Early start for my 500 mile drive to Scotland for Christmas. Left Burnham at 6:45 aiming to arrive within 15 hours. In theory the Landrover will do 60, so find a nice slow lorry and tailgate it until it turns off. Luckily it’s nice and warm so no problems with the poor heater. I rate myself as having a 50% chance of arriving without RAC assistance and a 25% chance of arriving on a lorry.
Update 7:30: Well I left ok, Landrover started, cup of coffee in the cup holder (an old boot). Found a lorry and tried to tailgate but the landy doesn’t like it. The temperature gauge is rising and the auxiliary fan is producing a burning smell, perhaps I’ll slow down.
Update after dawn: I have been turning main beam on and off (flashing) to let lorries know it’s safe to pull back in having gone past. Now I’ve turned my headlights off they’ve stopped saying thank you. An experiment under a bridge shows that’s because the flasher isn’t working. Using the headlight switch doesn’t seem to be being noticed so the headlights go back on.
Update at M42 junction: Well if I keep slow the temp isn’t too high, but it isn’t normal, 40mph limit through roadworks should do it J, but it doesn’t. It seems 40mph is too slow for the airflow to cool the engine!
Update: Well I’ve stopped at Brum because the landy is very warm and I can’t get the temp down. I’ve tried the fan but the burning smell is unpleasant. While stationary I discover that the fan switch is no longer operating the fan, it just creates the burning smell, useful.
Update: Back on the motorway taking it easy in the high 40’s/low 50’s trying to keep out of the way of lorries. Temp gauge stable and coffee refreshed.
Update at about 230 miles: It’s stopped raining, but setting the wipers going after some spray has left them pointing dead upright and not moving. Looks like the RAC will be needed at the next rain burst.
Update at last big junction: It’s a busy 4-lane motorway, I need Lane 3 for the M6 north, I’m doing 48 mph and I’ve a mile to get across. See gap and go, see a gap and Go. Wow, this isn’t nice, and still over half a mile to go. Foot down, 56mph feels safer, hope I get to the junction before I overheat!
Update at Lancaster: Stopped for lunch and to let the engine cool down, I did make it, just. Wipers won’t budge and I have no tools, luckily still dry. Temperature under control provided I keep speeds down, so saving going fast (55mph) for when it’s needed.
Update in Scotland: It’s starting to rain again, services in 10 miles, if it gets too wet it’ll be the hard shoulder, otherwise stop at the services till it stops raining. 2 miles later I can still see and it’s stopped, the airflow is drying the windscreen and all is fine again. This happens 2 or 3 more times.
Update at Stirling: Stopped for a last break and some fuel, trip distance is 20 miles out on what was expected, but MPG seems to be about 30mpg, which is excellent for an old Landy.
Update after another 10 miles: Well it’s raining, I’m following a coach and the spray pattern combined with the rain means I can still see. I possibly should stop, but this rain looks set to last, whilst I have a coach to follow and can still see I’ll keep going.
Update after Tyndrum: Still going, rain reduced and visibility improved, but the latest fast straight and steep hill has raised the temperature too far, I’ve slowed and lost the coach. At least the main beam on the headlights is excellent, Country Rovers in Taunton did a good thing fitting new ones!
Update on Rannoch Moor: Well all on my lonesome traffic wise, generally I’ve slowed right down to try and manage the temperature and the visibility which seems to be low cloud, seeing headlights behind me I slow to let them past. I stop a few times to manually clear the windscreen and/or let the rain ease. Close enough now that I won’t need the RAC, today at any rate.
Update near the top of Glencoe: Fire! I plugged my auxiliary heater into the cigarette lighter as it’s really rather cold, and the back of the lighter has caught something on fire, I quickly unplug the heater and bash the fire out with my gloved hand.
Update 7:15ish: Arrived. Exhausted. Can’t be bothered to park; I leave the landy in the road and throw the keys at my brother, it’s his problem now. He asks me when the headlight stopped working.
Summary: I made it without any incident for the police to be interested in, although I can’t say the vehicle I’m delivering is in a roadworthy condition anymore and I certainly wouldn’t set out on a journey further than the local garage in it. Things that broke:
Auxiliary Fan – before I left probably
Headlight Flasher – before I left probably
Wipers – after 230 miles
Nearside Headlight – unknown
Cigarette lighter – technically still works, but I’d check the wiring – 485 miles
But the brakes, steering, engine, suspension, heater, indicators, gearbox, tyres, clutch, all still work.
The plan was to see which could cover the length of the hall in the quickest time, but it quickly became apparent that finding which could cover the greatest distance was a challenge. I had a 'here's one I made earlier' with me which was pretty useless, however it seems it's more difficult than you think and my useless car achieved second place (a bit of luck that it went straight - once, coupled with burst balloons and an inability by some to blow up their balloons enough and keep the air in them while putting them on the floor). Actually thinking about it I did change my design - I copied the kids and put the big wheels on the front rather than the back - it makes a huge improvement for a number of reasons!
