Saying hello having just joined. Amazed at all the great info on here. Have to say, I am not a bit technical, but I just love my coupe. So lots to read and learn.

I used to have a Renault 17 Gordini, TP, but we parted company and I went practical and boring for several years of company cars. At the time living in London, I saw a few coupes around and decided " I really want one of those " A test drive and I was hooked.

So, in 2000 I bought my 20v turbo plus new from a Dealership in Chesterfield and she has been with me ever since. She is in excellent condition. Now living in Orkney, the winters are a little harsh so she has to be garaged. Has anyone used Carcoons? We have salty air and I wonder whether I should protect her more. Or any advice on what sort of cover to use would be great.

As I said I'm not technical the only thing missing on her is the cover on the back windscreen wiper. ( goes over the screw/ bolt thingy) think it was that Orkney wind again. Is it possible to buy a replacement ?

Anyway, glad to be a member and look forward to chatting sometime

Hi and welcome

Morning Dianne, you do keep some late/early hours - must be all that (nearly) midnight sun

Now... how can we get you to a meet?

Hold it in Orkney


Well, north of Scotland then....when you next up in Skye Mr Barnacle?


Oh and hi Dianne, relieved you were able to join eventually

Welcome

Welcome to the forum Driley

Your desire to protect the Coupe is well-founded - the vast majority of cars being scrapped are because of corrosion - the later the car, the more prone they seem to be.

Carcoon is the recognised market leader and probably the best - you'll definitely need something with de-humidifying capabilities

If you PM me your address, I'll put a rear wiper nut cover in the post to you

oh, that's amazing Nigel! well done!

Hello D,

this is Jim who you met the other week! Glad to see you here- welcome to the community!

I'm 'well up' for a North of Scotland meet- I try and organise my own Italian-tours of the Highlands every other year and there's definitely one coming next spring.

A Sunday in April or early May sound doable, DG?

Probably don't want it too close to the Fife meet which is around 25th-ish May.

The Fife meet? you mean the Italian Car Day?

I'm not sure a 'Sunday' by itself will do justice to the distances involved, Ed; (now that there are average speed cameras on the A9 ).

It is possible to sail up to near Stronsay from Aberdeen (which is how the 20v and I will be doing it next year), but that is just a little detail I thought I'd put out there for everyone.
Probably a little too 'far North' for most folk here...

Depends on where we are going. It's definitely where the best roads in this country are though...

Hi and Welcome .

Hello and welcome - hope you find this place as useful and friendly as I have

I'm thinking maybe MattB, jimboy, MRS....even one or two "hardys" from doon 'ere. Don't know if I'd be doing Orkney unless Mrs Ed was keen on coming along - but then tbh she's probably not that keen on our "meets"

Would make more sense to drive north (scenically) on a Saturday, book dinner and accommodation and return Sunday p.m.. How far up would 4 hrs driving each way take us?

Oh that is brilliant, thank you so much. I'll pm my address. I'll do some more research on carcoon and see where I can get the best price.

Hi again, you would be welcome in Stronsay, we can host a fair few folk at home, but it is a long journey, so whatever is decided, I'll certainly come to the next meet, North Scotland is easy for us.

Thanks for the welcome

Thanks for the welcome

Hi Driley, am always learning about the Coupe and some really good info and helpful guys and girls on the forum. Enjoy:)

Thanks for the welcome. Yes, already found out how helpful folk are. Really pleased I've joined.

okay, well, as you are asking;

during the day, 4 hours would get us to just beyond Inverness.

Recently, on the return trip from some work, I drove Scrabster (far North coast) to Edinburgh in 5 and a half hours dead. Non stop, not much naughtiness and NOTHING on the road.

Traffic is a big factor on this route. The earlier/later, the better.

an overnight Highland tour, might be more achievable. Maybe we should have a conversation about this at the weekend Ed..?

Living in the Midlands, I'm often surprised at just how far away the extremities of this country are.

I can get to Edinburgh or Glasgow within five hours, but I'd never have guessed you could drive for another five hours before reaching the top of the mainland

Similarly, when I holidayed in deepest Cornwall a few years ago, I was staggered to find there's more than 100 miles of road AFTER Exeter to get near Land's End

One side of me thinks it would be hilarious to have a Coupe meeting on Orkney, or even Stronsay, although the post-lunch drive-out on Stronsay wouldn't take very long - driley has said there's only a couple of bits of road where 6th gear is possible, so I doubt it would take long to drive every mile of road on the island

The other side of me thinks that a 14-hour trip (each way) to meet some other Coupe owners is probably a bit extreme...

You would therefore think that the 1500km drive each way I did earlier this year in an Abarth 500 Essesse to attend the Australian Fiat Nationals where I caught up with Scuderia in his black 16vt to be VERY extreme! He only had to drive a few hours to attend the event.

The trip home in one go (17.5 hours) was a great drive too. But then, Australia is a large country.

17.5 hours

did you have radio reception for the whole journey??

(actually, again, I should point out that people would need only drive 2 hours beyond Edinburgh to reach the ferry at Aberdeen, which takes you to Orkney...)

Bear in mind, as I understand it, the crossing is at least 6 hours and there are only 4 sailings a week!

You're not trying, folks - 65 hour round trip to the Alesund meet this summer

One of the things which will be discussed at the AGM is the possibility of more coupe meets; I want to arrange one in Scotland next year, over a long weekend.

For the record, Hemel to Struan (Skye) is ten hours each way, sticking to the speed limits. Six hours for the first 400 miles to the Glasgow/Edinburgh corridor, and four hours for the last two hundred miles on the much more interesting roads.

Don't know, as we had a great selection of recorded music which we sometimes sang along with.

Probably would have got a few country ABC (equivalent of BBC) stations. But then we were also on the lookout for Emus and, especially at dawn and dusk, Kangaroos. Nothing like having a bit of roadkill of the animals that are on our country's Coat of Arms.

So what sort of animal *is* a wattle then?

"This 'ere is the wattle,
The emblem of our land.
You can put it in a bottle,
You can hold it in your hand:
Australia, Australia we love you!"

The "wattle", which forms the background to the Australian Coat of Arms, is the shrub, Golden Wattle, Acacia pycnantha. This is also our Nation's official Floral Emblem.

The Red Kangaroo and Emu that support the shield have never been designated as official animal emblems of Australia. They owe their unofficial recognition to the fact that they are native Australian fauna (found only on this continent), and likely chosen because they are the most well-known native Australian animals large enough to be positioned together in scale holding up the shield. It is often claimed these animals were chosen because neither animal can move backward, only forward – i.e. symbolising progress. In reality both animals can move backwards, although only infrequently.

Another of our Macropods, the Wallaby which is a smaller version of the Kangaroo, is the Team nickname for our national Rugby Union team who will, very soon, be playing in the World Cup in UK and Europe. GO THE WALLABIES!!!!

This is one of the best off-topic posts I've seen

Just to continue the theme, someone ought to remind the Aussie rugby team that when they throw the ball it should be to a member of their own team, not at an opponent

Well, I did write about car trips and I have definitely educated many about things Australian.

there's a dedicated road-trip blog coming from this, I hope...