Tasty

[Sud 145]

Saw this little beauty at Goodwood this morning. The owner bought her in Portugal and drove her home to Hampshire. Told him about this super forum so hopefully he will make an appearance shortly.

[vecchioalfa]

Wow, looks great, same colour as mine

[Spacenut]

Very nice - think I might have clocked this one at a previous breakfast club.

You picked a lovely day for it - was there anything else of interest there today? The hot hatch theme wasn't that appealing TBH, but I will probably go to the V8 one next month.

Lauren

[KevJTD]

another previously unknown S1 ti, great condition too by the looks of it

hope he joins up, well done tony for trying

[Sud 145]

Very nice - think I might have clocked this one at a previous breakfast club.

You picked a lovely day for it - was there anything else of interest there today? The hot hatch theme wasn't that appealing TBH, but I will probably go to the V8 one next month.

Lauren

He and I were the only Suds there and his isn't even a hatch. Modern stuff doesn't interest me but was immaculate Ax Gt, Metro 1300, Integrales, 5 Turbo's etc. Couldn't have wished for better weather in Oct.

[Kilroy]

Hi,

Sorry for the very belated reply, this is my Sud at the Goodwood Breakfast Club and thanks very much for the kind comments - and no rude comments about the colour!

I bought the car directly from its owner in Faro, Portugal and drove it back to the UK a couple of years ago. It is in remarkably rustfree condition (it was repainted in Portugal but there is no evidence of welding anywhere) but it had plenty of other issues that I have been working through. My hat really goes off to anyone who has had to deal with rust as well.

I will add some photos when I have worked out how...

All the best,

Ian

[Kegsti66]

Nice one Ian, I remember seeing the picture that Sud 145 put up.
Glad we have another member, great story of your locating and purchase of the car, let alone the journey back to the UK.
Hopefully see it and yourself at a meet sometime.
Keith.

[KevJTD]

glad you've joined up with such a lovely looking car. now, about august.....


http://classicalfaforum.co.uk/forum/vie ... f=36&t=713

[Kilroy]

Hi again,

Here are a few photos of my trip back from Portugal with the Sud. I bought it on the strength of a few photos, several reassuring telephone conversations with Carlos (the young owner) and a lot of blind optimism. Carlos' father had had the car repainted and "re-commissioned", hoping that he would take to it as a first car. Unfortunately Carlos did not quite share his enthusiasm - which became more understandable during the long journey back to England, being alternately cooked, gassed and frozen!

I shipped tools, spares and camping equipment to Carlos and bought one way tickets to Faro for myself and my long suffering friend Simon. Carlos picked us up from the airport and put us up for the night we arrived. We spent the following morning going over the car (replacing perished fuel lines and unseizing the rear brakes), and then set off for the Channel...

[Kilroy]

Part 2 (:-))
We crossed most of Spain the following day, in a 500 mile marathon.

The roads in Spain are either massive, deserted, un-photogenic motorways, (a tribute to unrestrained borrowing and EU subsidies) or beautiful, winding drivers’ roads – I strongly recommend it as a driving holiday destination, there are ferry options if you baulk at the long drive across France to get there. We were briefly tempted to “cheat” and divert up to Santander!

We deliberately sought out an "interesting" ( = snowy and scary - I have never driven in a complete white-out before!) route across the Pyrenees into France and stayed with a friend who lives in the foothills. We then crossed France in a small step (we did not leave our friend's house until after lunch) and then another epic, "500 miles in a day" ordeal by fumes, cold, and uncomfortable seats and frequent torrential rain. We did manage a brief stop at Le Mans for a photocall and a look around the museum, and arrived at Caen with minutes to spare for our ferry.

[Sud 145]

Wow that was a brave piece of driving,was the snow unexpected or were you ready for it? Also who says a bloke cannot pack.

[KevJTD]

wow, what a story. epic journey.
you are to be congratulated on your faith and trust in an unknown 40 year old car, mega respect to you.

i love the pic of the foggy border control, what it looks like anyway.

and the pic outside le sarthe, mega job done.

makes me want to have a euro road trip in the future

[Spacenut]

Me too! What an epic journey. I guess you have to do something like that at least once in your life. Well done!

...And welcome to CAF by the way...

Lauren

[Kegsti66]

Thanks for the story and pictures Ian.
What a fantastic way to test drive a new car , hardly a run around the block !!
As has been said, full respect to you for a leap of faith and what great memories you have. Did you have any issues on the trip, and can you remember the mileage you did? Does your mate still share the love for the car , or was he glad to get home?
Cheers .

[Greencloverleaf pat]

Very good story and pics and very brave too.
When I picked my sud which had sat unused in a workahop foe over ten years and my brother drove it back from Doncaster to crawley West sussex .
I thought that was brave but its not a patch on your journey.

[Kilroy]

Thanks again for the comments and questions.

Just to answer 1 or 2 questions...

The snow over the Pyrenees was not really expected, but it should have been as we crossed in April and people were still ski-ing. We actually got stuck in the snow at one point and had to back-track for miles. It would have been very nice to have a heater, or a thermostat for that matter. The "cold engine" warning light actually came on while we were driving up the Pyrenees.

The border crossing is the old, disused border between Spain and France. It certainly did feel atmospheric - echoes of Check Point Charlie!

The mechanical issues were mainly trivial but annoying. The car was very fumy (not obviously smoky, but really smelly), cold and uncomfortable. The seats were saggy and unsupportive and the heater did absolutely nothing. It had no handbrake and did not start well if it was somewhere between cold and fully warmed up (not a great combination in the queue of cars on the exit ramp up, out off the ferry!). The passenger door could only be closed properly from the outside, and the driver's side window did not work - which made paying road tolls complicated! All that said, once it was running the engine never missed a beat, the foot brakes were good, the electrics behaved and nothing fell off (apart from the exhaust, in driving rain).

The journey door to door was almost exactly 2500 km

My friend Simon is a car enthusiast (we both have Healey projects - both very long term) but he does not really "get" the Alfasud. He claims that he enjoyed the trip, he is still talking to me anyway! I mostly enjoyed it, but I have never been more relieved about anything than when I finally arrived home!

Here are the last few more pictures of the trip. I tried to upload them last week, but something went wrong.

Cheers,

Ian

[Kegsti66]

Thanks for the update Ian.
Like the bit about the warning light coming on
Classic Alfasud driving pose, window down and an arm on the door top. You can't do it with modern cars... Who said that Alfasuds have an awkward driving position??