Monday 19th September - A nice drive out.

 Today should have been the day I returned to work, but with the very sad passing and funeral of our beloved Queen, my return was put back to tomorrow. 

As usual I was up early and as a bonus, the sun was shining. So, I decided to take the 4 door out for a drive as I hadn't driven it for some time. The plan was to sell it once I had got myself a 2 door, but just lately the prices seemed to have dropped, so it doesn't make sense to sell it just yet. 

Despite Tesco and Sainsbury's being closed I managed to find some fuel at Asda South Woodham and found a nice route all round Woodham, Bicknacre, Hanningfield and Rettendon. The car drove really well and is really smooth and quiet. In fact, it made me wonder why I'm selling it. Maybe I'll have to re-think that one. 

After being out for a while, the traffic started building up, so I headed home and was indoors by 10.30. I then put the car away and spent the rest of the day watching our Queens funeral. 

Sunday 18th September - Battlesbridge Breakfast meet.

 Sunday morning saw me up bright and early to meet up with some friends at the Battlesbridge Classic Car Breakfast meet. The car show season is starting to tail off for the winter and this meet could end up being the last time this year (depending on weather) so it was vital to get there. 

I had been undecided on which Cortina to take, the 2 door, the 4 door, or the 5 door! In the end I decided on the 2 door which meant shuffling cars around before leaving. I left my place at 08.30 and was at Battlesbridge 20 minutes later. Peter Silk arrived in his Triumph Mk2 shortly after and before long Keith Halstead arrived with his Mk1 Lotus Cortina. We enjoyed a few cups of coffee and then Ivor Cross and son Anthony arrived as well in Ivor's Mk1 Triumph 2.5Pi. 

It was a good day and great to meet up with old friends again, but unfortunately, I had to leave around 12.30pm as I had other things to do. The traffic was light on the way home so the Cortina got a chance to stretch its legs. It's a great car and with its twin cam engine and electronic fuel injection, and it's also very, very quick. 

It's a shame I've bought it more or less at the end of the show season as I'd love to use it more, but at least it gives me a chance to make some small changes and address a few little jobs that need doing. All in all, a very pleasant morning. 

Saturday 17th September. The estate comes home.

With the Triumph saloon causing no issues whatsoever on the recent Club Triumph 10cr and therefore with no further work being required, I made the decision to put it into long term storage for the winter and bring the Cortina estate home instead. When I drive the Cortina estate, I can hear a very slight rattling noise when I pull away in each gear. (Although nobody else can-I've either got exceptional hearing, or a vivid imagination!) My suspicions are that the timing chain tensioner is failing, or maybe even the timing chain itself. Time will tell. 

I arrived at the storage point in North Essex at around 10am and after jump starting the car, (A new battery is on the shopping list) a quick cup of coffee and getting some petrol, I set off home again. On my journey up I had seen the aftermath of an accident on the southbound side of the A12 that was causing considerable delays. So, I decided to come home through Colchester town centre. What a mistake that was! What a ridiculous place Colchester is for badly designed junction layouts and traffic lights on the exits of roundabouts. I honestly think I would have been better off just joining the queue on the A12!

Anyway, two and a half hours later, I finally arrived home and decided that was enough for the day. It did feel good driving the estate again though I have to say. I had sat in a lot of standing traffic on the way back, but at no time did the car run hot or cause me any issues or worries. What a great car! 

September 5th - 11th. The Club Triumph 10 Countries Run.

 Day 1.

it should have been a nice easy straight forward run today, but as usual, things don't always turn out that way. My two co-drivers, Mark and Colin had arrived at my place around 9am and we then set out to meet up with the other crew, Richard and Roger at Thurrock services. We didn't hang around here too long and got going down the M2 towards Dover. 

We were going to be very early for the ferry, so we decided to stop for a bacon bap and cup of coffee just outside Dover. While we were here, I applied the official run stickers to the car that I had only received that morning. 

With the drinks and food consumed, we set off for the ferry and other than me stopped by customs at Dover, had no further issues. 

Once we were off of the Ferry, Richard's satnav decided to take him a different way to where we were going and he then found that he couldn't turn round for about 20 miles! We arranged to meet him further down the route and in a rest area in Belgium, but by the time we met up we had lost a total of 45 minutes. 

The stopping point of Sedan in France was further away than we realised and we didn't arrive until 19.50. We then asked to book a table for dinner only to be told that the kitchen was closed. Not impressed! We then took to the town and found that everywhere else was closed as well 'because it's Monday!' Even less impressed! We eventually found a kebab house open and settled for burger and chips. Not a great start!

Day 2. 

