When England Freezes over

 The last week has been proper winter; a bit of snow (but not enough) and icy mornings. Just in time for my first meet with the PPCC at Caffeine and Machine near Petersfield.

It was a mere -5 degC when I got up at 7.15am. I had luckily put a small blanket over the top of Barry to try keep the ice off and it worked well for that area but the blanket hadn't been big enough to cover the whole screen or doors, so I had to use warm water to de-ice, which didn't work as well as I had hoped on the windows; they didn't drop fully when I opened the car and I had to use a bit of force, which I wasn't happy about. But it doesn't seem to have done any damage...I've ordered a cover from Halfords to just cover the roof and windows for future.

The drive over to C&M wasn't great - the roads seemed ice-free but I didn't want to risk pushing hard - got a nice view as the sun came up, however:

The meet was good fun; a good natter with some new people and some lovely cars in the group. I was told this McLaren owner is the slowest driver in the group despite having the quickest car:

The guy in the C63 (the 4L version) was keen to meet my son, so might try get him out to one of these meets. Beautiful Bullitt Mustang next to him:

Rare Porsche 25 - 25th anniversary edition with 4L engine, I think:

Barry in exalted company - not quite sure why they have a Lambo in a box but hey:

Love an F-Type:

Nice breakfast and coffee, good natter, fairly dull trip back and car is a state, even though I washed him the day before.

Fog on the Downs

 Unlike last week, today was cold and foggy as I dragged myself out of bed at 7.30am to meet up with the Tribal Gruppe again. We met up at the same start point (Maddings near Cranleigh) which is a great place to get to because of the excellent blatting roads in that area.

Members of this group are mostly 911 owners and are suitably loaded, so i did feel a bit poor but they are nice people, with lots of Porsche and driving experience. Several own multiple Porsches, a husband and wife were there again in their his and hers 911s - a different world.

I like the format of these runs; a fast blat to a coffee stop (different to the last time out), coffee, then another run to another coffee stop. The second one was to a pub that used to be owned by Chris Evans and had pictures up of famous people who'd visited:

A fun run back as well, with the foggy weather keeping the roads clear.

Barry is a bit of a state and desperately needs a wash but I'm still in holiday mode so crashed on the sofa all afternoon - maybe tomorrow if work is quiet.

A Wintry Wonderland

 A cold, sunny winters day is a great reason for a meaningless drive. I started at a reasonable 8am and had a great blast down to Goodwood cafe, which I've never been to before (the roof did stay up until just before these pics but was down for the rest of the day):

I caught up with a lovely 911 - I've yet to meet another Porsche driver who drives slowly and this guy was no exception. We had a lovely 5 mile blat together, probably annoying a few Sunday drivers as we flew past them. As before, the 911 pulled away a little on the straights but we were joined at the hip in the corners - great fun.

As I was leaving the cafe, a group of very rich people turned up:

Had a fun drive back to meet up with the Porksters for a brunch, where I was forced into an impromptu and very bad speech:

A chilly but beautiful day to be out - happy holidays to my hordes of fans.

Stormy Surrey Sprint

 Storm Bert has been blowing for the last few days bringing rain, gales and warm temperatures, just in time for my first Tribal Gruppe run.

The run started at a (new to me) cafe and it was an utter blast, literally as well. While the strong winds continued, the rain stopped and my roof stayed down almost all day. The roads were covered with leaves and bits of tree but they were mostly dry and, best of all, the weather warnings kept everyone else off the road; I had the clearest run I've had possibly ever.

The start cafe did a great egg and bacon roll and coffee:

There were about 15 cars, half 911s and the rest Boxsters and Caymans. The pace was pretty decent, helped by the lack of traffic and we kept in convoy to the first stop at another (new to me) cafe and another coffee. Two coffee's in 40 minutes is a bit much for me but I really enjoyed meeting some new people who were all much richer than me but also more my driving type - I covered 150 miles in total today which was great fun.

On the way back to Caffeine and Machine, near Petersfield, we stopped in at Goodwood. I didn't realise you could just drive in and it was weird to park up in the paddocks that I'm used to walking round at the FOS or the Revival:

Last stop was C&M, which had a few other cars but not many. I skipped the coffee but had a good natter with a couple of new guys who I got on really well with.

