Peugeot 504 coupe

[Westbay]

Wow! nice mota m8 ! 

[Mr Livered]

1 hour ago, dieselnutjob said:

Despite the sign, the hotel doesn't look very première classe to me. The car most definitely does.

[Peter C]

Didn’t see that coming!

Very much looking forward to further updates.

[Spottedlaurel]

2 hours ago, dieselnutjob said:

Got me worried for a moment there! We've booked a night in Laon later this year, turns out it's the Kyriad nextdoor or across the road. 

[dieselnutjob]

Someone has abandoned an old Peugeot outside DFDS sales office

[dieselnutjob]

Things didn't go well. I returned the trailer to the French hire company, and went back to Dunkirk and assembled my A frame to tow it onto the ferry. 

It almost instantly failed as I moved off.

The people that work there said I can leave it in their car park for a few days, no problem.

So I'm waiting to board just the Jag onto the ferry and I'll have to hire a trailer in England just for a day to go and fetch it.

[vaughant]

2 hours ago, dieselnutjob said:

Things didn't go well. I returned the trailer to the French hire company, and went back to Dunkirk and assembled my A frame to tow it onto the ferry. 

It almost instantly failed as I moved off.

The people that work there said I can leave it in their car park for a few days, no problem.

So I'm waiting to board just the Jag onto the ferry and I'll have to hire a trailer in England just for a day to go and fetch it.

Oh CRIKEY 😭😭😭.

If I still had my old trailer I sold to @NorthernMonkeyyou'd be welcome to borrow it for as long as needed. 

You'd actually have no idea there was a car on the back it was so solid.

I'm sure some folk on here could help you out. 

What a stunning car by the way ❤️❤️❤️... Love the Jag as well 😀😀

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Sorry to hear of your A frame woes.

On a positive note, that Peugeot is a proper Bobby dazzler.

[High Jetter]

That's a bugger about your A-frame. Don't know what trailers cost to hire, but there's a van rental place here that does a ULEZ car transporter from £110/day.

I bet there's some gallic shrugs in Dunkirk today 😀

[robt100]

On 04/02/2026 at 18:04, dieselnutjob said:

Also could do with being a bit further forward? But I already measured 100kg on the nose

I think that wins classiest towed/tow car combo! Nice to see someone else with a towbar on their X350. Not used mine in anger yet, how did you find it??
Sorry to hear about the A-frame, hope you get a solution soon.

[dieselnutjob]

2 hours ago, High Jetter said:

That's a bugger about your A-frame. Don't know what trailers cost to hire, but there's a van rental place here that does a ULEZ car transporter from £110/day.

I bet there's some gallic shrugs in Dunkirk today 😀

Please tell me more (like who are they?). I was thinking about this as I drove home. A flatbed would be a better bet because the ferry companies charge by the meter and it will be a lot shorter than a Jag plus trailer.

I would only need to hire it for a single day.

[High Jetter]

8 minutes ago, dieselnutjob said:

Please tell me more (like who are they?). I was thinking about this as I drove home. A flatbed would be a better bet because the ferry companies charge by the meter and it will be a lot shorter than a Jag plus trailer.

I would only need to hire it for a single day.

Yup, PM'd. Decent to deal with, never bothered about minor dings IMHO

[dieselnutjob]

Searching for 3.5T Beavertail hire on Google maps led me to a local company in Uxbridge hiring them for £120 a day.

Next problem is that the ferry company will hammer me for not booking in advance. I'd really like to sort this this weekend.

[dieselnutjob]

Actually prices for a "large van" don't look too bad on the DFDS app.

[Pieman]

11 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said:

Got me worried for a moment there! We've booked a night in Laon later this year, turns out it's the Kyriad nextdoor or across the road. 

I've stayed in a Kyriad in Nevers when working at Magny-Cours race circuit.  It was rubbish - hope your experience differs.

[dieselnutjob]

If I hire a beavertail and then take it on a ferry to Dunkirk am I likely to have a problem?

Aren't hire companies against their vehicles leaving the country?

If they are fitted with a tracker and they remote disabled it then it I'll be in real trouble 

[loserone]

You will need to ask them and you will need it clearly specified in the hire agreement.  

 

Assuming the pug won't run long enough to get it in the ferry?

[Westbay]

2 minutes ago, loserone said:

You will need to ask them and you will need it clearly specified in the hire agreement.  

 

Assuming the pug won't run long enough to get it in the ferry?

was thinking same ...

drive beaver tail to uk ferry port , foot passenger to France, drive Pug onto ferry , beavertail home ...

[dieselnutjob]

1. I don't think that they do foot passengers to Dunkirk.  Even to Calais it's not all crossings and surprisingly expensive.

2. There is no parking inside Dover port, so nowhere to leave a beavertail and load up the Peugeot.

The Peugeot runs a bit crap, but I reckon it would make it on and off a ferry, but DFDS told me that it's a bad idea to drive an uninsured car through border control because it is after all a French police department.

Anyway, it's all booked.  Beavertail including european cover £300.  DFDS return for "large van" £278.

However, I think it would have cost me £400 or £500 to have gotten it loaded with an A frame and I was thinking of paying £180 to a Dover recovery driver to take it Dover to Ruislip.  I did pay 180 Euro to load the Jag on the ferry, but I'm not really much down on the deal to be honest.

I only paid 160 Euro to hire the trailer for three days, so overall, I think it's somewhere between okay and could have been worse.

I have about five or six hours to burn in Dunkirk tomorrow.

[Westbay]

Not as expensive as I trhought! bet you can't wait to get it back ....safe trip. 👍

[dieselnutjob]

Also, French recovery firms wanted 700 Euro to take a car from Troyes to Calais or Dunkerque, which I did myself with the Jag for a lot less money.

Taking a beavertail on the ferry half the cost of a car + car trailer.

[loserone]

Presumably a spotty youth like me couldn't drive a beaver tail as it'd be over my weight limit

[dieselnutjob]

6 minutes ago, loserone said:

Presumably a spotty youth like me couldn't drive a beaver tail as it'd be over my weight limit

It's 3500kg (fully loaded) with a payload of 1500kg

[vtec-e]

Excellent purchase. Good luck with the trip. I live close by, so I'll keep my eyes skimmed over the next few days !

[dieselnutjob]

I found some odd bodges already.

I stopped at motorway services yesterday to put some fresh fuel in it and thought I would check the engine oil but when I went hunting for the dipstick this is all I could find

 

[Mr Livered]

4 hours ago, dieselnutjob said:

I have about five or six hours to burn in Dunkirk tomorrow.

If you go to a café see if you can score an even better meal than the one you posted on page 1 of this thread. There's a challenge for you!

[dieselnutjob]

[dozeydustman]

On 04/02/2026 at 16:42, dieselnutjob said:

[dieselnutjob]

I didn't think that foot passengers could get on Dover to Dunkirk. Is going on a bike some sort of hack that makes it possible?

[dieselnutjob]

DFDS lunch