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Everything posted by Chris2cv

  1. They have a 2cv at Beaulieu that has only done a similar mileage, and I always have a good look, to see how my car looked when he was new, but I wouldn't want to own it. It is near unique (as clearly there is at least one other) but as soon as you use it, it becomes a low mileage 2cv and then a 2cv. But if you don't use it then it might as well be in a museum. My own 2cv is not immaculate, the various wear and grazes tell the story of a life, of the adventures that we (and the previous owners) have had, of him (and it is a he) being one of the family. This car may have more monetary value, but it doesn't seem to have any emotional value.
  2. There is (or at least was last year) one of them on the Isle of Wight, near Ryde. Thought it was an odd kit car, so rather surprised to find the truth, and that it is so rare. Probably understandable though!
  3. I think the idea was that the Sultan likes rare cars so they would offer him one or both at the end, although the idea apparently changed after the discrimination upset. It seemed a little flimsy, but a lot of these ideas are probably best not scrutinised too hard, While I like the Allegro (and nearly owned an estate some years back) it did seem a waste of the Matra when it would obviously struggle to complete a journey it was never meant to do, which at least the Allegro stood a chance of completing. That said, there was a lot less (although not none) pointless destruction which was one thing that always wound me up before. It wasn't a bad episode, I wont say that I was gripped, but I was entertained. Better without the bullying as well.
  4. I missed last week, as I was busy, but made the effort this week, to actually watch and give it a fair chance, instead of playing internet or having it on in the background. It was pretty good, a good mix of entertainment and a proper review as well. The bit with the hearse was genuinely entertaining, and I will watch again. My only real concern is that it does still look like the others bully Chris Harris, I know that there is a fine line between banter and bullying but I was not always convinced that it fell the right side. Perhaps I am a little over sensitive on this. Incidentally, Jerzy Woking, I was looking at those electric scooters last week, as my moped is "getting a bit" knackered. I have seen some excellent reviews and some not so good ones, so will be interested in your experiences.
  5. I thought it was a pretty good show. There seemed to be some big gaps, despite it being a nice day,( if not that sunny) but what was there was interesting. I will say that I normally struggle to get around everything, but was doing second laps by about 3, and I had watched the stunt show! Most people I know used to go (I live a few miles away) and this has dropped off quite a bit. I hope that Kelsey can bring it back up again. I did see someone with an old Rover who had an Autoshite sticker, and also the Hubnut stand, but as has been said, always busy. To be fair, my earlier description of myself did seem to apply to rather a lot of people there! I enjoyed it.
  6. Not saying that I was a massive fan, but he seemed enthusiastic and pretty genuine in his presenting, just a fairly normal guy (I suppose the Hammond of that version). Harris is obviously the one with the knowledge about cars, (May) where Matt was the "personality". I would have thought it better to have bought in a new third presenter and kept Chris and Rory, instead of what happened. But, time will tell.
  7. In the past, yes they did, because I had the "pleasure" of this job one year. While it was quite amusing slyly watching people walk through the woods, and then appearing as they reached the fence, it also meant a lot of abuse from people who thought that they shouldn't have to pay! More recently they just secured fencing over any gaps.
  8. I will be there, although I am borrowing Dad's MX5 mk1 as I don't enjoy motorways in the 2cv. I have been going for 20 odd years, and used to work it in the past. I will agree that it did loose it's way a bit for some years, but I have heard that Kelsey publishing now own it again. I know in the past that they put a hell of a lot of work into it, whereas the (then) new owners seemed to just see it as another show and not really care very much. This may be unfair, but seemed to be a fairly common view amongst people I spoke to. We will see what this year brings. I will be the slightly odd chap with awful shirt, poundland sunglasses and rylanesque beard! ( I wonder why I am single!)
