was a bit surprised and disappointed that we'd been put into the non-display parking"

"Oh, okay... well, what are you driving?"

"A 306 that's about four years older and markedly more shite than the one you just waved through".

"Ah, okay, no problem. Pull up back here and we'll push you through".

 

Victory.

I mean, I felt like a bit of a petulant child, and it really did go against my nature to whinge so pathetically, but I actually felt that I owed it to the car. And also to my wife, who owns the damn thing. Not really knowing how FOTU worked, with the 306 being a 1995 car, I thought it my key to participating. And, truly, the high-mileage, base-spec, category N-marked, primer-adorned 306 XN i1.4 is by some margine the most unexceptional car in our domestic fleet.

Especially with a missing wheel trim.

However. As has been documented above, an initial act of extreme generosity from @loserone was underwritten by selfless effort on the part of @320touring, leading to what are possibly the world's last four remaining Peugeot 306 XN wheeltrims — unique to that model and probably either NLA or £££££ from Peugeot — being relayed 320 miles plus from beyond Glasgow to the middle of Lincolnshire, and gifted to us.

There is a part of the 306 forever dedicated to you. Cheers, guys.

In fact, having just returned from the Harwich Beer Festival in an agreeably well lubricated state, the Scottish touch was applied.

That's a very happy Mrs RoadworkUK, with a fully trimmed 306 XN, and three more spares should the worst happen again.

We were interviewed yesterday by a Hagarty journalist, asking probing questions about the car and why we have it and that kind of thing, and Mrs RWUK was a bit baffled as to how to answer. See, when she was 18, she needed a car and this one was better than the black Fiesta that was at the same used car dealership in Colchester. Sixteen years later, she still has it.

And it's not through any particular interest in 306s — she really couldn't give a toss about cars per se, let alone specific ones. However, the 306 was her car. She used it, enjoyed it, and started gathering memories in it. And then it became a kind of running joke. Her friends would have new stuff on finance, and she "still had the Heinz Beans-coloured 306". And now, frankly, she wouldn't be without it. To the extent that some mechanical operations (such as a new rear axle we had fitted two years back) don't make any kind of financial sense. But who cares? Its her car and she loves it.

It is the very definition of unexeptional. Which makes it pretty exceptional.

A local country-estate owner in Scotland had a new N- reg 4 (5) door diesel 306 in this exact colour and used it as his everyday (and only) car for about 10 years.  I did a lot of work for them over the years.  Nice old bloke was in his 70s at the time and probably worth something like 15 or 20 £million, maybe more.

[RoadworkUK]

Hello all.

On Sunday I completed a project that I'd inexplicably not got around to in 12 years.

As you know, we took the Pug around Europe in 2009. I got a reasonable photographic record of it, but neglected to take a decent video camera. Nevertheless, I recorded bursts of video using a really awful Samsung point 'n shoot, and basically forgot I had ever bothered. Until Sunday.

Having unearthed this precious* archive, I stitched the snippets together using the worlds most basic video editor (Windows Movie Maker) and a bare minimum of skill, to produce a tedious 50min epic.

Basically, it's a montage of moving views of spectacular (but grainily captured) scenery framed by the windows and dashboard of a Peugeot 306, with occasional outbreaks of innane chatter from my wife and I.

Should anybody want to subject themeselves to it, I've uploaded it onto Youtube, for which I apologise.

Thank you.