Archev's adventures in the Berlingo

[EvTek23]

@Archev, that looks as idyllic as this.......not in the Caribbean but in fact taken from Brownsea Island looking back at Poole in panorama mode

 

[Everest]

Here’s an interesting fact - it’s three twenty five in the morning and i’m hearing aircraft.
I’ve checked the flight radar app and there are six planes up there going to or coming from Rykejavic and one from Tokyo heading to Paris.
OK I’ll get back to sleep now I’ve sorted that out

You do know those B2's (and other military aircraft) can spoof ADS-B transponder data

 

[Everest]

taken from Brownsea Island looking back at Poole in panorama mode

Lovely - used to live not so far from there - remember visiting the island about 60 years ago!!

 

[Archev]

You do know those B2's (and other military aircraft) can spoof ADS-B transponder data

Yeah but why would they need to fool an old guy in a tent in Applecross

 

[Everest]

Aha, so was it just the RS that had the droop snoot

time... it was just the RS 2000 that had the droop snoot & 4 headlights. The MK2 RS Mexico and ultra-rare RS1800 had a flat front, with quarter front bumpers.

and was later incorporated into the Mk 3 design?

Not really (IMHO) the MK2 was a new body on the original MK1 Escort. The droop snoot simply a bit of PU stuck on the front, rather than body design.

The MK3 Escort was a completely different design / monocoque and, IIRC, shared nothing with its namesake elders. It was front-wheel drive and different engine. If it wasn't for the popularity of the Escort it was going to be called the Ford Erika, IIRC. Or they could have even called it a Focus

 

[Archev]

@Archev, that looks as idyllic as this.......not in the Caribbean but in fact taken from Brownsea Island looking back at Poole in panorama mode View attachment 38298

I was scouting about for that when I found Applecross

 

[Everest]

I was scouting about for that when I found Applecross

<groans> if you found Applecross instead you obviously weren't being guided very well.

 

[Archev]

<groans> if you found Applecross instead you obviously weren't being guided very well.

I had the dam compass upside down again

 

[salty]

I had the dam compass upside down again

Doh!
You wouldn't know wether you where coming or going.

 

[Archev]

Doh!
You wouldn't know wether you where coming or going.

So instead of either I went

 

[securespark]

time... it was just the RS 2000 that had the droop snoot & 4 headlights. The MK2 RS Mexico and ultra-rare RS1800 had a flat front, with quarter front bumpers.


Not really (IMHO) the MK2 was a new body on the original MK1 Escort. The droop snoot simply a bit of PU stuck on the front, rather than body design.

The MK3 Escort was a completely different design / monocoque and, IIRC, shared nothing with its namesake elders. It was front-wheel drive and different engine. If it wasn't for the popularity of the Escort it was going to be called the Ford Erika, IIRC. Or they could have even called it a Focus

You have a good memory. There are two schools of thought with the name Erika.

One says (correctly) that the Ford of Europe policy in the late 70s was to give cars code names of women's first names.
Like Brenda for the Escort Mk II, Gloria for the Granny Mk II, Carla for the Mk III Capri. The Cortina Mk V was Teresa and the Sierra, Toni.

I was car mad in my teens and I was at boarding school. I went to the local Ford dealer to see the new Escort in the flesh and the sales manager there told me that they wouldn't have called the car Erika because apparently there was a song called that that was a marching song used in WWII.

Also, there was an attachment to the name Escort, despite the connotations!

Of course, it was later dropped for Focus. As was Cortina dropped for Sierra, and later dropped again for Mondeo.

So, the conflicting origin of the name is:

Either it was Henry Ford II's secretary when he was head of Ford of Europe, although the internet brings up other names like Jo and Marcella.

OR

It was a name condensed from a Ford US product planner whose name was.....

Erick A. Reickert.

Take your pick!

 

[Everest]

Probably not true, but I once read that the Lotus Elise almost got called the Lotus Elsie because of a spell-checker

 

[salty]

Probably not true, but I once read that the Lotus Elise almost got called the Lotus Elsie because of a spell-checker

Hope it is true.

 

[securespark]

Mitsubishi is said to have misnamed their Starion after Stallion. Officially, the company say it's a portmanteau of "Star of Orion", but early adverts for the car in Japan featured a horse's head.

