Pete Humphries has been planning a European trip and, in true style, MB27 has been making sure that the preparations have not been straightforward.

The first issue was an electrical one which was tracked down to an earth braid. This is something which has been picked up by a number of owners and it is worthwhile checking the integrity of the braids, including the engine block to chassis, which can cause starting issues and the one from the fuel tank to the chassis as that can have an effect on the accuracy of the fuel gauge. Pete put a new earth lead from the battery to engine block and this helped with his idling issues.

As part of the planning he intended to upgrade the starter to a High Torque version and settled on the WOSP starter for the Ford Granada/Scorpio/Sierra (Cologne V6) Type 9 Gearbox. Pete's luck being what it is he was originally sent the wrong type (there are two) with 9 teeth when the MB needs the 11 tooth version which is Part Number LMS476. He did say the company were very understanding and that the starter now spins twice as fast.

Planning for the summer weather, he also decided to replace the radiator. It is not easy to get new radiators now that are not aluminium, QRG are the main supplier of these and also supply GW, I believe. They can be bought from Radtec but QRG are cheaper.

In an astounding change from normal, Pete decided that he did not want a 'blingy' radiator and would rather it was the original black. He spent some time trying to get suitable paint for aluminium that was heat resistant and finally found some in America from a company called Eastwood which is apparently resistant to 300 degrees Fahrenheit and doesn't need a primer.

The new radiator has a slightly revised bottom hose connection and the normal 300mm hose can be a devil to fit. The hose has a spring inside to retain its shape. Pete says he found a Gates Automaster 400mm hose at his local Fittapart which has the spring moulded into the wall of the hose which was easier to fit and didn't require a skin graft on his knuckles.

MB 27 - ASBO's European Adventure Following on from the preparations MB27 underwent that were reported in the last Slice, We are now for the off and Pete takes up the narrative

ASBO's 2,103 Mile Jaunt on an Organised Scenic Car Tour.

I have previously done one of the Scenic Car Tours accompanied tours to the Isle of Man, this one was unaccompanied and consisted of only 8 cars with an even split between classic and modern. Cost price was £3,000 that included Hull overnight crossing to Rotterdam, nine nights accommodation with breakfast and six evening meals. Places on the itinerary included, a bridge too far, two dams breached by the Dambusters and The Great Escape from Stalag Luff 3 in Poland. We added an extra night and dropped down to Southern Germany to visit a roadside memorial to the two organisers of the Great Escape.

Prior to the trip I spent at least a month trying to resolve the car randomly stalling. Last thing I wanted was a stall in Berlin and no start up. I hoped that £10 earth strap from battery to engine block was the cure. I was as nervous as a nun on a penguin shooting party. I had stern words with ASBO and, in true Basil Fawlty style, threatened a damned good thrashing if it cut out, failed to start or locked me out again.

A check of my classic car insurance breakdown cover showed that it did indeed cover Europe. However, only to the nearest garage and not back to the UK, not brilliant with a car unlikely to be seen on the continent. I was left with a choice of two options; the AA and RAC. The AA recovery cost back to the UK was to a maximum of the market value of the car. Now my agreed insurance value is £35,000 and I could see a potential argument taking place.

The RAC recovery cost back to the UK was unlimited. It was slightly more expensive but unambiguous, the hire car terms and other stuff was better too. This came in at £263 but I felt it was essential.

The weather forecast was for a heatwave during the trip and it did peak at 37 degrees, so I fitted some fans which were just over £20 from Amazon. They rotate 180 degrees and do not interfere with changing gear. I had them held down with Velcro so very easy to remove if they were not suitable. In fact, they worked brilliantly and Mrs H looked like she was having a permanent blow dry. We encountered a monsoon on the motorway at Spa in Belgium and I can see why it always rains for the Grand Prix. When not in use the fans folded down for easy access to the heater controls.

Navigation was with the aid of a Tom Tom and most of our travelling was done in Germany. I noticed it showed a speed camera on the bottom of the screen but never its location on the route. Apparently, this is not allowed in Germany and the best you might get is 'danger zone', as if entering a teenager's bedroom. Fortunately, I had bought and been using a Saphe Pro device some months earlier.

This is a Danish device that shows all cameras not only for the UK but all of Europe. It is a brilliant bit of kit which shows the speed limit, your speed and what the next limit will be and displays in MPH or KPH. It shows absolutely every speed and red light camera and saved me at least 3 times in Germany, particularly as one camera looked like a block of concrete. It is interactive with other Saphe users and notified us well in advance of road hazards.

https://www.saphe.com/en-gb/pages/saphe-drive-pro We did a booze cruise in reverse and took our favourites with us. In the top left of the picture is a refrigerator. This is new tech for me but we found it gets down to 3 degrees C in about 15 mins and can be powered from 12/24 volt outlets and also can run off 110/240 volts. So, cold soft drinks whilst travelling and cold beers etc in the hotel. This really came into its own as none of the hotels had fridges!

So, the preparations over and the journey finally begins at Hull. We were pulled over by Customs and drove into the shed for a car search. Their first question; are you carrying any knives? My answer, I am glad I'm not towing a caravan or in a mobile home. We chatted about the car then.

