The Italian Job 2003 Weblog - 2 men, a clapped out mini, a wing, and a prayer.

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DIARY FROM THE ITALIAN JOB RALLY Departure date: 28/10/2003
:: Googling	Posted on 11/11/2003 at 19:30 GMT
Just noticed a few of you have discovered this site from searching Google for "Clapped Out Mini". Oh, if only you knew!! Ha!
Posted by Wild	Link (14 comments)

:: New Gallery	Posted on 11/11/2003 at 18:38 GMT
More images for you to enjoy from this year's job.
Posted by Wild	Link (6 comments)

:: Sleeeep!	Posted on 11/11/2003 at 18:06 GMT
Well, call me soft - but its just as well that I booked off 2 days after the end of the Job on Sunday - I've slept soundly throughout both days and nights! Owners of the BMW minis won't have a clue what I'm talking about - as their journey was spent in the luxury of comfy seats and GPS navigation. No, our Job was slightly different and appears to have caused a temporary hibernation in me. Apologies to all those depending on my participation in the various projects I'm currently subscribed to in the Real World. Job and Gina-wise - well, I was half expecting to get down to the car this morning (before my sleep) to find the doors had fallen off, the engine had blown up, and a clown-style "BANG!" flag poking out of the exhaust. Luckily none of these have yet happened - although the 10 days consisting of 2 blokes in increasingly dirty washing combined with carpet rot caused by the puddle of standing water in the footwell have formed a slightly acrid stale smell in the car that perhaps only a team of nuclear cleanup specialists could remove. Time to get those new carpets ordered I do believe. So - will Gina (El Flamo) be taking part next year? Dammit people give us a bit of time! Perhaps. I'll be needing to sort some motoring essentials for the car out first (air horns, alloy wheels, Union Jack flags - just the absolute things we need to make the car go and stop, obviously). We don't want people to accuse us of actually knowing what we're doing, do we? Right - coming up - I do promise this time, are a whole shedload of new photos from the hols, plus I'll try and get hold of some footage of the car, kindly nicked from others who accidentally managed to get the car in frame whilst trying to film the beautiful scenary.
Posted by Wild	Link (1 comment)

:: Wahey Hey Hey!	Posted on 09/11/2003 at 18:00 GMT
We made it! We did it! I just can't believe it! In fact, neither of us can believe it! Read More
Posted by Wild	Link (10 comments)

:: On the road to Paris	Posted on 07/11/2003 at 10:15 GMT
Another day, another 5 million miles - well, another 350 kilometres actually, all the way to Paris. Gina (El Flamo) is going great guns, which is really nice. I wouldn't really stretch the imagination so far as to call the ride comfortable, but at least we get there in the end. We constantly get overtaken by mini coopers doing 100+ - but every night those drivers scratch their heads and wonder how it is we seem to beat many of them to the destination. They haven't reckoned with our flux capacitor. Glad we brought it along now. There was another mini lost last night. The first one was in Imola itself where one owner hit a truck just outside the hotel. Luckily no one was hurt that time. Neither were they last night as well, fortunately. It was a very very long drive yesterday - taking Mark and I about 6 and a half hours to get there, through peasoup fog. The owners of this particular mini were hit by an old woman on the motorway as she pulled out in front of them, causing them to spin off. The old lady carried on down the motorway apparently unfazed, and caused another accident about 400 metres on down. The mini is another write-off unfortunately. Its a shame when these cars are obviously the pride and joy of their owners. Happily we're being very cautious. Although the French roads and drivers are far far superior to the Italian counterparts we're not taking things for granted.
Posted by Wild	Link (5 comments)

:: Frejus conquered	Posted on 06/11/2003 at 13:32 GMT
The Frejus is now behind us and clear are roads in front. After the last post was made we made all the usual checks to Gina (wheel- check, doors – check, steering wheel – check, flames - check..) we rolled off and joined the approach for the tunnel only to find out that there was a hold up due to electrical problems in the tunnel. At the same time about 15 other IJ Minis turned up and we were collectively sat waiting for a good 20mins before all things were cleared. Before the other Minis realised that we were in the queue with them we could hear – "I bet it’s that *** flaming mini that's got stuck." Out of the tunnel now on onto Beaune should be 2hr if driving a normal car but for us it could be anyone’s guess. Bye for now as it’s my turn to pedal Gina.
Posted by Mark	Link (4 comments)

