1980 BMW E26 M1
Discussion
Ahonen said:
The OP's car looks wonderful. The engine bay is pristine.
Lovely cars, M1s. I used to run the M1 Procars owned by Mike McInerney in the Classic Endurance series. The chassis was superb and despite a 300bhp deficit to the Porsche 935s (450 against 750) we won almost every race over several years. The M1 was a long way ahead of its time and in many ways you forgot that it was a historic racecar because it had proper double wishbone suspension and a very strong chassis.
I used to deal with Lee, I think, from Park Lane BMW for many of our parts and it was always surprising just how many items BMW retained for the Procars in Munich ("Pair of rear magnesium uprights? Yep, they're on the shelf."), but the smaller trim parts were always difficult to come by, like windscreen seals and the like. The remaining road car parts stock was bought by Sam Hignett's dad (Sam owns Jota Sport, the WEC team) a few years ago and he still has many items.
Anyway, here's a shot of our two on the very last race I did with them at Paul Ricard, October 2011:
The lead car in this shot was actually never a Procar, it was raced in the IMSA series in the States. Here it is in period:
Those look amazing, I can't imagine what it would be like to drive a Procar, that really would be a dream come true.Lovely cars, M1s. I used to run the M1 Procars owned by Mike McInerney in the Classic Endurance series. The chassis was superb and despite a 300bhp deficit to the Porsche 935s (450 against 750) we won almost every race over several years. The M1 was a long way ahead of its time and in many ways you forgot that it was a historic racecar because it had proper double wishbone suspension and a very strong chassis.
I used to deal with Lee, I think, from Park Lane BMW for many of our parts and it was always surprising just how many items BMW retained for the Procars in Munich ("Pair of rear magnesium uprights? Yep, they're on the shelf."), but the smaller trim parts were always difficult to come by, like windscreen seals and the like. The remaining road car parts stock was bought by Sam Hignett's dad (Sam owns Jota Sport, the WEC team) a few years ago and he still has many items.
Anyway, here's a shot of our two on the very last race I did with them at Paul Ricard, October 2011:
The lead car in this shot was actually never a Procar, it was raced in the IMSA series in the States. Here it is in period:
Edited by Ahonen on Friday 3rd June 12:23
Do you have any contact details for Sam Hignett's dad? I'm always on the lookout for parts and thought I'd found the ex BMW UK stock.
gwc1997 said:
Saw it at newby hall a few weeks back, it's absolutely gorgeous! Planning on taking it to any other shows over the summer?
Currently planning on the followingCastle Howard on Father's Day 19th June.
Fast Car Show at Donington Park on 30th and 31st of July on the Pistonheads stand. May sneak into the Silverstone Classic on Friday 29th too.
BMW Car Club GB national festival at Gaydon on 14th August.
Here are a few more of Chris's pictures.
CT-66 by Richard Parkinson, on Flickr
CT-65 by Richard Parkinson, on Flickr
CT-63 by Richard Parkinson, on Flickr
CT-51 by Richard Parkinson, on Flickr
CT-44 by Richard Parkinson, on Flickr
CT-41 by Richard Parkinson, on Flickr
CT-28 by Richard Parkinson, on Flickr
CT-18 by Richard Parkinson, on Flickr
CT-9 by Richard Parkinson, on Flickr
CT-8 by Richard Parkinson, on Flickr
CT-66 by Richard Parkinson, on Flickr
CT-65 by Richard Parkinson, on Flickr
CT-63 by Richard Parkinson, on Flickr
CT-51 by Richard Parkinson, on Flickr
CT-44 by Richard Parkinson, on Flickr
CT-41 by Richard Parkinson, on Flickr
CT-28 by Richard Parkinson, on Flickr
CT-18 by Richard Parkinson, on Flickr
CT-9 by Richard Parkinson, on Flickr
CT-8 by Richard Parkinson, on Flickr
Cups Renault said:
Think I saw the rare and exciting vision of this legendary car heading up Otley Road, possibly on the way to the shoot. Thank you for brightening my day and certainly makes a change from the usual paper millionaire chariots round this way. True exotica.
That's quite possible, it was Wednesday 25th May. A blue one series flashed and waved when I was driving up Otley Road.Cups Renault said:
Yep that was me, paying respects to an grand automotive elder. Brilliant sight to see and a great collection you have. Hope to pass this magnificent car again sometime.....or better still if there any Newby Hall/Harewood type events would be good to take a closer look.
