Their worldwide adventures in a vintage 1934 Talbot motorcar
2008 Classic Iceland Trial
Last Tuesday, 26th August, we delivered the car to Immingham on the east coast of England for shipping to Iceland. When we arrived at the huge container terminal, the security guard stuck his head out the window and shouted “Iceland?” and gave us directions to the right place. When we arrived there it was a bit like a school reunion. Having loaded their cars, Philip Haslam (1954 Jaguar XK120), David & Joanna Roberts (1968 Triumph TR250) and Richard Worts (1961 Jaguar Mk11) – all chums made on the P2P last year were standing around, gossiping about old times.
Most of the photographs were taken by Reme Steinegger.
As it turned out, we didn’t have much time to to a daily blog so here’s a selection of images that I hope will give you a falvour of this great island.
loading and securing the car in a Herring container – a bit smelly.
when we arrived and collected our car, it had to have the equivalent of our MoT – a vehicle saftey and road worthyness test.
we were allocated number 13, unfortunately
before we started, we spent a day watching these loonies driving up impossible slopes
Penny was more interested in the Icelandic ponies
at the start line, being flagged off by the Prime Minister of Iceland no less
the car on the left is also a Talbot – Willie and Carrie Balfour’s – we spent a long time examining it before ours was built because the competed on the “Round the World in Eight Days” rally in 2000 – the chap with the wooly hat is Jonathan Turner who we’ve competed aginst on the P2P and the 1000 Mile Trial in 2015.
following friends in their Lagonda Rapier – Sue and Alan Harrison -a bit cheeky perhaps but we nicknamed the car “Jelly”
at Gulfoss Falls
that’s a glacier flowing down towards us
we spent a bit of time on another glacier – that’s us suiting up with me on the left, waving my arms like a half-wit
Penny nearly bounced off when we were doing about 40mph
inside a volcanic crater – there’s a power station below us, literally underground
one way to warm up
and this is another
Alan and Sue Harrison again
little boys always like dials and knobs
one of my favourite shots of the car – at the top of a gravel hillclimb, above the clouds and the Denmark Strait in the back ground – nothing between here and the North Pole
this was on a test, held on an emergency landing strip for trans-atlantic liners – I’ll be not many folk know it’s even there
EGILSSTADIR-AKUREYRI – The Fire Brigade turned out to give all the cars a bit of a wash – free!
there’s always steam and the stink of sulphur all over Iceland
driving test in a school playground – no classes today
the finish at last
I really did go swimming in the world famous “Blue Lagoon” and that is natural silica on my face – apparently it is very good for my complexion! what isn’t commonly known is that this is the outflow of hot (geothermally heated) water from a power station!
the victorious Irish team (we didn’t contribute anything at all)
our spoils
the world famous Geysir
puffins hanging out to dry before they’re sent to the kitchen
trolls really do live on Iceland by the way
real icebergs
some of you might remember Annie Hall, a BMC works rally driver years ago; this is her son Jackie who was also on the P2P
Going the Extra Mile 