Welcome to the forth issue of the UKPOC Newsletter.

Issue 4

The Car’s The Star Rolf’s 16v Ebony Black

Members Stories Malcolm’s review of 2014

Chalk And Cheese Andy W gives us the story behind his two cars Product Reviews Review Car products

10 Years With A Probe & Have A Probe Will Travel Lee 24v Gives us the run down on his pride and joy

Hello from me, and welcome to the fourth issue of the clubs newsletter,

I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to this issue.

I have got to start this edition with a great big well done to everyone who came

along to the NEC car show and helped out over the weekend and also to Jon

Malcolm & Janice for putting their cars up on the stand, and also a big thanks

goes to Andy W for all the work in actually getting us entered into the show. It

was a great event and a big achievement for the club, and can only help to get

our cars the recognition they deserve. Also with a good attendance at Probefest and the club winning

the best club stand at Fins and Chrome this year, it has been a good year for the club

With fest in mind I would like to say thanks for both the trophies that were awarded to me in my

absence this year, I was surprised and honoured to be chosen for these awards.

This will be the last newsletter this side of 2014 so with that in mind, I would like to wish you all a

very happy Christmas and a very happy and healthy 2015, and I look forwards to all your stories

pictures and articles for inclusion in the newsletters of 2015

You can contact me with your stories and pictures by private message at UKPOC or by email at pk270@sky.com, or on my mobile on 07789655473

ROLFS 16V EBONY BLACK

I acquired my Probe by accident really back in

August 2008 when a mate of mine picked it up for someone, but when he showed it him he said he had wanted

a 24v, so my mate put into his lockup until he could think what to do with it. About a month later he told me

about the Probe and asked if I would be interested, I said I would take a look. So I went into the lockup and

there she was, a one owner from new, full service history, all the Ford booklets, all MOT certificates, 3 keys,

37,765 on the clock, 10 months MOT, 5 months road tax

and 3/4 of a tank of fuel, no dents or rust anywhere and

just needing a good coat of polish and coat of wax.

After 3 weeks of haggling I got it for £900. (He had started

at £1500 ). My better half Chris paid for this as an early

retirement present, (bless her).

The first job was full total service and that much needed polishing and waxing. I fitted a new timing belt and water pump at 47,649 miles in Dec 2011. The car has since been lightly personalised over the years by the fitting of an OEM spoiler, refurbished 24v swirlies, painted brake callipers, black LED side repeaters, flash to pass mod, euro tail lights, 12x6 front number plate and surround, front and rear strut bars and a scorpion back box. The car has an annual coat of grease applied by brush to all the underneath and oil spray every 12 months. Most of the work has been done in the engine bay and is where I get the best feeling of job satisfaction; a lot of thanks go to Kev for the help and advice in this department. There are far better examples of engine bays than mine in the club, but I am now where I wanted to be when I first purchased it Since the photos were taken in July 2014 I have fitted a full set of 30mm lowering springs. I have one more project to do yet, and then that will be all. (I think). I would like to thank the members of UKPOC for all the help, advice, encouragement, favours and for being a great bunch of fellow enthusiasts, without which I would never have reached my goal of achieving a First place at Probefest 2014 after three 2nd places in previous years.

ROLFS 16V EBONY BLACK

UKPOC 20th Anniversary 1994 – 2014

2014 What A Great Year Well what a great 20th Anniversary UKPOC have had,

It all kicked off with the winter meeting at Calke Abbey, about 14 + probes turned up and about

the same number of other cars about 30 cars in all.

FPONE had another busy calendar (14 shows booked) plus on the 1st Sunday of the month, we

meet other car enthusiasts (not all Fords) for a Car & a Coffee meet

FPONE meet up on the 1st Wednesday of the month to discuss local meeting and events.