:: Frejus tunnel - the return	Posted on 06/11/2003 at 11:33 GMT
;) Quick update - we are just about to enter the tunnel of doom. Fingers crossed
Posted by Mark	Link (3 comments)

:: The Return of the Beast!	Posted on 06/11/2003 at 07:09 GMT
Harumph! Yesterday was a massive disappointment unfortunately. The one thing we wanted most of all for this whole trip was to get the chance to drive on the curved rooftop racetrack at the Fiat Factory here in Turin. Sadly, both ends of the track were closed for repairs (not that we saw them doing any) so we couldn't do any laps at all. We tried our best to enjoy being on the track whatsoever, but it didn't work. Standing on the curved ends just isn't the same as having minis dance around on the top re-enacting the scene from the film. The Alfa Romeo Giulia (the police car from the film) had even brought a proper flashing blue light so as to provide mirth for the mini owners at it chased them from behind - but sadly the organisers didn't seem even interested in setting up a quick and easy static photoshoot with a red white and blue mini being 'chased' by it. Quite frustrating. A high point yesterday though was the police escort through the streets of Turin - police motorbikes thundering around with sirens blazing to race ahead of us and stop oncoming traffic and wave us through red lights. We went past a college and school, where all the children rushed down to the railings to see what all the commotion of 80-odd minis blaring their horns was all about. Of course the children adored Gina (or El Flamo as she's now colloquially known) and would shout and wave as hard as they could when we went past. Its quite funny that adults seem to prefer 'normal' (ie non Hammerited and flamed) minis whilst kids absolutely dig it. Gawd bless em. I've got a couple of photos which I'll try to upload today - net connection permitting. Today itself sees a leisurely jaunt all the way to Beaune in France for this next stop. Well, I say 'leisurely' but the journey today finds us re-ascending the Alps to the Frejus Tunnel and then descending again. When we were coming down from the tunnel both of us were convinced that we would never again be able to re-ascend the 30 or so mile long sloping Autostrade. Well, the beast returns today for a pop at its former nemesis - and the aim is get to the top without causing major international fire incidents. We'll see. If I have time today whilst Mark's doing his stint of driving I'll tell you the amazing story of The Alfistas and the Man from Ferrera....
Posted by Wild	Link (9 comments)

:: new gallery	Posted on 05/11/2003 at 10:07 GMT
There's a new gallery up that's just chock full of lovely images for you!!
Posted by Mark	Link (2 comments)

:: Tuesday 4th	Posted on 05/11/2003 at 07:57 GMT
Yesterday was quite a short leg but the route took us up and down so many mountain roads I was quite thankful we stopped at lunchtime. If there was an event where Gina was to be pushed off a mountain road by a Mafia JCB this would have been it -- cheers for that suggestion Reg, and by the way the event organisers have asked if you can stop emailing them, it’s not going to be included ok. On the ascent and decent of these hill there would be a hairpin bend every 10m or less. When making for a descent it was interesting as we would just have to go for it and use the brake sparingly in order to keep them cool. I loved it, however I was the driver and Rich was left hanging onto the window frame shouting “wooo wooo wo” and trying to navigate. All the digs received for using an automatic mini were passed aside as little Gina blasted up and down the hills. It helped that we didn’t need to worry about changing gears as not too much revs were lost in bad gear changes and so just concentrate on the corners which as mentioned were many. After the stage people headed back to the Hotel in Imola and got ready for the dinner ball in the evening..... aaarrrhhh Rich and myself purposely forget to bring a black tie suit so we weren’t left with too many options except go down to the garage and work on Gina. The brakes were bled, and instead of coming out the colour of Stella it came out like Ginness. Tested the car and it was another hallelujah moment, Gina can now stop on a six pence. Early start in the morning as need to get up to Turin for lunch time to meet the rest of the jobbers and then up onto the Fiat factory roof top race track and do a few laps. Rumours are that we will be getting a Police escort through the center of Turin.
Posted by Mark	Link (4 comments)

