6800 miles in the Pirate

[Chicobala19]

Hello guys,
This journey was amazing, I love these long drives.. is very rewarding for me.

The Journey started in Oxford all the way to (Portugal) Porto, Lisbon, Lagoa and Viseu.
Is not an easy trip, two years ago I did and was very exhausting.. This time we decided to stop half way to rest and continue on the next day.
We had an early start.. as we wanted to get home as soon as possible.
The drive gave us some funny situations, the gps gave us some directions on the countryside of France while the weather decided was time to pour down on us.. giving me the challenge of driving in bad roads with mud.. we drove for a few hours until a motorway came up.. after driving for more than 14h we decided to stop at a hotel in Bordeaux for the night.

On the next day we had a great start, no rush hour and we were good as new.. had a challenge when we got to the Pyrenees, the reserve light came up and we wanted to fuel up in Spain so was interesting.. as the needle would go up and down noticeably..
I knew the fuel tank would hold 50L so doing the math of the light comes up when has 10L that would give us around 130km of drive.. although one of the things I hate the most is driving with the light on.. we used only 2L of the reserve fuel, so it wasn't too bad.. after we stopped at Burgos, the roads became a nightmare.. the shocks, the wheels, my wrists.. they took such a beating until we got to Portugal..

When you cross the border you have a special toll for any vehicle that is not Portuguese.. so that will use your card to pay for any tolls you will have that you are unable to pay (scuts), we had a special badge to prevent us from stopping (Via Verde), so we would pay the fee for the entry toll and everything else would be done with the badge..

I had my grandparents in their country house so we stopped for a while so that my wrists could rest. After a while we resume our journey.. and to imagine the best timing to rain was then.. in a traffic jam.. that is annoying.. nevertheless we arrived at the time we predicted to arrive..
In that week was not the best on weather conditions.. but I tried to enjoy our time there.. lots of attention towards the car.. my father-in-law loved the car.. was perfect for him (smoker), once you put the roof down he could smoke ahaha, don't mind since he doesn't smoke much neither the smoke was getting into the car.. was a great time. Even had a friend that took some shots at the car.. I'll share some of them in the picture link.
A few days passed and was time for us to go to Lisbon.. was a nice trip the sun was coming out in its full summer weather how we know.. on our arrival my grandparents recognized the sound of the car and they could hear me from 700m away ahahaha.
Lots of attention as some of the neighbors came to their windows to see whats about.. was good.. I missed it..
Had a great time with friends and family.. they loved the car..

After a few days was time to head to Lagoa (Algarve), was epic.. I missed that house.. we barely left the house.. is a very rewarding house to be, even for a holiday.. the Mrs wanted to go to the beach even though we had a pool in the house.. which she quickly regret it because social distance for some was not even on their plans.. my mom loved the car so much she wanted me to leave the car there for her to enjoy ahahaha.
Our returning was sad.. we wanted to stay longer.. but we couldn't.. for me we could stay longer since my work place takes the hole month of August, but for the Mrs only two weeks is possible for her..

Since the journey was already more than 15h a day of driving.. we decided to do in three days.. We left at the afternoon to my grandparents countryside house to give us more room to be as close as possible to the ferry. We filmed it to share to anyone who wants to drive. The best bits of drive for me is the Northern Spain just after the Pyrenees where you have lots of tunnels and mountains.. the long stretches of motorway close to Bordeaux and all the area after Calais towards Le Mans.. those are my favorites.

We had some situations where I tried some humor on my Mrs.. on our returning a few minutes to arrive at the hotel.. was raining a lot.. and I only had a glimpse of a cat going to cross, but in that fraction he went back because of the loud exhaust.. my Mrs though we had killed the cat although no sound of hitting anything... I said to her, see we saved the cats life.. now I can say "Loud Exhausts.. save Cats" ahahaha.

Thank you for being able to read this far.

Link for pictures: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1jP23KZM6Bu8lBsvNLhbBA6JcwI7Do1cW?usp=sharing

Link for small video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrURzvh8ld8

I hope I didn't bored anyone.

