Keith Adams
Well, to say that day two was eventful is something of an understatement. After leaving the hotel in the morning, I decided it would be good to fall down a manhole through a defective cover. That would have put a dampener on the day had Romania not been stunningly beautiful. As it was I sat in the passenger seat most of the day and let the Elphick take the strain through disarmingly charming countryside with villages straight out of the 18th century. Of course there were potholes. Big potholes. Potholes big enough to have us driving on the south side of the Ukrainian border at well under 20mph. But it all added to the fun. Well, when it wasn’t jarring my dislocated shoulder and broken foot…
After the best part of a day, we made it to Hungary – and glorious, glorious Euro-standard motorway.
By the time we made it to Budapest, I was aching, the car was hot, and guess what happened…? Yes, it broke down in the city centre. Right next to an empty parking space and an Ibis hotel. Phew.
And this morning when we returned to the car, it failed to start. Yup – it’s probably the distributor. A quick flick on the Internet found us an MG Rover specialist in Budapest. And I’m now typing this in the owner’s garden while we arrange a recovery and replacement distributor. The irony is that I have one in my garage. Yup. But Although I am in bloody agony, I’m loving the interaction with the locals, and the feeling that we’re going to be on our way again soon. And if not, well, the 216 will soon be in the hands of a new owner.
- The converters : Crayford Metro Politan - 28 March 2024
- The cars : Range Rover P38 Vs Jaguar X300 - 26 March 2024
- Opinion : Welcome to the classic fold, Ford Focus - 23 March 2024
Oh Keith – you have my sympathies! I hope you and the Rover get fixed up soon – keep up the hard work typing with one arm, on one knee! Budapest is a lovely city – which side are you? Buda or Pest?
I hope you have time to pop into the Frankfurt show on your way back and get some news about the Land Rover DC100 Sport etc. – AR’s views on the matter would be of great interest.
Finding out that an old Rover 200 is unreliable is a more, erm, specialised interest!
Hope all is ok Keith!
Could have been a lot worse.. you could have pierced your foot on a spike!
If you can’t find a Budapest distributor, can you get anyone to air-courier your dizzy out from your garage?
Challenge – if the 216 stays put, find an alternative Brit car to get you back over the Channel. Preferably BL iron, of course.
Alternatively, you could work as a drains inspector to earn your airfare back home 😉
You daft bastard! Could only happen to you Keith! Hope you recover fully soon..
If you turned left in that 216, you voided the SwardCover Warranty. So don’t expect anykind of reimbursement upon repatriation of the Rally Winning Class.
Hope the pain eases and the Rover soon starts!
What price Honda reliability eh!?!
I think you should moderate your language. Bring back Clive.
Keith I lived there for 10 years and ran a Range Rover 3.5. The guy you want is Roland – local number 0620-911-1951,
or +3620 911-1951 if it a UK phone. I’ll Email you this info.. What a laugh!
Ah, I see from LinkedIn that your in Kettering General, and you will be out in 5 days or so. Sorry to hear that Keith. All the best to you.. Keep Roland’s number handy for next year 🙂
update… We made it back. The car was fixed, we drove to Nuremburg, where we picked up the Montego team, who scrapped their car. And they drove us back to the uk in one hit. I got home, and checked into Kettering A&E. They reset my dislocated shoulder, and I am now waiting to go into theatre to have my broken foot pinned. What an adventure! I’ll write it up properly when I get home in a few days…
Glad you and the car made it back, get on the mend soon 🙂
………and I sold the 200 just minutes afterwards. What a result.
….and make sure the new owner sends me 100 quid for the new distributor 😉
It’ll be waiting for you Keith 😉
Additional pictures now up, do they remind you of the Swiss tirol?