The Season kicked off on

6th April at Leeming bar

Easter weekend was Scotfest at Hoddam Castle

(organised by Paul K)

27th April Northern Bygones, Drive it Day, , Shildon

4th May Beaulieu. This was a big meeting for UKPOC

and again a well turned out meeting 11 probe`s and not

two the same colour, (that`s a first for me to see at a show)

11th May TYMC Hurworth Grange - nr Darlington

18th May Durham MG Classic Car Show at Houghall outside of Durham, organised by Andy W

24th/25th May Fins & Chrome, a great turnout for the club with Scotland, North West, North East &

Essex members all attending , Organised by FPONE`s

Andy W, and with a lot of work done by Paul Kelly

won us “Best Club Stand” beating the reigning

champions for the last 3 year (The Corvette Club)

who only managing 3rd place this year

Personally I was so pleased that I got a invited from

Practical Classic`s Magazine to take my Gold 24V

Probe to Rockingham Race way on the 28th May

for a photo shoot for the “coupes of the 90’s. I

had a great time and those who managed to get

hold of the September magazine could see that

it wasn`t a bad write up, and some good

publicity for the Club

5th, 6th, 7th June Probefest and another Great event, (still can`t believe I won Show & Shine) this

was a well organised meeting by the New Team who run our great club.

After Probefest we had again some publicity for the club arranged by Nick Arkell.

14th June Stokesley Show organised by Andy W

22nd June Grasmere Classic car show organised by Harry (Haz)

6th July MG Northumbria`s Classic Car Show at Corbridge, and

well attend from Scotland, Wales, Northeast and Northwest.

12th July Seaham Classic and Performance Show

27th Ripon Classic Car Gathering, organised by Andy W

we had a good turn out again from Northeast, Midlands,

Yorkshire, and Northwest , we had 9 probe`s on show

10th August - Ford Fair – Silverstone, well support again from all area`s

12th – 17th August the annual meeting at Pembrey in south Wales organised by Stu (Slick) yet

another well support meeting

8th September Blackpool Ford Day organised by Harry (Haz), what a great weekend and very well

supported with 15 probe`s on show.

14th September Tanfield organised by Andy W

21st September Nostalgia Customs Show, Silksworth

Cricket Club, another good meeting, where we saw Harry

(Haz) walk away with the prize for the best probe on show

28th September Northern Bygones Show Greatham,

26th October - SDCVS End of Season Show, Ryhope Engines Museum - Ryhope, Sunderland,

good turn out from Essex, Northwest, Northeast. It being the last show of the year in the North

East, we dress up for the occasion in Halloween costumes, and yet again we won the event for

the best Halloween stand, and then I go and win the 1st prize in SDVCC annual raffle (42” TV)

But the biggest this for our club was getting a stand at the NEC Classic Car Show

We have to thank Andy W for all his hard work to get the stand. The interest shown in the 3 cars

that were on show was incredible and can only boost the profile of the club and of the Ford probe

Story and pictures by Malcolm (Mojo 98)

Chalk and Cheese

The story of my two Ford Probes!

Story and pictures by Andy W

M915 ECN - The Rio

My story starts back in 1999, when I was looking for a replacement for my daily driver, a rather unexciting Fiat Uno diesel.

I had just started a new job, half the distance from home and a diesel wasn't really necessary, in fact I was working in the same town as my Dad so often got a lift with him.

I'd always fancied a classic car so set about looking for one, most were either too expensive, too good to use occasionally for work or too tatty.

Plan B - look for something else, this time I set my sights on a (S14) Nissan 200sx, at the time these I found out were outside my £6,000 budget. It was about that time my dad noticed a local garage had a Teal 16v in stock for £5k, we decided to take a look. On arrival it was a tatty car, 60k miles, scraped down one side and a cracked rear reflector. It drove well and I enjoyed the experience, particularly the low down driving position and handling, getting back into the Uno was akin to trying to drive whilst perched on a bar stool!

So my new quest was to find a Ford Probe, a car I had liked the look of when launched six years earlier but not really given a great deal of thought since.

After looking at several cars I decided I wanted a 'plus pack' car with the leather steering wheel, gear knob and other little luxuries. Eventually I came across M915 ECN, it wasn't the lowest mileage or best car I'd seen but I preferred the Rio Red colour and the dealer was willing to give me a decent deal on my Uno and the RAC came back that the car was in good order. In March 2000 I became a Ford Probe owner!

