Plucky Pheasant

 A cold meet up again with the Surrey Porksters at Newlands Corner. At around 2 degC, it was too cold to use the cafe there but  across the road was the Plucky Pheasant cafe, which I didn't know about (pretty sure it used to be a restaurant). An enjoyable, if not expensive, breakfast and natter was had:

Some nice cars in the car park as well, lots of Lotus's and this original (we checked the reg) Shelby Coupe, or something:

I have started hearing a slight clank from the front-left suspension recently, just on rough surfaces at slow speeds, so it may be time to consider some suspension work. Cearth was at the meet today and he seems very keen to help with the work in his full-service garage, so I might start pricing up some parts.

I'd also like to change the coil packs and maybe the plugs while I'm there - no evidence of the coils ever having been done and they're the sort of annoying thing that might just go in the middle of my Alps trip.

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.