At check in there were masses of paperwork. Marie unclipped it from our travel folder to get our boarding details just as I started the car up with the wind tunnel fans set to maximum. There was paperwork everywhere - well, at least I laughed.

Our first visit was to Arnhem bridge over the Rhine in Holland. This is the 'Bridge Too Far' and was named the John Frost Bridge in 1978 in honour of the bravery and leadership displayed by the commander of 2nd Battalion during Operation Market Garden. We stopped in at the Airborne Museum dedicated to the battle of Arnhem which had a very good recreation of an urban battle scene where sound comes at you from everywhere. We followed that with a 'battlefield walk' which actually consisted of an urban walk, through some woods and two housing estates and we were not lost before it is suggested.

Next visit was to the Nijmegen Railway Bridge over the river Waal. This was another strategic objective in 'Market Garden' The middle arch of the bridge was destroyed twice during the Second World War, but despite this it survived the conflict. The first demolition was initiated on 10 May 1940 by the Dutch themselves when the Wehrmacht approached. The Germans repaired the bridge, and it was back in service by 17 November 1940.

The Germans modified the abutments by removing the top floor of each tower, strengthening the flat roofs and mounting anti-aircraft guns. The 82nd Airborne Division's assault on the bridge in September 1944 received the nickname 'Little Omaha' due to the heavy casualties, and became a significant turning point in the battle. Despite the efforts of the Americans, frogmen from the German Marine Einsatzkommando were able to demolish the bridge again on 28 September 1944.

As we parked up the Sat Nav said, warning you are in a restricted area. Mrs H was first out the car and managed to get a quick picture of a bridge 'after the cars cleared'. In her haste she took a photo of the wrong road bridge to the left. The clue was....Nijmegen Railway Bridge!

The next day took us on to the site of the famous dambuster raids inspired by Barnes Wallis who not only invented the bouncing bomb but also designed the Wellington bomber.

First up was the Mohne dam then the Edersee dam. It was a long day and we got there just after the, by all accounts, excellent museum had shut. Doh!

The highlight of the trip was Colditz Castle. A private guided tour for our group included areas not normally accessible to the visitors. What an amazing experience! There were too many interesting escapes and attempts to detail here but the castle considered escape proof by the Germans had over 300 escape attempts over 5 years with 30 being successful. The Brits were top dogs at that amongst the many nationalities detained there. The most audacious plan was the 'Colditz Cock', a glider built in the attic of the chapel. There is a replica there today but a documentary team actually recreated the original design and successfully flew it off the roof of the castle. A bath full of concrete attached to a rope was dropped to catapult it off the castle. Having seen a shortened version of the documentary i have no idea how they got permission to do it!

Documentary is here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYMvCG38_dY%20 and the flight is at 1:12:37.

'The Great Escape' - Stalag Luff III in Poland

This was a bit disappointing as the replica hut that has been built and is used as a museum housing various exhibits is nowhere near the remains of tunnel Harry. We managed to sneak ASBO in and get a photo next to the tunnel marker.

Those executed from the Great Escape are shown in the film as being machine gunned en mass. They were actually executed in ones and twos at numerous different locations.

To complete the story, we added an extra day to the tour and drove to Southern Germany to a roadside memorial to the main two organisers of the Great Escape Roger Bushell and Bernard Scheidhauer who were executed by the Gestapo. Very poignant.

We also took in a couple of museums; the Germans certainly do not shy away from their history. One was dedicated to the rise of Hitler and everything associated with him.

Next up was Autostadt which means Car City; to me and you, a VW factory. It covers some 28 acres and employs 60,000 people (not a typo) and produces 2.5K to 4K cars per day depending on demand. It is more like a theme park for young kids with all activities free once inside. A couple of the group peeled off the tour to stop in the VW hotel, do the train ride round the factory and go up in the glass round vertical storage tube. Tickets are like finding hens teeth in rocking horse droppings.

I emailed the place explaining our tour and asked for tickets for the tower tour. Nope, fully booked. Even the other couple couldn't get in. I had another go sending a picture of ASBO explaining that although the car was British, that the engine was made in Cologne in Germany. It worked!

It was strange to see no end of people walking around with number plates under their arms. Then a massive queue of them at an airport size info board. They were all picking up new cars! I asked what discount they got by cutting the dealers out- 150 Euros! Madness. Probably cost more to get there.

We finished by visiting Dresden for two nights tourism taking advantage of the hop on hop off bus tours.

The car averaged 24mpg knocking about locally before we left. Five tanks across Europe varied between 27 and 31 mpg. Slowest it was driven was 60 to 70 MPH. A full on tour but excellent.

Would we go with Scenic Car Tours again. Yes and no.

The accompanied one to the Isle of Man was well organised with a section of mountain road closed off for our use. Not something you could do yourself, so yes to that type of tour. Un-accompanied, then no, the hotels lacked aircon, no room kettle or fridge.

Our intention is to plan our own European tour next year. That way you can pick the spec of hotel you want and avoid overnight public parking.

Auschwitz as a centre point is one option. Copying a bus tour itinerary for WWI is an option. One thing for sure, ASBO will be taking a ferry again.