Thankfully the internet was around and I found the Ford Probe Owners Club (FPOC), it was only a new club at the time but managed to help me in the early months of ownership to diagnose I had the dreaded immobiliser gremlins. That bypassed and an aftermarket Cat II immobiliser fitted, I enjoyed Probe motoring once more. Then the exhaust went so I threw some money at the car and got a Powerflow Stainless Steel system fitted (it is still on the car today).

Other members in FPOC started to attend shows so I started going along, most were a good distance from the North East so I often travelled to Silverstone or the Heritage Motor Centre in Gaydon to attend events. Early starts and sleeping in Service Stations on the way home became a common occurrence.

The more shows I attended the more I decided to personalise my Probe. I wasn't into the

popular 'Fast n Furious' style of modifying with big body kits, preferring the 'less is more

approach' I detailed the engine bay and fitted things like clear side repeaters. In 2002 I bought a

set of 24v straights, it may be hard to believe now but I paid the going rate of £150 for a set

which I had refurbished in Anthracite. It was a bold move then to go for a 'non silver' colour but

I'd seen a similar coloured wheel on Alfa 155 and new it would work with the red paint.

The next major mod was to lower the car, both of my Probes are lowered, it is a visual thing, the

arch gaps on the standard car are horrible huge in my opinion.

Things went along nicely over the next few years, the car became a second car in 2002 and so

has never seen a salty road since, and all was well until as stormy January in 2004 when winds

ripped the roof off my garage. A neighbour alerted me as I was staying at Fiona's house. I

remembered approaching the garage wondering what state the probe would be in, would it be a

total write off? We eventually managed to raise the garage door which had fallen in on the car

and I was amazed to find the car was relatively unscathed.

The roof had literally lifted clean off the garage (it wasn't secured by straps like it should have

been) and luckily came crashing down onto the patio, taking the fence with it. The garage door

was now unsecured so had fallen onto the boot lid leaving a small dent and the car had some

scratches on the passenger rear quarter. Whilst this damage was disappointing I think I got off

very lightly!

The car was tidied up and again was used as a show car. I started to organise shows in my North

East area and when UKPOC started moved over to be NE Rep here too.The car was never built to

win prizes and I always modified it to suit my own taste so it was a great surprise when I won

(ironically) Best Standard 16v in 2009. I thought this was a little unfair that personalised cars

should be compared with truly started moved over to be NE Rep here too.

standard cars as I feel that they have an advantage so I suggested to Roc that we create a

Personalised class to fit between standard and modified for the following year's 'fest. Slightly

embarrassingly M915 won the new personalsied class in 2010.

It was at this time that I was now a two Probe owner and the big plan was to take M915 off the

road at the end of 2011 and use my new car whilst I refurbished the underneath of the rio red.

Sadly a house move and lack of time meant the car stood unused (apart from occasional drives

round the street or just fired up) for the best part of four years! Thankfully UKPOC is all about

good friendships and the NE is no exception, Mark H and Mojo were determined that the Rio

should be back on the road this year so gave up some of their own spare time to help me out

including changing the timing belt and water pump, rear brake flexi hose (we'll not mention the

fire!) full service and a few other jobs. The car flew through its MOT and I'm looking forward to

getting it back out at some shows!

M909 WOO - The Rat

I briefly mentioned the other Probe in my life, M909 WOO, known to many as The Rat was bought

by me in March 2009 but more on that later.

Firstly let me explain my reasons for buying another Probe when I had a perfectly good one

already! I guess when things are going well with a car you start to get bored, the rio is such a nice

car I didn't want to mess with it too much and aside from a set of Mustang bullit wheels a set of

coilovers and maybe a Mustang GT lip it's more or less done! So I started to get multi-probe fever,

after all what could be better than one Probe but two! I wanted a car that was a little rough

around the edges, something that I couldn't hurt. I had a plan for a few styles I was going to build,

more of a hot rod theme than a fast and furious style (though at one point I did buy a dodgy vader

kit for it!) and most importantly the car needed to be built on a very tight budget.

