The V8Nam thread - Rolls Royce and Corvette content...
Discussion
neilski said:
Any idea when you'll be in Singapore? I plan to get there this Saturday and will probably be there for about a week. Beers?
Hi Neil. I'm not going to be there for at least 3 weeks I'm afraid. However, I'm guessing you're carrying on through Indonesia? Once I'm free of the car I'm planning on continuing across Indonesia as a backpacker, so our paths should (finally) cross there...Ben
|http://thumbsnap.com/mZGzIAbH[/url]In case anyone was wondering what happened after we went biking in Vietnam for a while, here's an update.
The Corvette pulled into Singapore, the southernmost point of the Eurasian landmass, this morning. After my dismal failure to sell it, I've decided to put it on a ship from Singapore back to the UK, and it'll be settting sail back to blighty in a few days. I'll get a full blog post written about the 'Vette's trip across the southern half of SE Asia in the next few days; in the meantime, there's a photo album of some of the trip's best moments over on our sponsor Dewerstone's Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.20431138...
goodwoodweirdo said:
Fantastic write up… just highlights its not the vehicle that limits our travels…
Is it possible I saw your Porsche parked up at the entrance of Petra September '08 ?? then again in the village…
Cheers
Matt
It could well have been us. We passed through Petra - both ruins and village - during mid October 2008, so you could well have seen us then. I'm sure there can't have been too many '944s cruising around Petra in Autumn 2008!Is it possible I saw your Porsche parked up at the entrance of Petra September '08 ?? then again in the village…
Cheers
Matt
Incidentally, I returned to the UK on Thursday, and found myself in need of a daily driver for the winter. 6 hours after landing at London City Airport, I'd spent £1,700 on this 25 year old slice of African nostalgia:
What a difference 5 years ( and most of Africa) makes!:
I've done 300 miles in the wee Porsche so far, and not only is it great to be back in something chuckable with a manual gearbox, but the memories of those months in Africa it's brought back are also awesome. Meanwhile, the Corvette is currently in its container approaching India; all going well it should be back in the UK late september, and once it is, I'll try to get it along to some pistonheads meets.
torqueofthedevil said:
How long did It take you to write the book?
Hi, it took about 9 months to write the Africa book... and another couple of years to edit it unfortunately. I hope to have the V8Nam book done sometime next year, but can't promise anything...Ben.
Old threads never die... they just get resurrected from time to time!
So, I've been feeling rather nostalgic for last years's England - Singapore road trip recently, as I've finally got stuck into working my way through the video footage. The plan is to have a full film of the trip cobbled together soon; in the meantime, here's a few minutes which may be of interest to anyone who followed the Corvette & Rolls last year:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LL7WnnjdC-s&fe...
Also, in case you were wondering, the Corvette returned safely to the UK last Autumn and is currently living on Dartmoor. It's quite the lap of the world it made last year!:
As for the Rolls Royce, nothing's been heard of it since it was sold to a hotel owner in Laos... fingers crossed it's still going strong!
So, I've been feeling rather nostalgic for last years's England - Singapore road trip recently, as I've finally got stuck into working my way through the video footage. The plan is to have a full film of the trip cobbled together soon; in the meantime, here's a few minutes which may be of interest to anyone who followed the Corvette & Rolls last year:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LL7WnnjdC-s&fe...
Also, in case you were wondering, the Corvette returned safely to the UK last Autumn and is currently living on Dartmoor. It's quite the lap of the world it made last year!:
As for the Rolls Royce, nothing's been heard of it since it was sold to a hotel owner in Laos... fingers crossed it's still going strong!
XJSJohn said:
Which Hotel / what town / city in Laos, will be heading up there later in the year, will check out!
The quick answer is, I don't know exactly which hotel! I wasn't around when Brummy sold it. What I can tell you is that it's in Luang Prabang, and the hotel is owned by a rather wealthy English guy and his Lao wife. They're planning on using it as an airport shuttle - if this has happened I'd guess pretty much anyone in the town would be able to point you in the right direction. It would be great if you managed to track it down... 
As for the Corvette spinning in the Indian Ocean... well let's face it, they're not exactly renowned for their poise in wet conditions...
ST150HB said:
Funnily enough I saw a stickered red corvette like this a few months back when I went for a hoon over Dartmoor. Can't for the life of me remember where it was, but I know I went over Cadover bridge and just kept exploring!
Now I read this and see that you've said the corvette lives in Dartmoor, surely not a coincidence?
Hi folks, Sorry for the radio silence, I didn't see that the thread had been 'bumped'. Now I read this and see that you've said the corvette lives in Dartmoor, surely not a coincidence?
The video's been knocked back a bit by life, the universe and everything... or more specifically my having far too much work on, and key people disappearing off abroad and hence being impossible to interview. We're getting there though, won't be long now!
As for the rumoured stickered-up Corvette on Dartmoor, yep, that was me. It's just spent a few months parked outside the (rather marvellous) White Thorn pub in Shaugh Prior, Dartmoor, acting as a novelty billboard for my new business. However it's now back on the drive with its stablemates, being readied for a long summer of burbling...
...and if you're still craving a bit of V8Nam, in lieu of the finished video I've just put up a brief photographic blog post over at www.80breakdowns.com, documenting the ten best moments of the drive. Enjoy...
matt3001 said:
Thread bump.
Any update on the book?
I may have to re-read you Africa one at this rate haha!
Hi folks; sorry, I've only just spotted the thread bumps.Any update on the book?
I may have to re-read you Africa one at this rate haha!
The 'Nam book is progressing very slowly, so don't hold your breath - it seems starting a new business when I got back from V8Nam hasn't been very conducive to getting lots of writing done. The goal is to have 'The East is Loud' out by the time I head off on the next trip, which goes by the name of Pub2Pub and is launching in just over a year, with the goal of travelling from the northernmost pub on the planet to the southernmost, as stylishly as possible.
The Pub2Pub thread is here, by the way, though it's pretty quiet at the moment as I've been off roadtripping in Europe for the past few weeks: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... )
It's good to hear that the Rolls Royce is still going; if anyone has any pictures of it living the expat dream in Laos I'd love to see them. The Corvette is still around too, living a less exotic life in Devon, though it failed its MOT recently on emissions (running very rich) and I've not got to the root of the problem yet, but as soon as I do it'll be back on the road for the summer. Can't wait!
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