My drive back was just as good, using a route I've used several times before from that area and it was even better today than normal, with so little traffic around.

Overall,  a great day, much better than I expected and I'll try do some more with the group - I much prefer the variety and longer distance they travel.

I also bought some gummi phlege, a rubber treatment for the trim around the roof, doors etc and applied that today. I'm not sure if it's needed but some of my trim does look a bit past best and with the really cold weather approaching, I thought it might help.

Rumbles in the WA Groups

 Nothing too exciting recently - a couple of weekday lunch runs and a short loop run to a new cafe (Surrey Hills) with the Porkers group. 

I have somehow been given the role of 'Nutcase driver' for the group and am always asked to lead the fast group. I don't feel I'm that bad but I get the impression there have been mutterings behind my back from some of the more cautious members - most of the people went in the 'brisk' group and only 3 of us were in the fast group. The guy who leads the brisk group is pretty quick, so I don't think there is much of a difference but who knows...

What is more sad is that I had a little falling out with the guy who runs the group - he didn't like my funny reply to another member who was asking for advice over a flat battery. There had already been 30+ replies to his flat battery issue, so I had nothing to add, I just made a minor joke, which the member himself laughed at. However, main guy got snotty and really pissed me off...I get the feeling he has never really liked me; maybe because I keep suggesting new things (everyone to use a sat-nav and radios on a run, for example), longer runs to different venues etc. Whatever it is, this was just another nail in the coffin.

It's a shame because most of the others are fine (one other guy is best buds with main man and he also didn't like my comment), although they are a little dull in respect to what to do at weekends - they all seem happy to go to the same pub/cafe 20 minutes down the road, then go home - it's getting boring. Only bright side, boss man is selling his Boxster and, according to his own strict rules, he can't be a member if he doesn't have one :-)

In search of something more interesting, I have joined Performance and Prestige Car Club (bit of a mouthful - I'll use PPCC from now on), which actually cost me £50. However, they are car agnostics - any car is welcome in the group and they seem a little bit more exciting - I have booked on to a 3 day Welsh tour in May with them and while they don't do any weekly runs, they do other stuff through the year. See how it goes...

Also, there is Tribal Gruppe, a Porsche-only club which is incredibly hectic - the organiser (who must be doing this full-time) is planning 20 (!) European road trips next year! They do loads of other runs which are quite professionally-run; you pay a small amount for each run (around £5) and I've booked on one in 2 weeks time, to see how it goes. I get the feeling it will be a slow convoy and crowded car parks but worth a shot.

I quite like the sound of his Euro trips formats; seems that you pay him a small-ish amount and you get a list of hotels and dates which you book up yourself and just get there however you like (I think he might offer routes as well?). Sounds an interesting way to do it - have the day driving to yourself and know you'll have an evening with some like-minded people. I might try one of those....

Finally, my son continues to have bad luck with cars (although he will insist on these super-expensive hypercars) - his C63 cut-out on the way to work, misfiring and hopping down the road. We got it recovered to a MB dealer (my son refuses to do anything cheaper) who diagnosed a blown inlet manifold gasket. A new gasket costs around £20 - the work to replace it? £2,400 !!! Yes, you read that right...his pads and discs were all close to death as well so he had them do those as well - total bill, £3,900 !! Holy Shit! He is now so broke, he has had to SORN the C63 and cancel the insurance until the Spring, to pay for the work. Luckily, my mother-in-law has a garage she does not use, so the car is laid up for the winter.

So now he can't get to work - what does he do? He's done his CBT and bought a 125cc bike!! My wife is petrified and I tried to dissuade him but he is a stubborn git and also an adult - I can't force him not to. Bike has just arrived (he paid £2,400 for it) and I helped him buy some decent gear - I pray I don't live to regret not being more forceful.

Milk and Planes

 Met up with the Porksters again for a short drive from Denbies to the Milk Churn, a nice little cafe out in the sticks. Weirdly, they didn't do eggs, so I had to have just a plain bacon roll...and it was very expensive - I'll probably forget but may give that place a miss from now on.

