Le mans or bust for c&sc crew

Along with the usual anticipation of another great weekend, there is always a slight rise in anxiety as the C&SC team prepares to drive its steeds to the Le Mans Classic. For Martin, whose freshly finished Seven Special had only covered a handful of miles by that point, it manifested itself in sleepless nights and an early B-road run to the Portsmouth meeting point.

However, as Aaronʼs rakish Opel Monza, art man Damonʼs VW and Lizzieʼs Mustang joined him in the salubrious surroundings of a Beefeater car park, some of those fears begin to ebb away with step one of the pilgrimage successfully completed – with only Martinʼs mutterings about a “slight steering issue” dampening the mood.

Although unable to make the trip, Il Commendatore Clements joined for a pub dinner (crucially remembering his wallet), before waving away the convoy to join C&SC Reader Runners in the queue for the overnight ferry crossing to Ouistreham.

With Charlie Calderwood, Ryan Standen and Lizzieʼs husband Chris Gage in the passenger seats, it was a bleary-eyed team that navigated its way out of the port and on towards a breakfast stop at Putanges-Pont-Écrepin – a ʻblastʼ down the N158 towards Falaise restricted by the limited cruising speed of the ʻVegemite Specialʼ – before picking up the more scenic (and speed-appropriate) D909.

By now, the Austinʼs ʻslight issueʼ had worsened to the point where corners were having to be taken at little over walking speed, with the steering almost locking up on left-handers and threatening to spit the Special off the Tarmac. A despondent Martin took to the online forums over a croissant and, while most suggested the steering box was at fault, a mention of something far simpler triggered him into action. “One chap had over-tightened his carʼs steering-column nut,” Martin explained, “so the wheel was binding on the outer column. Dirt and grime meant mine was progressively tightening itself, but it was transformed by a two-minute clean – I couldnʼt believe my luck!”

Under clear blue skies and on empty roads, the convoy rolled deeper south with Aaronʼs ʻgolden wonderʼ leading at little more than tickover and the varied exhaust notes of the flat-four Type 3 and burbling 289cu in V8 filling in any gaps left by the Austinʼs “swarm of angry bees” (©Lizzie). A pause at Saint-Céneri-le-Gérei gave an opportunity to explore the pretty village through which the convoy had driven last year and, after causing a brief road block so