craigowl

Could be - we visited the five or so villages on the East Neuk of Fife that day.

We went away on trip of 5 days with C to Braemar and district last week. Showery at times, but when sun was out the grandeur and sheer natural beauty of the area reminded me again that we can have plenty of enjoyment staying within the UK. Braemar is set in stunning scenery with everything for the casual stroller to those who like more serious stuff like 24 mile walks through one of our most challenging mountain massifs (Cairngorms). I first went there in 1963 with 3 school mates and stayed in Youth Hostel. Though sited on the valley floor, the village is at one thousand feet above sea level,and the River Dee, starting on Braeriach in Cairngorms at over 4000' makes its long and tortuous way past Royal Deeside to Aberdeen, where it empties into the North Sea. Queen Victoria picked this area as her summer resort after considering several other locations and had Balmoral Castle built. The UK record minimum temperature of - 27.2C (recorded twice, in the past 120 years) reminds you of the attractions available to thousands who also visit the area in winter. We stayed in an archetypal Victorian-built hotel - £99/person DB&B for four nights. Bargain! if you don't need gourmet food and 4 star accomodation. Many of the male guests in the hotel on coach tours looked like JR Hartley - surely we ain't as old as that yet! Plenty of drink around, but no "loutish behaviour"! Some elderly Yorkshire folk there were heard to tell a tale or two of exotic places south of the Border.. ".....yeah - between 'alifax and Brig'ouse it were." and "...they come down t'lick salt off t'road." The mind boggles. Car behaved perfectly - 38mpg on some runs, though you do wonder everytime the sunroof is opened if it will close again! :bad-words: German couple on Moto Gucci and BMW bikes, we met at layby on upper Deeside.

Probably something along the style accompanied by a Barry White track for you dudes down south. For us up here so far away? Well, we can only dream. :camp:

Yep! - kev's sticking up for our dinkypoos. :salute: And that, folks, is because we all lurve him so much.

I think I nearly understand what you are trying to say, big ben. I like and laugh at Clarkson's material 99% of the time. Clearly, on balance, I don't expect to be switching Top Gear off if he maintains that form. Common sense & brilliant? Steady, now. :roll:

Kev says ..."It's fine to joke about a pop legend dying, but not OK to joke about killing prostitutes? Jackson was just a simple man trying to please everybody and the prozzies put themselves in danger through choice, I have no sympathy, sorry." :epicfail: Please refer to the Michael Jackson thread and see what I said/did not say. You are very much mistaken if you think I took part in those jokes, quite the reverse in fact. Also, decent girls from socially responsible families can descend into the grim world of drugs and prostitution. Anyone's daughter can be swallowed up in that trap. You seem to think they all deserve what they get. Most ungracious of you, but symptomatic of the society we now live in. With respect, you do not really have to tell someone who was born 64 years ago that, in life, shit happens. No hard feelings anyway, you just got a fact wrong and we have different views on another matter. :)

Thumbs down - Clarkson threw in another "killing a prostitute" quip this week or last. Very cheap shot - further loss of credibility. Thumbs up - I don't browse youtube much, so the Block thing was new to me. Very impressive and stunning visually. The big skies and deserts of the US (plus some photo gimicks) can provide awesome images. Thumbs up - James May? Captain Slow? - I'm kinda with him - I nearly had the hair, too, once upon a time. :lol:

You are supplied with the bolt on wires and, IIRC, croc clips, too.

Good to see dr_mat coming in on this one. He and I, I believe, are of the opinion that the Corrado's talent for draining batteries has led to a large number of sound ones being binned and replacements bought. My battery is a Quantum installed 27/6/02 and costing £60 from VAG. Trickle charger photos include: Unit in garage Showing unit to battery cable - it is 4.2 metres long. Connector at bonnet Battery and wiring

On mine, bonnet is down. Plug for lead I leave sticking out - will put up pic later. Tuck plug away when using car. My C is often left for 2 weeks or more. One of best things I have bought is trickle charger. No more cursing low battery! :clap:

http://www.airflow-uk.com/shop_accessor ... ioner.html After reading about this one on a classic car forum, I have been using for about four years now. Car is always raring to go and battery is 8-year old Quantum. However, the car is garaged. If you can get a lead outside to your car from charger indoors or in garage, your flat/low battery probs will be over.

We seriously considered a new Triumph GT6 as our next car in 1972. Really good looking car in the flesh, too. MGB GT, was more desirable but too expensive. We went to the hills a lot and even considered a Land Rover, too! Cost about £1200 then I think.

