Happy New Year 12/31/2009
 
Nothing to report, so this is a bit of a cheat, but Happy New Year anyway to anyone who happens upon this site. It's been an eventful year to be sure, what with the Team finally finishing the car and successfully completing the mission to La Chapelle d'Armentieres (and what a weekend that was!) and then also the return led at Birchington.

We are not sure what we'll do with her in 2010, but we've been invited back in February to attend the selection/crowning process for the actual "Damoiselle" (beauty queens) pageant, which is what this is largely about. Being February, we'll probably go over in the "sensible" cars (wash my mouth out with soap), but it'll be good to make contact with our La Chapelle hosts again, and discuss plans for 2010. An added fly in the ointment is that Andy is trying to sell the "Slough-built" which could deplete the "convoy" by 33%.

Ah well - all the best, and a Happy New Year to all the followers.

Matt
 
Westies R Us 11/04/2009
 
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Would you buy a used car from these three?
 
 
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With the car MOT'd and Andy assuring me that we have a valid tax disc, and with me having a week off work, using up holiday (or else you lose it), I decide to take Mmle out for a barrel around the country lanes, headed for 2CV-specialist Llew's workshop.

From our lock-up near Blean, this is a superb run, using the old Thanet way to near Bishopstone, then heading SE through Highstead, Chislet, Upstreet, Grove Ferry, Preston and Wingham, out to Llew's place out past the "Frog and Orange". It's all twisty, up hill and down dale stuff, and the old girl loves it. She bounces and buckets along enjoying the "rolling English Drunkard" roads.

It's a good chance to give her a thorough clean out, dry out, warm up and charge, as well as blowing any cobwebs out of the suspension. At Llew's we meet up with fellow "Hopper" Pete (his is the blue and red car in the pics) who's there buying bits of wiring loom, and stop for a cuppa. It's also a chance for my 3 dogs to go a-sniffing and a rummaging round the farm buildings, greenhouses and grounds chasing up those enticing chicken-y and ratty smells.
 
 
Andy texts me triumphantly. The old girl is through her 2009 MOT and street legalk once again. Apparently there were some minor, quickly solve-able issues around headlight dipping and a tail light, but she's through and we have the ticket. Andy reports though, that she did seem a bit lumpy and grumpy around starting so that she may need some TLC to the ignition and timing.

Maybe she's just feeling neglected. I have a week off coming up, so I may take the time to give her a good run around, loosen her up and make her feel cherished again. That reminds me, we also have at some stage, to loosen off the very stiff front left "frotteur". They were a pain to set up and impossible to get them all to the same stiffness (well, to we amateurs, they were, anyway) and we've not had a chance since, to adjust them.

Meanwhile Andy, all the best to your Mum, our dear friend Mary and the land-owner where we hold the Hoppers camps. She has unfortunately suffered a medical emergency while on holiday in Australia and is spending some time in Wagga Wagga hospital (I kid you not! It's in NSW) before being flown home, we hope, this week.

More soon on both these stories, and hopefully some pics of Mmle out on the road again. I'm looking forward to it. These old cars shopuld not be left in storage. They are there to be used and driven about.

 
 
 
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It's been a while since we last had the old girl out on the road for the Birchington run and I for one, was beginning to feel the need of a fix of left hand drive 425 cc ishness. Step up 11 year old niece who had never so much as been in a 2CV and decided they were "really cool". Seemed like a good opportunity to run her across to pick up Mademoiselle using the modern 2CV, so that she could experience both cars on the same day. So we fired up "Clara" and headed across to the lock up. We un-sheeted Mmmle, and (Bless her) she fired up first turn of the key and ran really sweetly. So we took her out along the country lanes from over near Blean, to Graveney, admittedly barrelling along a bit to give the niece a good grounding in 2CV suspension and the many creaks and groans that accompany such driving.

It felt good to be out in her again. It's a year since she was on the road, the MOT just running out, so Andy will take her across to be tested in the next couple of weeks.
 
Home Leg 06/21/2009
 
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We have a lovely feeling of "Mission Accomplished" tonight having succeeded today in the final part of the ambition we had when restoring Mademoiselle. Today was the "home leg" if you like, of the 20th Anniversary of the twinning between La Chapelle d'Armentieres and Birchington, in which the La Chapelle contingent come to Kent to return the favour from May.

We've done the mini-adventure to Birchington, and the London to Brighton (shakedown) and then the big adventure of the drive down to La Chapelle. Now we are part of the home leg, welcoming the French back to us, meeting their bus first at Quex Park, and then convoying down into town to park the cars up on show in front of the town Library. We are there for the day while the French (and we) are treated to a lovely meal, wine, music, dancing, tree planting, Morris Dancing and even a blessing by a local Reverend.

There's even a fly past by the Battle of Britain Flight, roaring low over head west to east up the Birchington sea side.... OK that might have been something to do with Margate's "Big Event" just up the coast, but it was good for us all the same.

More on this soon, and more pics. We are all tired out - it is surprising how tiring one of those old girls is to drive after the smooth sophistication and relative automation of a modern car.

