Billy Bremner, The Fantom and ValeRian....

[BillyBremner 10]

WOOOOO! I am The Fantom!!!

Well, not really but kind of - its my gmail nom-de-plume.

Anyway, Ive spent the whole of my driving life with VWs.

My first car was an 800cc Mk1 Polo back in 1987. ECH89T. Light blue, Polo hatch. Went everywhere in it.

But then came the Beetles. Oh the Beetles. And how my life changed forever. Welding, engines out, this is where life really started.

SGK838L. Red, 1300 Beetle - that I found out to my horror used to be light blue - like the Polo. A respray. 1990. The year of the Beetle Revival.

Then there was an Apple Green 1303. I cant remember the reg. It was better than the red one, but life was getting hard.

Cue Polo no2 - a mark 2 Polo 'mini-estate' in Burgundy - remember them? Great car. Bought it off my mates mum for £450. Ran like a dream. Loved it.

Then some jerk in a Mitsubishi Shogun with a private plate goes and runs in the back of it whilst I was stopped at the lights. Stopped at the flamin lights!! Idiot. Thankfully my insurance let me buy it back and gave me £800 for it so I was happy again. As my dad advised me to I left the damage alone - because the boot still opened and shut despiute the distortion in the metal. He said the seal was good and the repair wasnt worth it. He was right. So I drove it and drove it and drove it some more. Until, the arrival of my daughter, and the move to the Golf Mk3 estate.

Yes. Yes. and Yes again. Amazing. I had everything I had ever wanted in that car. Truly the best car I have ever ownned. So good that I kept it fo 9 years and then later went out and bought another - exactly the same - even the same colour. But the first one, R927LFV was a 1.9TDi with 2 owners and full VW history.

I gave £800 for it and ran it for 9 years. It only ever wanted consumables. It returned 100 miles for £10. It moved house for me 3 times. It did everything that was ever asked of it with a smile on its face. I took it everywhere and put 120,000 miles on top of the 120,000 it came with. When the end finally came, I sold the engine to a guy with a T4 for £500. The total cost of purchase worked out at £33.33 PER YEAR. I wouldnt have parted with it but the rusty body was causing my wife much embarassment. And by then, Id already got (and still have) the 2nd TDi, another MK3, but this one the GL model with 110k Miles fully serviced, sunroof, air con and very comfy seats. Again, this car returns 100 miles for £10 of diesel. My MOT inspector is stunned. I gave £500 for it 4 years ago. I would drive it to China tomorrow and I wouldnt even think twice about it. And then theres the T4 that I stumbled across and just had to buy. My T4. My beautiful, lovely, gorgeous old T4 Caravelle GL, 2.5 Petrol Auto. My king size bed on wheels. The luxury that I allow myself. The smile it brings to my face and to my heart.

And now this. The Corrado. ValeRian - as named by my daughter (shes a Gary Numan fan - but its clever as the overall theme is BLACK and the V and R are in there ;).

Black with black leather. VR6, 1995, 199k, 2 owners, full history. Why? Because I just couldnt help it. Work has already started.

But you dont want to know about that do you...?

Did I ever tell you about this Dragon Green Golf Mk3 estate Ive got? The power that AHU TDi can bang into those wheels....? ;)

[BillyBremner 10]

Does this count as my second post?

I cant seem to upload any pics of the car but Im not sure if thats because Im new or theres a limit on the filesize?

[tonedef 9]

Welcome to the forum, I want to read more already!!!

[BillyBremner 10]

And now everything Im sayingseems to be a question - Isnt that called Uptalk?

Dont you hate it when people speak like that?

God, I cant wait for my replacement Rad Support to arrive.........

Wish I could upload some pics for you..........

Do I really have to reply to myself another 3 times?

[BillyBremner 10]

The damn thing is stuck at the UK Mail depot at Middleton. Theyve misplaced it.

Now there is tension.......and Jeff at the bodyshop is chewing the carpet.... and his dog - who looks more like him than he does - is, as usual, showing no interest whatsoever .........

[BillyBremner 10]

That was surely my 4th post.......?

Can someone please advise on uploading a pic of the car?

I`ll be found dead next spring at this rate..........

[BillyBremner 10]

Hi to Tonedef - thanks for keeping me company!

(this is surely now post no6...?)

Im going to take the T4 to the Snake Pass tomight I think, and wait to see what happens.

If UK Mail find the Rad Support then I will be able to pick it up on the way back to Wigan.

If they dont, I`ll drive down to the breakers and get one in my hand.

Gods teeth, this is terrifying.

Jeff wants to paint on Monday!

Then, maybe I can post you some pics. Fingers crossed eh.............

[BillyBremner 10]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]94702[/ATTACH]

Resized via Picresize website - which is not a plug - but it did the trick.

Other picture resizing websites are available I dare say.

Ok, Ive chewed your ears enough now, I`ll sign off and see you later - hopefully with a Rad Support in my hand :smug:

Edited August 10, 2018 by BillyBremner

[BillyBremner 10]

Got the Rad Support now, and its an absolute blinder. Very pleased with that.

Also picked up a drivers window (as the old one had an annoying scratch) and even a Charcoal Filter bracket in good order - and those things just turn to dust most of the time.