I started to look around, I narrowly missed out on an electric redcurrant Probe owned my Mrs

Nutts, nearly bought a White 16v from Lincolnshire but the seller changed their mind later - later

that car ended up in the North East under Mark H's ownership for a while. Then one fateful day on

a break at work I spotted a Probe on e-bay with less than an hour to run. It was an early 16v (this

was great as if it was rubbish I could use the parts for the rio red), the car still had MOT and tax

(though not much!) and looked very much like the tatty type of car I was after. It had a bid in

against it at the starting price of £100, with 10 minutes until the end of the auction I thought I'd

have a go for a laugh and entered £102 expecting to be automatically outbid.

To my surprise I was now the highest bidder and watched the auction count down, all the time

expecting to be outbid. Then it finished and I got the 'Congratulations you have won the item

message'. Now I had some explaining to do when I got home!!!! Luckily I'm married to one of the

most laid back people I know and my wife Fiona was ok with it, although if I'd spend ten times as

much she may not have been!

What happened next is a true demonstration of why this club is a great place to be. The car was

in Manchester and while it wasn't too far to travel, Nige (bulldog) kindly offered to collect the car

for me. While it was at his house he even washed it for me and changed the ignition barrel - one of

the reasons the car was so cheap was that it had been broken into and all the locks damaged - I

think the previous owner must have decided to cut their losses. Nige was coming over to the

North East to see Jackie's relatives in Cramlington so even offered to drive the car over to me if I

covered the petrol.Thankfully for Nige it made it over the M62 and up the A1/A19 without incident.

The next year and a bit was working on the car whenever I got chance, the car was outside on the

drive so work happened when the weather was good and progress was slow. Thankfully club

members helped me out with parts for the build including door mirrors, a front bumper, rocker

cover gasket, cam cover bolts, door locks and all sorts of parts that were needed.

The summer of 2010 was quite warm and it meant I could crack on with the paintwork. The white

paint on the car had was a repaint and had gone flat but seeing as I was replacing a front wing

and bumper I was looking to paint the car anyway. Being a budget build, that meant rattle cans or

a roller! I elected for the former and did the car in satin black - tweleve 500ml cans delivered to

my door for £30 has got to be a cheap paint job!

The rest of the car was equally unique - I wanted to run steel wheels rather than alloys so bought

a set of Mazda 626 steels on e-bay for £20. I got a friend with a tyre shop who wanted the

knackered 16v wheels for his Volvo Amazon rally car to swap the probe tyres onto the new rims

(the Mazda tyres were the wrong speed rating and two were worn out).

The original plan was to paint the wheels red to go with the 'hot rod' satin black paintjob but I

came across a two 500ml tins of lime green enamel paint on e-bay cheap so decided to go with

that! A set of abs chrome trim rings and I had a different set of wheels to those usually found on a

Probe. Add to that a stickerbombed roof (before sticker bombing became popular) and some

other touches and the rat was born!

It passed its test in May 2011 and just before Probefest 2011 I got the chance off some lowering

springs which really helped finish the car. To my surprise the car went down really well at 'fest - I

wasn't sure if people would get it and I was amazed to come away with Best Personalised 16v.

2011 was definitely 'Year of the Rat' as Bulldog won Car of the Show with Rusty McQueen that

year too!

Since then it has been pressed into regular duty including being driven in the winter, as you'd

expect with an old car it needs constant tinkering and I will try and keep it going for as long as

possible. Changes still get done to it, last year it went grey and got an ICE install, this year I

added some 17" steel wheels which I think improve the looks as well as the handling, not to

mention the lace roof! All in it has been a car that I have had a lot of fun with for very little money

.

I'd just like to thank anyone who has ever helped me with my cars in whatever way, be it probe

mailing me parts (or a whole car), sending parts to help me out when I broke something, donating

parts for the rat, advice on the forum or even coming round and doing the job when it surpassed

my own skills (easily done). I'll not name names - I've typed enough already but you all know who

you are and thank you!