The official start of the event was in a huge supermarket car park in Sedan town centre and we decided to get some milk and provisions from the supermarket before setting out. Only, that wasn't the case as we were there at 8am and the supermarket didn't open until 9am. 

We set out provision-less and had a swift drive through France, Belgium, Luxembourg and into Germany. Around lunch time we found a supermarket and brought some milk and biscuits and set out to find somewhere where we could have a 'brew with a view'. We picked a lovely spot just before the Black Forest and enjoyed a well deserved cup of coffee. 

We had the ridiculous amount of 639 kms to cover today, so our coffee stop was shorter than usual as we didn't want another late night. So, we pushed on and arrived at the town of Kempten in Germany around 7pm. We then walked into town and found a great restaurant where we enjoyed a meal of Schnitzel and fries. (With a few beers of course!)

Day 3.

After a good breakfast we set out and continued down through Germany, into Austria and finally into Italy. The most spectacular part of the day was climbing the 2509 meter high Timmelsjoch pass. The high altitude does some weird and wonderful things and we found the packets of crisps that we had in the boot had inflated to balloon size! 

Whilst there we got the cooker out and made another brew and watched the other Triumphs on the run struggle up the mountain due to the lack of air. 

We then headed down the other side of the mountain and carried on with the days route. We managed to make good time and arrived at our hotel in Brunek around 5pm. A nice couple of beers were enjoyed before attacking a dinner of Stroganoff, potatoes and salad. We then retired to the bar across the road where more drinking was enjoyed whilst watching some spectacular lightning flashes and torrential rain. 

Day 4

The day started off with some heavy rain fall, but luckily it cleared within a couple of hours. Our first journey was a run to Cortina D'Ampezzo. (Where the Mk1 Cortina got its name from)

We had some free time today, so we took the opportunity to actually stop for lunch for a change and seeing as we were in Italy, settled for a Pizza. Very nice it was too. 

After more rain in the afternoon, it did eventually brighten up and we were able to enjoy some 'open window' driving to our next night's stop at Trento. After walking round the town for an hour looking for a restaurant, we eventually ended up back at our hotel and decided to eat there. A small dish of Pasta and fish was on the menu which was quite suitable after the large Pizza earlier. Unfortunately, this was also the night that we heard that our beloved Queen had passed away, so the mood wasn't as lively as previous nights. I put my TV on when I returned to my room and the first four channel's I came across were also showing programmes in tribute to the Queen. It just confirmed to me what an amazing impact this special lady had on the world. 

Day 5. 

A breakfast of meats, cheese and croissants were on the cards along with copious amounts of coffee to try and shake off the knackered feeling we were all experiencing. These trips are great but sleeping in a different bed every night takes its toll on you and starts catching up after a few days. 

Today was to be a good day with the outstanding Stelvio, Umbrail and Fluela passes to be covered amongst others. The rain started heavy again, but had stopped by the time we started the climb up the Stelvio. 

Both cars handled the massive climb with no issues, so we celebrated with a milky coffee at the top. Roger and I also showed how juvenile we were by having a snowball fight! 

The rest of the day was filled with glorious sunshine and we enjoyed the drive through Switzerland and Liechenstein before reaching our hotel in Singen in Germany. This was our last 'scenery day' really as tomorrow would pretty much be a 'transit day' just to get us up to the finish. We had a good night in Singen and again enjoyed a good meal at our hotel. 

Day 6. 

Today was the official last day of the tour and consisted of a long hard slog across Germany and to get to the finish at Kerkrade in the Netherlands. Most of it was a motorway slog so we just got on with it and only stopped for fuel and coffee. We arrived at the finish reasonably early and were able to get the two cars in a good position for a great photo in front of the old Monastery.

It was a great night with all the other crews in attendance and there were many tales of brilliant drives, spectacular scenery and also stories of breakdowns and running repairs. Our team were all very sensible and didn't get too drunk as we wanted to get an early start in the morning to catch our early Ferry. We had also noticed some horrendous traffic jams and roadworks on the A16 just outside Calais on our way out, so we wanted to avoid them as well. 

Day 7.

We skipped breakfast so we could get on the road and when we felt we were far enough ahead of schedule, then we stopped for a quick coffee in Belgium. The sun was shining again and although we had had a great time, we were all glad to be going home. We arrived at Calais with an hour to spare, so enjoyed it just basking in the sunshine while waiting for loading. 

We had the inevitable delays at the Dartford crossing, but other than that, had a good run home. Both cars had performed exceptionally well considering their ages and we had enjoyed a fantastic week away. 

Old cars, great mates, and a few beers. What more could you want?