This weekend was a long-planned Tribal Gruppe run to the Cotswolds, taking in Jeremy Clarksons pub and a couple of other 'secret' stops.
I had an early start at 6.15am, 0 degC and very foggy. I took the simple motorway route and the fog didn't clear until the M40 but it left behind a beautiful, sunny day which stayed clear all day - amazing after the dreary grey of the last few weeks.
I met up with the first group of about 15 Porsches coming out of the services and we had a fun convoy for an hour to the meet point at Mollies diner:
A short, 15 minute convoy to JCs pub, The Farmers Dog near Burford where we filled the car park:
The pub itself wasn't open but the famous Grand Tour tent was, although they didn't do coffee (no English-grown coffee) so I just took some pictures:
After about 30 minutes of chat with a few people I met on the last run, we set off to Petroyle Restorations which were having a car day anyway, so we totally crowded the place out:
There were some great other cars here - thè owner of this camper van was a die-hard fan and won this beauty in a raffle! Valued at £75k:
Beautiful Ferrari 488 and Aston:
They were also restoring this Jensen interceptor, putting a 450bhp V8 in it:
The place was so packed, I had parked outside which meant I was able to leave before most of the others but I seemed to choose the opposite direction to everyone else, wandered through some tiny lanes alone and met up with some of the others halfway to the next stop, the Classic Motor Hub.
In the middle of nowhere, they also had garages of restoration projects and some beautiful cars for sale:
By now, it was 1pm and there was still another run to Caffeine and Machine near Stratford-upon-Avon but that was another 50 minutes away and I wanted to get home by 4pm at the latest - it would be a stretch if I went to C&M, so I set off for home instead.
I had a great run back, keeping clear of the motorways and choosing some awesome B-roads, getting home at about 4pm.
Got to say, Barry is such an awesome car! The banshee wail of the engine at high revs is magnificent and I feel like it can be heard for miles. How do people settle for EVs? Bloody lovely, it was...and since the drop links and pads change, he is completely rattle-free. I didn't realise how many little rattles there were but now he is silent, allowing me to luxuriate in the engine howl.
What a great day out 😀