California Scents Air Freshener

42g can

Various Fragrances (about 30!) Fragrances tested: Monterey Vanilla / Cinnamon Apple / Mojave Mango Price: £1.99 - £2.99 depending on the retailer www.CaliforniaScents.com

California Scents have been available in the USA for 20 years now but have been growing in popularity

over here the last few years so much so that Halfords now stock them! An all natural, fully recyclable,

environmentally friendly product you’d expect that they would perform quite poorly against more

‘toxic’ rivals but, although they claim that they work for up to 60 days, I have several California Scents

canisters which are still giving off fragrance (albeit not as strongly) over a year later! They are

certainly superior to the ‘impregnated board’ type freshener that most people have experienced

which tend to be overpowering initially and pretty much-finished six weeks later and in a Probe they

even fit into the cubbyhole next to the clock!

Buy again? Yes Score 9.5/10

Astonish Spray N Shine 750ml

Price: £0.97 - £1.99 depending on retailer

What kind of polish can you expect for 97p? Spray N Shine has been

tested against spray on waxes by magazines like Auto Express which

I think is a bit unfair – it is best to think of Spray N Shine as a body shop

detailer, ideal for removing dust, bugs and traffic spray off your car

when you get to a car show. In a contest for value for money I don’t think

it can be beaten; I find it as good as Demon Shine and only slightly less

glossy than Meguiars Mist & Wipe Quik Detailer which is about seven

times the price. It is certainly worth considering if you aren’t a brand

obsessed detail freak and just want a good product at an

affordable price. Even if you are a brand obsessed detail freak then this

stuff will be ideal to remove brake dust, and dirt from your sills and save

the expensive stuff for the parts people will see! Buy again? Yes Score 9/10

Jelly Belly 2d Air Freshener Various fragrances

Fragrances tested: Tangerine

Price: £1.20 - £1.99 depending on retailer

Maybe I just bought a duff one or maybe they just don’t smell very strongly but this was a disappointment. Most ‘hanging tree’ type air fresheners are very pungent when you take them out of their plastic bag, this one smelled quite pleasant, not too overpowering but by day three it was game over for the jellybean. Buy a ‘tree’ or invest in the item above, as this was a waste of money.

Buy again? No Score: 1/10

Almost 10 Years of Probe Ownership

I bought my first Probe just by chance really; I was looking at my next car to move on from my 1.4 Astra and wanted

something with a bit more power now that my insurance premium was dropping at the age of 25. So in 2005 I

started looking at Astra GSI’s and after getting the lowest insurance quote of £ 2,000 decided that was a bad idea.

So I started looking in Auto-trader and saw a 24V probe for sale within my price range, so thought just for a laugh I

would see what that would cost me to insure and it turned out a quote of £900 which considering I was paying this

for my 1.4 Astra that was my decision made! So the probe hunting and research began. I read loads of things about

bad reliability, but having already fallen in love with the looks of the car, that didn’t really matter to me.

After seeing just one other Laser tint 24V probe that had clearly

been in an accident as all the shut lines were out, I found a 1996

White 24V on eBay, based in Gateshead that looked like just what I

was after and only had 60K miles on the clock. After speaking to the

owner over the phone I asked him to remove it from eBay, and

providing everything he told me was correct I would have the car.

So that weekend I went up to Gateshead on the train. The car was

exactly as described and had no rust whatsoever. After sorting the insurance out I travelled home in my nice new

probe and loved it from the start, but that wasn’t going to be difficult moving from a 1.4 Astra!

