Hermann Zer German
Hermann is our 1967 Mercedes Pagoda. He is quietly good-looking and attracts waves and smiles and selfie shots everywhere he goes. Which in 2020 was across the whole of central Europe, and then at the end of 2021 he helped us escape Plague Island to chill out (or rather, warm up) on the Iberian peninsula. Hermann’s 2020 Grand Tour starts here and his achievements on the trip are celebrated here. His 2021 Holiday Trip starts here. In 2023 he took Sid and Doris to see Joe and Betka on their Mille Miglia debut, and came back from Italy through Austria, Switzerland, Germany and France. Good lad.
Teal, the Mini
Everybody loves a Mini, and they all think that Mini drivers are completely mad to drive around in anything so small. In fact, people often can’t believe how small a Mini is, and so they pull out in front of you in the confident knowledge that a) you are still a long way off and b) you have got plenty of room to stop in if they have misjudged it a bit. Equipped with some seriously upgraded seatbelts to help manage the emergency stops required, we took Teal round our Not The Thistle tour of Scotland where we also completely failed to get any discounts on the ferries despite being only 60% of the usual car length. Sid tells you more about Teal here.
Bicycles
You may have noticed that Sid and Doris have a habit of naming things, but for some reason the bikes that we used for the EuroEpic trip never did get named. Well, they got called lots of names but that is different. There’s no post that really describes the bikes, but this one talks about the bike fitting that we had the day before we left. You’ll find more information about the bikes in posts with the “Equipment” tag.
The Collective
Some people might wonder why Sid and Doris seem to have a collection of slightly tatty old toys. But appearances can be deceptive. You can find out more about the Collective here, and Mifter Bat and the Silk (writing with his cycling name of “S”) have even contributed posts to the blog, which you can find in the Tag list.
Bothy McWeevil
Bothy McWeevil is the proud proprietor of the famous Thistle Garden, a tourist attraction somewhere in deepest Scotland. It requires skill and determination to turn what is effectively a patch of set-aside land into a paying business, and Bothy joined us on the Not The Thistle tour of Scotland to give helpful feedback to other wannabe tourist farmers. His posts have been tagged with #bothymcweevil so you can find them in the Tag list.
“Call Me Al” – The Alvis
We commissioned Earley Engineering to (re)build us a 1937 Alvis 4.3 Special. The build started in 2020 and was to take 18 months. They took on too much and then prioritised work that came in after our commission. COVID came and went. The bodywork was subbed out and but was rubbish, so started again. The bell housing was not ordered until after it was required. The crank case was found to be split and needed cast iron welding. Trimmers were famously unreliable. The block casting had a void. New sleeves had to be imported. The wiring loom did not work. The inlet castings were not ordered until after they were required despite Sid asking many times, ‘Have you got all the parts you need for final assembly?’
Sid and Doris entered the car on events for which it was expected to be ready, starting with the Carrera Italia and, more recently, The Shamrock. And when it wasn’t ready then we took the Fire Fly or the mighty Teal. The joke is wearing thin in late 2024, four and a half years later.
More information, pictures and plans will follow here…
The Jolly Green Giant
In a casual conversation with Matt, our American friend who also happens to be a professional classic car-buyer, Doris mentioned that she would love to have one of those big American cars with wooden bits down the side. Does it steer? Does it stop? Who cares. And by the way, it does have air conditioning, as you can see in the picture. More information, and some photos taken from a long way back to get the full 17’6″ in, are here. Our travels with the JGG start here, about four weeks into the Vamos! journey.
The JGG was sold in 2023 to a collector who has a Country Squire from most of the years in which they were made. Some time we will go to Dearborn to see the grandeur of the old Ford site.