Alfa2Evora

HOW MUCH? With the fuel light on and the range down to 30 miles, I went into our local Shell station today to fill up the Evora with V-Power - I know it probably doesn't need it, but I always like to treat it to the good stuff. In the 3+ months that it's been off the road, I was expecting that the price per litre would be up a bit as the regular 95RON stuff I was sticking in the courtesy car had crept up about 1p per month from 145.9 to 149.9. At the last fill, V-Power was 157.9, so a 12p differential which I was expecting to have been roughly maintained, although having said that it was previously a 10p mark-up and only a 7p difference a year ago. Well, at least the second digit of the price difference had been maintained. Only problem was, the first digit had gone from a 1 to a 3!!!!! . Yep, once I'd scraped myself up off the floor, and rubbed my eyes in disbelief, the price is now 32p more than 95 at £1.819, . A quick phone call to arrange a second mortgage, a hard swallow and I filled her virtually to the brim for the princely sum of £100. "We don't sell as much of that as we used to" commented the cashier when I went to pay. "No shit Sherlock", .

I've only had the car back from bodyshop a few days, but with some late-night buffing sessions, I managed to get it ready to show off its facelifted look at the Bangers 'n' Flash car event at St Andrews today. After parking up in line with everybody else and setting about removing the inevitable road grime with the quick detailer kit, one of the organisers came over and asked if I would mind moving to the centre of the display field as they wanted to showcase what they considered the 3 best cars attending - flattery will get you everywhere. So, straight into the spotlight virtually from the off, sharing the 'stage' with what could have been a Lotus if things had worked out differently, and some tricked-out Beetle lookalike thing, . Bibs will probably be issuing me with a ban for daring to post this so here goes nothing, .........................

I've posted these 2 pics already in the "What made you happy?" thread but I'm sure 'over again is not forbidden' is the appropriate rule of thumb here as they're relevant in this thread too. My Evora is finally back, after 92 days languishing in a body repair establishment having a nose job after having a BMW X5 take a shortcut over it rather than going around it in a car park way back in September 2022 - yes, it can take that long to get parts even when they're needed in a hurry, . Anyway, it's back now looking better than ever, especially sporting its 'new look' for 2024. The bodyshop was mixing up the batches of Laser Blue and Piano Black paint anyway to paint the new bumper and the repaired clam so I thought we might as well take advantage of that and not let any excess mix go to waste, . The Sahara Sand effect in this one was an 'added extra' courtesy of a passing rain shower, .

Thanks Andy, it turned out even better than I was expecting. The wheel arch vents are fully functioning, not just for show, with baffle boxes beneath to prevent any crap from the tyres being thrown up through the vents and onto the clam or windscreen. I'm also hoping that the louvres on the radiator outlet duct create a venturi-effect and help suck out all the warm air that lurks in there. If nothing else, they look way better than the flat mesh panels that were there before which were starting to look decidedly second-hand with a dent/crease in one of them and paint starting to flake off them both. The body repair guys commented on that too - the carbon on this bumper seems to be even better than the previous one and I thought it was pretty good. Laser Blue. Here's another pic from a different angle. The Sahara Sand effect was not specified by the way - thanks for nothing passing rain shower, .

After 92 days going cold turkey, I finally got my Evora fix today when I collected my P&J from the bodyshop after its way too close and personal encounter with an SUV in a car park back in the dim and distant past - it took so long to source some of the parts needed before it even went in for repair that I though I might never see it resplendent again. However it was worth the wait. My chosen repairer may not be the quickest or the cheapest, and I'm sure they'd be the first to agree with that, but they're certainly the best. They match my nit-picking attention to detail and that's saying something. While it was in, and with the clam having to come off anyway for repair, it seemed a shame to let all that paint they were mixing, go to waste so I took the opportunity to add another couple of embellishments to the front end which I'm well-pleased with I have to say - I think I've really got the spirit of GT4 captured now, .

Northbound just before Southwaite Services at around 7.40 last night (Friday) - I was in my 40-tonne truck heading south so didn't acknowledge your presence.

I'm booked for the BVAC Classic at Thirlestane that day. Who knows, I may even have a car to show at it, assuming all the planets in the known universe are all in alignment before the end of the week, .

"Happy Birthday" Bibs.

Just for a laugh as I had a bit of time to play with, I decided to see what shopping around would get me. Short answer, a requirement for a Resus team to be close at hand. Go Compare - 'best price of £3787 with an excess of £750 through Sterling Insurance - who? Confused - 'best price £11246 with a £525 excess through Doddle Insurance - again who? Positive bargain that one Didn't bother with the meerkats as they're probably too busy scoffing their discounted coffees and pastries.