The first thing I did to the car was sell the private registration seeing as my name wasn’t Daz! After that I just

cleaned it up and used it as my daily drive and loved every minute behind the wheel. About a year after I bought my

Probe, my dad decided that he loved driving my Probe so much he wanted one of his own. The Morris Minor that

we had restored together a few years earlier was just standing on the drive most of the time, so he decided that to

sell the Morris and look for a Probe of his own, so a month later he had his own white 24V from Wales with 50,000

miles on the clock. It soon became a bit of a competition between me and my dad to see what subtle modifications

we could make, and as soon as one of us had something new, the other wanted it, which explains why they always

keep looking the same. But it’s great driving the cars around together watching people trying to find a difference.

My Dads (left) and my probe (right)

In 2011 I married my wife Jenni. We used three probes as wedding cars; my dads, mine and Fred’s (AKA fraggle),

who kindly offered to bring his silver 24V along as well which was very kind of him. My cousin’s partner kindly drove

Jen and her Dad to the venue in his 1960 VW Campervan.

My car on the day Fred’s car on the day

After 7 years of owning and caring for my first probe and about 30,000 miles without a single major problem, it

unfortunately became time to cut my losses with this car. It was suffering very badly underneath with rust due to

being originally from Whitley Bay and despite annual efforts to weld it all up, it continued to rust, plus the engine

was smoking like a train. So I took the reluctant decision to take it off the road and start looking for a new probe

that was a bit more solid underneath. All this was just after a 2,300 mile trip around France!

Meanwhile I drove around in our newly Acquired Mazda MX6 which I have to say seemed a lot quicker I think, due

to the lighter body and was also a much softer ride than the probe. However, for me just didn’t have the looks

which I love about the probe. After about 6 Months of searching I eventually found a tidy looking White 1995 24V

Probe in Stockport for sale for a bargain £150.00 with 92000 miles on the clock. After looking at the car and at that

price it was going to be difficult to find a reason not to have it and sure enough it was paid for and a transporter

booked to bring it back to our garage.

Complete Stripdown New Manifold inspired by Paul K

After getting it home and having a thorough look around the

car, it just seemed to need a good clean and a small amount

of welding near the front struts. But now knowing what

typically fails and the thought of a 2,500 mile round trip to

Italy in its future, I decided to Completely renew all the front

Suspension joints, new CV boots all new discs and pads and

rear drop links, and change the Rocker cover seals front and

rear, new timing/ Auxiliary belts and water pump and

transfer all the good bits off my old probe. So after about

two months of working on the car and spending £ 350 it was

time for the MOT which with great relief it went through

with no problems at all. The day after the MOT, I took it for a

drive around Derbyshire just to check everything. This quickly

showed up the loose air intake that I must have forgotten to

tighten, but was quickly sorted. No other issues materialised

thankfully.

Just 3 weeks after the MOT I took the probe to Italy and back, with just one problem at the beginning which thanks

to a quick chat to Numnuts over the phone turned out to be a simple water cap swap to fix it.

So I always call that 2,500 mile trip my test-drive!

After almost 10 years of probe ownership under my belt I have to say there really isn’t another model of car that I

would rather own. It’s smooth, comfortable, and fast enough for me and the car just looks good! As for UKPOC it’s

been an invaluable part of probe ownership with great members always there to help.

Have A Probe Will Travel

Due to the unreliability stigma this car has got, I was always dubious about going on long journeys, but after

covering 30,000 Miles without any major problems, in 2012 me and my wife Jen decided it was time to try travelling

around Europe and coincidentally a family member had their 60th birthday coming up in the summer in Pau in the

south of France just on the edge of the Pyrenees.

We decided to make it a two week road trip

there and back camping overnight. I packed the

car with a spare dizzy, a full set of fuses and

relays, spare HT leads a full alloy spare wheel and

a full toolkit. Plus all the camping gear and a two

weeks’ worth of clothes, if anything this car has

very good boot space

Camping in France

The Probe managed the 2,300 mile round trip without a fault, the only thing I did was kept a close eye on oil and water. So the next person who says that I must be mad having an unreliable car will hear my travelling stories. Unfortunately my first Probe was due for its MOT just after the holiday and it failed on emissions and rust underneath. It was at this point I very reluctantly decided due to the very poor state of the car it was time to start looking for a better example as a keeper and use this one for parts. This decision was all the more difficult due to having just completed the trip without a problem.

