Cat and Simon drove the Duchess back from Rome and the final journey statistics are:
Huntingdon -> Calais -> Luxembourg -> Sarnen -> Andermatt ->Chur -> Aprica -> Viterbo ->Bracciano -> Rome -> Florence -> Baveno -> Andermatt -> Freiberg -> Strasbourg -> Rheims -> Calais -> Cambridge.
Distance: 2898.7 miles
Average Speed: 44.4 mph
Fuel used: 121 gallons
Average MPG: 23.9
Final odometer reading: 191514 miles
I didn't record ho much water and oil the old girl used either but it was quite a lot ;-)
-Simon.
Thursday 2 October 2008
Monday 22 September 2008
Day 4 - Viterbo to Rome
The final leg
We awoke bright and early and set out on a mission to find a mechanic named Ferruzzi, following the excellent directions provided to us during the previous night's drinking. It turns out that Viterbo is a bit of a maze and that the Satnav hadn't been updated to include the huge variety of one-way streets. Eventually we found what looked like a small local mechnic in about the right place. However, a quick chat with the mechanic, a gentle whistle and an excellent "Mamma Mia!" told us all we needed to know: This clearly wasn't the right place!
Luckily using a bit of Italian and much hand waving pointed us in the right direction, it turned out eventually that Mr Ferruzzi was next door. This time, after a massive 5 metre test drive, the challenge was met with a smile and a knowing nod. We were instructed that it would take an hour to fix so went for a wander in Viterbo. It turns out that the old part of the city is a beautiful mix of narrow streets and medieval architecture which was a pleasant suprise. We returned, waited, saw the parts arrive, waited a little longer and finally the Duchess was returned to us, brakes now fixed! Parts and labour came to an unbelievably cheap €132, so if you have an XJ40 and need work doing on it then drive to Viterbo and see Mr Ferruzzi!
Good to go, we set off and decided to head for Rome via Bracciano. Some beautiful countryside awaited us, as did Italian roads and a healthy 4 litre straight six engine; All in all a good place to be! The whole experience was topped off with Queen's Greatest Hits 2 blasting out from the stereo, as it has pretty much the whole journey; We only brought the one tape, but what a tape! Bracciano is even more beautiful than Viterbo, and after a quick walk around we sat down to another amazing Italian meal.
The final stretch involved a blast through central Rome at rush hour to reach the finishing point at the Piazza Navona (completely ignoring the rally oranisers suggestion to park on the outskirts and get a taxi in). Suffice to say it was rather hectic and Itallian driving is a unique, slightly daunting and rather enjoyable challenge. We arrived parked up and took a few happy snaps to proove the car reached Rome.
Satisfied with our success, we again braved the rush hour for an entertaining drive to the hotel in Ciampino, right past the Trevi Fountain and the Colliseum! We even made it back here without being crashed into, despite the best efforts of both Locals and Si.
That's it, mission complete, journey over, success. Final statistics:
Average Fuel Consumption: 23.9 MPG
Fuel Used: 60.7 Gallons
Ave. Speed: 42.7 MPH
Total Distance: 1453.1 Miles
We awoke bright and early and set out on a mission to find a mechanic named Ferruzzi, following the excellent directions provided to us during the previous night's drinking. It turns out that Viterbo is a bit of a maze and that the Satnav hadn't been updated to include the huge variety of one-way streets. Eventually we found what looked like a small local mechnic in about the right place. However, a quick chat with the mechanic, a gentle whistle and an excellent "Mamma Mia!" told us all we needed to know: This clearly wasn't the right place!
Luckily using a bit of Italian and much hand waving pointed us in the right direction, it turned out eventually that Mr Ferruzzi was next door. This time, after a massive 5 metre test drive, the challenge was met with a smile and a knowing nod. We were instructed that it would take an hour to fix so went for a wander in Viterbo. It turns out that the old part of the city is a beautiful mix of narrow streets and medieval architecture which was a pleasant suprise. We returned, waited, saw the parts arrive, waited a little longer and finally the Duchess was returned to us, brakes now fixed! Parts and labour came to an unbelievably cheap €132, so if you have an XJ40 and need work doing on it then drive to Viterbo and see Mr Ferruzzi!