  9. As I have said, I enjoyed the Clarkson era, but not the destruction of classics. In the early years, I stopped watching for some time because they seemed to destroy 2cvs regularly (or I saw the same episode several times!) but it did get better. I wont deny there was destruction, but it did seem to become more about the presenters than "let's smash an old car!" While the Reliant episode IS funny, was it really much funnier than the Peel one, where nothing got destroyed? The destruction seemed to continue to some degree in every version that has followed, including the crash in the last episode. If things happen, fair enough, but deliberate crashing doesn't really amuse me. There did seem to be quite a bit of bullying of Chris Harris in this last episode, but I only saw the second half so there may have been some balance. Will have to see if this is "banter" or worse. I quite liked Rory, although it seems many didn't, and am yet to be convinced by the new team, but I will watch again.
  10. I have watched Top Gear in its various forms for nearly 30 years. I will admit I was a big fan of Clarkson era, but have given each new version a chance. The Evans version was pretty grim, (although I believe that series was always doomed to fail regardless of presenter) and Matt was not much better to begin with, but over time it seemed to find it's feet and the last series was actually pretty good. Maybe not the best, but certainly enjoyable. I was not particularly looking forward to the new series as it seemed like they were stepping right back, having finally got it good. I missed the first 20 minutes, which was perhaps unfair, but what I did see was alright. I wasn't blown away, and indeed was playing internet after a while, but it was far from the worst episode I have seen. I will stick with it, and give it a fairer chance, actually paying proper attention. I am not convinced yet, but will keep watching.
  11. I would happily collect Citroens, but as with most people, space, time and money (not necessarily in that order) means that I cant get any more cars. Apparently 3 is "more than you need!" I was thinking about my life with my 2cv, it has accompanied me on many an adventure, from slightly odd teenager, over 23 years, to slightly odd man. It doesn't get nearly enough use, but I try to do as much as I can. Rather than name my best times with it, I thought it might be more interesting to detail some of the worst journeys instead! Firstly, and most recently, a few months back, I decided to take it for a ride. It was a bit windy as I went to the garage, but I shifted the cars and junk blocking it in, and got it going. The garage door blowing shut twice should have been my warning! I drove up through the village and all was fine, a bit cloudy, but the car was running well. Up across the country lanes, past Manston, when suddenly, I could barely hold the car in its lane. Being a (currently closed) airport, it is very flat, and the wind felt like it was going to blow the car away. I turned in to more built up roads, passing Tesco (which lost part of its roof that day) down towards Margate, where the bonnet started flexing! I had to fix the passenger window open as it kept blowing open, and it was very hard to keep it on the road. Weirdly, there were few other cars out and about (can't think why!) but I was in real fear of serious damage to the car, me, or both of us. Back to the garage, and out in the Stepway, which probably weighs more than twice the amount, and could barely even tell it was windy! Second, driving up the M2, bringing the car home some years back, it was running brilliantly, bombing along and we made great time. I thought it a bit odd that my parents, who were following in their car, were sitting so close behind, but his car was 25 years younger, so would have better brakes I thought. Eventually we got back and Dad said "I know you like to leave the lights off until it gets fully dark, but that was an hour ago, what were you thinking?" I was confused, my lights were on, still on as we spoke in fact! Not at the back though it turned out! I had done 70 miles, in the dark, on the M2 and M25 with no rear lights! They were so close behind, to stop anyone from hitting me! There were 17 missed calls from Mum, I hadn't heard a thing! The rear lights also once did it in the centre of Croydon, late at night, some years before. Third, my Brother and I went to Bournemouth. Lovely time there, but absolutely torrential rain all the way there and all the way home, stopping as soon as we arrived at both ends. For some reason, the drivers wiper was moving