A guy in a big BMW pulled out from a hotel driveway on the left, right in front of me yesterday. I was doing about 35 having just come away from a Give Way and had to do an emergency stop. Nice, short and evenly balanced screech from the Yaris's tyres on hot dry tarmac! A couple of metres to spare. Great luck that no one went into the back of me, too. The reason? I still had left turn indicator going, so he thought I was going to turn off into where he was coming out from. Being a hot day, we both had our windows open and he shouted "Your indicator was going, mate, that's why I did it." He would probably have been blamed most in the event of a collision. Three lessons to be learnt here. 1) Never assume someone coming from, say, your right when you are at a halt at a t-junction, is going to turn left just up from you if their indicator is signalling so. (Our local street gives way to a main road. Years ago, my wife was nearly caught out, so we have both been very careful over the past 30 years here after an early scare. Trouble is, quite a few cars do, indeed, turn left up into our street, but you cannot count on it 100%. 2) Toyota - sharpen up! Your indicator ticking noise is almost inaudible (after the "inferior" Peugeot, lol) and the penny-pinching ploy of placing the dashboard instrument display centrally to "suit" both left and right hand drive purposes means you can hardly see the puny green indicator light winking. 3) Craigowl and them wot's as dozy, stop playing music too loud and having windows wide open so that traffic roar means you are unaware that you have not cancelled a signal, OR, get used to cancelling without having to be aware of visual and audible warning that indicator is flashing.

Just realised, pics I had on old website gallery not here. Putting them on now. locations are: Forth Railway Bridge, South Queensferry Glencoe Fife fishing village (forget which one!) - Someone Fay Fife will know. :roll:

Anyone else recognise this scenario? Plenty I know. You park your C in the car park as far from the activities of the madding crowd as you can! My local B&Q - Falkirk. I have been going there since about 1980.

Fiat build quality and dealership has ranked poorly as long as I have known. Cheap and good to drive, so I believe, but where, for example, are the preserved examples of onetime "Car of the Year" - the first ever hatchback, the Fiat 127, sporty 124, Alfasuds, etc. etc. of the 1970s? All turned to scrap and rust long ago, that's where.

Contemporary road test of Citroen SM

originals are b&w, aide.

While I have the old mags/books out:

Old Capri - 3.0 (occnl 3.1 IIRC) were taken most seriously. All so inefficient compared with today, though.

Ah, the era of good taste and style Nice flares, Dad!

Ach!....dr_mat, behave yourself and get on with your work! :wink:

Pic shows Yarice (gettit?) admiring Corrado's behind and wondering why 14-year old gets to live in garage. :confused4: To be fair, the Yaris is great to drive, though those of you who like karts will not appreciate it being higher than Pug 205 with consequent lean on bends. OK if you are the driver, but the missus as passenger ain't appreciative. She has used it 80% of the time and it is a car you look forward to driving - probably as we have not experienced that "new car feel" since 1991. Amazing occupant space with highest headroom I have known. 55-60 to the gallon and brisker performance better than our 1.6 Manta, Capri and other vehicles regarded as sporty of that era, so we think it is an incredible step forward in engine technology. 6 gears but forget 6th unless you are on open straight road such as Mway. Engine seems to run at 1400-2000 rpm a lot of the time at moderate speeds. Great solidity and engineering - makes me think all the 1995 bushes on the Corrado need to be replaced! Analogue speedo and rev counter are vivid displays on SR, but digital odometer/consumption readouts, etc cannot be read if you are wearing sunglasses and have to be changed by reaching out to press button. In customer questionnaire I said they should have 'em like in the Corrado - on the end of the stalk! Oh - see you down the garden centre in my flannels, bonnet and gaberdine coat! :lol:

I have a nearly-new set kicking around from Pug 205. Anyone use this make on a Corrado? Mont Blanc say they do not do a fitting for Corrado. Looks to me as if the "gutterless" fitting for the Pug would fit Corrado OK. Any comments, guys?

I recently found the regional variation of the diesel/petrol differential puzzling. Here in the more densely populated central belt, diesel has usually been about 10p/ltr dearer, though it does vary a little. A couple of weeks ago I noticed that in rural areas of Argyll/Stirlingshire the differential was less than 5p/ltr. Overall, prices there were higher, but why only a few pence difference between diesel and petrol? Any similarities to this pattern out in the sticks in rural England and Wales?