£512 for the renewal on my 2010 (somewhat modified) NA through Admiral as part of a multi-cover policy, up around 10% on last year but then I did report the car park incident, which although the other party's insurer is fully covering the repair (now 7 weeks in and £12k and rising), I suppose the fact that I had a bump at all now makes me a greater risk. I was going to shop around but there aren't that many companies that will entertain the number of modifications my Evora has and my experience of doing so for my daily driver put me off even starting the process. It's a 2010 Alfa Giulietta 1.4 which is probably worth not a lot now with 135k miles on the clock. As part of the multi-cover policy, Admiral quoted £397 for it (also up 10% with only a windscreen stone chip claimed last year) so I of course absolutely jumped at the 'best offer' found for me by the opera singer of £1547, .

Even although it's unlikely that the Evora will be ready in time, I'll still be coming to this. I'll meet you at Hermiston Gait and tag along behind at a discreet distance in the insurance/rental car company's idea of a Lotus equivalent, .

If the Evora is back from bodyshop then I'd be up for it. Will let you know nearer the time.

In a somewhat last minute decision when the Evora finally went into bodyshop last week, I decided to take up the other party's insurance company's offer of a temporary replacement car. I had been intending to use our Alfa but it's getting a bit long in the tooth now and I just had that little niggle in the back of my mind about placing my reliance for transport solely with it. Anyway, it took a couple of days for all the admin to filter its way through from insurance company to rental company then for them to locate and deliver a suitable 'equivalent' vehicle to me. Well, I can only presume that the Lotus Evora was unknown to them and on looking online, the search for 'Lotus' brought up the Eletre as this is what arrived at my door at lunchtime, ......... A Hyundai Tucson self-charging petrol hybrid. Relatively quick off the mark in a straight line but hit a twisty bit and a Lotus equivalent it most certainly aint! Could have been worse though I suppose - could have been of German origin and then I would have had to alter my driving style completely. "Indicators? What are these 'indicators' you speak of?"

About 3.30pm today (Sat, 24 Feb), Chrome Orange Evora travelling west through Linlithgow High Street. Only saw it after it was past as I was inside a shop but a 400 I would think judging by the rear wing.

You're lucky on that Andy. The vehicle tax system is a shambles with all the different sets of rules that apply depending on when the car was registered. My NA, because it's older than a 2017 registration year, is £395/year otherwise it would be just £180 if it had been stuck in storage and not registered until after 2017.. Do you know anybody looking for a nice 2.0 Turbo SAAB Estate? By pushing out 1g of CO2 per km over the limit that would have had it in the same tax band as the Evora, it's costing £675/year, . Now off the road and on SORN until I part company with it.

No, retirement hasn't caused Alan to lose the ability to count - there were 4 Lotus in attendance, only I had to disappear sharpish (before the above pic was taken) to visit Jennifer in the nursing home.

I'd be up for that then I can nip back into Linlithgow and visit Jennifer at the nursing home before lunchtime.

Indeed it is Andy (or should that be It/That? ) - wouldn't dream of it going anywhere else and the other party's insurance accepted my 'specialist car, specialist repairer' comment without demur. Just got to see what they give me as an appropriate courtesy car as apparently I'm entitled to one from the 'premium' range - so that'll be a Hyundai i20 rather than an i10 then?

I'm still puzzling over the sodden carpets conundrum. I tried the supplementary seal solution championed by @Lee Valleley on my S1 but sadly to no avail. If anything the problem has got worse because whereas before the water seemed to be making its way to the bottom of the door then tracking in under the sill trim panel before dropping down the bottom section of the A-panel into the footwell, it's now just pouring straight over the top of the sill trim panel if the regular puddle I find there is anything to go by. So, it's back to a bit more head-scratching while the carpets remain nice and dry in the airing cupboard and I run around with all the alloy flooring panels exposed pretending I'm in an overgrown Elise, .

Yeah!!!! 4th of March can't come soon enough. That's the date I've been given for the Evora to go into bodyshop as all the required parts have finally been gathered together - I don't know what it took to achieve it but the Unobtanium mines clearly managed to get some product out the door eventually, . It'll only be a few days shy of 18 months since it was so rudely trampled on by the X5 in the hospital car park, but finally the wrongs are going to be righted and I can look forward to my P&J regaining her stunning good looks. It'll be great too, to fill up my weekend diary with shows and other motoring-related events. I wonder if I can sue for 'emotional distress' over all the days out I had to cancel last year? That's the modern way of doing things after all, isn't it?

Now you know - never trust any advice you get from this guy.............................

Well, it's official or at least as far as our local supermarket is concerned - Christmas is over, as they've now got these on display in the 'Seasonal' aisle, .

SAAB J29 Tunnan This example from the Swedish Air Force Historic Flight visited the airshow at Prestwick a few years back - they fly better than they look apparently.

"Does my bum look dirty in this?" A bit of Christmas porn for your delectation - she ain't no garage queen this one.

Problem solved in as much as, thanks to a very generous offer from @Doug Ashley, a replacement unit will shortly be installed. Thanks to everybody for their help and suggestions, both here and in my 'wanted' post - gotta love TLF, .