Exactly 4 years ago, near Lisbon, Portugal, I saw my E12 for the first time since I sold it in 2004. It was in poor shape but I bought it and two months later it arrived on driveway in the UK. The rest is history and the restoration is still going on.

Her and a small team did an outstanding job that has had an enormous impact on our roads, in the UK and abroad.

Slight increase a band: Molecular Kitten U3 Human premier league Limp cake Maroon 6 Linkin forest Tom petty cash

Spotted this rarity today. always found the Honda HR-V very cool since launch. From a time when SUVs were cool because they were an alternative and not mainstream, designed to be different from the rest of the range.

"Carcheological" find whilst digging up for our new Chefs Garden. This engine block was deep in the grass area of a building that was built in the 70's, so probably it's been there for at least 50years Can anyone identify it?

Good morning everybody, Here's our local neighbour daily driver and weekend toy... one of many kn his collection

The Alfa Romeo Giulia is the best looking saloon currently in production. Change my mind.

Some work done today on my BMW E12. Corner sections on the sills were cut off and found only minimal and surface rust inside them. A few more bits cut off, but I foolishly broke my angle grinder and cutting disc, so my neighbour @liam_the_plumber lent me his to let me finish one last bit.

Tried my best at metal shaping, but not having a adequate place to do it and tools, I didn't get what I wanted. More hours of practice and essential tools needed, but it's a start. For now, to save time, I'll use parts of the two full length sills I got from France and arrived within 3 days.

Post a random cool car photo you took on another year, with no explanation. Snapped in 2013

The video about yesterday's Drive it Day at Beaulieu is now live on my YouTube channel, Gentil's Garage. Link in comments👇 #driveitday #beaulieu #classiccarshow #britishcars #carshow

Today I was at Beaulieu National Moto Museum for the Drive it Day event and it did not disappoint... so much that i got carried away and filmed most cars on display, resulting in a video lasting nearly and hour and a half. Video to will be up shortly on my YouTube channel shortly.

Today I did my first "origami" with metal to roughly create this rocker panel end on the E12. The wing bolts on top of it and therefore not visible, but as long as it's solid, that's all that matters.

Now this a rarity I spotted today, a Honda Fit Type R. Japan import, of course, so I wonder how many of these exist in the UK

Rustival 5 made me think: My 1st car, a '88 VW Polo felt old in 2001 but was just 13yrs old and launched in 1982... but 25 years later, I daily drive a 20yr old Focus launched in 2004. This means now I drive a car older than the one I had when I started driving! Who else is in the same situation?

South African ad for the (then new) BMW 5 series.

One of the cars I greatly admired at Rustival 4, this 1981 Saab 99 Turbo. It was unbelievably immaculate and the owner (with his wife behind the car) bought it new in '81. When the car was getting on a bit, they sold another car to get this one restored. @grandthriftauto.bsky.social will love this

I made my very first car show video and today it was all about Rustival 4 which is as great as ever. Looking forward to Rustival 5 later this year! Link in comments:

Focus washed, fully fuelled and ready for an early rise tomorrow morning . Sadly, my 1974 BMW 520 E12 won't make an appearance tomorrow at Rustival but it will be there in spirit. I'll be looking forward to catch up with you great people once again. See you tomorrow everyone!

Done a bit of work on the E12. Removed the front wings and found some old bodge repairs made between 2004 and 2022. Identified all the rust to be cut out and replaced with new metal. I've seen far worse E12's and I'm sure I can do this myself without too much trouble.

I ordered a touch up pen for my car. I was expecting it to be inside jiffy bag, but instead it came in this massive box. What a waste

Evening all. Gillian can’t make Rustival next week and the Fig is misbehaving, so I have a spare exhibitor ticket going, if anybody needs one? Just drop me a tenner for it. Thought I’d see if there are any takers here before I put it on Friendship Corner over on Farcebook.

