The Group (280Kb)
So, and finally going home again :(
Some of the 220GTi-groups e-mail messages :o)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Paco
Sent: Monday, April 09, 2001 3:53 PM
Evenin' Gang!
Hah, seems like I'm the first of the Luxxers to post today! Got back about
an hour ago... Everything okay,
Paco - off for shopping, eating, drinking, beer, sleep
P.S., Wait until you heard all the stories from the U.K. guys and girls...
You'll be amazed! MUAHAHA!
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----- Original Message -----
From: Paul
Sent: Monday, April 09, 2001 11:35 PM
Paco and gang... please find below a transcript from my second lap of
the ring.
"Oh look! It's a bit wet here, this is a difficult cor....sh1t sh1t
skiiiiiiiiiddddddd sh1t sh1t sh1t !!CRASH!! sh1t sh1t sh1t sh1t sh1t
sh1t"
Paul
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----- Original Message -----
From: Paul
Sent: Monday, April 09, 2001 11:49 PM
A very very big thank you to everyone who made it such an enjoyable
weekend.
Deserving of a special mention are all the Continental members who
turned up and embarressed us with our lack of foriegn languages
('cept smarty Phil), Pascal for looking after it and showing us your
beautiful country, Phil for making the hotel bookings run so
smoothly, Jason for having the worlds most unreliable Rover and Mook
for keeping us amused the entire 4 days, the Armco fencing at the
Nurburgring which stopped me (quite suddenly) from ploughing off into
the German forests and Gaz for pushing the car out of the subsquent
mud hole.
Neil for bringing the lovely Clare and being a tower of strength with
tow ropes, warning triangles and anything else that was big and/or
heavy.
Thomas Cook get a mention for unquestioningly selling me Swiss
Franc's despite the fact I wasn't going anywhere near Paco's home
country who gets a special mention for just being Paco. Nice one mate!
Paul
PS oh yes, and not forgeting Dennis, (AKA Big Sacs, AKA 3 spoilers)
for giving us his impression of a four wheel drift and bringing the
lovely Annemeike, who is lovely enough to brighten any foul weathered
day in central Europe.
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----- Original Message -----
From: Neil
Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2001 1:31 AM
Night night,
myself and Clare have just arrived home all safe and sound but very
tired. (00:27 - 10th April 2001)
Thanks to everyone for a brilliant meet.
Neil & Clare
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----- Original Message -----
From: Phil
Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2001 1:06 PM
Hi Gang,
I arrived back at 2:40am this morning from my lonnng trip back up here.
Never drunk so much coffee in my life but I was getting a little sleepy
shall we say.
Not too much trouble with thermals on the way either. :o)
Following on from Paul I want to say a few big thank-you's too. Paul & Gaz
for their excellent navigation and lane swapper skills, Neil and Clare for
helping me not get lost, Jason and Mook for providing the entertainment too.
:-) Of course big thanks for Pascal for organising us all too. And
generally to everyone that went for the fantastic time I have had. I am
ready for the next one now.....once I have a few mods sorted.
On the car front I had not problems at all aside from a slightly scratched
alloy following a rather enthusiastically taken corner in the wet.
Thanks everyone - see ya all soon.
Phil
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----- Original Message -----
From: "jason.barnard"
Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2001 2:39 PM
Friday 9th April:
Got up and I`m really excited, Mook will be round soon (not why I`m excited BTW!). Go to local car spares shop to buy a spark plug wrench. Get back home, swap old mingging plugs for some sexy new NGK platinum's. Put car back together and TRY to start her up. Click, click, click!!!!!! PANTS!!!! The starter motors finally given up. Ah give it a whack with a hammer/heavy thing. Try the key again NOWT!!! Oh deep joy. Come inside to phone a local garage to see if they can quickly whip out the old one and bung in a new one. 4 calls later an the answer is NO. Mook arrives (on time) so we both poodle down to the local car spares shop to buy a spear starter to take to Lux in the hop of getting a local to fit it (while I`m in the pub). £158 later (inc a deposit as I had no exchange) Mook an I are back on the move to my house, Pack the car with all our belongings, double check we have every thing, double check again, then close the door (to which I have NO key!) SH!T!! I`ve forgot my coat!!!!!! Never mind I`ll wear this one I have on now (my car wash,fix, gardening, toilet cleaning, dog bathing, generally mingging)then buy another in good ol` Lux.