One of our number decided to bring 'one of their other cars':

Yes, a Ferrari 812 - that's a nice 'other' car! Sounded awesome as well...

Vic also joined us for the first time and we discussed the Alps trip. After the Milk Churn, Vic and I had a nice run to the Torque Motors Cafe. He's not bothered about the Le Mans Classic so we're not doing that - just direct from Calais to the Alps. My son has invited 3 of his mates from work, so now there are 6 of us! They want to go to the Nurburgring, so I've planned routes up there and booked 7 nights of hotels already (organised, hey?). I must admit, the roads up through Germany look great on StreetView, so very excited. My son's friends are all young and I wouldn't be surprised if they drop out nearer the time, so I'm not counting on them - I'm just happy to have 1 fellow traveller.

This weekend, Vic and I decided to do a longer trip out to Compton Abbas airfield. The Porksters went to the Owl for a Porsche meet but I've done that a couple of times - it's a bit dull and only 20 minutes down the road.

My son joined us and we had a nice, 2 hour run down to the airfield, which was supposed to be hosting a vintage aircraft fly-in. A few did turn up but it wasn't quite Gatwick. 

The whole airfield is now owned by Guy Ritchie and has had a complete re-vamp since I last went there years ago - but more cafe weirdness; this large, very modern cafe had 3 items on the breakfast menu, one of which was jam and toast! Fortunately, one was an egg and bacon roll but no full English, or omelette etc? Very strange...

After 2 uncontrolled slides on roundabouts (my son insists he wasn't trying but I'm not sure...), he has ordered some new rear tyres - the current budget tyres are almost bald. On the way back, we got separated and he ended up stuck on the M3 for an hour after an accident. Luckily for me, I hate the M3 so I came off much earlier. I had an enjoyable run back - my new exhaust sounds better on every trip. At 6.5k revs in 2nd gear, it sounds like a V12 - beautiful!!

Britpack

 So today was a 200 mile return trip to the British Motor Museum at Gaydon - and it was very good. I didn't realise that the title meant, museum of British cars, which is why there were so many MGs, Ford's, Vauxhall, Jags etc, etc. But it was interesting for that reason - I see lots of Porsches, BMWs, Ferraris etc at meets so it was nice to see some Brit history for a change. 

The drive up was pretty good - I devised a good route avoiding all the main roads and had a blast. My new exhaust is really settling in and is actually pretty loud - even my son was impressed as I drove up the drive. I left just after 7am, all alone as explained in my last post but I really enjoyed it. Not worrying about trying to keep a group together is actually more relaxing - maybe I should just do these runs on my own?

The museum is very well set up and modern looking with some fascinating cars - below is the last EVER E-Type built in 1974:

The museums collection of one Jag prototypes is amazing - some lovely stuff, especially the interiors:

This is a Project 7 F-Type - beautiful:

A 4WD XJS:

The 1st prototype XJ220 had scissor doors!!

If I was going to buy a classic, I'd like this SS100 - probably damn expensive:

This is an EV from 2008, a Lightning GT. Amazing, isn't it - I don't know why it never went into production:

This is the first ever BMW - based on an Austin 7!!

This 1930 Austin 7 was driven from Buenos Aires to New York in 1960, 11k miles in 8 months!!

One of the most interesting exhibits was a timeline of British car makers - did you know that the first ever UK car maker was Lanchester, in 1895? And that the oldest still going is Morgan, who started in 1910, a year before Ford arrived? Fascinating stuff...

I had a fun day - my route back was less exciting as I hadn't planned anything. I thought my TomTom would be able to reverse my original route but it couldn't, so I just set it for home and it took me on lots of boring, busy A roads. I did have a fun blat with a motorbike, though - they hate being shown up by a car so you can always guarantee they'll chase you!! Damn, Barry is quick and loud now - huge fun!

In other great news, Vic, one of the guys who came to Wales earlier in the year wants to do my Euro tour! Woohoo, I have a driving buddy...the tour is afoot!