Once we are on the road, things start to settle down nicely enough. I settle into a cruise just fast enough for the transmission to settle in top. No garages yet. We arrive into Burford. Still no garages and all you’ll find in Burford is antique shops so no point in going off the main road to look for petrol. At this stage the fuel light comes on which makes it three gallons giving me a range of somewhere between 15 and 45 miles depending on how bad the engine is. This is going to be a bit embarrassing calling out the AA already and we are only about 10 miles from Carterton. Then it starts to rain, and I put on the wipers. Great, the driver’s side is pretty much harmless as it is only touching on the ends. Ger can see great from his side. I turn on the blower and turn up the heat which makes things a little better.

Fill Her Up

We debate turning back to where we know there is a garage, but decide to take a chance as there are a couple of villages in the next 10 miles and one of them must have a garage. Then, miracle of miracles, a garage appears and I rub my eyes to make sure it isn’t a mirage. This one is on the wrong side of the road as well, but at this stage I would drive across a field for petrol, so we pull in.

Immediately a Jag pulls in behind us. I reckon the shutters will be closing after us. Ger asks how much petrol we should put in. I just say “All of it”. I start pumping. And keep pumping. And a bit more pumping. It clicks on about 50 litres. That’s not enough. It clicks again after another 5, so I squeeze in another 5 for 60 in total. On top of the 10 or 15 in there already, that makes it around 75 in the tank which is plenty to be going on with. I go in and settle up. My God, petrol is dear in England. No sign of any lead substitute so we have to take our chances with that.

I sit in to the car and prepare for disaster. Turn the key and she is off after about 2 seconds. Not quite as clean as the last time and running a bit rough, but once the flood is cleared, she settles down nicely. I let the Jag past and then pull out on the road. We get settled into a nice cruise around 45 now that I am feeling a bit happier. Everything is hunky dory. Oil pressure is adequate, and the temperature is rock solid on the tippex mark that Steve left as a guide. Voltage is steady on 14.5 but it does dip a bit when I knock on the fans.

So now we are well on our way. We come to the turnoff for Gloucester and manage to miss the filter lane to do a bit of confusion over the AA route map. I manage a U-turn with too much difficulty and from then the road gets a tad twisty. It is difficult enough to keep the unfamiliar beast in top gear, but she doesn’t put a wheel wrong. We just cruise along enjoying the sound of the big V8.