It quite quite amusing actually, Chris has just said "I bet you get some looks when you drive this" and right on cue you flashed and waved!2 weeks time, 19th June, Castle Howard at the Yorkshire Post Motor Show on Fathers Day, I'll be in the BMWCC area.
adamInca said:
I believe that car was for sale in 2013 by Jens Winther in Roskilde near Copenhagen, maybe they kept it as it has their logo on the wing mirrors and to the right of the rear number plate. The car was reportedly originally bought by Simon Spies a rather eccentric Danish Entrepreneur. It's quite a high mileage car having done 106,000km when it was advertised for sale. bermy boy said:
I've just sold mine through Barney at Classic Heroes, a white car with under 5000 miles on it. Sadly it's heading to Spain. I regretted it the day I sold it! I put a fairly optimistic price on it thinking maybe it wouldn't sell but at least I can tell the wife I tried! It ended up going to the first guy that saw it for virtually full asking price so I guess I should have asked for more! It was a very easy car to drive, not fast but a lovely sound and a special place to be. Everyone loved the car. Problem was the miles were too low so I always felt bit guilty driving it. It's been replaced by an F40 which I adore but I'll miss the M1 a lot.
I saw the car while it was at ML, a very original low mileage car.deltashad said:
First impression of looking at the final restoration pics were OMG, it's V-reg. Old V. Sure that's 1980, it looks so modern and fresh could be a brand new car. Personally I think it looks better than most cars on the market today without looking like a classic. It's kept it's age incredibly well. I love your car.
I can't agree that it looks modern, especially the dash. Yes, I think it's a great design and it's stood the test of time as it still looks good, but it's definitely got 70's or 80's style.Spent several hours yesterday removing, dismantling, cleaning, reassembling and refitting the front driving lamps.
The insides of the lenses and to a lesser extent the reflectors were coated in a layer of grime. The reflectors were carefully wiped and the lenses polished inside and out with Gtechniq G4 nano glass polish.
From this
IMG_0884
To this
IMG_0895
via this
IMG_0891
The insides of the lenses and to a lesser extent the reflectors were coated in a layer of grime. The reflectors were carefully wiped and the lenses polished inside and out with Gtechniq G4 nano glass polish.
From this
IMG_0884
To this
IMG_0895
via this
IMG_0891
RemyMartin said:
I did this to my C6 difference is huge! Very noticeable. I cheated and bought new ones not something I'd imagine is possible?
Amazingly I have a spare set of lights, being low at the front they are pretty vulnerable to stones. However, the new old stock that I have were actually WORSE than those on the car! I experimented taking one of the new ones to pieces first, so I've actually done 3 out of the 4 lights I have.Chunkychucky said:
Haha yes that's him! I'll have to get a pic next time I visit his barn
It was at the Silverstone Classic in 2013.It's a poor picture, but is the Orange original? A white car (at least I think it's white, the pictures are black and white!) with the same registration was featured in an article called 'White Lightning'. That car was owned by Mark Wallman and was said to have a walnut dash fitted by Wood and Pickett.
TheLordJohn said:
RichardM5 said:
Presumably it was covered on the Sky buildup? If so then I will have it recorded on the series link guff that I usually delete!
Thanks for the heads up.
Yes, the build up just before the race.Thanks for the heads up.
There were some big names driving, too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ6sRBgp-SQ
ORF coverage, German commentary, more action. I'd not be best pleased with Marc Surer if that was my car (about 2:27), Gerhard was not wrong when he said they would be going for it when talking to Brundle!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ATm-ULtfNY&fe...
olly22n said:
Mega.
Get some period plates on it!!
I have a set without the 'GB' part, but they are not in the font used before 1 September 2001 (I think), I don;t know where you can get them made using the older font. As the car was built in 1980 it needs to have the white and yellow reflective plates.Get some period plates on it!!
As many of you will know, it’s BMW’s 100th anniversary this year. To celebrate it, last week end they held a festival which included inviting 1000 cars from various clubs, nominally 10 from each club, for display in the Munich Olympic Park which is just the other side of the road from BMW Welt.
I was invited in the M1, so a road trip was on!
To protect the front end paintwork I hastily applied some Xpel Tracwrap the night before leaving. Not a very good job, I nick named it Crapwrap, but it would serve the purpose and was to be removed after the trip anyway.
IMG_1014a
The trip began early on the morning of 7th September, odometer reading 1,705 miles, leaving home in Yorkshire.
