Links to the quest of Sven, Ellie and Adrian

I bet they're warmer than we are.

Message i.d.:, by author Whiskers aka inspired me,

That's a sure bet.

I was wandering though the links. Adrian is driving a Saab. But there

*are* some that *are* driving a Citroen. 108 Team imperial is driving a BX 1.4 120 The Clueless Racers is drinving a BX GTi 123 Team DB Yeah! a 2CV Team Desert Raitt with a C15 Van218 Team Dakar Or Rust with a BX Estate So euh. Adrian when/ if you come back, why not a Cit?

I am also gonna cheer for Team DB. Go Team DB! Go Team Desert Vikings!

I think the logic was - the car and preparation budget has to be less than £100 - you couldn't get a decent 2CV for that (not with a chassis, anyway)

And, the car has to be auctioned for charity when (if?) they get to Dakar - you wouldn't want to abandon a Citroen after it had got you across Africa.

"2Rowdy" schreef in bericht news: snipped-for-privacy@aacit.net...

Have you heard about these two guys? They drove their 20 year old 2CV from Brussels (Belgium) to Capetown (South Afrika). A journey of 25.000 km, which lasted 6 months.

You can read all about it at

Gert.

Message i.d.:, by author Gert aka inspired me,

Geat site Gert. Thanks for the link.

Message i.d.:, by author Ian Dalziel aka inspired me,

i.d.:> So euh. Adrian when/ if you come back, why not a Cit?

Team DB managed. Guess they will be driving in poverty then.

Now that *is* a strong point.

Ian Dalziel gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Sorry about the lack of updates - no mobile signal through Mauritania, very limited in Senegal, and the local SIM we bought in the Gambia didn't want to send international SMS...

It's really not very pleasant to be back, y'know. Cold, grey, cold, crowded, cold....

Got back 6pm last night to Gatwick and rented a Fiat Stilo rather than brave the trains with our bags.

Quite a nice one - rescued from a scrappy. No problems with it, shame about one of the occupants...

It was actually a (quite nice, when it left) 16v, chipped to 200bhp. One very shagged alloy, half a front bumper awol, and some rather expensive engine noises by the end.

With a very patched chassis that ended up with heavy squeeky steering... One very bent rear arm, plenty of flat tyres, and some charging problems due to worn brushes, leading to a dead battery.

No problems,

No problems.

Next time, I would. Probably a diseasel LHD ZX estate. Nothing interesting, though.

The two Johns are damn fine people.

Exactly.

And that's the REAL logic. I did actually shed a small tear when we said goodbye to Sven the Saab, so imagine what I'd have been like if we'd taken a

2cv or a CX!

Probs on Sven were very limited, but he was definitely tired by the time we got there. Watch our website for more detail over the next few days, chaps.

I would say it's good to be back, but - dammit - I'd be lying!

A.

interesting,

Why not a GTi? It is still in my driveway - for nowt - gives you plenty of fettling time - Go on - you know you want to...

CAS

CAS ( snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

GTi what? BX? Yep, could do. CX? No. Wouldn't sell well out there. In West Africa, there's PLENTY of French cars, but very few Cits. Those Cits that are there are not hydraulically suspended. NOTHING is petrol. It's illegal to register anything RHD in the Gambia. There's very few private cars, mainly taxis, so forget 2/3dr.

In West Africa, there's a quite simple rule of thumb - If it isn't a Renault or Peugeot or a Jap 4x4, then it's a mid-range Merc. In Morocco, add a pile of small Fiats to that mix.

That's why so many of the cars that went sold so badly at the auctions, but others sold unbelievably well. LHD or Diesel or Mercs.

BX 8 Valve. F Reg.

Yours for nowt (or if you want to be fly with the £100 rule I can get a ton's worth of bits and lob 'em in the boot for you!), I might even be able to deliver depending on where you are.

Cheers

Calum

Message i.d.:, by author Adrian aka inspired me,

Heh heh heh. That'll teach you. Don't go into the heat. You might get used to it.

[snip]

Ough. That would be hard

We will.

There must be something good about coming back. Having the milk delivered to your door, driving on the right side of the road, understanding the max. allowd speed, drinking tesco's tea, your collegues welcoming you back with a hug and your newsgroup waiting in anticipation for your stories (pictures, we want pictures!). Great to have you back.

CAS ( snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Thanks, and it sounds tempting - but not for me - I'm not doing the Plymouth-Dakar again, and if I was, the one non-negotiable on the car would be LHD - it'll fetch FAR more over there for the charities.

2Rowdy ( snipped-for-privacy@deadspam.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

We don't.

FAR too many other people doing that

Heh. These things can be worked around... We got stopped at a police checkpoint in the Gambia, and plod found the local (useless piece of paper) insurance had run out. "Very serious offence", "Impound your car".... Nah, packet of ciggies changing hands soon sorted that one out....

Joy.

Well, the cat.

Watch the website over the next couple of days. Films going in to develop tomorrow.

Ta! Can I go back there yet?

Message i.d.:, by author Adrian aka inspired me,

I was thinking about things that are typical Brits :-)

Wouldn't it be great if that would work out here too.

You are free to stay ;-)