Mincey

A red one in the Bretton Sainsburys car park. I won't divulge the number plate, but was it any of you? Had I not been heading out shortly I would have stuck around for a (very) mini-meet.

Oh yes - Concorde! I have relatives on the South Coast and before the M25 my father's preferred route was around Heathrow. On one trip in the winter, Concorde took off on full burners just as we were passing the end of the runway and I saw the diamonds in the exhaust as clear as day. Absolutely magical.

I remember being very impressed as a young lad by the Lightnings doing their party piece at airshows. Sauntering down the runway then going vertical immediately after take off just like a rocket. Oh and the noise....

Excellent. I grew up on the flight path to RAF Wittering and was close-ish to Alconbury. I learned to recognise Harriers, Vulcans, Victors, Phantoms, F1-11s and many more I've probably forgotten. Seeing a Vulcan overhead when it did it's howly thing was always a treat.

Glad you're enjoying it - I miss mine for the growly engine noise.

Phew - I only mentioned it because when the water pump in my '07 IS250 went, the coolant level went down. Not being too mechanically savvy, I didn't realise that the pump might be on the way out but luckily my local Indie is a wise chap.

Absolutely. A few years ago I was sitting in my sister's garden and the Lanc flew directly overhead, low enough to count the rivets. "Awesome" doesn't come anywhere close to covering it.

Daft question - could your water pump be on the way out?

That's a very good point Malc - it wouldn't do to have something like that fall into the hands of the Taliban, would it? I worked in Thetford for a number of years and every Tuesday (or was it Wednesday?) the F-15 boys would go out on their exercises over the Wash. They weren't quiet and had no respect for those on their flightpaths who were trying to work. The less said about their fellow country men in the Apache gunships though, the better.

I think it was Sally B from Duxford. I don't know if there are any other B-17s left in the UK?

.... and do you know what? It wasn't nearly as heart-racingly impressive as seeing a Lancaster!

So far! 🙂 I was surprised when I had the recall notice as I thought that the 3IS has got away with it. I'm also surprised that nobody else here with a similar vintage IS to mine has been asked to come in.

It's funny you should say that Colin. It was booked in to be done today. Yesterday I had a voicemail to say there were no courtesy cars available today and could I rebook? No problem. I've just rebooked. It's going in on the 1st October now. Apparently there are no parts available until then. Pick the bones out of that one! Now, as I've got about 60 miles of fuel left, my quandary now is how much to put in for the next month so I don't waste any more....

Indeed. They could have been taking a photo opportunity. Perhaps they were Japanese tourists? I remember being told that years ago when speed cameras were first placed around the M25, the Police were continually moving on Japanese tourists who had parked on the hard shoulder as they believed that the speed camera sign meant that there was a good photo opportunity ahead. Japanese? Hired a car they knew would be reliable? It's a possibility worth investigating.

Why did I immediately think of this?

Indeed. I saw a 20 plate Merc of some description being loaded onto a recovery lorry in the local Supermarket car park yesterday. When I left, one of the lanes out of the car park had been coned off because the Merc had fallen off the recovery lorry. So not only are they unreliable, they're not good at staying on the recovery truck which comes to save them.

Here's my history so far. Mostly trips to the local Supermarket with the odd 50 mile round trip to Huntingdon thrown in. One trip on 03/06/20 to Stanmore is the longest recorded to date. Pre-Covid when I'd be doing Peterborough to Littlehampton on a regular basis I'm sure that it would be regularly in the 50's.

I get mid 30's doing plenty of short 4 mile round trips which include the odd dual carriageway thrash, but I'd say 28 is on the very low side. Sticky calipers perhaps?

FTFY. Sorry, just being naughty. I took mine down to Stanmore yesterday. Coming back, and approaching the Hatfield Tunnel, I had been stuck behind one of those buffoons in a black Range Rover. This had been going on for several miles as the owner clearly thought that lane 2 was for the sole use of black Range Rover drivers. As I'm on a fuel burning mission at the moment, I was using Sport mode to see if that would waste more juice more quickly. The idiot in front indicated that they were pulling over (thus saving me from the undertake I was planning) so as Steve Winwood wisely suggested, I saw my chance and took it. Foot firmly planted on the floor, the revs rose as normal, but about 1k away from the red line, they suddenly go up rather quickly don't they? 93 before anyone asks.

I'd had a lovely supper, and all I said to my wife was, 'That piece of halibut was good enough for Jehovah.

Stone me!!

The only thing I have against the IS200 is the fact that it spawned all those Lexarse aftermarket rear lights.

I drive an IS300h. I can't afford a 1% reduction in engine performance....

I'm looking forward to seeing if I get a prezzie when I take my IS in for the fuel pump recall. As it isn't as posh as an LS, I'm not expecting chocolates and flowers though. As I'm having to burn up what was an almost full tank of petrol in preparation there should be something. I'd be happy with a four pack of cider and/or a Double Sausage and Egg McMuffin. I have simple tastes.

+1. I always give it back with more fuel in that when I took it out because I'm hopeless at judging anything. Being able to come home instead of staying at the dealership or wandering aimlessly around Leicester makes up for that though. It's nice to drive something different too, even if they consistently refuse to let me have an LC.