:: Rimini and Ferrera	Posted on 03/11/2003 at 17:59 GMT
Well, the astoundishment (don't bother looking it up, I just invented that word) of our league place in the rally continues today. After yesterday's brake failure and subsequent missed stage we were relegated to 74th position in the rally (yes, we missed an entire stage and still managed to not be in last place!), today went quite well. With a brand new pair of brakes and our tuned engine Gina managed to post a quite incredible 41st position! That's despite us getting completely lost with the Alfa Romeo guys and only managing to reach Ferrera with 2 minutes to spare on the clock! After we reached Rimini yesterday and finished the rally we were given the afternoon to ourselves. Having fairly quickly established that Rimini is Italy's Blackpool, we retreated to the stunning skycity of San Marino. Terrifyingly high up in the sky, the city was a harsh climb for Gina - but it was the return journey back down that scared us the most. Our brakes had glazed over from the overheating earlier that day - and so weren't performing very well at all. Luckily we managed to climb back down without overheating them too badly using a combination of engine braking and intermittant gentle brake presses. Phew! Today was a long day, a total of around 140 miles through the fog-strewn vineyards around the ancient walled city of Ferrera. We got lost about 6 or 7 times - but each time the locals were only too pleased to help us refind our way, despite the obvious language barrier. Its funny, whenever Gina breaks down or we find ourselves utterly in the middle of nowhere - old Italian men will appear out of nowhere to mutter incomprehensibly and nod appreciatively at the car. Add to the fact that the Alfa Romeo is something of a national hero here makes the 2 teams quite noticeable as we charge (ha! yea right) through the italian countryside. We still have a heating problem - our heater works intermittantly at best - but at least the newly tuned engine is about 600% more efficient and keeps its heat down enough to be getting on with for now. We've pretty much tracked down the heater problem to a dicky valve - so Mark's gone down to the garage tonight to have a look at it and discuss it with the engineers. I'll be doing a mega update of pictures sometime later tonight - we've taken nearly 300 already - so it'll take time for me to sort through them.
Posted by Wild	Link (5 comments)

:: Monday 3rd	Posted on 03/11/2003 at 00:57 GMT
There is a strange sense of unease at the moment --- Everything is working, and by working I mean really purring. Sun is out so we won’t have the problem of the distributor being drowned and the engine has been tuned up by the mechanics last night. The tuning was so bad on poor Gina that we were advised by the two mechanics to drive slowly now as we won’t be prepared for the speed and it was true -- 60mph +. With a car that goes over 60mph there is a good chance that we can get back over the Alps and get home -- YEHHH. As you have probably guessed spirits are high. I am writing this as we are doing the first rally stage for today. Rich is driving and I’m meant to be navigating (much to Rich’s annoyance.) To be perfectly honest I think it will be quite difficult for us to get lost as there is a line of mini’s stretching to the horizon and back for us to follow. Take a pratt to get lost!! …. Update Scratch that we are lost and the brakes have failed going down a hill. Nothing bad happened stopped in a lay-by to let the brake cool down. Unfortunately we have lost the pack and are about half an hour off our allotted time for this stage. Will update tomorrow with the actual results but more than likely we will be last. Don’t really care however as the scenery is spectacular and I wanted a break to stretch my legs and have cigarette. Till tomorrow and thank you for all your comments as it has been keeping us going at times when we have been stuck at the bottom or top of a mountain.
Posted by Mark	Link (8 comments)

:: Enzo ferrari Circuit - Rally Stage 1 Imola	Posted on 01/11/2003 at 23:16 GMT
Today saw stage 1 of the rally proper - a gentle intoduction to the rally with a 4 mile trip to the nearby Enzo Ferrari F1 Circuit here in Imola for 3 Special Timed Stages as well as a few laps on the racetrack itself. The weather was atrocious again - and Gina really struggles in the wet. Most of the day was made up of participating in roadholding and cornering tests on a very slippy surface - having to negotiate very tight turns round cones at speed. Most cars went slipping and sliding round the courses, but in a wierd twist of fate Gina held her own as being the only automatic car gave us a great advantage with tight cornering. Eventually, (after the Aston Martin DB4 had obliterated nearly every cone in sight - bit in style) we were allowed a few laps on the F1 circuit itself, which was a fantastic experience - especially getting Gina up hills that F1 cars wouldn't even sniff at! Even more amazing - the slowest car in the Job (us) finished an absolutely astounding 34th out of 80-odd. Quite incredible seeing as we're up against some truly lovely classic Mini Coopers and BMW minis!!! See how we got on in our Enzo Ferrari F1 Circuit Gallery. We might lose our position tomorrow though - the rally heats up with proper timed stages through the Italian countryside - we don't stand a chance in straight speed battles! Stop The Press - We handed over Gina to one of the support mechanics this evening with suspected head gasket trouble. Word from the garage (from others who were having their cars seen to) is that Gina is now sounding very trim and mean indeed!! Watch this space for more info - it means we might get above 60mph after all!!!
Posted by Wild	Link (4 comments)