Good to go, we set off and decided to head for Rome via Bracciano. Some beautiful countryside awaited us, as did Italian roads and a healthy 4 litre straight six engine; All in all a good place to be! The whole experience was topped off with Queen's Greatest Hits 2 blasting out from the stereo, as it has pretty much the whole journey; We only brought the one tape, but what a tape! Bracciano is even more beautiful than Viterbo, and after a quick walk around we sat down to another amazing Italian meal.
The final stretch involved a blast through central Rome at rush hour to reach the finishing point at the Piazza Navona (completely ignoring the rally oranisers suggestion to park on the outskirts and get a taxi in). Suffice to say it was rather hectic and Itallian driving is a unique, slightly daunting and rather enjoyable challenge. We arrived parked up and took a few happy snaps to proove the car reached Rome.
Satisfied with our success, we again braved the rush hour for an entertaining drive to the hotel in Ciampino, right past the Trevi Fountain and the Colliseum! We even made it back here without being crashed into, despite the best efforts of both Locals and Si.
That's it, mission complete, journey over, success. Final statistics:
Average Fuel Consumption: 23.9 MPG
Fuel Used: 60.7 Gallons
Ave. Speed: 42.7 MPH
Total Distance: 1453.1 Miles
Sunday 21 September 2008
Stop Press!
We forgot to add the statistics for today! These are all since Huntingdon:
Overall Average MPG: 24.4
Average speed: 47.7 mph
Distance: 1379 miles
Fuel Used: 56.3 gallons.
One last statistic - during today's very careful driving, Ian managed to get a staggering 34.4 mpg!
That's it - except to say that we've asked around at various places this evening and have a piece of paper with the locations of three different mechanics drawn on it so hopefully the Duchess will be fixed for a blast down to Rome later on tomorow.....
Overall Average MPG: 24.4
Average speed: 47.7 mph
Distance: 1379 miles
Fuel Used: 56.3 gallons.
One last statistic - during today's very careful driving, Ian managed to get a staggering 34.4 mpg!
That's it - except to say that we've asked around at various places this evening and have a piece of paper with the locations of three different mechanics drawn on it so hopefully the Duchess will be fixed for a blast down to Rome later on tomorow.....
Day 3 Aprica to Viterbo.
We can't believe it! We found a decent hotel AND a restaurant in Aprica! It seems that the way to do it is to ignore the arrangements made by the rally organisers and book your own place. We stayed in Hotel Meuble Stelvio which was very clean and welll appointed, and run by a very helpful and friendly man. The resturant was just oposite and we were pleased to find that they offered Chateau Briand and a very morish Nebbiolo wine to go with it.
It's just as well that the hotel was so cheap because buying drinks for all the people who helped get the Daimler going again nearly bankrupted us. It was worth it though.
Last night we were a bit worried about the old girl's brakes so we got up early to investigate the grinding sound we were hearing which was accompanied by rather vague braking. Unfortunately investigation in the main square in Aprica revealed that we have about 3mm of brake pad on both outer front pads and are down to the metal on the inners. This was not good news! I suppose that the engine braking in the Alps saved her less than we'd hoped.
We had a decision to make: try to fix her in Aprica before blasting down to Viterbo; or hoping for the best and setting off, down the big old hill out of Aprica. Seeing as it was a Sunday morning and the whole of Italy was busy praising the Lord we had no choice but to hope for the best.
Ian was nominated as the first driver of the day, and we set off. To be honest, at the end of the day, when all's said and done, the physics wasn't in our favour: a 2 tonne, 140 mph car, 386 miles to go and no brakes unless in an absolute emergency. Mr. Bighead deserves a large pat on the back and even larger beer because he piloted the car all day and only used the brakes about 5 times until we got to Viterbo. It's amazing what well-timed engine braking does for the fuel economy, too. We could make comments about Grandad driving here (for which he's famous) but I've not seen many Grandads barrelling a 2 tonne car at 90mph when they've had no brakes.