further than usual, and caught between the A pillar and the aerial mast that the previous owner fitted. Every singly time. I had to drive over 100 miles with my hand out the window, pushing it back out. Every single time. (Yes, thinking back, why the hell didn't I pull it off and refit it?) Fourth and probably second worst trip ever - We (me, my parents and my Nan ) had been away for the weekend. Dad was staying another night, for work, so Mum and I were taking Nan back to her house in the 2cv, before returning home. Nan was in her late 80's at this time, and would never pass a public toilet As we rounded the M25, I said my usual "anyone for the services?", a couple of miles before we reached them. "No, let's get home" they said. As we passed the services, Nan said "can we stop!" "Well not now" I said! I pulled off at the next junction, earlier than I would normally and went looking for a toilet. It was about 10pm on a Sunday night, so not looking promising. At the time I was a van driver, and knew that Esso garages normally had a public toilet. A few miles later, I found one and asked the chap inside if he minded Nan using it, as I didn't actually need any fuel. He let her in, but in typical Nan style, she didn't lock the door, so I had to stand outside to save anyone else from the nightmare within. Certainly the volume suggested it was not fun. It felt like she was in there for several hours, but probably actually about 10 minutes. As we left she whispered in the extremely loud way that only Nan could "IT JUST WOULDNT FLUSH, THERE WAS SO MUCH!" I have never returned to that petrol station. I had no idea where we were, and of course no sat nav then. Mum said "I know this road, there is a church and a house nearby (thereby describing practically every village in the world!) and left me to it as we drove through thick fog somewhere near Kenley. After about 20 minutes we passed a church and a house. "You see!" she said. Eventually I found a road that I knew, we got Nan home and headed home. None of this was the car's fault, but is a journey that neither I, my mum (Nan has since died) or probably the poor chap at Esso, will ever forget. Sorry mate. Lastly (sorry this has become a bit of an epic) and probably the worst trip ever. The car had been away for MOT for a month, with my (now ex) mechanic. I had to get the car 70 miles from the Kent coast to home, Mum was with me (Dad seems to get away with these trips) as was my (now late) dog Tom. My brother and his wife (and their cats) were following in their car, as they had been visiting and would be dropping Nan home to Carshalton on route (yes, it's her again!) . About 3 miles into the trip, there was an awful smell (not Nan or Tom related) followed by the car filling with smoke. Obviously this wasn't good, so we got off the main road and stopped ASAP. It turned out that the mechanic had spilled oil all over the engine and this was now burning off. Not a massive problem, but I had lost my nerve, so we stuck to what I call the "old A2", through all the Medway towns. Unfortunately, while I have done this route a number of times, it was virtually always in the opposite direction, and there are quite a few one way systems and parts that I could not follow. And traffic lights seemingly every 100 yards. For 70 miles. As we approached Rochester (at least an hour into the journey) my brother shouted from the car behind "Nan needs a shit!" I doubt that that was what she actually said, but once more we were searching for a public toilet at about 10pm on a Sunday night. I remembered one near the centre and we had a RADAR key, so we stopped there. Padlocked. Bugger. So they headed to a nearby pub. I didn't want to turn the 2cv off, as it would be a sod to start after that journey, if they returned after only a few minutes. Which they didn't. We decided to exercise Tom while we waited, but could not go far from the car obviously. "Where's Tom's lead?" "Oh he got in the car without it on!" I was told . So I had to use my belt, and hold him with one hand, and my trousers up with the other, as nobody helped, but several laughed. After seemingly several hours Nan returned, and we continued. That journey saw seemingly about a million red traffic lights and we got in after about 3 hours instead of the maybe 90 minutes it should have taken. Again, mostly, not the car's fault, but to this day, one of the worst journeys ever. Having said all that, the car has seen me through a lot. There are times when it seems determined to kill me, resists any attempts that I make to improve it and so on, but I could never sell it.