:: Imola.	Posted on 01/11/2003 at 08:57 GMT
The morning after - and both of us are feeling the effects of last night's jubilation. During the journey (just after the Frejus Tunnel) we met up with another team who were driving down in a 37 year old former Italian Police-owned Alfa Romeo. They too had had a lot of problems (lack of brakes/inability to switch the lights on due to an ever-self-destroying dynamo, that sort of thing) - and so last night we toasted the fact that both teams actually made it to Imola in 1 piece. It seems our reputation had preceeded us, as when Mark and I drove the car down to scrutineering after we arrived - they were expecting a flamed up mini doing only 50mph with a suspected blown head gasket. Hmmm. Still, we passed scrutineering without incident, as well as getting passed the dreaded document checks. So we're now officially Team 73. This morning sees us driving to the Ferrari F1 circuit at Imola for a days laughing at our inability to even slightly compete. We noticed last night that the suggested route that we took to get here had an expected duration of 16 hours. It took us 50.
Posted by Wild	Link (6 comments)

:: We Made It!	Posted on 31/10/2003 at 21:46 GMT
We did it! We actually made it! Neither of us can actually believe it! Sorry - bit emotional. Proper update tomorrow once we've got a grip on reality..... For now... HOT SHOWER... BEER... MUST SLEEP. FOREVER.
Posted by Wild	Link (1 comment)

:: Torrential Downpour!	Posted on 31/10/2003 at 10:36 GMT
Disaster! The weather in Italy is less than clement - and when you're dealing with Gina thats very very important. We're currently just outside of Parma. Last night after the Fejus Tunnel went well - until we reached the outskirts of Turin at about 1am - when we realised how ridiculously bad Italian roadsigns are. Attempting to take the ring road round Turin to the south - we ended up in the centre of Turin itself. Let me tell you, there don't appear to be many rules that Italian drivers adhere to. Its lucky it was only 1am, as any other time we would have our work cut out avoiding italian drivers who think red means green, left means right, and where cutting inches in front of your car for no apparent reason is obviously regarded here as a polite way to greet you to their city. The roadsigns in Turin were even worse than on the motorway - and we were lost in the town for a while. Suddenly, Mark noticed two women and thought we should ask for directions. This was a bad idea for 2 reasons: 1) We don't speak Italian, so wouldn't understand anyway 2) Two women, standing on a street corner at 1am dressed in hotpants, fishnets, stilettos, and pretty much half naked are obviously prostitutes. Mark would have received quite a different set of directions... We finally made it out - and now find ourselves only about 120Km short of Imola - our goal. The problem is that we're in the middle of a torrential downpour and can hardly see the road, let alone deal with the river that's pouring into the car from the engine compartment onto our feet and deal with stupidly arsey truck drivers. We managed to solve the problem of misfires caused by water pouring into the engine by wrapping the distributor in a black bin liner and then wrapping it mummy-style with gaffer tape. Its worked so far - lets hope we make it! Pictures to follow soon...
Posted by Wild	Link (6 comments)

:: The Frejus Tunnel Incident	Posted on 30/10/2003 at 19:54 GMT
My, The Frejus Tunnel was fun. For those of you who haven't heard of it - its a 12Km tunnel bored right through the alps, connecting France to Italy. When we got near the tunnel - things started going pear shaped - a fantastic day of covering over 300 miles suddenly turned nasty when we started heading up into the alps. Snow was pouring out of the heavens and the up-mountain struggle just to get to the tunnel took its toll on poor Gina. We had to put her pemanently in 3rd gear just to get up, but when we got to the top, she was really overheating. We drew up alongside the toll booth to pay for the crossing, and suddenly clouds of steam started pouring out og the bonnet. All the french toolbooth inspectors started shouting 'Feu! Feu!' (fire, fire). Then all hell broke loose. As we pushed Gina out of the way, security and fire security guards descended on us. After much lengthy multilingual discussion, they finally agreed that it wasn't a fire and to let us through after we had cooled down. But wait! There's more to come.... Read More
Posted by Wild	Link (3 comments)