A quick mention should be made for a particularly skilful bit of driving that he achieved while we stopped in a petrol station. Eventually. Careering into a petrol station for a well timed leak stop at 50MPH and not using the brakes, he narrowly missed a lady in a Fiat who looked very surprised to see a BRG lump shoot past her and slalom between her and a fellow S2Ner fulfilling today's challenge. (Key word is MISSED... -Ian)
The Duchess has also had a bit of an engine issue that's been gradualy getting worse. There's always a hint of hesitancy and irregular running on the over-run. We found out in Aprica that one of the other Jag-teams has a stock of spares and they very kindly lent us a replacement air-flow meter which we fitted in Viterbo and things seem a lot improved. Shame on them for not taking brake pads with them as well ;-)
We've given up on the rally challenges now so tomorrow's challenge for us is to track down an Italian Jag-mechanic or at the very least a set of replacement brake pads so that we can continue to Rome where the finish line awaits....
A photo update can be found in the usual place (see previous posts).
-Simon.
It's just as well that the hotel was so cheap because buying drinks for all the people who helped get the Daimler going again nearly bankrupted us. It was worth it though.
Last night we were a bit worried about the old girl's brakes so we got up early to investigate the grinding sound we were hearing which was accompanied by rather vague braking. Unfortunately investigation in the main square in Aprica revealed that we have about 3mm of brake pad on both outer front pads and are down to the metal on the inners. This was not good news! I suppose that the engine braking in the Alps saved her less than we'd hoped.
We had a decision to make: try to fix her in Aprica before blasting down to Viterbo; or hoping for the best and setting off, down the big old hill out of Aprica. Seeing as it was a Sunday morning and the whole of Italy was busy praising the Lord we had no choice but to hope for the best.
Ian was nominated as the first driver of the day, and we set off. To be honest, at the end of the day, when all's said and done, the physics wasn't in our favour: a 2 tonne, 140 mph car, 386 miles to go and no brakes unless in an absolute emergency. Mr. Bighead deserves a large pat on the back and even larger beer because he piloted the car all day and only used the brakes about 5 times until we got to Viterbo. It's amazing what well-timed engine braking does for the fuel economy, too. We could make comments about Grandad driving here (for which he's famous) but I've not seen many Grandads barrelling a 2 tonne car at 90mph when they've had no brakes.
A quick mention should be made for a particularly skilful bit of driving that he achieved while we stopped in a petrol station. Eventually. Careering into a petrol station for a well timed leak stop at 50MPH and not using the brakes, he narrowly missed a lady in a Fiat who looked very surprised to see a BRG lump shoot past her and slalom between her and a fellow S2Ner fulfilling today's challenge. (Key word is MISSED... -Ian)
The Duchess has also had a bit of an engine issue that's been gradualy getting worse. There's always a hint of hesitancy and irregular running on the over-run. We found out in Aprica that one of the other Jag-teams has a stock of spares and they very kindly lent us a replacement air-flow meter which we fitted in Viterbo and things seem a lot improved. Shame on them for not taking brake pads with them as well ;-)
We've given up on the rally challenges now so tomorrow's challenge for us is to track down an Italian Jag-mechanic or at the very least a set of replacement brake pads so that we can continue to Rome where the finish line awaits....
A photo update can be found in the usual place (see previous posts).
-Simon.
Saturday 20 September 2008
Day 2 Sarnen to Aprica (Via the Alps)
The night in Hotel Metzgern started well - we had the customary Swiss curry (complete with fruit cocktail) and began the drinking. Staples 2 Naples is reknowned for being the quickest way of European cities disposing of beer and this night was no exception. Team XJ3 helped the friendly and precise Swiss people in this respect, but our mums will be pleased to know that we did not do as much as some.
Day 2 started too early with a brisk drive to the meeting point just outside Sarnen and the trip over the Alps was soon under way, but only after we all gathered together for a group photo.
The Duchess seemed to relish her second foray into Swiss countryside. Well, all morning anyway. We passed the spot where she "failed to proceed" in 2006 and joy was in our hearts. Not for long.
About 10km (perhaps as little as 5km) later she began to misfire, refuse to go any further and get generally grumpy. We re-seated the fuel pump relay and all seemed fine.... for the next 5 km. Bugger. Well, you'll see the photos as soon as we can find somewhere to post them up but to cut a long story short, it's much the same as 2006 - we had several teams' help, thought we'd fixed it, then we hadn't etc - until she seemed fine. It looks like it's been the air flow meter all along and a clean out seemed to do the trick.