IMG_1016a
IMG_1017a
Exactly 4 hours and 241 miles later, I collected a friend in Surrey to share the driving, followed by a quick stop at Munich Legends to say hello as we were passing and have a bit of lunch. They had two other M1’s, their own and the BMW UK car. M1 spot count, 3.
IMG_1021
PIC_0649
From there on to the tunnel, slightly concerned about the reported problems, but there were no problems at all.
PIC_0657
An evening blast down the almost deserted A26 saw us arrive at Reims to stay the night. Odometer now at 2230, so 525 miles in the day.
Brilliant blue sky on the Thursday morning at 8:45 in Reims, the precursor to a very hot day.
IMG_1029
More empty French AutoRoute on the A4 to Metz
PIC_0665
We weren’t speeding officer, no, really we weren’t!
IMG_1035
Then down to Strasbourg to pick up the A35 briefly before crossing the Rhine on the 500 to enter Germany, still not a cloud in the sky and temperatures nudging into the 30’s.
PIC_0681
Pushing on up the 5 to Karlsruhe and starting to see what a 36 year old car makes of coming home to the derestricted Autobahn
PIC_0685
On to the 8 and past Pforzheim to Stuttgart and Munich
PIC_0689
The Germans get 100 Octane V-Power Racing, not cheap though!
IMG_1092
Pushing on a little more on the final derestricted run into Munich
PIC_0699
Due to the navigator (me!) going entering just ‘Munich’ in the sat nav and not the hotel, we took the circuitous route, right through the middle of the city.
PIC_0706
PIC_0708
PIC_0714
Realising our (my) mistake, we then drove out towards the hotel just south of the Olympic Park
PIC_0716
Finally getting into the hotel underground car park by about 6:30pm.
IMG_1038
The odometer now reading 2668, 963 miles in two days.
Turned up at the Olympic park on the Friday just before 9:00 to find 2 other M1s had already arrived
PIC_0735
DSC_5897
M1 count, 5.
As the day went on, more cars arrived, everyone had been given a slot to reduce queuing. A few Z8’s were quite early
DSC_5898
Including a several Alpinas
IMG_1045
By Saturday there were well over 20.
A definitely used, but beautiful 507
DSC_5899
DSC_5900
PIC_0741
PIC_0747
PIC_0743
The co-driver, a big Alpina fan, was beside himself when he spotted this 8 series B12 5.7, number 057, the last one made, complete with carbon fibre bonnet and de-badged
DSC_5907
PIC_0754
Including the intriguing manual box without a clutch pedal
IMG_1042
DSC_5912
PIC_0757
PIC_0758
PIC_0759
With an E92 Alpina GT3 on one side
DSC_5908
And a rare Glas Coupe arrived and parked on the other side, it sounded great
DSC_5910
And a couple of other Glas cars were doted around
DSC_5941
DSC_5926
DSC_5927
All sorts of other old and rare BMWs were rolling up
DSC_5933
DSC_5934
A lovely 327
DSC_5938
A rare E28 Touring
DSC_5930
And a stunning E34 M5 Touring
DSC_5937
The 8 series were out in force
DSC_5932
So were the Isettas
DSC_5924a
Including this one complete with period ski set!
DSC_5920
And a 2 door (one at the front and one side door)
DSC_5921
Motor bikes were included, although there weren’t anything like as many as there were cars
PIC_0797
There was a Dixi too
DSC_5939
There were also rows of Z1’s and Z3’s. By the time we returned to the car, another 3 M1’s had arrived
DSC_5936
DSC_5935
M1 count, 8. There was also a Black M1 belonging to the owner of Mint Classics in Munster who specialise in selling M1’s, taking the count to 9.
On Friday afternoon we had a factory tour, interesting but no photos allowed. They make the 3 and 4 series, M4 and M4 GTS. By the time we got to the engine plant work had stopped, they produce the modular 3 and 4 cylinder engines and the older N20 4 cylinder engine.
A tour of the new BMW Classic facility had been laid on for both Friday evening and Saturday afternoon. Friday was for ‘overseas’ and Saturday for ‘locals’. As I’d been put in with the German M1 club we had passes for the Saturday, but we blagged our way into the Friday session!
Visiting the Classic facility in the original factory, which BMW had to buy back, was amazing. There were loads of cars that you’ve maybe heard about or seen articles on but somehow don’t believe actually exist.
The BMW Turbo, one of 2, the other was in the BMW museum
IMG_1052
IMG_1075
The 1940 328 Kamm Coupe Mille Miglia
IMG_1067
And the 2006 Homage
IMG_1053
A ‘standard’ 328
IMG_1072
And the 2011 Homage
IMG_1071
A mint yellow 507
IMG_1068
CSL Art Car
IMG_1069
2002 GT4
IMG_1065
M1 ProCar (there was another and 3 road going M1’s) and some original Minis (not really in the right place IMO!)