:: Through France	Posted on 30/10/2003 at 19:33 GMT
Hello again! At last we have a net connection - but its a bit flaky so excuse us if updates are sporadic - Becky has been kind enough to keep you up to date with how many breakdowns we've had should we not be able to keep you posted! Excuse any typos as you read this - its very bumpy in the car as we drive along and french lorry drivers keep trying to butt us off the road. Well, last night was a long long night. Once again, bad weather forced us off the road before we could reach our designated goal of Dijon - the ever present spectre of engine misfires due to a wet distributor have given us a grim resignation to pull off whenever too much spray starts getting flung back at Gina from passing trucks. We managed to buy a sort of aerosol plastic sealant to seal all our electrics, which is doing a great job - but some weather is just too tough even for that to beat. Today however, has been great. I started off at 6 this morning (4 hours sleep in the car) with slight misfire which meant that at times we were limited to 30mph. As the day wore on though, the weather and engine dried out and we were able to get as fast as 60mph. Read it and weep folks! We've now covered about 700 miles which is good news. We've just left Lyons behind and caught our first sight of the Alps looming up into the sky in the distance ahead of us. I know what you're thinking, but no, we're not going over them - we're going under them thank goodness - but god knows how high we have to climb before we reach the Frejus Tunnel. Gina is not good at climbing hills. P.S. photos of the breakdown are now in the gallery section. Sorry we didn't upload them before -but the net connection died just before we could do so, and its only today that we've been able to get it back.
Posted by Wild	Link (0 comments)

:: After a night sleeping in the car...	Posted on 30/10/2003 at 12:00 GMT
...Rich and Mark are now an hour from Lyons, and over the halfway mark towards Imola. Gina is behaving and they are hoping that the good weather holds!!
Posted by Becky	Link (6 comments)

:: On an interesting morning...	Posted on 29/10/2003 at 12:55 GMT
Well. Its been an interesting morning. Its just taken us 9 hours to get from Bournemouth to Dover. Yes, you read that right - 9 hours. It all started great - Mark and I left with military precision at 3am - the car started fine - everything was great... And then... Mini owners will tell you that minis are pigs in wet weather. They hate it - the design of the ignition system is very prone to rain and water coming into the engine. When this happens - minis stop.... Read More
Posted by Wild	Link (11 comments)

:: 6 hours to go!	Posted on 28/10/2003 at 19:29 GMT
Well, we're finally all packed - arguments over whether or not to take the sandwich toaster nonewithstanding I think we've managed to remember everything. We've loaded the laptop up with a copy of iTunes and over 888 freshly ripped tracks from our combined music collections. We've got everything from The Foo Fighters to Harold Faltermyer, from Royksopp to The Cult. It should keep us going during the trip. True rock n roll style - I'm off to bed in about half an hour - we begin driving tomorrow morning at 3am, and I've doing the first leg to Dover in time to catch the ferry over. We haven't really sorted out accomodation for the trip down to Imola. Once we get there its all sorted for us for the rest of the rally, but we're just going to wing it as we travel down through France. We'll be driving in sailing-style shifts - 3 hours on, 3 hours off (to get some kip hopefully). One of us has to stay awake at all times to a) watch out for oncoming cargo ships b) to avoid hitting whales and c) to steer our little Gina through the oncoming waves. Luckily for me, Mark's doing the first leg in France. I don't envy him the transition over to the other side of the road! See you tomorrow for update #1 from on the road!
Posted by Wild	Link (3 comments)

:: arrrrrrrrrrrrrggggg....... 1 day to go	Posted on 27/10/2003 at 15:50 GMT
I have been keeping myself calm, level and collected over the last couple of days. Or at least that's what I’ve think - probably all credit of that goes to the booze, thank you booze. In reality and out of normal drinking hours I’m quite capable, hypothetically speaking, of refusing to leave from the Post Office’s kiosk and causing a one man protest until I get my E111, and then still not getting it!!!! ….Saw “Kill Bill” at the weekend and scenes from that were beginning to form for intent on the kiosk, except the only weapon available was a pen on a chain and that doesn’t have the same ferocity as a samurai sword, so I left but did muttered quite loudly under my breath. Anyway sorry to all the pensioner in Wimborne this lunch time, and Rich I’ll get my E111 form tomorrow from the Westbourne Post Office. Rob many thanks for looking over the Mini this weekend.
Posted by Mark	Link (2 comments)

