The Two M's

Once again, I left for a project in reality on very short notice, so sorry about another absence.

In my part of the world, there were (and ongoing) record number of forest fires burning around the countryside, with some nearly out of control. The destruction of huge swaths of land have made news headlines, both locally and internationally.

Not too long after a State of Emergency was declared, I received word about potential fire camp jobs and I readied myself for that opportunity.

Thanks to good timing and before the phone rang to send me on my way to parts unknown, I was able to complete the limited time event to park a free Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16 EVOLUTION II in my Real Racing 3 car collection.... 

....and made very good progress in the series that needed it.

When the call finally came in, I had to trade my virtual Mercedes for my real life Mitsubishi, pack my stuff up and hit the highways. Leaving home and cresting the mountains that surrounded that first day revealed what was awaiting me on the long journey ahead of me.

The entire way was nothing more than driving into a wall of smoke (of varying distances), with only the surface of the roads changing.

Even after the sun went down, not like I saw it much during the day, the smoke remained.

The second day of traveling brought more changes in the roads, but the lovely smoke remained to accompany me along the way....

....except for this odd and unexplained stretch of blue sky. Good thing I took a picture, nobody would have believed me.

I had forgotten what the usual "vehicle of choice" was for those who live in the north, but was quickly reminded of this when I snapped this shot. Much to the credit of everyone there, I wasn't teased about the size of what I arrived in. I think Mitsubishi's reputation is what saved me from that.

Don't be fooled into thinking the gravel road in the above picture is smooth, the camera doesn't capture it's true, deceptive nature in it's entirety. Washboard, meteorite sized craters and soft shoulders that can pull vehicles from the road were some of the daily challenges that I faced.

During the day, these hazards were somewhat easier to distinguish from other features of the road and avoid, at night I found two out of the three listed without any real effort.

Even some local visitors were experiencing this, take a look at the front wheel opening.

Since I worked during what the clock claimed to be a dayshift, I managed to squeeze in a race or two out of the game before attempting to sleep. Trouble was that cellular service where I was at wasn't the greatest and accessible Wi-Fi wasn't an option.

Top that with an update that was just released and would have added a lot more to my usual phone bill meant I was reduced to playing offline against non-human opponents.

Little did I know at the time, this picture served to be a "vision" of things yet to come. It wasn't until later I learned that some bad things were going on at another fire camp that had been disbanded that day and those same folks were moving into ours that night.

When dawn broke the following day, me and the crew were told that our two week job had been cut short and were going to be sent home. Only nine days in, what a shame. Needless to say, if I don't feel welcome at a certain place, I want to get out of there as soon as possible, even if that means racing the night....

....with sporadic fog patches.

Nevertheless, the Mistsubishi RVR and I survived a lot of bugs, very rough gravel roads and this lingering smoke smell I am still trying to get rid of. However, it was the first thing I did when I got home that might not surprise you....

Real Racing 3 - Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16 Evolution II at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps

Almost two years ago (from the time of this posting) I picked up a vintage Mercedes. For details on that, check out the story here, there and that.

For a while, I was rather proud of the fact I was able to pick up an old favorite of mine and had the unique opportunity to enjoy it in both the real and virtual worlds, as I wrote about that here and again.

The trouble was, I never did finish off the story of what happened to it, did I?

Well, let's just say the reality of what I had and what I wanted was going to be a very expensive venture that I probably would have never recouped all of my spending into it.

Exterior wise, the car was in presentable but rough condition. All of the major trim pieces were still on the car and the only one that was missing was kept safely inside the glove box. The rust repair and repaint would have been a fairly manageable financially, but that front bumper cover (including the shipping, if one was even located) was going to be a major spending point.

In my hands, it would never be the car as pictured above.

The interior wasn't too bad either, but there were a few issues that would have to been dealt with.

The cracked dash-pad and broken springs in the driver's seat were the worst, a really good detailing to the rest was the easiest. All the trim was there, which was the best of all things.

The 2.3 litre, 4 cylinder engine ran rather decently, with only minor ticking while idling. The ticking would go away after putting the transmission into gear and the car still produced above average power, despite it's age and mileage. However, a drive-train rebuild was something I had on my list of things to be done, by me or whoever took over the project.