IMG_1059
M1 count now 14.
Prototype E65/66 7 series extra-long wheel base L7, they only made an E38 L7.
IMG_1070
The bonkers ‘goldfish’ with V16 engine that’s so big the radiators had to be put in the boot, feed with air via two large scoops in the rear wings
IMG_1064
Loads of other nutty concepts too, no M8 or E39 M5 touring though.
Also visible were the Classis work shops where they do work on their collection and restore customer cars (for a considerable fee!). There were several cars at various states of repair, including a 507, another road going M1 and the Piquet ProCar with the map of the Nurburgring on (supposedly done as a joke so Piquet and Stuck would not get lost!)
IMG_1073
IMG_1074
M1 count, 16.
Food and a presentation were laid on, but we skipped that as we got talking to ‘Dr Ralph’ outside about various nerdy details!
A few other cars turned up on Saturday, such as this E46 M3 GTR look alike and E93 M3 GTS.
IMG_1086
A quick walk round BMW Welt resulted in another ProCar, again driven by Piquet, this time in Marlborough livery on a ‘grid’ of other racers
DSC_5942
M1 count, 17.
There was also another area for cars near the BMW museum, amongst others an M4 GTS
DSC_5956
And a gaggle of 1Ms
DSC_5958
DSC_5959
The BMW museum itself contained lots of interesting stuff, the second Turbo which looked to be in much worse condition than the other
DSC_5947
Yet another 507
DSC_5945
The GINA Visionary concept with flexible fabric body
DSC_5948
And the Vision concept
DSC_5950
Lots of engines, including this intriguing version of the M10 4 cylinder engine
DSC_5951
And the final M1 spot of the week end, taking the total to 18.
DSC_5953
On the Friday evening there was a concert during which cars from various decades were driven on stage, together with photos and video on the big screens. Strangely, the 40’s didn’t get much screen time! For the 60’s they drove Elvis Presley’s white 507 on stage which has been restored to ‘as new’ from a total wreck by BMW Classic. Difficult to take pictures as it was dark, but here is a panorama before the stadium filled up, it’s only the 180 degrees in front, the back seats were not used and it was over half an hour to the start
IMG_1087
And one during the concert
IMG_1089
The screens were massive, the central one having a moving section that went up and down depending on the act performing, there was some truly amazing ‘Break Dancing’, classical music, some German performers and Simply Red. Most of the dialog was in German so was lost on me. We escaped just before the end to avoid the crush.
The return journey was pretty much the reverse of the outward one. Getting onto the autobahn early on a Sunday has its advantages
PIC_0850a
Traveling at this speed felt effortless with plenty of power in reserve and absolutely rock solid on the road, but I did not want to push too hard as the wheels are Magnesium which weakens with age.
Another beautiful sky on the quiet French toll roads
PIC_0861
The tunnel was quite quiet, although this was the Flexi Plus lane as I did not know what time we’d be arriving in Calais so forked out the additional cost so we could get any return train.
IMG_1120
Again, no problem with the tunnel, no sign of anything either, but I’d feel a bit apprehensive getting to it in the dark.
Finally the car was left at Munich Legends for some work on the suspension and a few other bits, but that’s a different story.
Everything on the car worked flawlessly, with the one exception of the fan for the air conditioning. The A/C cooling worked fine, but the secondary ventilation fan sounds like it’s got something stuck inside and occasionally stopped blowing. Switching the A/C off for a few minutes and then back on cured the problem for a while before it came back again.
Final odometer reading, 3416, a total of 1711 miles.
IMG_1148
We drove for a little over 30 hours and consumed 286.57 Litres of Supper Unleaded over the 1559 miles between fill ups, that’s an average of 24.73 mpg. Given the age and performance of the car, together with the fact that we were cruising at 80-90 mph in France, giving it some welly on the exit from the toll booths and doing 100+ in Germany on most of the derestricted bits, I think that’s quite incredible.
An amazing car, amazing trip and memories to last a lifetime. Many thanks to my friend for making the trip so enjoyable too!
I was invited in the M1, so a road trip was on!
To protect the front end paintwork I hastily applied some Xpel Tracwrap the night before leaving. Not a very good job, I nick named it Crapwrap, but it would serve the purpose and was to be removed after the trip anyway.