  12. Dieselassist - It's an interesting point. When does it stop being the same car? To me, doing the same sort of things over a long period of time would be fine, but changing everything at once might feel different. Few people would expect the above cars to be totally original, but should you declare a new shell? Is an engine replacement ok? With 2cvs, my colleague says that they carried chassis in stock when he worked at a Citroen dealer in the 80's! . For example the Scenic Railway at Dreamland Margate is nearly 100 years old. But it had a fire in the 50's or 60's loosing part of the track, and another about 10 years ago which led to a total rebuild. But how much of the (wooden) structure would have been original anyway, with wear and tear etc? So is it the same ride? I would actually say yes, as it is to the the original design and standards but others think differently. Regardless, it is my favourite roller coaster, and I have ridden it 15 times in the last month! Getting back on topic, I cannot see any legitimate reason to buy paperwork for a car that you do not own. I have been given old Haynes books or car information for various cars as people know that I like old cars, but would not buy someones logbook, without a car, . I have some for long dead cars that we once owned, but if it ever gets cleared out, it will be destroyed, not sold to make it easy for someone to steal another car. To be fair, the sort of cars that we have owned in the past are probably all dead and valueless anyway! (present fleet excluded)
  13. it is mostly wear and tear as it gets older. I know that the lack of use doesn't help, but the distance and lack of free time means that it is how it has to be. I do seem to hold on to things, the 2cv will be 25 years in September, the Clio (which replaced the 2cv as my main car) since 2002 and the Stepway (which replaced the Clio as my main car) in 2017. But yet they are all still here. As is the moped (since 2010)!
  14. Thought that I had already posted on here, but apparently not. Surprisingly, given my name, I have a 2cv! I have owned it since September 1994 (!) and it was my first car. We have had all sorts of adventures over the years, but it is mostly retired now. I still try and use it at least monthly, but it lives in a garage at my parents house, 70 miles from me, so this is not always possible. In regards to the values, I paid £270, which was not a bad deal, considering that it needed new floors (done again last year) and is now worth more than 10 times this (probably) but I am unlikely to ever even break even on the car, let alone make money on it. But that is not the point. It is a basic runabout, that is also fun to drive and a convertible. I enjoy almost every journey in it, and take it out for pleasure where the other cars are used to get somewhere. It is not immaculate, but it is "honest". The "dalmation skin" door cards (not real obviously) are an "individual" choice, that were there when I got it, but it looked so dull without them, that I put them back on! It is not entirely standard, or original but remains mostly as it left the factory, if only in the "Trigger's broom" sense with some things. It caused me to have a cough for years, some journeys in it remain among the worst that I have ever had (not always the car's fault) and there are times when I really should have just got rid of it. But I can't. It is family now. Nowadays the good times far out number the bad.
  15. Took Dad's 1996 MX5 in for MOT (as he still can't drive it after Hip Op), collected that and dropped my 2cv for it's MOT. Both passed! Good times! Took the 2cv for a little ride around Manston, Margate etc roof down obviously. Trouble with it being a decent day is that everyone else was out as well! Busy everywhere, not like when I was the only one daft enough to be out in that wind a few weeks back!
  16. Took the 2cv out again yesterday. What a difference a couple of weeks made! Lovely warm sunny day, roof right down, not crapping myself that the car was about to blow over! It is MOT time on Saturday, rarely a high point of my year!
  17. I had a similar conversation with a customer this morning. Obviously working at a dealer, I should say trade it in, but I think it is often better the devil you know. The sort of people driving cheap bangers (which includes me) generally don't have money for a new car, so would be buying another cheap banger, but is it any better than what you already have? My Clio is worth nothing, but generally costs little to keep on the road and is still a good car. It bombs along and I like it, I will probably keep it until something disastrous happens, £500 repair etc. The 2cv passed the sensible point of scrapping probably at least 15 years ago. I will never get back what I have spent on it, but it is appreciating, and I still enjoy it. Except in hurricanes. The moped has been on death row for at least a year, but it (mostly) just keeps going. It is worth nothing, but hasn't had a proper service in years, just gets patched when it breaks and owes me nothing. The next big bill will probably kill it and I will be sad. I always said it was just a tool and I wouldn't get attached, but it has served me very well. It amuses me when it backfires and scares pedestrians, I don't have to wash it or chain it, and don't really care too much about it, but yet I use it 5 or 6 days a week. Basically - What will it cost you to fix it, and can you get anything better for the same money, or would you just get a different set of problems?
  18. Well the car lives at my parents house, near there. I live at the far end of Kent, but get down whenever I can. It was certainly not an enjoyable journey. Sadly, I don't think it even makes the top 10 worst journeys in the 2cv, but probably one of the scariest. It was shaking, the bonnet was flexing and it was really hard to stay on the road. Good job hardly anyone else was daft enough to be out!