The first wake-up call to what I had gotten myself into began with the trunk lock mechanism.

The doors and trunk on the 190E are controlled by vacuum locking system, which worked just fine (much to my surprise). Despite hearing the clicks of the parts in motion, the trunk wouldn't open. After consulting the owner's manual (original factory issued too!) and a few attempts with the key, I opened it to discover a simple plastic rod had broken in half, between the mechanical lock and vacuum actuator.

Sadly, the plastic rod couldn't be glued nor taped, so I started an internet search for a replacement. Hours upon hours delivered some bad news, I had to by the lock and rod as a complete unit, no separate options for just the rod itself.

Due to living in Canada, a lot of online retailers claimed an inability to ship here, so off to the local Mercedes-Benz dealer for what I needed. I came across the fact (thanks to watching an episode of Jay Leno's Garage) that I could get new parts for old Mercedes from the factory.

To make a long story a bit shorter, I was $300.00 (before taxes and other addons) lighter in the wallet to have the pleasure of an opening trunk lid. So, based on the cost of, what I considered to be a minor part, this project would be far to much for my bank account to handle.

In the end, the 190E was put up for sale and after a few weeks and many visits from some "tire kickers," I came across a guy who had the some passion for the car as I once had, but more time and cash to finally get it done up right.

I closed the chapter on the Real World Mercedes 190E when I watched the new owner drive my ambitious dream away.

In Real Racing 3, the Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16 Evolution II has finally arrived and of course, I just had to play it. Partly as a comparison of what I experienced in other games and relive a dream of what could have been....

For The First Time This Year

With how busy my work life has been thus far and using the rest of my home life for resting, I haven't had much time to take in a good, local car show for 2018.

Good thing there just happened to be one near one of my work assignments recently.

However, making the time to go to one, while working, didn't feel very professional to me. I am there to do a job (not for the show itself, but the surrounding area outside their fence line), not partake in a "personal passion" on the company dime, so to speak. 

But, with how calm and orderly everything was that day, my partner (we travel in pairs, for safety and shared suffering) convinced me we could spare a few moments and take in the event.

As much as some readers would have liked for me to snap pictures of all the event's entrants, I just couldn't make that amount of time happen. In fact, I am rather surprised with how much I was able to accomplish in the 10 minutes I allotted for myself, capturing mostly British vehicles, a recent theme I have going on.

The first vehicle that caught my attention was this Jaguar sedan, seen zoomed in from a distance. I knew from the shape it was obviously an XJ of some type....

Upon closer inspection, I learned it was a 1999 XJR, all original with a factory 4.0 litre, supercharged V8. I wonder what kind of mileage it gets, under "spirited driving" conditions?

This is how I usually see a XJR, driving away from me.

Red Rover, Red Rover, we call the....

.... 3 Litre Automatic over (yeah, good thing I have a day job, song writing won't make me a living)!

This gorgeous blue 1969 Triumph TR6 held my attention just a little longer than it should have.

I have been lusting after one of these, or a decent MG for many, many years.

Now, I have been to a few car shows in my life, but this is the first time I have seen and got this close to a Morgan.   

This hand built 1969 Morgan +8 is powered by a Rover V8 and after a brief conversation with the current owner, thoroughly loved and not to be parted with any time soon (don't blame them).

Sitting along side the Morgan is a truly rare car. Between 1964 and 1967, Sunbeam-Talbot put a small block Ford V8 into their Alpine roadster....

....and created the Sunbeam Tiger (think of taking a V8 from a Ford Mustang and stuffing into a Mazda Miata/MX5). Just over 7000 cars were built and was made famous from the 1960's Get Smart TV show.

If you haven never heard of a Daimler, that's okay, there are quite a few folks who haven't. Late model Daimlers (from around 1960 and onward) were exclusive, lavishly appointed upscale Jaguars, but recognized as their own models.

I was entranced by the smell of the wood and leather while taking this interior shot.

A quick tip if you see a Daimler, but think it's a Jaguar, look for the "fluted" detailing on the front and/or rear chrome body pieces.

Last, but certainly not least, is perhaps the most iconic British car ever produced, the Classic Mini.

Simple and timeless. Despite being in production for 41 years, it is becoming a bit of a rare sight these days.