IMG_1014a
The trip began early on the morning of 7th September, odometer reading 1,705 miles, leaving home in Yorkshire.
IMG_1016a
IMG_1017a
Exactly 4 hours and 241 miles later, I collected a friend in Surrey to share the driving, followed by a quick stop at Munich Legends to say hello as we were passing and have a bit of lunch. They had two other M1’s, their own and the BMW UK car. M1 spot count, 3.
IMG_1021
PIC_0649
From there on to the tunnel, slightly concerned about the reported problems, but there were no problems at all.
PIC_0657
An evening blast down the almost deserted A26 saw us arrive at Reims to stay the night. Odometer now at 2230, so 525 miles in the day.
Brilliant blue sky on the Thursday morning at 8:45 in Reims, the precursor to a very hot day.
IMG_1029
More empty French AutoRoute on the A4 to Metz
PIC_0665
We weren’t speeding officer, no, really we weren’t!
IMG_1035
Then down to Strasbourg to pick up the A35 briefly before crossing the Rhine on the 500 to enter Germany, still not a cloud in the sky and temperatures nudging into the 30’s.
PIC_0681
Pushing on up the 5 to Karlsruhe and starting to see what a 36 year old car makes of coming home to the derestricted Autobahn
PIC_0685
On to the 8 and past Pforzheim to Stuttgart and Munich
PIC_0689
The Germans get 100 Octane V-Power Racing, not cheap though!
IMG_1092
Pushing on a little more on the final derestricted run into Munich
PIC_0699
Due to the navigator (me!) going entering just ‘Munich’ in the sat nav and not the hotel, we took the circuitous route, right through the middle of the city.
PIC_0706
PIC_0708
PIC_0714
Realising our (my) mistake, we then drove out towards the hotel just south of the Olympic Park
PIC_0716
Finally getting into the hotel underground car park by about 6:30pm.
IMG_1038
The odometer now reading 2668, 963 miles in two days.
Turned up at the Olympic park on the Friday just before 9:00 to find 2 other M1s had already arrived
PIC_0735
DSC_5897
M1 count, 5.
As the day went on, more cars arrived, everyone had been given a slot to reduce queuing. A few Z8’s were quite early
DSC_5898
Including a several Alpinas
IMG_1045
By Saturday there were well over 20.
A definitely used, but beautiful 507
DSC_5899
DSC_5900
PIC_0741
PIC_0747
PIC_0743
The co-driver, a big Alpina fan, was beside himself when he spotted this 8 series B12 5.7, number 057, the last one made, complete with carbon fibre bonnet and de-badged
DSC_5907
PIC_0754
Including the intriguing manual box without a clutch pedal
IMG_1042
DSC_5912
PIC_0757
PIC_0758
PIC_0759
With an E92 Alpina GT3 on one side
DSC_5908
And a rare Glas Coupe arrived and parked on the other side, it sounded great
DSC_5910
And a couple of other Glas cars were doted around
DSC_5941
DSC_5926
DSC_5927
All sorts of other old and rare BMWs were rolling up
DSC_5933
DSC_5934
A lovely 327
DSC_5938
A rare E28 Touring
DSC_5930
And a stunning E34 M5 Touring
DSC_5937
The 8 series were out in force
DSC_5932
So were the Isettas
DSC_5924a
Including this one complete with period ski set!
DSC_5920
And a 2 door (one at the front and one side door)
DSC_5921
Motor bikes were included, although there weren’t anything like as many as there were cars
PIC_0797
There was a Dixi too
DSC_5939
There were also rows of Z1’s and Z3’s. By the time we returned to the car, another 3 M1’s had arrived
DSC_5936
DSC_5935
M1 count, 8. There was also a Black M1 belonging to the owner of Mint Classics in Munster who specialise in selling M1’s, taking the count to 9.
On Friday afternoon we had a factory tour, interesting but no photos allowed. They make the 3 and 4 series, M4 and M4 GTS. By the time we got to the engine plant work had stopped, they produce the modular 3 and 4 cylinder engines and the older N20 4 cylinder engine.
A tour of the new BMW Classic facility had been laid on for both Friday evening and Saturday afternoon. Friday was for ‘overseas’ and Saturday for ‘locals’. As I’d been put in with the German M1 club we had passes for the Saturday, but we blagged our way into the Friday session!
Visiting the Classic facility in the original factory, which BMW had to buy back, was amazing. There were loads of cars that you’ve maybe heard about or seen articles on but somehow don’t believe actually exist.
