Near Life Experience 2011

[zebra]

How dare you call my mum that!

[Marlin]

lol @ i want to have Love with you.....

[Roy]

Google translate for all your Ukrainian translation needs

[Snowman]

lol @ i want to have Love with you.....

It's actually "I want to have love with your behind" which we all know is the true sign of genuine love.

[Roy]

And no real man with blood flowing through his veins talks above making love to something inanimate like a "behind". Not unless you are a troglodyte. Me , I would personally say how I would much rather make love to their bum

[Roy]

I have always been a little ashamed of how I have driven through the Ardennes and north of France a few times but had never taken the time to see any of the WWI and WWI memorials. So with Lee (Lagwagon) on a train over from UK to meet us in France, Jarrod and I took some time to go to the US War Memorial and the Australian Digger Memorial in Fromelle.

leaving Spa we headed west over two days and took in some sites on the way to Calais to pick up Lee.

If you dont know about what the Diggers went through in Fromelle then do yourself the service of doing some reading...and if ever in that part of the world go pay a visit. You just walk into the place and get all choked up with emotion

Ardennes American Cemetery and Memorial

Australian Memorial at Fromelles

Reading this plaque gives you an insight into just how amazing our Diggers were...even after what they had been through they speak of the Germans with respect

[Roy]

...So with Lee on board, for the first time we had a passenger in the back of the Cossie. Sitting up front we knew it had a pretty rude/loud exhaust, but it wasnt until Lee jumped in the back did we realise just how bad it was for him back there....I mean we only had a 5 hr drive to Nurburgring

Once we go there, the track was booked out by the Porsche Club of Germany with a whole swag of Porkas driving around during the day. Turns out Walter Rohrl was there taking punters for laps in an old 993 RSCS

Come afternoon the Porkas were booted and the tracked opened as a tourist day so we ran off to hire our VW Scirocco. The people at http://www.rentracecar.de/ were their usual friendly selves, and very professional. Having dealt with a few of the people hiring cars at the Ring they are hard to go past RentaRacecar and the lil VW is a great car that makes a pretty stressful 10mins around die Grüne Hölle somewhat more enjoyable

A funny thing happened the necxt day when my Cossie was parked next to this Ford GT at the local servo along with a black 458. It was a little amusing to see people walk past the Ford and 458 to check out the Cosworth. Good to know I am not alone with my love for the old Sierra

That said, when you see C6 Vettes, I quickly lose the love for the Cosworth and NEED to work in Europe so I can get a Vette to play with!!!

Cossie sits in the carpark as we go for a run in the VW...

Curiously as Jarrod and me got all pumped up about some laps...Captain Relaxo (Lee) decided to climb a tree near the Carousel

Man, looking back over these photos...it was quite the mid life crisis and mid-life escape/panic trip

[joeyjoejoejuniorshabadoo]

i like you less after reading this

[Roy]

Hey, some get married and buy houses...others hold on to their youth for grim death

So whilst we were in Germany we hung around for a few days. We were lucky enough to see all the historics racing at Nurburgring at the Old Timers meet. We had to go to Frankfurt (a shit hole full of drugs and nasty hookers...) to drop Jarrod at the airport. Me and Lee hung around for a few more days going back to Nurburgring for more laps and a small tour through Brussels and Belgium on the way back to the train at Calais

The biggest problem about the Old Timers meet is the fact that you can probably afford some of the cars. So if you are a diehard for old cars they will haunt you for weeks, dreaming of owning one of these buses, living in Europe and competing at legendary race tracks against other very cool cars

[Roy]

As part of the race meet Porsche had a massive stand and had what must be close to my dream, cool daily driver. Immaculate condition, old school, with some period racing bits to make it cool

And of course a classic race meet wouldnt be the same without 80s Touring Cars

[Roy]

Elsewhere around the pits there were some other cool things....most of all, the watch that almost had me handing over my credit card. I am a huge Steve McQueen fan...I have my Steve McQueen jacket, now i need the watch

I shudder to think what this thing is worth

[tweety bird]

love the old jags on the track.

was the e type owners club in town or was in the jaguar drivers club?

Edited October 1, 2011 by tweety bird

[Roy]

The Jags were part of the Classic Endurance Race. There were plenty of E-Types as well as Low Drag Coupes (which are to die for)

[tweety bird]

cool roy

if i ever become in a position to get a classic, a original jag e type or a xk120 with a e type 4.2 with triple webers and a t5 transmission will be right at the top of my list.

''sigh'' one day...

[phunky_monkey]

Some gorgeous classics there. Seeing euro classics do battle is up there with my favourite motorsports spectacles. So very jealous...

Loving that 356 as well - magic!

[NickR33]

love the Cosworth Benz... any race car that has a fully chromed front grill complete with hood ornament is a winner in my books!

[Roy]

Loving that 356 as well - magic!

I know, its the wallpaper on my laptop and phone

love the Cosworth Benz... any race car that has a fully chromed front grill complete with hood ornament is a winner in my books!

Yeh, I looked at an early model one to buy and import rather then the Sierra, but bit like the E30 M3 they lack the grunt to be entertaining, as you cant punt the things to their max on the street with regards to braking and cornering. They do look the part with the guard lips and wild wings.

[NickR33]

I drove my sisters '88 190E for a year or so... one of the first cars with a multi link rear end I believe... they handle corners beautifully but the 1.9L was pretty slow... I think the cossie version is only 2.4L? so not going to be beating anything in a straight line

I used to take it for twisties runs, it drifted beautifully... until my sister came home from the UK and wanted it back she wasn't happy when she took it to the mechanic for its well overdue service (I was about 19 and didn't have cash for frivolous shit like servicing)... rear tyre wear wasn't the only problem

I bought a skyline after that... partially due to the fact I was thoroughly embarrassed by a GTSt off the lights late one night...

[phunky_monkey]

My current wallpaper Bris

[Roy]

Yeh cool .Looking on carsales earlier this year I was surprised by their asking price. But the condition of local ones was nothing to get too excited about