Happy Christmas!

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Lightfoot
Posts: 27
Joined: Thu Mar 17, 2016 8:07 pm

Happy Christmas!

Post by Lightfoot »

Just thought I'd take the opportunity of wishing all of you a Very Merry Christmas and for 2019 my best wishes for the least troublesome, least expensive and most enjoyable year of classic Alfa ownership and driving pleasure.

After my year in 2018 I'm hoping to find myself in a slightly (understatement!) less penurious state next year (hopefully not difficult) with fewer problems and more of the 'out there on the open road' stuff that Alfa ownership is surely meant to be about!

Which is actually what I've just accomplished in the dying days of the year when I took the 164 Cloverleaf on a 24-hour, 500-mile round trip to Cornwall on what is jocularly known as a 'Santa Dash' and I have to say the 'Leaf wasn't a bad sleigh for the mission of present delivery to friends and family west of the River Tamar. The weather might have been foul but, as the photos hopefully testify, the 164 is anything but a garage queen.

My preferred route to Cornwall tends to see me avoid the usual A303/A30 routes through the West Country - instead I divert off the M5 towards Minehead to follow the glorious A39 which some of you may well be acquainted with. This route is real driver country following, as it does, the north coastal roads of Somerset, Devon and the top half of Cornwall. VERY Alfa-friendly since it almost exactly follows the topography of the landscape. So, no boring dual carriageways cut out of the fields - this road twists and turns virtually the whole way. It's also FAR less trafficked than the A303/A30 even during the peak of the tourist summer season - so you can imagine how clear it is in the Winter.

My absolute favourite stretch arrives as you leave Porlock to climb the celebrated 1-in-4 Porlock Hill and thence across the 'roof' of Exmoor for ten miles to Lynton & Lynmouth. If you seek the nearest thing to a classic tarmac rally stage without going to the Isle of Man then this should be your default destination for rewarding two-lane blacktop! Fast, challenging and it really demands your concentration - the 'Leaf is absolutely in its element up there. The way it buried its face into the tarmac and refused to let go last week, in spite of the stormy moorland weather, was the nearest automotive analogy to a terrier 'terrorising' a defenceless slipper... i.e. the road stood NO chance!

Anyhoo, next time you go to Cornwall give the A39 a shot if you don't already know it. It's also extremely scenic when the weather's favourable and you're not in too much of a hurry/too fired up...

In the meantime, as I said earlier - a Happy Christmas to you all and may all your restorations come swiftly to fruition in 2019.
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KevJTD
Posts: 5107
Joined: Thu Sep 26, 2013 8:48 pm
Location: Lincs

Re: Happy Christmas!

Post by KevJTD »

Great to see the Alfa having a good run out 8-)
I too hope to get out and about a lot more next year rather than be stuck doing work in the garage, next year we ought to arrange a few get togethers around the country...

I'll be sure to follow your route into Cornwall next time I'm down that way, the bit once off the M6 can be a real bottleneck so a good country route sounds much more appealing.
Giulietta JTD 170
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Lancia Flavia coupe 1.8 1963
Lancia Dedra turbo
Renault Clio 197 RS

I'm bad with people things
But I should have tried more

Kegsti66
Posts: 2849
Joined: Fri Sep 26, 2014 7:20 pm
Location: Northamptonshire

Re: Happy Christmas!

Post by Kegsti66 »

Excellent !!
I can't remember the last time I saw a 164 on the road.
Glad you had a fun trip, it's gotta be done . Awesome looking car :D
Now get out there and give her a wash :lol:

Lightfoot
Posts: 27
Joined: Thu Mar 17, 2016 8:07 pm

Re: Happy Christmas!

Post by Lightfoot »

Your wish is my command! God, you're a hard taskmaster, Sir - three buckets of hot soapy water (one just for the wheels) where a single bucket usually does the trick - and on bl**dy Christmas Day too! Still, it's always a good time to wash a car - while the turkey's basting away for a couple of hours.

Incidentally Kev, with regard to the A39 I mentioned, it's worth pointing out that this route takes a fair bit longer, time-wise, than the A303/A30 option. Depends how much time you can spare away from the ex-Shrew 155 that you're restoring!
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KevJTD
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Location: Lincs

Re: Happy Christmas!

Post by KevJTD »

Not very often I'm down that way at all really, from the East Lincs coast it's not really on my way to anywhere! Is a lovely part of the world though, had a couple of family holidays down there and even a trip down there in a Punto to collect some parts!

155 has gone though so no danger of spending time on it anymore. Space and time to finish/use it meant that a tempting offer to take away as is saw it gone. Shame though, wouldn't have minded hanging onto it. If only it wasn't green it'd have stayed!

Enough to keep me busy still though :D


Good effort on washing the 164 today, ought to have done the same myself with the Brera but it's been one of those lazy days :D
Giulietta JTD 170
Lancia Delta integrale
Lancia Flavia coupe 1.8 1963
Lancia Dedra turbo
Renault Clio 197 RS

I'm bad with people things
But I should have tried more

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