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Fred Dukes wrote:That's a thought - Might not go down too well - Bedford CA on the VVOC Stand especially owned by the Chairman

Morgan Motor Company bought a Routemaster Bus to use at events as their events unit, I can see you using this for similar purposes for the club

The Bedford Aristocrat has arrived home after an exciting adventure on Sunday. Colin Barrett was kind enough to drive me down to Leighton Bussard. We set off at about 9.30 and arrived at the pick up venue around Noon - and there she was - her name is Gladis - in all her glory just waiting to get started. After a comfort break, a top up of coffee, confirmation that petrol had been topped up and exchange of paperwork we set off - me on a baptism of fire with column change (not driven one before ) , the handbrake on the right hand side and the starter button on the floor behind the left leg.
After a while I did manage to get from 1st - to 2nd - followed by 3rd All went well and we stopped off for a sandwich and another comfort break in glorious sunshine.
Set off again and just after getting on the M6 and getting close to J1 there was a spluttering and a cough and Gladis had had enough
Managed to coast and finally push her into a layby on the slip road - no obvious problem other than could have run out of petrol - 50 miles on 8 gallons of petrol - NO! - called AA - see you in 50 minutes - Traffic Police came and had a chat and declared the engine was blown having looked at the oil dribbling along the engine mounts (what you expect from a 60 year old vehicle ?) anyway Colin decided to do something so went off to find petrol (Traffic P said there was a Tesco just of the junction.

Colin returned with petrol - tried to start and yes that's the problem - so much for the " filling up" before we picked it up - drove to the Tesco station and filled with 9 gallons!
Off again and approaching Junction of A38 the red light came on - up the slipway and check - so I thought! - A38 is Aston Express Way! no where to stop! - 1 mile latr and temp going throughthe roof found a service road to an estate which was our home for the next hour or so
Fan belt shredded - no spare - call AA - he arrived with a odd selection of fan belts which did not fit and Colin would not lend me his tights so we settled for the Recovery truck which just happened to be round the corner.
Loaded and off we set for the last 40 miles - arrived home at 8.00 - just over 7 hours - average speed 17 mph
Found a fan belt in the back of the Baron which fits so we are up and running again
A story for the next magazine David?

amazing! I hadn't fully computed that you were actually purchasing this - well done! many pics, and, yes an article please! and of course if you need a place to store it I would gladly offer up my garage.

What a kind offer - I fear the logistics for taking her out might get a bit frustrating

Lovely thing! Let’s be honest though Fred, you would have been bored if it had been a trouble-free journey home!

Boredom can become a pleasure as you get older

Fred Dukes wrote:What a kind offer - I fear the logistics for taking her out might get a bit frustrating

Oh ture, I hadn't thought about that - of course I could take it out regularly until you can figure that out.

jpsmit wrote:amazing! I ...... and of course if you need a place to store it I would gladly offer up my garage.

Might take a long time to get to your garage at 17 mph average!

Yes ... a magazine article is on the cards.... Please keep as much info as possible for the article rather than posting on the forum