Post by RobTPB on Dec 22, 2007 17:56:09 GMT
Here's Vlad, the Lada my wife Amy and her friends took on the Staples2Naples rally in 2005 (and where we met prior to the event, incidentally)
Vlad was a 1500 car that was purchased for the price of a bottle of Pimms, and had front wings made almost entirely of rust. The steering box appeared to be made of elastic bands, such was the wandering tendency of the car, and the underside was so far gone the car ended up crabbing everywhere. We daren't take the roof bars off in case they were the extent of the rigidity in the car.
The Aston Martin theme was designed by one Andy Blackmore and projected onto the side of the car, before it was transferred in marker pen and emulsion.
We blagged some spare wheels from the guy who had his Riva made over by Lotus, courtesy of Top Gear, and enjoyed a trip up to Norfolk where we saw his early 1300 and Moskvitch. The Lotus Riva had been sold to a German collector by then though. Vlad nearly met his maker (as did Amy and I) after a bit of a hair-raising motorway experience on the M11 by Duxford. That's when we got the brakes looked at - the front flexi-hoses were like balloons but i picked up a pair on Ebay for a fiver.
Nevertheless, in September 2005 Vlad made it all the way to Naples over 4 days, via the Swiss Alps without any dramas (bar the always-on heater). He wasn't the fastest, getting overtaken by cyclists going uphill over the alpine passes, but he made it without any total failures. By this stage, however, the rust in the wings had completely fallen out, to be replaced with gaffer tape and cereal packet. Vlad was considered too far gone to be considered for repatriation and so ended up in a Naples scrap yard.
RIP Vlad