OY THORSTEN. WHERE ARE THE PICS???

[nigel bickle]

C'mon big fella -were's the travel pics?

 

A few cars would be nice too. Just a few...

[Torsten2001]

Well, it was a trip I'd rather forget honestly but the highlight was this in the car park at the start:

The first stint was a 775 mile drive to Montpeyroux near Montpelier but there were a couple of bog stops, Millou Viaduct:

at that point the glow plug light had come on twice putting it into limp mode

Montpeyroux:

So after a comically short kip we set out on an 875 mile hike to Marbella, stopping in Barcelona for a spot of filming on the Ramblas we finally stopped at this service station for a power nap:

Where I spotted this Spanish registered ERF

Just after that the heavens opened and remained open for the duration

to add to our traumas the engine management light came on, 3000rpm limit so we limped to our "Boutique" hotel stop for the night in Puerto Banus (Port of Anus)

At that point I had rung VW assistance, it was Maundy Thursday so Spain was closed until Monday. I made the executive decision to abandon taking it to Morocco, the VW service centre was open in Casablanca, 500 miles into Morocco, too far, Gibraltar & Portugal were closed. Arranged taxis for everyone to the port at Tarifa, hire cars in Morocco, got VW to pick it up

(note shite weather)

So I was left in Port of Anus until Tuesday on my todd, a shithole with shite weather, it was so bad I couldn't even find a bar I wanted to have a drink in but there were some nice boats:

and I spotted this thing on Portuguese plates:

On easter Monday while you lot were finishing your eggs I was outside Nuevo Motor 2 in Marbella waiting for them to open, they repaired a vacuum pipe, so I took it on a fast drive to Gibraltar to test it:

and down to Europa Point

and after filling up at £1.08 a litre back to the Spanish barbarians:

Crossing the airport runway

But not before spotting this Gibraltan LDV

There were a few other cars worth noting there but nowhere I could really stop as the roads were too small!

I then got to Spanish customs who stopped short of fisting me

 

So back to the hotel to empty the minibar

before waking up early and meeting the Tangiers ferry at Tarifa (60 miles)

Where I met 1 girl, drove her flat out to meet her flight at Malaga (100 miles)

Then back to Tarifa to pick up the rest (100 miles)

Then back to 5 miles short of where I started for lunch

We then made a start on a 1500 mile run back to to London when 275kms short of Madrid the glow plug light came on again, followed by the engine management light. I called Ryanair, booked them onto flights at 8.55 the next morning, booked a hotel for the night, rang VW Assistance, sigh

it's another story but they all missed their flight in the morning, sigh. They booked new tickets for the evening

I was in a hotel near the airport, a bit like Hounslow with none of the charm, wandering around bored I spotted these:

(that's a Turbo)

The next day Castellano Wagen M40 diagnosed a borked turbo. Despite the fact that VW UK & Germany said it must be changed on warranty they insisted I pay, I made the possible mistake of calling the MD a c*nt after he woke me up and said I couldn't sleep in the car park. The ladies at reception were lovely though and kept coming out and rubbing sun cream in my arms and face before dragging €1200 off my debit card

I trundled North, stopping 560 miles later in Deux Sevres to try out a mates new mulcher

The 530 miles back home involved a fisting from French mobile customs in Rochefort before a €259 ticket on Eurostar.

 

Will I do that again?

Fcuk that!

[dollywobbler]

If only everything in life...

 

Feel for you there! Should have taken one of Pog's Sherpas...

[Cavcraft]

I find your lack of photographic images of flange disturbing.

[Torsten2001]

The flange was disturbing!

 

Dolly, I used to run ex GPO LDV Convoys, 60k a year around the EU, in the time I had them

1. Tyre blow out in Madrid - replaced

2. Alternator fail in The Hague - repaired

3. Starter motor fail in London - repaired

4. Cambelt premature fail in Liverpool - repaired

[scooters]

Brilliant write up of the trip Vek. Especially as you told me you'd rather forget it. I really like your laconic style. That mini bar photo made me piss myself....you sir are the master of highlighting the grimly mediocre...

[nigel bickle]

No A framing?

 

G'wan -you can tell me.

[michiel]

That's enough bad luck for the rest of the year to go smoothly surely?

[seth]

Horrendous!

[Torsten2001]

No A framing?

 

G'wan -you can tell me.

 

On the road to Marbella there were a couple of scrap yards with some seriously amazing tat. R8's & 10's, SEAT 600 & 800, Merc Pontons and an Austin A30 with a triangular roof, didn't stop though as I was too busy muttering under my breath

[Andrew353w]

Epic, TOTALLY epic!! I take my trilby off to you, sir! Once again, your status as an Autoshite legend lives on....

[Angrydicky]

We've had a couple of the Crafters at work go into limp mode with engine management issues, also had a blown turbo on one as well. Generally pretty reliable though to be fair.

 

I like the mulcher pic.

[dollywobbler]

We've got a couple of brand new Crafters on the bus fleet where I'm a volunteer driver. Yet to find out how reliable they are, but we've got a brand new Peugeot now as well, so we can at least compare notes.

[Torsten2001]

We have 14 of them, they have been fantastic, genuinely reliable but I think the red one basically felt sorry for me and in that respect I am very grateful for it's ailments. It is currently on a photo shoot for Vogue magazine and sends its regards!

[AeroNautiCal]

Wow!

 

I'm surprised you didn't want to axe murder that Crafter after all the stress and extra workload it gave you.

 

Surprised that it let you down so badly too.

 

Spirited write up though!

[Torsten2001]

I admire its cheeky character!