WE`ER off!!!! whooppee doo. Round the M25, over the bridge sun on my face wind in my hair (stop it Mook). Meet all the guys at Maidstone services, quick hellos, quick pi$$ take at my spare parts and off we go towards the Channel tunnel.
Get to the tunnel, get tickets the Neil decides to look real dodgy and get pulled over by a guy wearing rubber gloves and a stick. Neils search (I mean Neils car) was ok (he`d hidden it all well thanks to Dennis).
We all get on one train and off we go. 30 mins later FRANCE!!!! NICE!!! 5 more mins later "Guys can you give me a push, no starter remember!" Vroom I`m off, onto the French motorway.
Nice convoy of Rovers, Paul up front, Me, Phil behind, then Neil. Average speed of 90mph. "oh shit quick, TURN RIGHT!!!" Across the mud and crap in the middle of the road an we are all on the correct road. Still managing to do a good speed Mook and I notice that my battery voltage is a bit low, only peeking at 13ish volts. BAD!!!! Stereo off, heater off, only use the bear minimum to keep going. A bit late the volts pick up and we listen to a bit of Ben and M, oh no M&M!
Mook has noticed something about Mr Edens driving. HE CANT STAY IN ONE LANE FOR LONGER THAN 30 seconds!!!!! Over take car, pull in behind very slow vehicle, pull out, over take, pull back in behind very slow vehicle. 4 Rovers zig zagging up the French motorway. "STAY IN THE ONE LANE, YOU MONKEY!!!" were the cries from Mook and I (and everyone else I presume)
3/4 of the way there and we stop for more petrol. "what`s with the lane swapping Paul?" we all ask. "when your a lorry driver by trade........blah........blah" was his reply. "BUT YOU`RE NOT IN A `KING LORRY NOW!!!"
We`re off again (after a quick push) Only about an hour to go. Arrive at a Lux service station to meet, Pascal, Paco, Dennis, Alex ect ect. Quick hellos and off we go again (yes and and another push please). Drive along some more motorways, and through a pukka tunnel, like the ones in computer games. Lots of dumping from me (NO!!!) Arrive at the hotel. Park the cars in what can only be described as Brixton after the Blitz. Book in then ALL scramble Le Manns style to get a space in the nice hotel car park.
Grub time, then pub (that`s more like it)
After a few pints every one lets down there hair (oopps sorry Colin) (readers when you see photos you`ll understand) Lots more beer, laugh, chuckle, pi$$ take, ect ect. Back to my room for much beer and to discover that: Mook wears PANTS!!!!!!! (sorry mate, had to tell `em) not just any pants but 5year old boys PANTS!!!!!!!!!!, Neil can drink the equivalent of a small Scandinavian lake filled with beer, Phill says very little and I`m about a drunk as a man that's conssumed 800000000000 pints of beer!
Sunday 10th April:
Get up at 9.00am have some grub. Then..............."Mook look at HER!!" I whisper. "SCHWIIIING" replied Mook. "You wouldn`t kick that outta bed would ya"
Meet up with Pascal to take us for a quick tour of Lux. We`re off now touring this lovely place, in a convoy of about 15 coupes NICE!!!! Turn into the airport car park (that`s what it looked like) and line the cars up for some pics 9 FU*CKING TIMES. Move here, move there, oops the suns behind us, oops the clouds are there, oopss we`ve all fallen a sleep! Finally get the pics done and we move off on our tour.
Look at volt meter and it`s not a happy bunny! After the tour I ask Pascal if we can stop of for me to buy a new battery. X amount of funny money later I`m the proud owner of a new battery.
The rest of the guys are gonna go into Lux city for a bit of window shopping, but Mook and I are gonna make a pit stop and change the battery in the hope of curing the low voltage. Battery changed and....................."sh*t STILL low!, must be the alternator that's died" Deep joy! Oh well.
Mook and I now decide to try and find the others (Mook decided to go Commando due to the pants discovery). At the bottom of the road is a `T` junction, so we have two choices, LEFT or RIGHT??? Left! off we go, over a river, up the hill, up, up, up, up. I`m starting to sweat, so poor old Mook must be feeling the strain, what with NO PANTS ON!!! Phone Pascal to find out a: where WE are an d: where they are. ANSWER: the other side of the river!!!! JOY! We finally met up and................go back to the cars cos we`ve taken so long to find them that it`s dinner time.
