To England

So then, after agreeing on terms and schedule with Mark at Classicarco, we (the Volvo and me!) booked tickets from Oslo to Kiel on February 28th, 2010 and further from Rotterdam to Hull on March 2nd. The extra day for transfer from Kiel to Rotterdam was added as a precaution, and it showed later to be wise...

I was most concerned about how to drive the 35-40 minutes stretch from my home in Lier to the ferry quai in Oslo in case of snow, because the 1800ES has only summer tyres contrary to our daily drivers. As stated in a previous post, so much salt is nowadays used on our roads during winter that with some caution they can be safely axessed with summer tyres on most days during a normal winter. However, the winter of 2009-10 in Norway was far from normal. It was a good old fashioned winter with really cold weather from December to March, and during the last two days before departure to Oslo and Kiel we had plenty of snow.

The solution was found in a car accessory shop - Autosock. I had the previous month purchased two for the transfer from the rented garage to my home, but the severe conditions the day before the departure made it obvious that I needed 4 - one for each wheel. It was a wise decision. The distance from where I live to the highway entrance is only about 3-4 km, but on Sunday February 28th it would not have been thinkable to drive them on old, hard summer tyres such as the 1800ES is equipped with at the moment. With Autosocks on all 4 wheels, respecting the recommended max speed of 50-60 km/h, it was a piece of cake. And just before entering the E18 for Oslo which was heavily salted and free of snow and ice, I just took them off. Recommended, although no substitute for real winter tyres - it's just intended as an emergency kit whenever needed.

The remaining 30 km to Color Line's terminal in Oslo went without any problems at all. Lining up for the ferry I got an XC90 behind me, and the picture reveals either 1) how small the 1800ES is or 2) how ridiculosly supersized most SUV's are. Judge for yourself.

At 11:00 sharp on March 1st the Color Fantasy berthed safely in Kiel after smooth sailing, and the Volvo landed on German soil, at least for the very first time with me behind the wheel. I had of course my faithful Garmin on the dashboard, a real blessing compared to old days fiddling with maps especially when driving solo. Destination Rotterdam was quickly plotted in, and off we went.

Driving a 48 year old car, even if it was at the time a Sports Car or Grand Touring as it was also frequently called, demands some caution when you suddenly hit the German Autobahn. Excellent roads and no speed limits are a sharp contrast to what we have in Norway, and a lot of Norwegian drivers take advantage to empty their engines of all accumulated soot as soon as they enter the Autobahn. The story goes that in the area around Hannover there are a lot of workshops that have their yearly bonanza in July as Norwegians on holiday end up with mortally damaged engines that did not appreciate the sudden change in operational conditions at full throttle on the Autobahn after years at creepy speed on Scandinavian roads. So therefore I decided to take it rather easy, by not exceeding a maximum speed of 125-130 km/h. And the Volvo purred along, seemingly without effort towards the Dutch boarder.

After a couple of stops for petrol, coffee and technical checks we entered Holland. As the car ran so well I had gradually increased my speed so that the previous maximum had become rather the average. Then, just after the boarder and while in the left lane at 135 overtaking a row of heavy trucks just seconds after praising how well everything worked, the engine just died without any warning whatsoever. WHAT TO DO???