Dropped them all with Jeff in a torrential downpour - work resumes tomorrow.

[robrado974 1]

Welcome along . You have a daughter who is a Numan fan , cool !.

[BillyBremner 10]

Yes indeed. shes got all my old vinyl. Numan was ace - when he released Are Friends Electric I saw it on Top Of The Pops. Id never heard anything like that before, it was great.

[BillyBremner 10]

This is the Rad Support we put in...........Isnt it a beauty?

[ATTACH=CONFIG]94819[/ATTACH]

Shotblasted, sorted and painted extra thick.

Edited August 17, 2018 by BillyBremner

[robrado974 1]

Always nice to fit nice shiny parts .

I’m a life long fan too , maybe not so much the new stuff though. Last time I saw him live was at Hammersmith in the 80s .

[BillyBremner 10]

Same here. EVerything up to Telekon. After that, nothing until Splinter maybe.

The Pleasure Principle is still wall to wall quality though, even now, 39 years after I first bought it at release.

We saw him at Preston Guild Hall in March I think it was - he was great.

[robrado974 1]

Your thread could turn into a Numan thread lol. Agreed though the pleasure principle was amazing, Telekon was a great album too .The last tour I saw was the skin mechanic tour .

[BillyBremner 10]

Maybe we should turn this thread into a Numan thread yes, Ive started a build log in the Member Gallery section now and as I understand it this thread will be deleted if its inactive for 90 days or so, so we can Numan away right here pal!

My fave track is still Metal. I just love the synth sound at the beginning. And Are Friends Electric - of course. Simply genius.

These days we have used our ispiration and love of early Numan to make our own synth based music right here at The Fantom HQ.

Its on YouTube under 'Fantom Aeronautics' and if you google it, it comes up there too.

Have a listen if you like, its not particularly Numan, although you may notice odd chord changes that hint at his stuff.

Its more influenced by Punk, Rave, Jazz, Lounge Music, sound effects, aircraft noise and Acid House. Eclectic, eh :scratch:

Ive never intentionally publicised it, we do it for fun. 'Revenge of the Wave Speed Cosmonaut' is probably the archetypal Fantom track so far, and its miles easier than the 30 years I did in a punk band, dragging the singer out of the pub, only to have the drummer cancel half an hour later. It got a real waste of my time.

:bad-words:

Edited August 17, 2018 by BillyBremner

[robrado974 1]

The punk life sounds interesting lol . I will take a look at your stuff on YouTube. Metal is up there with my favourites too . So many great tracks though. I was at a mates house a few years back , don’t quote me , I think it was a snoop doggy dog cd I was reading the back of , I don’t know why . But in the credits he said “without Gary Numan we would not have what we have today, I was quite surprised. I always thought John fox should get more credit for what he did for synth music too.

[tonedef 9]

I go away from this thread for a while and come back to find it’s turned into the Gary Numan/Tubeway Army archive!

 

Only went to see him once, October 79 at Sheffield City Hall, my first gig ever, loved it, remember Billie Currie from Ultravox walking around the stage playing violin......how can nobody have mentioned Down in the Park yet, my personal favourite? My daughter now has all my albums and singles too as I handed over the job lot when she started listening to Bowie. I’m not sure she’s discovered Numan yet!

[robrado974 1]

Wasn’t he riding round in a Sinclair on stage whilst performing down in the park ?. The tour was “living ornaments “ ? . Me and my cousin have the double album, but his has the program inside it , sadly I don’t have one .

[Erallus 10]

My second car was a red Mk3 GL. They get a lot of hate. But compared to my metro as a first car it was a dream. Felt like I'd made it lol! (Bought for 500 quid) .

 

Tempted by t5 for the family bit silly expensive . Love the photos. It's all about file size with this forum and getting the photoes on.

[BillyBremner 10]

So it's officially VDubs and Numan here! Great stuff. MK3 golf, never understood why they get a tough press. Doesn't matter though, because that means there's more around for me to buy. Spotted a MK2 golf gti16v in a garage yard whilst U turning the T4 off my beaten track today, body looked good, wonder what the problem was. I will go back sometime and ask what the deal is with that. MK4 golf is about as new as I want to go. Speaking of T5 tho, I Saw a T5 blow it's engine on the M6 the other week - I still don't believe it's a better bet than the T4. My mate Terry has a T5 too, he limped it up to Buttermere in June for the annual fliers meet with an EGR failure. A lot of T5 horror stories. I don't think I want one. I like my old German metal. Maybe I'm crazy I don't know.

[BillyBremner 10]

I need to check out John Fox, he is someone I have neglected. Please pass on names of any outstanding tracks pal, cheers :)

[BillyBremner 10]

Down in the Park! Well of course. Quite terrifying really. Complex too, Numan celebrating his Asperger's surely. DON'T LET THEM TOUCH ME!! ;) Films and ME , I Die You Die. Someone will have to seriously resist mentioning Cars too won't they ;) The sleeve of Replicas is just amazing isn't it. He looks so inhuman. I think it's only fair to credit Numan with the invention of the imagery of male Goth for the Goths there. Siouxsie Sioux for the girls guide-lines, but Numan cut it proper for the guys with that. Pete Murphy never looked that cool. Numan really was breaking new ground, like he was the 5th Sex Pistol.