Arrive at a Lux version of TGI Fridays, order food and DRINK LOADS. Beer is served not in glasses but what looks like Ali G`s bong (so Dennis was catered for) Each "bong" contains about 6 pints, I don`t remeber much more about that night but I think I may have had a couple of dongs to myself.
Get home, more beer, pi$$ takes and bed.
Sunday 11th April
oooooooooohhhhhhhhhhh my head..........eeeeeerrrrrrrrrr my guts.................ooooooooooohhhhhhhhh god help me!
I`ve been poisoned (NOT the trillions of gallons of beer BTW) Cold sweats, hot sweats, shivers, bubbling guts, slits in eyes like pi$$ hole in the snow boy do I feel rough.
Eat a small amount of breakkie then off to the ring. Push start the car, vroom.
Every ones looking over each others cars when Pascals mate decides to rev his 216 coupe (looks `king gourge, lower than a low thing laying down in a low ditch!) till it hits the limiter, then keep his foot planted. WANG, WANG, WANG, WANG. Why? I don`t know. Take Mr 216 high rev person out for a QUICK spin in mine. Either he speaks no English or my car is pants cos he said NOWT!
We set off to the ring and my heads feeling a bit better. On to the Autobahn. Smooth straight and whooooooppppppeeeeeeeee FAST!!!! Lots of over taking, then a quick 150ish mph blast past the complete convoy. NICE!!!! (oh an no one in the UK can complain now!!). Get to the ring in record time and now I feel like I`m dieing. Life is getting very hard to cope with. Even breathing takes maximum consentration. In, out, in, out. Eyes are slowly closing on their own, basically not well at all. Get a coffee, perk up a little then go for a passenger ride round the track in Alex`s car (charcoal 220 coupe turbo), holding Mooks camcorder.
VERY twisty track. Alex stays in the 6000rpm bracket for nearly all the circuit. Not bad! Then Paul goes out on his first run and returns 14mins later with smoke pouring off his front brakes. COOL! Phill come back in and say NOWT (never does ;-) Neil comes in grinning like a cat, then goes out again. Paul`s brake cool down and off he goes for his 2nd lap. The rest of us are up in the cafe. Neil returns grinning again, sits down with his coffee, but can`t drink it due to his shakes. Now I thought it was down to the fact that he drinks lakes full of beer but it was pure adrenalin. THEN................................................."oh shit thats Paul and 1/2 his car" he`d had a bit of an argument with the Armco and lost.
We all move to the parking area to see what Nigel M had done to his mota. Bumper, bonnet, lights, drivers wing. OOPPSS!!! Good news was that Paul and his passenger were both all ok, just a case of dented pride (and mota) We try and fix Pauls car so it can be driven home. "hammer" says Neil. WHACK, KLANG, BOOM, CLONK (more batman noises)
Off we drive to get some grub. EVERYONE bar me gets some grub. I`m still a little sensitive so I stay in the car to sleep.
Later that evening dinner, NO ALCOHOL for me, watch video footage, bed. NO SLEEP due to heavy sweating and shivering. RING!!!! alarm clock goes off and it`s time to get up ;-(
Monday 12th April
Breakfast, goodbyes, push start, off we go!
Making very good time and now we`re only 3/4 hour for the tunnel when I say "shi* I`ve lost all drive". The gears were fine, but no drive at all. Pull onto hard shoulder and have a look but can`t see much. Mook calls the AA who inform us that they can not pick you up form the motorway you`ll have to make it to the next exit. 2 1/2 later matey boy turns up with a flat bed and bungs the 'oh so reliable' mota on. Drives for about 20mins to his garage were the AA tell them to take us to another garage were their 'qualified' guy will have a look to see if he can fix it. YEH ALRIGHT!
3/4 hour later we arive at the next garage. 98 year old man comes over to give his professional report. Now remember that I have no starter apart for the one behind the seat, next to no battery power, knackered alternator, and a dead gearbox. Then 98 year old man wonders why it wont start!!!!! I have to explain that we have 2 problemo. Number one the starter is F*%KED, number 2 you cant push start it cos (wiggling gear stick) gearbox is F*%KED.
