Lancia Motor Club

Well i dont know about the rest of you who went to turin but it doesn't feel like a year has passed from the big adventure! myself and others raced against the clock for 9 months to restore a series 3 appia and an augusta from rotton shell up, we finished at 1.15 am the night before we set off, my car "augusta" was mot'd 1 week before we went with only a drivers seat in it and various other parts missing! this was the car that was finished at 1.15. we set off with only 47 miles of road testing before the journey all of us feeling very unsure to whether the car would make it or not! yes we had problems..........got to the m25 and the car suddenly lost power and began running on 3, naturally i panicked thinking how the hell have i blown it up at 45>50 mph? luckily it was just a plug connector had come adrift! quick fix on the hard shoulder and carried on to meet the lacey family "dilambdaman". by the time we got there the old girl was pulling violently to the left under braking, robin kindly let us use his workshop that night to try and sort the problem out........after an hour or so there was nothing obvious so we thought "carry on" eventually the brakes would bed in, how wrong was i, heading towards dijon i spun the augusta on a cobbled crossroads in front of matty "warby" big big  moment. at this point i lost patience and comfidence in the car an wanted to take it home and return in another lancia. after a big discussion , i reluctantly agreed to carry on , robin kindly offered to take his dilambda off the trailer and put the gussey on instead, but he was in the same predicament as me  a car that was totally untested. I chose to just drive it and hope for the best. by the time we reached the south of france i had mastered the brakes and could drive the car fairly safely,i will never forget reaching turin and the sigh of relief :D, what an event in total though and i would like to thank all those who were involved in getting the car ready and spurring me on to persavere, my dad, robin, matty , phil , mike mathews and finally don williamson for helping me out with a few emergancy last minuite parts!

:) Excellent .... know how you felt (although I didn't suffer the same problems the journey gave me lots of worries!

Doesn't feel like one year on at all ... still 24 years to go to the 125th now :)

It was a good event (with all that went wrong + lack of info) this is why we like the Punto ad at the mo.... loads of memories

Excellent event worth every penny & all the hassle, fantastic trip down via Motorail & Nice, in the company of Jennifer & Ken Manley, (Monte Carlo), Ann & Chris Moorey (Fulvia Zagato), & every now & again when our paths crossed, with Vivienne & Bob Seaney (Appia Zagato Gte); apart from The Fulvia Zagato having a problem with the dipswitch, Fay having a persistent loss of air from 1 tyre (thank the lord for 12v compressors!) & the Monte fouling it's plugs in the Turin Traffic, there were no problems, but like everyone else it seems incredible it was a year ago :o  ;D 
Brian
PS.
See we can't resist having the usual dig though Tim :-*

Yeah, this time a year ago, Simon & I (amongst others) were waiting in the Arsenale for the doors to open so that we could be fed & watered. The doors eventually opened, we went upstairs & we had a glass of wine & some cheese, where's the 10 courses then ??? We trudged back to the hotel for a beer & bed only to find out mid week that, if we'd have waited a few more minutes, then we'd have been led into a larger room for the "meet & greet", oh well, still had a fantastic week over there  ;D. I can't get Italy out of my system at teh moment, we had a few days in Bergamo, flying out from Stansted the day after the LMC's AGM.
LAWRENCE

So you were happy with the info given then Brian, just reminding people that not all was great!

Yeah Tim , I actually watched ITV last week (very rare event in itself) watching "Coltrane's B Road Britain" and saw that Punto Ad and you're right!

For anyone wondering have a look here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvfLhEhOTyk

Bergamo is a wonderful small city, I used to visit there on my days off when I worked on Lake Garda.  An easy airport to fly through as well.  I actually chose to fly there and drive down the autostrada to Tuscany, cheaper and the roads are fun.  I really like the smaller Italian cities particularly the ones in the north, Brescia, Trento, Padova, Cremona, Mantova, Ravenna, Forli, often more interesting and enjoyable than the more popular honeypots. I must try and get back some time.

See we can't resist having the usual dig though Tim :-*
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So you were happy with the info given then Brian, just reminding people that not all was great!
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Hi Tim,
Would you let us ever forget :o

Brian
8227 8)

It was a once in a lifetime trip.  I don't know about the rest of you, but I certainly had a fabulous time.  It was an excuse to drive the D roads of France, race over the Alps to the sound of Matt Munroe's 'On Days Like These', meet lots of new people and make some new friends.  We raced around La Mandria race circuit, drove ON the Lingotto, took time out to admire Torino, and saw some very rare Lancias.
If there were hiccups and issues, I think that these were to be expected.  Having to organise 600+ people all with high expectations (after all, it meant so much to all of us to go) is no easy task.  I had nothing to do with organising the event, and for that I am grateful.  Hats off to the poor sods that had to coordinate it all.
It doesn't seem like a year already, especially as I seem to tell people about The Trip on a weekly basis still!  It was great, and we were there!!!  To the Red Dwarf Fan, The Herv, the Snorer, The Orion Owner, The Alfa Architect and everyone else... I'm glad I went, I'm glad you went and I'm glad to be a Lancia Fan  ;D

What an excellent trip it was, meeting new friends and enjoying fantastic driving events. I've never managed to cram so much into such a short holiday!

Also, this is my 100th post so I get another car on my profile, methinks!  ;D

Yes, it all came flooding back recently as the Dilambda was due for it's second MOT.

Would not have missed the trip for the world but definitely don't ever again want to go through the pressure and angst of getting the car there, nor the disappointment of missing out on a lot of the events due to the gearbox failure. I didn't get to drive La Mandria or the Lingotto BUT (as Max Boyce used to say) 'I was there.' When meeting up with fellow Lancia enthusiasts talk inevitably turns to the Centrino and 'were you there?'. 

Highlights for me were the journey across France in the company of the Parrys, 'Warby,' Mike Mathews and the Seilers. The three days spent at Forsano mending the gearbox and the Saturday celebrations with the award of one of the 'Top 50' rosettes.

Hats off to those who made it possible, the few blips pale into insignificance compared with the overall satisfaction of having been part of it.

Now, next centrino for some of us will be that of our individual car. Umm... I'll be 88!

Robin.

Absolutely agree with all the positive memories. Was only just looking through our photos yesterday (by coincidence...).

See everyone in Covent Garden for a good old reminisce!!

Tim

Hey Harvey, I'm a Senior Member now, not bad for being a NON-member member, don't ya think ;)
LAWRENCE

Lawrence : just try and avoid the senior moments (like Geoff) then !

Oi, I heard that

Geoff

Nearly 2 years on - there is another video in pre-production with all the oil leaks, water leaks, petrol leaks and flat tires but here is a reminder of the good days.  ;) What a journey, one I will never forget.

http://www.youtube.com/v/ESCIoeH1y_Y (http://www.youtube.com/v/ESCIoeH1y_Y)

Youtube seach for "Fobello 2006"