The BMW Turbo, one of 2, the other was in the BMW museum
IMG_1052
IMG_1075
The 1940 328 Kamm Coupe Mille Miglia
IMG_1067
And the 2006 Homage
IMG_1053
A ‘standard’ 328
IMG_1072
And the 2011 Homage
IMG_1071
A mint yellow 507
IMG_1068
CSL Art Car
IMG_1069
2002 GT4
IMG_1065
M1 ProCar (there was another and 3 road going M1’s) and some original Minis (not really in the right place IMO!)
IMG_1059
M1 count now 14.
Prototype E65/66 7 series extra-long wheel base L7, they only made an E38 L7.
IMG_1070
The bonkers ‘goldfish’ with V16 engine that’s so big the radiators had to be put in the boot, feed with air via two large scoops in the rear wings
IMG_1064
Loads of other nutty concepts too, no M8 or E39 M5 touring though.
Also visible were the Classis work shops where they do work on their collection and restore customer cars (for a considerable fee!). There were several cars at various states of repair, including a 507, another road going M1 and the Piquet ProCar with the map of the Nurburgring on (supposedly done as a joke so Piquet and Stuck would not get lost!)
IMG_1073
IMG_1074
M1 count, 16.
Food and a presentation were laid on, but we skipped that as we got talking to ‘Dr Ralph’ outside about various nerdy details!
A few other cars turned up on Saturday, such as this E46 M3 GTR look alike and E93 M3 GTS.
IMG_1086
A quick walk round BMW Welt resulted in another ProCar, again driven by Piquet, this time in Marlborough livery on a ‘grid’ of other racers
DSC_5942
M1 count, 17.
There was also another area for cars near the BMW museum, amongst others an M4 GTS
DSC_5956
And a gaggle of 1Ms
DSC_5958
DSC_5959
The BMW museum itself contained lots of interesting stuff, the second Turbo which looked to be in much worse condition than the other
DSC_5947
Yet another 507
DSC_5945
The GINA Visionary concept with flexible fabric body
DSC_5948
And the Vision concept
DSC_5950
Lots of engines, including this intriguing version of the M10 4 cylinder engine
DSC_5951
And the final M1 spot of the week end, taking the total to 18.
DSC_5953
On the Friday evening there was a concert during which cars from various decades were driven on stage, together with photos and video on the big screens. Strangely, the 40’s didn’t get much screen time! For the 60’s they drove Elvis Presley’s white 507 on stage which has been restored to ‘as new’ from a total wreck by BMW Classic. Difficult to take pictures as it was dark, but here is a panorama before the stadium filled up, it’s only the 180 degrees in front, the back seats were not used and it was over half an hour to the start
IMG_1087
And one during the concert
IMG_1089
The screens were massive, the central one having a moving section that went up and down depending on the act performing, there was some truly amazing ‘Break Dancing’, classical music, some German performers and Simply Red. Most of the dialog was in German so was lost on me. We escaped just before the end to avoid the crush.
The return journey was pretty much the reverse of the outward one. Getting onto the autobahn early on a Sunday has its advantages
PIC_0850a
Traveling at this speed felt effortless with plenty of power in reserve and absolutely rock solid on the road, but I did not want to push too hard as the wheels are Magnesium which weakens with age.
Another beautiful sky on the quiet French toll roads
PIC_0861
The tunnel was quite quiet, although this was the Flexi Plus lane as I did not know what time we’d be arriving in Calais so forked out the additional cost so we could get any return train.
IMG_1120
Again, no problem with the tunnel, no sign of anything either, but I’d feel a bit apprehensive getting to it in the dark.
Finally the car was left at Munich Legends for some work on the suspension and a few other bits, but that’s a different story.
Everything on the car worked flawlessly, with the one exception of the fan for the air conditioning. The A/C cooling worked fine, but the secondary ventilation fan sounds like it’s got something stuck inside and occasionally stopped blowing. Switching the A/C off for a few minutes and then back on cured the problem for a while before it came back again.
Final odometer reading, 3416, a total of 1711 miles.
IMG_1148
We drove for a little over 30 hours and consumed 286.57 Litres of Supper Unleaded over the 1559 miles between fill ups, that’s an average of 24.73 mpg. Given the age and performance of the car, together with the fact that we were cruising at 80-90 mph in France, giving it some welly on the exit from the toll booths and doing 100+ in Germany on most of the derestricted bits, I think that’s quite incredible.
An amazing car, amazing trip and memories to last a lifetime. Many thanks to my friend for making the trip so enjoyable too!
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