So joy was in our hearts again. But not for long. We got off Julien (SP?) Pass, towards St. Moritz, with a convoy of S2N-ers following to help in case she stopped working again. It turns out that the Swiss Police (a.k.a. a heavily armed bunch of officious gits) chose the Duchess for a spot check. Just not what we (or she) needed. They checekd our papers and sniffed suspiciously around the car for a while before questionning Ian about his alcohol habit and drug use. He wasn't even driving! Anyway, he managed to fool them that he was just a normal guy and off we went, watching other comrades suffering the same fate at the hands of the Swiss.
We made it to Aprica at about 8pm, the Duchess is OK - but only OK. We think that there's a brake problem on the passenger-side front so we'll have the wheel off tomorrow and have a look.
So far so good! Wonder if she'll make the distance though.
Stats so far:
Fuel Used: 44.9 gallons
Distance: 993.5 miles
Average Speed: 45 mph
Average MPG: 23.7
Day 2 started too early with a brisk drive to the meeting point just outside Sarnen and the trip over the Alps was soon under way, but only after we all gathered together for a group photo.
The Duchess seemed to relish her second foray into Swiss countryside. Well, all morning anyway. We passed the spot where she "failed to proceed" in 2006 and joy was in our hearts. Not for long.
About 10km (perhaps as little as 5km) later she began to misfire, refuse to go any further and get generally grumpy. We re-seated the fuel pump relay and all seemed fine.... for the next 5 km. Bugger. Well, you'll see the photos as soon as we can find somewhere to post them up but to cut a long story short, it's much the same as 2006 - we had several teams' help, thought we'd fixed it, then we hadn't etc - until she seemed fine. It looks like it's been the air flow meter all along and a clean out seemed to do the trick.
So joy was in our hearts again. But not for long. We got off Julien (SP?) Pass, towards St. Moritz, with a convoy of S2N-ers following to help in case she stopped working again. It turns out that the Swiss Police (a.k.a. a heavily armed bunch of officious gits) chose the Duchess for a spot check. Just not what we (or she) needed. They checekd our papers and sniffed suspiciously around the car for a while before questionning Ian about his alcohol habit and drug use. He wasn't even driving! Anyway, he managed to fool them that he was just a normal guy and off we went, watching other comrades suffering the same fate at the hands of the Swiss.
We made it to Aprica at about 8pm, the Duchess is OK - but only OK. We think that there's a brake problem on the passenger-side front so we'll have the wheel off tomorrow and have a look.
So far so good! Wonder if she'll make the distance though.
Stats so far:
Fuel Used: 44.9 gallons
Distance: 993.5 miles
Average Speed: 45 mph
Average MPG: 23.7
Friday 19 September 2008
Day 0 - cambridge to Calais...
So we made it as far as Calais! The Duchess made it to the border with an average of 28.2 MPG which we thought was pretty amazing. Probably something to do with Ian's 'Grandad' driving. He says he's saving fuel for the Autobahns, so somehow we think that this won't last...
We were registered by about 8pm and picked up the stickers that we'd ordered then booked into the "hotel" where the stickers were affixed with some rather well-timed help from some Walsall-based sign-printers.
There are three other Jags on the rally this year, all jags, mind - not Daimlers. We've had a few other Jag owners inspecting the Duchess and everyone seems to think that she's the lap of luxury. Had a good chat over a beer in the centre of Calais with the lovely people from a Gardening Centre in Fleet who have done up their Jag in some Zebra print, along with a model crocodile chasing some model pigeons. Awesome.
Oh - yeah - the "hotel". We're staying at the F1 in Cocquelles (near Calais). It's more of a hostel and tonight Ian and Simon are sleeping together...! We expressly asked for a hotel WITH THREE BEDS, but apparently they don't have these in France. Better luck in Switzerland tomorrow then...
So far there haven't been any mechanical issues at all - except that the wire I used to tie the exhaust on has come apart so there's a bit of a banging sound every now and again.
Pictures will probably follow but only if we can work out how to upload and link them to a Websence-free website. Websence can kiss our butts.
Photos Here
-Simon.
We were registered by about 8pm and picked up the stickers that we'd ordered then booked into the "hotel" where the stickers were affixed with some rather well-timed help from some Walsall-based sign-printers.