My pic here is of Bernard, long-time Mayor of La Chapelle, sitting in the car while regaling us with anecdotes of 2CV driving in his student days around the city of Lille  

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Good Publicity 06/01/2009
 

We are delighted to see we have been published in the latest edition of the 2CVGB club magazine. Not only have they printed an article I sent in ("We Made It!!!", page 18), but also some nice comment following a chat between Andy and Alan Lloyd, 2CVGB's registrar of Pre-1970 cars. Alan enthuses about our old girl, and gets Andy to fill in some detail.

There are 3 pics of the car too, one on the contents page (she's a page 3 girl!), one accompanying the main article, and another good one taken at Hove Park on London-to-Brighton day.

All this writing, in the club mag too, recognises our effort in a very special way, and is much appreciated by all of us. Thank you 2CV mag, and editor John Barnes.

Marvellous!

 
En Francais 05/20/2009
 

With a lot of help from my good lady and more too from our French hostess, the following explanatory words were printed onto a poster which adorned the car during the Showing stages

"

1277 SK 59

134 XUR

 

Cette voiture, à l'origine construite en novembre 1961, était donnée en cadeau par la ville de la Chapelle d'Armentières à la ville de Birchington, dans le nord du Kent, à l'occasion de leur jumelage en 1989. Les crêtes héraldiques datent de ce moment-là. La voiture a passé quelques années au musée de transport de Douvres, puis elle a été découverte en 2007 par les «Kentish Hoppers»,  groupe local de l’association britannique de 2CV. La voiture était dans un triste état, ayant besoin d’une remise en état importante avant d’être inscrite pour l'utilisation sur les routes britanniques.

Les Kentish Hoppers étaient heureux d’acheter la voiture au musée, et les membres Andy Briggs, Matt Care, Ian Cheswright et John Joy ont passé une grande partie de l'hiver de 2007/8 dans une annexe de ferme, à démonter la voiture, à nettoyer et préparer les pièces qui pouvaient être réutilisées, à souder des nouvelles sections de la carrosserie et du châssis, et à obtenir beaucoup de pièces chez des spécialistes et sur Internet.

Pendant tout ce temps-là, l'équipe de restauration est  restée en contact avec les deux communes, en envoyant régulièrement  des rapports sur l'état d'avancement, et des photographies, que les communes pouvaient inclure dans leurs bulletins municipaux respectifs.

La voiture était finalement prête pour l'immatriculation et  pour  le contrôle technique (MOT) dès la fin de l'été 2008, mais ce n'était seulement début 2009 que certains problèmes, tels qu'une dynamo défaillante, ont été résolus. Nous avons alors pu parcourir de plus longues distances avec la voiture afin d’aplanir les derniers petits problèmes.

C’est un grand plaisir pour nous de conduire la voiture jusqu’à La Chapelle d'Armentières au moment de vos célébrations de jumelage, et nous remercions vous tous pour votre hospitalité généreuse.

Mais - nous ne savons rien de l'histoire de la voiture avant 1989. Connaissez-vous la voiture ? En étiez-vous propriétaire à un moment ou un autre? Étiez-vous garagiste qui a travaillé sur elle ? Faites-nous le savoir, car nous avons fort envie de connaître toute l'histoire de cette voiture!



 

 
Almost Final? 05/18/2009
 

I mentionned in the last post that the La Chapelle trip had become the "almost final" story in the restoration Saga. While we were at La Chapelle we met a load of the people from Birchington, and it turns out they also have a "home leg" of the twinning celebrations, and this is taking place on 21st June. We are invited to this, so watch this space while we find out what this involves. I would be amazed if Birchington can oput on anything as big and as bonkers as the La Chapelle carnival weekend, but you never know......

 
French Adventure 05/18/2009
 

We made it! The big one. The almost final act in what's been a fascinating and enjoyable project. (I say "almost", as the project just grew and extra aspect, but more of that later). We drive Mademoiselle and Andy's "Slough built" 1955 2CV down through Northern France to the car's town of birth to take part in the 20th Anniversary twinning celebrations.

What a fantastic weekend! Crazy, fun, bizarre, amazing, moving and delightful, challenging and elating all at once. We are welcomed in by our hosts and by the whole town with such hospitality - we are feted and treated like celebs, we are greeted by the Mayor (several times), applauded by the locals, invited to Civic Reception(s), to a show by school children and a gala cabaret night. They even insist that we lead the town carnival parade

The cars cause Universal delight - everybody seems to love a "deu' ch'vaux" (2CV). They've owned one, or their parents did, or they learned to drive on one, and they seem to hold a warm corner of their hearts reserved for 2CV's, so everywhere we go people seem delighted that these whacky british fans are bothering to restore them and bring them down to show them off.

The cars performed well, running the 100-odd kms down through St Omer to La Chapelle, and back again, so we are delighted. We also learned some bits about the cars, and one of the twinning committee has promised to advertise for any more info - who owned her and worked on her prior to 1989. What we learned was that.

1) The lion on the bonnet is not some random heraldic beastie - it is a "Lion de Flandres", symbol of the Flanders region since the time of Robert 3 of Flanders (1249-1322) (or something like - history never was my strong point) 

2) The idle mixture screw will slowly vibrate out till you have no idle.

3) The speedo does not work at all, but the wipers work very well.

But enough of that. Fantastic weekend all round.

 
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