collection mission to SPAIN!!!! COMPLETED IT M8

[Lanciaman]

Brilliant adventure.  Having done similar in the past to get Lancias Thema and kappa in France and Germany I can't be arsed travelling 10 miles now. Wonder when my bollox disappeared... 

[DSdriver]

• Colin, a mate of mine wondered why Spanish border guards always sniggered at his paperwork. Then he realised it had his initials and surname CA Jones on it.
• Anyway, back to the plot, I was going to suggest that Zaragoza Bordeaux might be a better route before reading you had to pick up the doors.
• Bon Voyage

[N Dentressangle]

What a comeback.

Looking forward to this 😎

[Jenson Velcro]

Bollox by name, big Bollox by nature. Really pleased to see you posting again. Your adventures in shite encouraged me to first follow, and then sign up to this forum, and helped me enormously through a particularly black period of my life. Following eagerly and wishing happy travels in chod.

[Cavcraft]

Good luck and safe travels.

[2flags]

This is bravery of epic proportions! Well done that man. I will follow this with baited breath. I mean, the excitement. Will it make it? Will it pass its MoT? Will European breakdown cover it? Seriously, best of luck with this. 

[sierraman]

How does buying a car in Spain work? I thought it involved a notary, a blood test, the local mayor, some euros and some incriminating photographs. 

[egg]

Amaze. Are you using any toll motorways or taking the N roads home?

[tooSavvy]

The man with the *largest fleet of working/semi/modded/reconstructed Simca tin will deffo be up for this 👍

Bon Chance

🚙💨

[loserone]

3 hours ago, Turbowomble said:

I assume sir has seen this randy-looking specimen on C&C? It’s a stone’s throw from St. Tropez too, so you could make a millionaire’s holiday of it too.

Wait, why am I telling you this? This is my idea, hands off!

Mais c'est essence ? Je préfère gazole s'il vous plaît 

[High Jetter]

I love a good collection fred and flying to pick up a shonky Simca to drive back from one country through another before getting onto home turf will be an epic one. Who's going to run a book on the number of FTP's on the way?

[Joey spud]

It's funny how a mention of a car can conjure up memories from decades ago.

In around 1980 my best mates dad bought a strange rattlely engined small white estate car to replace his tired Herald 13/60 estate. Being a part time builder he always had estate cars, I guess he was a shitter as he seemed to only buy cheap cars and swiftly move them on when they had a big FTP or mot failure. 

The strange car was PHU100F a Simca 1100 (my memory says it was a 3 door but may have been a 5) and compared to the Triumph of the same age it was totally brilliant and performed far better than its noisy little 1118cc engine had any right to.

It got used for everything and never looked overloaded although it often was. It was like a little yappy dog that just wanted to please its master and off road or in snow it seemed unstoppable.

Alas one day walking home from school the little Simca was sat on my mates driveway with it's o/s front corner badly smashed and the wheel pushed back against the A post. It had had a coming together at speed with a tipper truck and came off second best although my mates parents got away with just cuts and bruises and wore neck collars for a week or two so it was a tough car too.

I think a little Simca today would be joy to use as a local daily runabout and have no problem excitedly scampering around making folks stop and turn and think jeez that sounds rough.

[Twiggy]

Good luck ! I hope it all goes well.

[Tayne]

My advice would be to not wear your best jumper when collecting loose bodywork such as doors.

Also, perhaps take a 12v socket, some wiring, bracket etc so you can rig up a means to charge the phone / sat nav.

[castros_bro]

If you're sidling through France to Ferry/Tunnel then this may interest you, if you is UK resident then getting VAT back on stuff purchased in France, t + c seem to say car parts are not part of the scheme but bottles of wine and laptops are.

https://www.skiptax.com/en/home/

[hairnet]

4 hours ago, sdkrc said:

Top tip: Offset the cost of collection by bringing back shitloads of drugs 

hes gonna be taking those to numb the noise and the botty ache

R good luck - in a normal car fine in a french shopping trolley of that age bon chance!

[tooSavvy]

^ ^ ^

I couldn't quite catch the gag, about Tyre levers...

#See TV, Minder 😉

🚙💨

[Fabergé Greggs]

THIS IS THE HERO WE NEED! 

Back when I used to drive my X1/9 from Scotland to Italy, I found that earplugs really reduced fatigue. I had some really nice custom fitted ones that attenuated but still had a flat frequency response (so you could still appreciate the nuances of that legendary rattle). In the absence of those, some basic foam ones would be in my packing list. 

Good luck 🤞 

[Mr_Bo11ox]

3 hours ago, tooSavvy said:

The man with the *largest fleet of working/semi/modded/reconstructed Simca tin will deffo be up for this 👍

Bon Chance

🚙💨

I'll have to take care round this guy as many years ago I seriously dragged his welding efforts over on the blue forum  (they were abysmal mind you)

[SEATMad]

What a fantastic adventure! Best of luck to you can't wait to see how this plays out! 

[Joey spud]

27 minutes ago, Mr_Bo11ox said:

I'll have to take care round this guy as many years ago I seriously dragged his welding efforts over on the blue forum  (they were abysmal mind you)

Yeah but it was spectacularly bad yet no one else on Retro Rides had the balls to say anything.

[Oi_Oi_Savaloy]

Hats off to you - what a wonderful thing to do and something, I think, we all secretly aspire to (but perhaps not for a simca...........I'm sure others would love to do the trip but for their own choice of shite......as it were!) 

[greengartside]

He’s back and what a way to make an entrance!

Chod speed and hope all goes well on Le Journey back home.

 

 

What a sound!

[RayMK]

I joined this forum because of your epic and very readable K series head gasket replacements, welding marathons and a 'never give up' approach. Great to see you back on here.

In the 1980s a  colleague had a Simca 1100 which, because the works vehicles were not available, was used to take 3 of us plus himself and a hefty toolkit from Aylesbury to Salisbury to carry out tests at another establishment.  Sure, it was a rattly old thing and its dull red paintwork made it look a decade older than it was.  However, it was comfortable and did the trip at reasonable speed despite our misgivings.  I've also hired an estate version for a UK holiday back in the day when our family car could not be relied upon.  It turned out to be a surprisingly nippy and likeable car.  

Doing a much longer journey in one some 40+ years later takes courage.  Good luck!   

[sutty2006]

I’d buy a plane ticket just to sit shotgun in this epic collection thread. Driving old nails thousands of miles across various countries is my old pastime. Good luck, we’re counting on you. 

[mk2_craig]

This sounds like top class entertainment. Following!

[andy18s]

I definitely haven't been looking at Manta Cc's for sale on Leboncoin now at all.......

[barefoot]

This is the third time I've looked at this thread and since no-one else seems to have done it yet, I'd like to ask for first dibs when you decide to move it on. I also have been looking at SIMCAs and although ideally I'd like an automatic estate I'm willing to make an exception for a brown one. 

[stuboy]

welcome back @Mr_Bo11ox good luck with the trip... i think you deserve the attached attire..

[jim89]

21 hours ago, High Jetter said:

I love a good collection fred and flying to pick up a shonky Simca to drive back from one country through another before getting onto home turf will be an epic one. Who's going to run a book on the number of FTP's on the way?

Or PC?