The scottish trip

[GeorgeK]

As I mentioned earlier in these pages, I had an impromptu couple of weeks holidays that came up, so we decided with my fiancee to do a road trip. We decided on Scotland, partly because every scenery picture we had seen was breathtaking, and partly because of teh nice driving roads there are up there. We are the type of travelers for whom the road is the destination, and we tend to shy away from big cities with the Porsches, to avoid unwanted attention (yes I am paranoid).

What car to take? Hmm... 3K+ miles, the lwt Carrera would have killed us with its short gearing and no sound deadening, plus it was at the body shop for its alloy lids. The 930? Reasonably quiet when not on boost, lowish fuel consumption (ha!) and all stock? Perfect!
Buf first a mod to soothe my worrying mind:



It’s a Supercup quick release hub, with a wire rigged up for the horn contact. GB has a terrible reputation for stolen cars, and we fancied coming back with the car, not on a train. So every night we got weird looks from the B&B tenants, who asked what he heck this was...

First day was about all french highway, near the speed limits. It rained on us a good part of the day, and we could establish that the car is still waterproof. Good news. We arrived in Calais after 500 miles of highway. Is the exhaust a good color for richness?







Blighty here we come!



The second morning we were set to go see fellow Pelican Nick Moss and see around his workshop. He has a large base of raw material to build some historically and technically very interesting cars. It was so p*ssing down with rain... Thank you Porsche for heated windshields. We couldn’t stay too long at Nick’s premises, so we made headway to the north.





On the way north I must say that the really nice area began when we entered Scotland. Very wild countryside, with lots of empty space, occupied by sheep. Millions of them. The roads turned to double lane quickly, and we could stretch the legs of the car a little more. The weather was very interesting, with changes very often, and showers not lasting more than 20 minutes at a time. The sun was preponderant by then. These 2 pics were taken literally 15 minutes apart:





Part 2 to follow

[rob justice]

George - where did you pick up the snap off boss?
Take it the midges never ate you alive - all the rain we've had this year means their worse than ever.

[GeorgeK]

Rob, the hub is a factory Motorsport piece, very much ouch$$. No midges to speak of.
Ok, to part 2:

No Part 2 as of now. The site won't let me upload the pictures for some reason...

[rdane]

George, after seeing your adventures, it always inspires me to go out and do another drive. Thanks!

[GeorgeK]

After the first night in Scotland we arrived at the road A82 which was highly recommended here to us. This was right. Little traffic, easy to overtake, nice winding roads with mini-passes in nice graded sweepers. The best you can wish for with a Turbo.
Of course we also ran into sheep. They own the roads there, not you. You stop, or you eat lamb chops every meal....



Why does that goat remind me of Thrown Hammer’s car in its actual condition??




Of course there also were the Highland cows. They look just great. That one was not too scared and let herself be photographed, but “luigi” the herd bull was keeping a close eye on us “Watchathinkyoudoin’ with my gals??” Gotta love the wet effect hair gel.



[img]
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads3/DSC050641095933928.jpg[/img]

EDIT: click on the link to see Luigi...


We arrived in Fort Augusta at the southernmost end of the Loch Ness (most pics were shot with the Leica, so only one here). The water is pitch black, like china ink. It comes either from the coal of which there is a lot around, or from that black earth they cut and use as combustible. If you ever go there eat at the Lock inn pub next to the canal and the turnbridge, and go sleep at the B&B next to the Caledonian hotel on the south tip of the village. Soo nice people, and they had black pudding!



Next morning to the North, with a rainbow for a view:



We got to the northern shore of Scotland, west from John O’Groats. The car was not too dirty yet:





This is where the thermostatic heating decided enough is enough, and got stuck on full heat.. After feeling like in a barbeque for a while, we simply disconnected the actuating rod from the heater box control lever, and were without heat for the rest of the trip, much better than Dante’s Inferno. Luckily I have on spare on the shelf which is now on (thanks Noah).

For the R Gruppe:



Of course even a nice trip has to end, so it was back down south. We stopped at Alnwick castle, where Harry Potter was shot, but we were disappointed to discover that the huge dining room with levitating candles does not exist. We saw the flying broom training field though, and the entrance. Plus there was a bird of prey show, with all kind of owls, hawks and an eagle.

[Jared at Pelican Parts]

God I miss Scotland...

