A Lancia Sort of Weekend

[neil-yaj396]

Having missed the last committee meeting I was determined to make the trip to Gaydon on Sunday. Plan A was to go in the family VW, but this fell by the wayside when it transpired that Elena was doing something with Rangers in the North East and needed collecting at 10 o’clock Sunday morning.

No problem, I’d use the Beta, though 300 motorway miles isn’t the best of journeys in the low geared 1300. So on Friday I checked the oil which hadn’t been changed last year due to the car being laid up. All looking a bit black and having a whiff of petrol from too many short trips I thought, but no problem, I’d just bought some new oil. Late on Saturday afternoon out came the old oil, which is always ever blacker than on the dipstick once you’ve drained it out.

Pleased that I’d be running on new oil I took one of my ebay BOGOF oil filters from the garage shelf. They looked on the small side when I bought them, but once compared to the (now bent and dinted) filter that I’d just taken off, there was no way they would fit (the seal would fit entirely inside the seal on the old filter!). Looked like my trip was off until I remembered the Fram filter that I’d found in my father in laws garage some time ago, which I hadn’t thrown away as it looked about the same size as a Beta filter (He had Saabs and Volvos). After some searching, and accusing Claire of throwing it away it was found. It fit!

So off I went 7.15 Sunday morning. Nice steady trip down the M1 (which I hate!) then coffee at Leicester Forrest,  before the M69 and off onto the Fosse Way for some proper driving. That was when it started snowing! Arrived at Gaydon to find the meeting potentially cancelled due to some members being stuck in snow around Newbury. Fortunately a workable meeting was held, a nice sandwich eaten, and a quick look round some of the fantastic exhibits before back onto the Fosse to include a four car overtake (they weren’t trying!.) Then the world’s dullest motorway home.

Car definitely (and literally) shaken down for the GNW on Friday, for which the weather forecast is even worse. Don’t know if it will stop sleeting long enough to wash off the first layer of salt before throwing on the next.

Come on Spring!