  19. Went to get the 2cv out this morning, and the garage door blew shut 3 times while I was getting it started. "It'll be fine!" I thought. Drove up across Manston and had a bit of crosswind nearly blow me across the road, then down towards Margate where I had to fix the passenger window open as the wind kept opening it! Headed along the front, where I was struggling to stay on the road, it felt like I was being pushed backwards harder than the engine was pushing me forwards! Not that hard admittedly. After really struggling to head inland, I thought "bugger this!" and got the Stepway out instead. No more problems as it is at least double the weight and not made of tin foil stretched over twigs! Apparently the roof came off of Tesco! Quite a lot of damage around, but hopefully nobody hurt.
  20. Why didn't I see this earlier? I was out in the 2cv on Saturday (yes it is a convertible!) and have many terrible hats! Won't be able to get back down there for a couple of months now. Bother.
  21. Thought you might be interested in my idea this weekend to refurbish the mirror on the 2cv as they were getting a bit sloppy. The job should have taken about 20 minutes. Here are my version of the instructions : (NB - This is not a reflection of the quality of the part, just the dangers of poor tools, a car that hates you and being a bit of a pillock) 1 Remove mirror from car – 2 screws C5minutes (including getting screwdrivers out)2 Remove glass and trim from mirror body C1 minute3 “Undo screw inside body” Find screw is jut a rusty blob with no discernable head.4 Try to undo from mirror arm end. Destroy head on screw.5 Get drill and try to drill inner head. Get cross. Slip 4 times causing large cuts to hands C1 Hour Next day.6 Continue drilling. Decide to drill out rubber ball holding it together as the kit replaces this.7 Find that rubber ball moves constantly and it is very hard to hold a 2cv mirror in a vice. C1hour8 Eventually destroy rubber ball and pull arm from body. Expect bolt to come out of mirror arm.9 Bolt does not come out of arm. Cut bolt with hacksaw.10 Break hacksaw blade. Find another hacksaw.11 Cut bolt. Expect bolt to come out of arm. Bolt does not come out of arm.12 Gradually hammer bolt out of arm. C 1hour13 “Hole in arm may require drilling to correct shape”. Drill using small drill bit to widen hole. Get to 90% of shape.14 Break drill bit.15 Find another drill bit, spend about 10 mins drilling then find that hole is harder that the drill and you have destroyed the drill bit.16 Mirror Arm falls from vice. Grab arm.17 Find that arm is very hot. Burn finger.18 Go and treat burn.19 Go to Homebase (Other shops are available) for a new drill bit.20 Try again with new drill bit, successful this time. C 5 minutes (+half hour travel)21 Gather new fittings, from safe place on bonnet of car (not the car I went to Homebase in!)22 Find that grease has disappeared.23 Find grease, C 5minutes24 Assemble mirror with various new fittings25 Drop mirror and all fittings all over floor.26 Find all fittings C 5minutes27 Drop mirror and fittings again.28 Find all fittings except for one washer C10 minutes29 Find that socket set is in the back of the Clio. Which is 70 miles away.30 Find another socket set.31 Loosely assemble mirror then go to car32 Attach mirror to car33 Realise that I have not fitted the new gasket between the mirror and the door34 Take mirror off again35 Fit gasket36 Fit mirror body again37 Find that have lost one of screws holding mirror arm to car. 38 Spend 5 minutes looking for screw. Do not find screw39 Refit glass and trim c5 minutes.40 Close door of garage and go to clean wounds.
  22. I have a 2.6 mile commute, but would be two buses each way so it is cheaper to buy and run a moped! As well as being much quicker, despite being slow even for a moped. We have training courses in Watford, I live in Bromley (South London). It is about 30 miles through London or 40 via the M25, and is generally quicker via the motorway. Last time I went through London it took 3 hours! The motorway averages 2.5 hours. We have the ridiculous situation where colleagues can get from Portsmouth or further in the time that I have done less than a third of the mileage! My boss now gets me a hotel nearby, which is ridiculous really (although I do not turn it down!) as otherwise I am out from about 6am to 9pm. Last time, the hotel was 2.5 miles from the training centre. Sat nav said 8 minutes. I allowed 40 minutes. I made it with 5 minutes to spare! Traffic is just getting ridiculous.