There are three other Jags on the rally this year, all jags, mind - not Daimlers. We've had a few other Jag owners inspecting the Duchess and everyone seems to think that she's the lap of luxury. Had a good chat over a beer in the centre of Calais with the lovely people from a Gardening Centre in Fleet who have done up their Jag in some Zebra print, along with a model crocodile chasing some model pigeons. Awesome.
Oh - yeah - the "hotel". We're staying at the F1 in Cocquelles (near Calais). It's more of a hostel and tonight Ian and Simon are sleeping together...! We expressly asked for a hotel WITH THREE BEDS, but apparently they don't have these in France. Better luck in Switzerland tomorrow then...
So far there haven't been any mechanical issues at all - except that the wire I used to tie the exhaust on has come apart so there's a bit of a banging sound every now and again.
Pictures will probably follow but only if we can work out how to upload and link them to a Websence-free website. Websence can kiss our butts.
Photos Here
-Simon.
Day 1 - Calais to Sarnen...
We set off from the F1 in Coquelles with glee in our hearts and a rather odd breakfast in our bellies. The rally started from right outside the Holiday Inn in the centre of Calais, which if we had known, we may have booked something nearer (and better), but such is life.
It was great to see the 75 cars all lined up nose to tail. We were almost last in, parked in between a Volvo and another Volvo (see a theme developing?). The one behind had some lovely Ghostbusters livery, and the rallyers were dressed up in the gear, too.
To paraphrase a warning from our Rally Handbook: "Sarnen is a long, long way from Calais". Not half. As such, it probably wasn't advisable to stop somewhere outside Brussels and pick up a couple of hitchhikers. Sandra and Suzanna were a couple of Dutch girls on a challenge of their own - to get to a new destination every day as quickly as possible. We showed them to our spare two seats in the Dutchess and took them in style, to Luxembourg.
Who knew Luxembourg was both so nice, and had so many buildings that look like Cathedrals?? Either way, once the lovely ladies were dropped off at their destination, we pointed our collective noses towards Strasbourg. Of course, the beauty of Strasbourg is that at that point you have two choices of route to get down to the Swiss border: The French way, or an unrestricted section of pristine German Autobahn. Guess which one we picked?
At this point, the keys were handed to 'The Rookie' Ben, who had much fun (and much swearing when some very slow vans pulled out in front of him). Let's just leave the photo to tell the story.
So today, we've crossed the border more times than the Large Hadron Collider and taken in five countries: France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, France again and, finally, Switzerland. 775 miles down and only Italy to go. Just the small matter of a few mountains in our way...
-Ian.
Current Stats:
Ave. Speed: 53.8 MPH
Ave. Fuel Consumption: 25.2 MPG
Total Fuel Used: 30.5 Gallons
Total Distance: 775 Miles
Photos Uploaded Here.
It was great to see the 75 cars all lined up nose to tail. We were almost last in, parked in between a Volvo and another Volvo (see a theme developing?). The one behind had some lovely Ghostbusters livery, and the rallyers were dressed up in the gear, too.
To paraphrase a warning from our Rally Handbook: "Sarnen is a long, long way from Calais". Not half. As such, it probably wasn't advisable to stop somewhere outside Brussels and pick up a couple of hitchhikers. Sandra and Suzanna were a couple of Dutch girls on a challenge of their own - to get to a new destination every day as quickly as possible. We showed them to our spare two seats in the Dutchess and took them in style, to Luxembourg.
Who knew Luxembourg was both so nice, and had so many buildings that look like Cathedrals?? Either way, once the lovely ladies were dropped off at their destination, we pointed our collective noses towards Strasbourg. Of course, the beauty of Strasbourg is that at that point you have two choices of route to get down to the Swiss border: The French way, or an unrestricted section of pristine German Autobahn. Guess which one we picked?
At this point, the keys were handed to 'The Rookie' Ben, who had much fun (and much swearing when some very slow vans pulled out in front of him). Let's just leave the photo to tell the story.
So today, we've crossed the border more times than the Large Hadron Collider and taken in five countries: France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, France again and, finally, Switzerland. 775 miles down and only Italy to go. Just the small matter of a few mountains in our way...
-Ian.
Current Stats:
Ave. Speed: 53.8 MPH
Ave. Fuel Consumption: 25.2 MPG
Total Fuel Used: 30.5 Gallons
Total Distance: 775 Miles
Photos Uploaded Here.
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