Car Mechanics Magazine on Home2Rome 2010

Car Mechanics have kindly allowed us to publish the articles from last year's Home2Rome Banger Rally that they attended.

We look forward to seeing them on RatRod Banger Rally later this year!

Click the images to download the PDFs.

Car Mechanics July 2010
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Regular readers will remember we entered ‘CzechWrecks’ last year – a ‘banger’ rally completed in a £150 BMW 730i. It cost a large chunk of money to make it roadworthy, however, the final result was a truly superb ‘banger’ vehicle. I won’t forget it in a hurry – the sound of the six-cylinder engine as we climbed up the Stelvio pass was just unforgettable. And the chance to drive in style in seven European countries was just as fascinating – outgoing we viewed France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Czech Republic – inbound we drove through, Germany and Belgium.

Car Mechanics August 2010
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Last issue we introduced our ‘Home2Rome’ Mercedes 260E – a car that cost us just £100 to purchase with a week’s MoT left to run. Sure it’s 22-years- old and done many miles, however, we’ve got to get it roadworthy for our trip to Rome.

As I write this, we have less than three weeks to go before we leave home, heading for Calais for the start on the morning of 26th July. Are we worried? You bet! We can only work on the car on Saturdays and a couple of those in June weren’t feasible.

Car Mechanics September 2010
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With more repairs needed to gain an MoT certificate and only two weeks to our drive to Calais for the start of the Home2Rome banger rally, we were getting a little apprehensive.

As stated before, we can only work on our 1988 Mercedes 260E on a Saturday to get intended repairs sorted. I was ‘partsman’ too – all components had to be ordered and taken to our chosen garage in SE London (Automotive Solutions, Tel: 0208 684 7999). Wrong parts equalled delayed fitting. No pressure, then!

Car Mechanics October 2010
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MONTELIMAR TO MENTON
The second morning of the tour saw us reunited with the rest of the convoy and thankfully we were joined by the Reliant and its accompanying Isuzu Trooper, filled with some very tired recovery drivers, as they had driven through the night to make up the time they lost from their breakdown.

Car Mechanics November 2010
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DAY FOUR
STELVIO TO SOTTOMARINA
With Stelvio and the Alps behind us, we wound our way through northern Italy, heading for Venice. As we descended to sea level and progressed further towards Venice, the weather got slowly worse and by the time we exited the motorway just north of Venice, there was a full blown storm overhead. The weather had got so bad in fact that the slip road was strewn with fallen trees and debris, hardly what we had expected from Italy in July!