  23. It seems that reports of Junior's death were somewhat premature! I dropped him at the workshop Saturday lunchtime, and told the owner that I was away Monday until Wednesday as i had to go for training in Watford. This was not entirely true, as I was going Monday afternoon, back this evening, but didn't want him to feel rushed, and would not be needing it during this time anyway. I got a message this afternoon to say it was fixed (phone on silent) so texted my Dad and asked him to ring the workshop (as they are rather hard to get hold of and I only had a couple of minutes) and say that I would ring them tomorrow (Wednesday) For some reason he took that to mean ask them to leave it outside the shop in a dark area behind the shops, with the keys in the unlocked box of the bike next to it! When I left Watford it was nearly 6, I live in Bromley, and had just got his message to say that my bike was basically unsecured behind the shop! I joined the M25 which warned of 30 minute delays. Sat nav claimed to know a better way, which turned out to be via Earls Court and Streatham! While not a terrible route, it was 8:30 when I got home (32 miles) My Dad and I then went to collect it, seeing two blokes loitering near the bike which seemed a bit dodgy, but then I suppose two blokes pulling up in a car, one of whom grabs keys from a random bike and rides off on another one looked a tad shifty too! Which is a rather long way of saying, that they changed the drive belt and now it works again! Apparently the mechanic reckoned it was a great little bike, so now I am very confused what to do next.
  24. Thanks for the replies. I appreciate the useful answer on the licence laws. I would like to get a 125 but most people seem to agree that my short journeys make it a little pointless. I just wonder how long my commute will take to justify C£3,000 - 125cc bike plus training, as opposed to C£1600 for a new 50cc. Working in the motor trade, who knows how secure the future is, as we have closed 3 of our 8 branches in the last couple of years! If I had a longer commute at a theoretical future job, then I have 3 cars sitting around that could start earning their keep! I dare say that I could better the £600 quoted for the test, and do not have to do this instantly, but the lack of response from the school does not inspire great confidence. I am also concerned about having a more desirable bike, as my brother's 125 was stolen after about 2 hours of ownership, last year. I don't think anyone would have stolen Junior, even when it was working! On the size thing, prior to Junior (the Vclic) I had Pedward (an MBK Ovetto which was a Yahama Neos built under licence) which seemed to be a bit bigger despite still being (legally) a 50cc. I found that when I changed to Junior, I had to ride with my arms tucked in, in order to see in the mirrors! Obviously this was only for filtering as I would never be able to overtake anyone who was moving! I do like the look of the Lambrettas and Vespas, but am likely to stick with what I know, the Vclic has mostly been pretty reliable and has had a hard life of short journeys and lack of maintenance. I am not proud of this, but this is the way it is.
  25. Thanks for the replies. I have got a mechanic looking at it, but to be honest am just thinking it is best to get it working and get shot as I think it is about 80 in moped years! At least then I can hopefully sell it instead of it living in the garage for ever. My dad suggested I trade it in. To the garage where they said it was a miracle it had lasted this long. How much are they really likely to give me for a broken 8 year old moped! I am a bit confused about CBT, following some earlier conversations, I was up for it, as I could then get a 125 (currently ride on a driving licence passed 1997) but the two year life puts me off as I am lazy and unlikely to get a test done in that time. I read somewhere that it did not expire for pre 2001 licences, but cannot seem to confirm or deny this conclusively. There is also the fact that I have been quoted £600 and 6 days to do a test when I get 28 days holiday a year, could do the money (not willingly) but not the time. I know I should just spend the money and do the test, but as I am currently squinting at the screen due to putting off an eye test for about 15 years(!) this is unlikely to happen unless I really have to, so the simplest option is another moped. While not rich (despite the 3 cars and moped) I could run to the £1700 for a new one as I have spent very little on the current one over the last few years. It owes me nothing really, and has been a good moped on the whole.
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