The Second Trip 2013 Well having got myself a new Probe, I had only just finished rebuilding it 3 weeks before our planned trip to Italy. We loaded the Car up and set off on our way to Dover with Jen’s Brother and his partner in their Honda Jazz. On the way down at the first services stop I noticed water dripping out of the expansion tank and had a slight panic that the trip might be over before it had even started, but a quick phone call to Numnuts soon had me back up and running with a quick pressure cap swap. Luckily, I had taken a spare with me.

This trip was from Dunkirk ferry terminal stopping in Namur

(Belgium) then Metz (France), then through Luxemburg to The Probe in Rivehaute south of France

Lake Titisee (Germany) then on to Fluelen on lake Lucerne

(Switzerland), then Lake Como in Italy where it was reaching

38 degrees in the middle of the day which is way too hot for

me and we just melted under a tree at the campsite,

and swimming in Lake Como to cool off.

I think the most talked about incident we had in Italy is

when we were trying to find somewhere to park in an Italian

town and I ended up on a bus lane and out of nowhere two

Motorcycle police came down the side of me laughing and

kindly pointed me in the direction off of the bus lane with The Probe and its travelling companion

my wife Jen doing her best in Italian to say sorry.

Camping in Germany

Anyway, we then made our way back going through Mont Blanc tunnel to a place called Chamonix on the French

side of the Alps. After celebrating Jens birthday in Chamonix and going up a mountain the day after with a hangover

(not recommended!) we then made our way back through France via Dijon, and it was here whilst trying to move

out of the way of a tractor I managed to blow out a rear tyre on a kerb.

But luckily I carry a full spare so got that sorted and learned for the first time that anything for this car is near

impossible to find over in France. After asking a few tyre garages I gave up the search and carried on without a

spare. After that stop and an amazing campsite / village party we set off to Reims and then back to Dunkirk. So

again we covered another 2,500 miles without any major problems.

This year’s trip 2014

Last year’s trip was a little more problematic with the car, after replacing the leaking cam cover gaskets again!

So this time we headed off to France for a less adventurous trip than the previous two. We first stopped at Cancale

on the north coast overnight and then made our way to the south coast of Brittany to La Trinite Sur Mer where we

stayed for a few days for sightseeing and it was a lovely place. We then moved on to the north coast of Brittany

near Carantec and this is where the problem started with the Probe.

I noticed that on the last trip the car had lost some coolant and quickly discovered that it was all going in to the

expansion tank as it did on the last trip and found that this time the cap had perished badly and wasn’t holding the

water pressure when the car got hot. In hindsight, I could have fixed the problem there and then easily enough but I

didn’t simply because the car was still holding water enough to drive a fair distance and I didn’t want to make

anything worse by messing with the cap, so spent the rest of the holiday and over 500 miles stopping every hour

and topping up the coolant.

We did try to get a cap over there but they could only order me one and we weren’t staying anywhere long enough

to wait. I had my dad send me a spare cap down to our B&B in Dover so I could fit it when we got off the ferry and

not have to stop all the time on the way back up to Sheffield.

A few people have asked me whether I would rather travel in a modern car or camper. I don’t think I would find

driving a modern car as exciting as driving a probe, although, this last trip did make me wonder whether it is a good

idea to travel around Europe in a Probe that seems to have absolutely no parts for Probes!

I think on this trip we covered just under 2000 miles but apart from the pressure cap the car ran faultlessly yet again, which is just a testament to the reliability of these cars.

Story and pictures from Lee 24v

A BIG THANK YOU The admin staff would like to thanks all the staff and reps for all the hard work they have put in this year, and also

thank all our members for helping make the club what it is today.

We have seen a lot of changes over the year, within the format of the club; we now have our own club shop, bank

account and strong membership. All of these things have been achieved with your support.

THE ADMIN STAFF WISH YOU ALL A

VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS

AND A SAFE, HEALTHY AND VERY

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Trev, Andy W, Paul K. & Paul N