KeithS
Enthusiast
- Messages
- 99
- Location
- Cornwall
So, having paid for the car at the end of January and arranged for it to be given the once-over by a garage in France, lockdown came into effect and my plans to fly out to Toulouse, stay with friends for a few days and then drive home to Cornwall via Roscoff-Plymouth ferry were scuppered. As it became obvious that nothing much was going to change for the foreseeable future (plus being higher risk, I'm not keen on the thought of flying for a while), I decided to have my 1987 R4 shipped back to the UK. The first quote I got from shiply.com was just over £1600, but within an hour or so, the quotes had dropped to a bit over £800! I finally chose a company whose records showed they normally delivered/collected high-end sportscars, and who are fully insured, who quoted £869 delivered to my door. Considering it's an eight-hour drive from Roscoff to my friend's house where my car was stored, plus a ferry, plus transport to my door, I reckon that's not bad at all.
So, as of 10.00pm last night when the car was collected, the Quatrelle is now on its way to me and should be here by the weekend – they quoted delivery to me in 48 hours... It's a Leboncoin find, originally from Perpignan but lately near Toulouse and is what I was after: an honest unmolested car (as opposed to the majority which appear to have been 'restored' by virtue of a quick paintjob and some underseal) with some history. Previous owners had kept a log of all the service work done, down to buying windscreen wiper blades etc, and although it has had a gentle knock on the front right side, it is in very good honest condition – sans rust. I had it checked out by my friend, who then gave it to his garagiste to go through it and fix any problems. They amounted to a new gear linkage bush, two brake hoses, a ball-joint and an exhaust rubber. I also had them blast and repaint the original wheels and fit four new tyres. Once over here, I have a pair of headlamps to swap and a rear fog lamp to fit, then it's time for the MOT.
Needless to say, I'm like a kid on Christmas Eve right now, waiting for the car to be dropped off. More to follow once it's here, if anyone's interested.
So, as of 10.00pm last night when the car was collected, the Quatrelle is now on its way to me and should be here by the weekend – they quoted delivery to me in 48 hours... It's a Leboncoin find, originally from Perpignan but lately near Toulouse and is what I was after: an honest unmolested car (as opposed to the majority which appear to have been 'restored' by virtue of a quick paintjob and some underseal) with some history. Previous owners had kept a log of all the service work done, down to buying windscreen wiper blades etc, and although it has had a gentle knock on the front right side, it is in very good honest condition – sans rust. I had it checked out by my friend, who then gave it to his garagiste to go through it and fix any problems. They amounted to a new gear linkage bush, two brake hoses, a ball-joint and an exhaust rubber. I also had them blast and repaint the original wheels and fit four new tyres. Once over here, I have a pair of headlamps to swap and a rear fog lamp to fit, then it's time for the MOT.
Needless to say, I'm like a kid on Christmas Eve right now, waiting for the car to be dropped off. More to follow once it's here, if anyone's interested.