:: 1 Day to Go!	Posted on 27/10/2003 at 09:03 GMT
Well, there's only 1 day to go until we leave. We haven't been posting much as its been a battle to get the car sorted, along with all the documentation we need, as well as all the extras that you never think of, such as spare bulbs, torches, extra petrol additive, feeler blades, spare points etc. I hope Halfords appreciate us, that's all I can say. Pretty much the whole way through this I've been battling with the organisation of our trip, but now Mark's coming into his own, as he's a lot more practical than I am - coming up with ingenious solutions to the storage problem of all our kit, by gaffer taping much of it to the top of the inside roof of the boot. There's been an air of quiet apprehension about the trip in the house over the last few days - most of it from me I guess, as I'm convinced that the car's gonna break down 10-20 miles from home. The mysterious white smoke that appears inside the car but not the engine still hasn't been properly tracked down - which is one of my chief worries. But then I'm probably worrying needlessly. Mark reckons its just limescale from the radiator and heating elements - something thats perhaps bourne out by the visibility of individual white particles within the smoke. Fingers crossed!
Posted by Wild	Link (0 comments)

:: dammit! dammit! dammit! dammit!	Posted on 16/10/2003 at 10:59 GMT
Must learn to remember to never to trust Rich! Only 2 week to go and what have I let myself in for. Apparently it is a good thing we are doing, all for Charity mate, NCH. Have raised over £1000 so far, thank you, but we still need to raise over £1500 -> please feel free to donate online. Our newest sponsor The Book Case can you send me a logo to put on the website, cheers Dad. I going to start plotting out our route to Italy. Any useful suggestion are welcome, you can email me at mark@wordsun.com or leave a comment below. By the way "Arsey" any more comments like that and ....... :)
Posted by Mark	Link (2 comments)

:: On the ground	Posted on 15/10/2003 at 22:39 GMT
I've had a few people ask me what the point of this site is when we won't be able to update the site whilst we're actually on the Job, so to speak. Ah, ye naysayers - fear the awesome power of technology as I reveal that we have laptop and GPRS connection! That's right - we'll be updating this weblog wirelessly from within the car whilst driving, and without a mobile phone in sight! Well, that's the theory anyway. As I write this, I'm sitting in my lounge using the GPRS card to update this remotely - but that's with a known excellent Vodafone coverage. Once we're in France/Italy - who knows what the connection quality will be like? I'm optimistic though - the Europeans have always been excellent in terms of mobile coverage. Combine that with the fact that the car doesn't travel very fast - we're therefore likely to be able to negotiate the various network handshakes, and we're laughing. Until we break down. Then we'll just be two geeks with steaming mini and a wireless web connection in a layby. Which is sad, frankly. Still, at least you'll know about it.
Posted by Wild	Link (2 comments)

:: Donations!	Posted on 13/10/2003 at 09:33 GMT
Mark and I want to say a massive THANK YOU to everyone who's donated so far! We're astounded that we've managed to raise over £1,100 for NCH, flabbergasted even! Thank you all! You'll be making a huge difference! And to everyone who hasn't donated yet - we're still £400 short of our target of £1500 - there's still time to help children in the UK and Italy who need your help! Please give as much or as little as you can - we're not fussy! Be it £5 or £50 - whatever you give will be warmly received! Read our Donations page for more info on how to send us some money!
Posted by Wild	Link (2 comments)

:: Car Decals/Stickers	Posted on 09/10/2003 at 15:52 GMT
We're currently looking for someone who can provide us with the custom graphics that we need to place our sponsors' adverts on the car. Preferably with clear backgrounds etc. We have all graphics in Illustrator/eps/jpg/tiff format etc. If you know of a company that can do this, please get in touch with us! Perhaps we can do a deal where you get on-car and on-website sponsorship as well!
Posted by Wild	Link (2 comments)

:: Shopping List	Posted on 08/10/2003 at 16:03 GMT
Now let me see, driving in Europe, what do we need to take with us... 1 x set of headlight converters 1 x large bottle of motor oil 1 x emergency warning triangle 1 x bottle lead replacement additive (for petrol) 1 x small bottle brake fluid 1 x comprehensive Europe atlas - ringbound 1 x medical kit total price = £70.43 Ack! cannot... move... cost... of... sundry... items... has... caused... brain... hemorrhage...
Posted by Wild	Link (4 comments)