 

[Rolfe]

I can't keep up with this thread. I go away for a few days and there's pages of it! I went to Loch Ness and then back to Loch Arkaig then stayed a few days with friends in Oban. I was going to start my own thread about my travels with Caliban and Hilda, might still do it, to save cluttering up Archev's thread. Didn't take as many photos as I meant to, mind you. And typing on my phone in remote places with no phone signal isn't a great way to spend the evening. I'll post something soon though.

I just booked a week at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig to brush up my Gaelic, and my booking was so last-minute there was no accommodation left. They assured me I could have my meals in the canteen though, and what's this sleeping in the car thing in aid of if it can't save me from having to look for (and pay for) B&B sometimes.

 

[securespark]

Can't speak for anyone else, but I really enjoy reports from folk who go away, along with photos.

I will endeavour to do the same when I go away. I have been away, like when I posted pics of the MGs at Beaulieu, but it doesn't happen as often as we'd like, as Mrs S is not yet retired.

 

[Archev]

Can't speak for anyone else, but I really enjoy reports from folk who go away, along with photos.

I will endeavour to do the same when I go away. I have been away, like when I posted pics of the MGs at Beaulieu, but it doesn't happen as often as we'd like, as Mrs S is not yet retired.

I arrived home last night after stopping for hot samosas and cool cool Fanta at the Landour Bakehouse at Loch Cluanie. When I got my order and turned round there wasn’t a seat in the place. So I ate in the Berlingo annex with views of a

misty corrie

Applecross stayed virtually rain free the whole time. I’m considering checking if Screwfix contemplate hiring wellies by way of weather insurance. I never had them on my feet. By contrast, Berlingo could have used a vehicular equivalent on the final leg from Fort William to about the Grangemouth turn off on the M9.

Another view from the campground last night.

Skye masked by clouds as I set off across the pass.

The deserted pass allowed stopping for a photo or two. Otherwise the Citroen silently cruised over the asphalt snake coiled in readiness, waiting to provoke screaming engines, crunching gears and smelly overheated clutches and brakes on the ice cars. I had the window down listening to the silence as the car made power for the onward journey. That aspect fascinates me and the fact that not only could I hear the wee birds I slipped past, I didn’t leave them in a cloud of poison.
The Tesla chargers were all fully employed when I got there so I chose a CPS unit opposite for a splash ‘n dash to get home. I managed a couple of kilometres exercise and a coffee during the pit stop.
What was forecast to be a fairly wet weekend turned out to be warm and dry during waking hours with a couple of wee showers at night. I heard these gentle sprays land on the tent. Not a drop entered so the habitation remained comfortable. I left the tailgate open within the tent all the time and slept in the inner tent with only the bug mesh tent doors closed. That allowed a fine cool air everywhere as it was very warm. I lay on the opened sleeping bag most of the time only folding it over if it cooled down.
I lifted the tent off the tailgate after removing all the pegs and narrowly avoided the rainwater that had gathered on the back window depression so that could have been sold as a built in cooling shower
Cooking with the induction hob only amounted to the pan fried steaks, carrots and asparagus when I arrived on Friday. Porridge pots, teas and coffees and heating a couple of tins of soup all used a fair bit of the power bank battery. Deploying the solar panels on Saturday replenished a chunk of that and I’m back home at 32%
Although I don’t have VtoL with the Berlingo I have Vtopower banktoLoad available if it had been needed. I didn’t bother with the wee gas cooker as a backup this time trusting only in the electric set up.
I had Polish pork kabanos, a couple of packs of beef jerky and assorted fruit so even if the power hadn’t lasted I’d have been fine for a few days more. The car sat in Applecross with approximately 150 miles worth of energy needing only about 44 to reach a charger so my margin of energy available was way in excess.
Condensation was not a problem as the car tailgate was open all the time, only the inner tent mesh screens were in use and I didn’t fit a wind barrier under the back bumper so it was permanently open for ventilation.

 

[MG Clive]

some stunning views and scenery there @Archev

 

[Archev]

The scary twilight charger

A driver with an unlit car
When all around was gloom
The senses are too sharp by far
Foreboding thoughts of doom
In a state of agitation
In this lonely highland Glen
This guy caused consternation
By shouting “give’s your ten”
Well I had to have some power
From this only plug for miles
So I asked at that late hour
If two fives would make him smile
At that he went quite funny
In a jovial sort of manner
“I’ve no interest in your money
Just gimme your ten mil spanner !”

 

[MG Clive]

The man's inspired.