"hmmm" was the reply and..........erm thats it! off he went. Call the AA AGAIN! and they send back the same bloke that dropped us off in the first palce. Now that the car will not start the tunnel has refused us entry, so we need to take the ferry. Mook and I say goodbye and thanks to the rest of the UK guys and girl. Off we go to the ferry port. We get pushed on board, 90mins later we arrive in Dover where we SHOULD find an AA flat bed truck. NO!!!! We find another `qualified' guy to see if he can get us going. NO!!! "it`s F*%KED" Mook and I shout. Another 90mins and the flat bed arrives to take us home. we get back to my house at about 11.30pm say goodbye/sorry to Mook and then I goto bed
THE END!!!
Thanks to ALL that went for the laughs, gags, push starts, and support when all went pear shaped.
Bye,
Jason
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Mook"
Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2001 6:16 PM
Guys and gals,
Well, I made it home just after 2 this morning, taking it rather
easy after the experience of Jason's "colapsy" coupe *lol*
Just a quick note to all the attendees of Lux to say thanks for a
comedy packed weekend
Pascal > well done with the organising, must have taken some doing
to keep everyone happy :)
To all those that I've never met before, it was good to put names
to faces and we had a good laugh, just remember I've met the
thermal napper before ;) Oh yeah, Jase was a bad influence on me -
I'm normally well behaved and never swear!
I think that Dennis and Neil enjoyed Nurgurgring the best, it was
definately not a turbo circuit, half a cazillion corners and 97%
of them of blind!!
Dennis > I'm still feelingthe gravitational pull of your
baaaalls!!!
Au Revoir,
Mook
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Dennis"
Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2001 9:43 PM
Hya Gang,
Annemieke and me are home now.
Had a 4 hour drive from Lux to the Netherlands .....rain...bad driving
belgians...more rain....more bad driving belgians ...and even more rain.
So I'm glad we're home at last :o)
I want to thank Pascal again for this great weekend....we bombed him as
Meeting-Host...and he did a damn good job.
Thanks Pascal :)
I also thank all the guys who also joined the meeting for making it a
weekend to remember.........great :)
Und auch der Deutsche mitglieder von Rover-club-Berlin und Rover-club-NRW
....richtig SUPER daß Sie gekommen sind, vielen dank :)
I'm still very happy wiv me
Nürburg-4-wheel-drift-through-corner-with-screaming-Annemieke.
With me having the oldest and slowest car and so much fun says enough.....it
was a F*ing GREAT weekend :o)
When is the next 220GTi-groups meeting ???? any ideas ??
So, now I'm off scratching me big ..... :)
Seey@,
Dennis & Annemieke
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----- Original Message -----
From: Pascal
Sent: Wednesday, April 11, 2001 11:29 AM
Moien Gang,
Glad you got home OK in the end, even if some of the cars had
suffered. I still hear Paul saying: "It's all your fault, Pascal.
Shut up or I'll ban you!!!"
I want to thank you all to make this fantastic weekend happen. Being
a member for 19 months now, it was funny to finally meet all the
people you talk to everyday and who are as crazy about Rover cars as
I am.
I liked doing the little bit of organization for you and I didn't had
the impression it was hard work, because you were so nice people.
I talked to my dealer yesterday and he's still impressed by Jason's
car. And Jason you're right, he doesn't speak a single word of
English. He wants to thank you all to let him join the convoy to
Wasserbillig. He's still sorry that he couldn't join for the
Nuernburgring too.
What can I say more than thank you all once again.
Cheers
Pascal - It's all my fault - Poncelet
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Ulli - Rover Club Berlin"
Sent: Wednesday, April 11, 2001 12:08 PM
Hey Pascal
Es war nicht dein Fehler :o) Everybody can self decide anyway, or !?
Each of us has contributed his share to the good organization. Thank
all of them to you!
A costly matter but every single coin is but also worth!
Fixes your Cars again. Will give such a beautiful meeting again.
It come more vehicles from the Rover Club Berlin at the next once
too, I hope!
In the next days, I put in the 220files some pictures form Lux.
Okili, What can I say more than thank you all once again.
Ulli
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