Tuesday, August 30, 2011

August update - safely to the celebrations in Georgemarienhuette and back


Theresa and I drove both of our type 34s to the 50 years of the Type 34 celebration in Germany - I don't think there was any other husband and wife partnership doing this or indeed taking 2 cars from the same family. Our daughter joined us to show the depth of our obsession!
Well the 62 made it all the way without any major mechanical failure. I view this as a major achievement; it had only completed 300 miles before setting off on a 1200 mile return journey and had experienced a challenging life in its' attempts to get back fully on the road over the past 2 years. If I wondered why this car struggled to get back on the road I only had to look at the photos of the early stages of its' restoration and the pile of scrap it actually was - no mean feat to get the car to GMH in as original condition and to be the oldest car present as well was fantastic. The restoration was truly a huge task involving major transplants of pieces to bring it together.
To follow the same medical theme it did suffer from what I will call 'organ rejection' during its journey with a number of pieces being determined to drop off or become unglued along the way. All were quickly repositioned without major fuss.
It was great to travel to GMH with John & Lyn Figg and Mike & Astrid Kelly and fantastic to stop at Johannes Krassenbrink's in Altenberge and stay with him and Andrea there overnight before being lead by his outstanding 62 T34 to the showground at GMH via some great countryside. Thanks Johannes, your car was an inspiration to me during my own rebuild and looked outstanding.
I will cover off the event at GMH in some separate postings, absolutely fantastic event, even the rain and a fall whilst at the event, which lead me to crack a number of ribs, didn't deter me from keeping driving and enjoying the event. A huge well done to my wonderful wife Theresa for driving our 65 all the way to GMH and supporting me through the restoration and ensuring I continued with it as a panacea for a chronic ongoing illness.
So at this stage I am wondering whether to keep the blog going or draw it to a close as the car has now achieved my goal of getting to GMH - any views?
Due to a change in circumstances I may also have to consider selling the 62 - this is not definite yet and would be done only as a last resort. I would be looking for it to go to an exceptional home and at an appropriate price to reflect its' condition and early production date and my lack of desire to part with it. No customisers will be considered!

5 comments:

Scott said...

Hi Andy,

Congrats on your family's successful round trip to GMH in your Type 34s and for managing to have the oldest one there! Sorry to hear you may consider selling. By all means keep the blog going if you can -- it's been a repository for some really valuable information that has been a great help to me and many others!

spantet said...

Yes, keep the blog going!

spantet said...

yes! Keep the blog going!

Carsten Klein said...

I would definately be interested andy!!
regards carsten

Carsten Klein said...

there was another pair in gemahue andy :-)))
my wife drove our 64 coupe and i drove my 64 lorenz vert :-))))

video of our 65 on the motorway

video of our 65 on the M40 taken by Paul  Donovan https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5pXVCcqGfA