[jpnovak]

Fantastic trip George. It is inspring to watch your travels. If I only had roads like that in TX.

[Deeks]

Great colour for a 930.
"Strange" combo with that green interior though.
Is that how it came from the factory ?

[echrisconnor]

Looks Beautiful. Great pictures. I'm headed to Scotland in a couple weeks with the family. Any recommendations on places not to miss?

[banjomike]

Don't tease us we have to see a picture of that green interior!

[GeorgeK]

We had to go home. On the wait for the ferry to France we ran into a group that was going to Spa for 2 days of track driving.
A Noble:



A Caterham:



An M3



and a couple AMGs:



And the nicest of the bunch, by now seriously dirty:



After an uneventful last leg it was home at last. We now had to clean the car. Usually it goes about 300 miles between washes, this time it was 3000. The car was seriously dirty. It took me 90 minutes per front wheel to remove the (hard compound) brake dust.





The rest to follow...

[GeorgeK]

Off went the stuff, on went the cleaning agents:







Here is the heating culprit: that bugger is now defunct, having burned in an exorcist style ceremony.



All in all a great trip, with no worries at all except the heateing mishap. The car behaved beatifully for a 21 year old machine, and gave us a consumption of 15 +/- 1 liter per 100 kms, and a total oil consumption of 1.5 liter for the 3000 miles.

For those who asked to see the interior colors. They are both factory originals, made to sample:



And an even wilder one we have:



Hope you enjoyed the read.

[MFAFF]

George,

Looks as though you had a great time.
Thanks for sharing the pics.....

How about a littel itnery for us to note for next time...

cheers,

M.

[dreeves]

Sounds like a great trip! I did a great driving tour of scotland a couple years ago in some more pedestrian machinery.. still a fantastic experience, though.

pictures:
http://www.g93.net/photos/england/

[speeder]

Those color schemes are, ummm, err..... very unique!!

Looks like it was a good trip, next time you have any trouble on the road, find a computer and ask the board for help. One small screw, accessable w/o removing anything, would have disconnected the heating lever, (red knob), from the entire auto-heat apparatus. Then you can raise and lower it manually, as if the car does not have auto heat. I know this because mine has been disconnected for 2 years due to a faulty unit.

Great animal pics!

[GeorgeK]

Mfaff,
Here a rough map:



there is a nice detour to make at the Loch Ness. From Invergarry, you take the A87, then the B887 down to the Loch, then back to Fort Augustus

The point is to avoid the large double carriage roads. The A82 was designed by a race driver, or a serious car freak. The A82 just before Glencoe is a good place for mountains and Highland cows. Say hi to Luigi if you see him.
In Fort Augustus, try to stay at the Nia Roo Lodge, a B&B run by Nick and Fran Walker (01320 366783; www.niaroo.com). Tell them George directed you, the Swiss with the red Porsche. They are super duper people. We stayed 2 nights there. In town go to the Lock Inn pub. They serve some excellent Highland venison, and haddock. It is next to the... lock.

In general, the B&Bs are better than the hotels. The tenants do great efforts to please the traveler.

[GeorgeK]

Dennis, Why not have some unique colors! Makes for more positive reactions.
I know which screw you mean, except the 930 does not have the red lever to bypass the thermostat.

[Joeaksa]

George,

Looks like a wonderful trip! I really miss driving over there and need to get back.

Course you had to throw a picture of the the Leica in the mix!!! Just picked up a M4 anniversary issue in gold on a trip to Montreal. Have a few rangefinder Leica's but not a M6 like yours. Someday...

Thanks for the pictures and memories!

Joe

[azasadny]

George,
Thanks for the great pictures of your trip! I hope you guys had a great time!

[wevoid]

Great pics George,

I did much the same trip in 1896 in a Frankfurt registered (well Zoll) BMW 2500, west of John O'Groats was so much fun, all single lane with passing bubbles.
After blitzing along with gay abandon, we realized we were probably going to run out of fuel if we kept up our pace.....
Suffice to say we limped into Ullapool - or somewhere before, I forget, on fumes.
But the scenery, wow, beautiful beaches begging for sunshine but forever too cold for me to swim in.
I thought about the fuel issue when I saw your pre-trip post, laughed at the thought of taking a 930, then realized in the 18 years since a lot will have changed....
Fond memories for me, thanks for posting the pics.

Regards

Hayden