Today, I practiced welding for the very 1st time. Watched a few YouTube videos and decided to try, using a gasless Parkside welder from Lidl, SIP welding mask and Amazon leather gauntlets. Used an old BMW E39 brake dust shield with 1mm thickness to practice and get a feel of it. 1/2

Today I removed the sound old deadening pads and "attacked" both floors with a chisel to check for bad metal and I'm pleased that the floors do not need to be completely replaced. Driver side needs roughly a L shaped section cut out and welded, while the passenger side needs a square corner. 1/2

My work neighbour has a lovely car collection of 10+ cars and today one of his cars, this beautiful Austin Healy 3000 mk2 was out today having a little fettle. I love the wire wheels painted in the same colour as the top of the car

Here's a rare beast I spotted today, a Toyota Corolla XL

Today I got the pressure washer out, washed the decking, pathways, two cars and got spare time to jetwash the interior carpet of the E12. 52 years of dirt, grime and rat piss removed and they now look black and not brown. They haven't crumbled, but need new backing glued on to make them less floppy

Yes, that's right! I decided it's time for me to learn to weld so that I can get the E12 finally back on the road. I got a cheap welder to start with so that I can learn and then apply it to the E12 once I feel confident enough. #bmw

The advantages of having a DDI (direct Dial-in) in my desk are starting to fade. Often people try to call a particular insurance company and instead dial my number which is the same except for one digit. The amount of times I have to explain callers they inadvertently made a mistake is growing...

Spotted today this lovely Triumph 2500 estate.

That's the best Lighting McQueen drawing I could do, but our daughter likes it.

Post a car that matches its surroundings

Weekly shopping done; milk, cheese, bread, olives, mig welder, wine, etc

My wife's 2013 Focus 1.0 Ecoboost has passed the 100k mark. Still with its original engine, but wet belt changed 3 years ago at 70k. Never let us down, which is rare! Religiously serviced at Ford since new and the only thing that never worked was the auto start/stop... probably that saved it too!

Can someone please tell Haart that her Toyota engined 10yr old Citroen C1 has a great reliability record? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Very nice Peugeot 406 GTX on sale kn FB marketplace place:

What happened to the original Citroen C3? These used to be everywhere so it was a surprise to see this one at the carpark at work this morning

Okay, so I’m thinking I will sell the S60 to help fund the Probe resto. 2005 model. Ex demonstrator. I’m the third owner (kind of the 2nd). 2.0T. 50k. Immaculate service history. MOT to November. Full new set of Nexen tyres and 4-wheel alignment. £2,250. DM if interested.

Earlier I listened the "the Car Podcast" about potholes and one thing that irritated me was when Manish Pandey said that "we have no money because maybe we spend all, I think, on healthcare and social services". Seriously? Have you forgotten previous governments? Potholes have been bad for years.

Horsley Towers tunnel cleanup. Movie geeks might recognise the courtyard used in The Crown, Suffragettes Foyle's War and The Colour of Magic

Some lovely motors today at my local Tesco. Weekly Shopping with these is never boring

Damn model years Cardle 4/5 Streak 1🔥 🟢 🟢 🔴 🟢 🟢 🔴 🟢 🟢 🔴 🟢 🟢 🟢 www.playcardle.com

Looks like the panic fuel madness started already. Visited a couple of filling stations for my weekly fill up and all ran out of 95 octane. My wife said the local tesco extra was very crowded...🙄🙄

One of today's jobs was to change the spark plugs on my 20 year old Focus. I think they have been there a long time...

Sun's out, tools out

New bedtime reading:

Anyone fancy buying a rare Alfa Romeo 33 facelift estate?

Well, I didn't buy it. After the car failed to start, the owner asked a couple of days to sort it, but after not hearing anything for days I chased up again and got no reply. Oh well...

Classified ads are being increasingly done with AI, including photos that look authentic at first but after closer look they turn out not to be genuine. An example here demonstrated by The 1100 Club:

A couple of hours ago i saw a massive convoy of orange VW transporters, all the same model, going up the M4 in Wiltshire. Anything going on?