:: Getting there	Posted on 08/10/2003 at 15:50 GMT
Now, the exciting thing about this Italian Job thingie is not really what you do when you're there (although driving on the F1 circuit at Imola will be very cool), but instead its the getting there. When we arrive in Imola, we'll have service trucks and engineers on hand to heal the car's woes. However, there isn't any similar help on the way down, you're on your own if you break down. In parallel with this, you're up against the clock. We're leaving late on the 28th October - and we need to be there early morning saturday 1st November. Its about 1000 miles in approx 20 consecutive hours of driving. I work that out to an average speed of 50 miles per hour. Gina does about 55-60 mph (when not going uphill). Its going to be interesting, to say the least.
Posted by Wild	Link (4 comments)

:: Language Lessons	Posted on 08/10/2003 at 09:25 GMT
Welcome to Cassette 1 of 'Italian for Jobbers'. Please put your headphones on and repeat after me the following useful phrases you might need whilst on the Job: L'automobile non sta funzionando - The car has broken down. L'automobile non sta funzionando ancora - The car has broken down, again. Avete viaggiato qui in quella cosa? - You travelled here in that thing? Chiedo scusa per la perdita di olio sulla vostra strada privata - I apologise for the oil leak on your driveway Non ripeterò mai questo - Never again! Non so dove l'oro è - I don't know where the gold is Siete stati supposti soltanto di esplodere i portelli sanguinanti! - You were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off! Non ritorni al nostro paese bello - Do not return to our beautiful country. Now please turn over to side 2, where we'll be role-playing interviews with the local police, customs officials and breakdown mechanics.
Posted by Wild	Link (7 comments)

:: Raffle Tickets	Posted on 07/10/2003 at 10:38 GMT
We have about 100 raffle tickets left to sell. If you've not bought one yet, then why not buy a few and stand a chance of winning a new 2003 Mini? Here are the prizes in full: 1st - NEW MINI COOPER - 2003 SPECIFICATION 2nd - One week Holiday in Emilia Romagna (Italy) for 2 people 3rd - State of the art home computer system 4th - 2 cases of ITALIAN JOB wine produced by Gruppo Coltiva 5th - 1 case of ITALIAN JOB wine produced by Gruppo Coltiva Tickets are £1 each! So what are you waiting for? If you'd like to purchase any and help us in our quest to raise money for NCH - then get in touch with us to request some.
Posted by Wild	Link (5 comments)

:: Italian Job Forums	Posted on 07/10/2003 at 10:04 GMT
In case any of you want to discuss anything about the Job - perhaps you're a 'Jobber' yourself and want to discuss routes, cars, sponsorship etc - why not head on over to our Italian Job forums (temporarily hosted over at Funjunkie until I get my arse in gear and move them over here). You'll need to register, but it doesn't take 5 seconds.
Posted by Wild	Link (0 comments)

:: Screeeech!	Posted on 07/10/2003 at 09:19 GMT
Ok, so the car is flamed up, MOT'd up, fully serviced, running good. So why's Rich taking the long arduous back roads to work? And why has he taken to wearing a paper bag over his head when he drives it? Only cos Gina's fan belt is screeching like some sort of banshee from hell that's auditioning for Pop Idol and who's just swallowed a wasp, coated in battery acid, thats why. Christ its embarrassing. Hopefully the fan belt tension can be altered without too much fuss - I can't sink down behind the wheel to hide my face any longer! Not that you won't know that Gina's coming your way by the sound of it, but why not practice your aural diagnostics with the car sounds quiz?
Posted by Wild	Link (4 comments)

:: The Flaming of the Mini	Posted on 06/10/2003 at 14:12 GMT
"Gina" wasn't always the flaming bat out of hell that she is these days. When bought, she was a slightly dishevelled but otherwise respectable metallic burgundy colour. She could have held up her head on any old granny's driveway. But we had other plans. If she was going to come last in a rally, she would at least do it in style, black with the inferno flames licking her bonnet. The photos showing her transformation are now up in the Gallery. Thanks go to Kaiser B's Chop Shop for the use of their fine respraying facilities.
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:: Welcome!	Posted on 06/10/2003 at 09:44 GMT
Hi there, and welcome to the ongoing diary for our participation in this year's Italian Job rally to Italy and back - a round trip of over 3000 miles in a clapped out 998cc Mini Mayfair automatic! We'll be updating this journal regularly with news about our preparations on the run up to the event (ie making sure the car moves!) as well as continuing with wireless coverage from the car during the event (coming from a layby near you soon!). So take a look around the site, find out who we are, leave us some comments to keep out spirits up, find out how we're planning on doing it but most importantly, find out why we're doing it and donate to us as much money as you can afford. You'll be making more difference than you'll know.
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