[paulj]

You didn't bore me.  Enjoyed the video and was able to spot British roads quickly (more congested). It sprang an idea of mine from a long time ago - similar destination but living in Devon I can ferry to Santander and miss out France!

All really tempting as this summers holiday to the Algarve was cancelled....

Thanks for documenting the journey

[Ardent]

Enjoyed that.
Sure I recognize the bridges in the early pics. I'm thinking Porto or Lisbon.

[Chilli Girl]

Loved every minute of that, thank you.

[bigfootisblurry]

Enjoyed that.
Sure I recognize the bridges in the early pics. I'm thinking Porto or Lisbon.

Porto I think. I'm supposed to be there in 10 days (but who knows), my favourite city in Europe.

Great read and pics OP.

[Chicobala19]

Enjoyed that.
Sure I recognize the bridges in the early pics. I'm thinking Porto or Lisbon.

Porto I think. I'm supposed to be there in 10 days (but who knows), my favourite city in Europe.

Great read and pics OP.

The pictures where the car had a photo shoot, yes it is in Porto. The location is Freixo Marina. A few years ago I had a job that required me to drive around in Porto among other cities, and I drove through some nice scenery roads that makes me wish to have a drive with a drone to enjoy even more the view.. The city that caught my heart is Viana do Castelo. Although I haven't been there for 4 years..

[jonjon]

great post, the photos document the drive nicely too.

i really like the red pinstripe in the interior on the wheel, seats and dash - really sets it off.. from one photo it looks like the dash stripe is illuminated. How did you do that?

also - i think the bumper exit exhaust really suits the PFL design; the louvres surrounding the exhaust looks spot on .. i've only seen a couple of those, from what i've read it needs the rear crash bar to be modified, either by cutting (bad news) or by replacing with a specialist one.  A quick google led me to find that Ropey racing fabricate a modified crash bar that is designed to allow bumper exit exhausts. https://www.ropeyracing.com/mr2-parts/2020/2/20/1elesacvp2xuxwmvvltzqawzafr0jp-7pwp9
How did you do yours? I guess it was a custom made exhaust too?
 

[Chicobala19]

great post, the photos document the drive nicely too.

i really like the red pinstripe in the interior on the wheel, seats and dash - really sets it off.. from one photo it looks like the dash stripe is illuminated. How did you do that?

also - i think the bumper exit exhaust really suits the PFL design; the louvres surrounding the exhaust looks spot on .. i've only seen a couple of those, from what i've read it needs the rear crash bar to be modified, either by cutting (bad news) or by replacing with a specialist one.  A quick google led me to find that Ropey racing fabricate a modified crash bar that is designed to allow bumper exit exhausts. https://www.ropeyracing.com/mr2-parts/2020/2/20/1elesacvp2xuxwmvvltzqawzafr0jp-7pwp9
How did you do yours? I guess it was a custom made exhaust too?
 

Hello,
I bought the car as it is.. Only changes I did was the head unit to be an android one. Quite good for the price. Back on the subject. My friend, Camil he did the car. Not sure if he has registered in the forum or not.. But both cars were in a gathering not long time ago made by Sinclair in Oxford area. The orange bar lights up when you turn the ignition on. Also on the headlights turns on the DRL (or so it should, came across an issue). There is one spot that needs to be sorted on the bar where it meets from the climate controls makes a small bump. If is hot is more noticeable, if is cold is spot on..
The exhaust.. Yes is custom made. The crash bar had to be cut and the metal was fitted on top, so although narrower is thicker. Cutting the crash bar I wouldn't consider bad news.. As long as it's welded correctly.. And doesn't affect the holes where you can fit the hooks.. It had a lot of trial and error.. The louvers surrounding the exhaust was made in a 3d printer and this is version 2 or 3.. Still needs some adjustments. My car is basically the test car 😂 since the other car is my friends. At the moment I will need to cover the exhaust in some heat wrap to save my diffuser. 🤣

[p5ycho]

Great journey, fun to watch. Thanks!

[jonjon]

i just watched the video too - the roads in mainland Europe look much nicer (read: less busy) than my usual driving experience in the UK.

thanks for your comments on the car mods. i realised you've got a owners rides post on the forum, so i'll not spam this thread with car questions

 

[Chicobala19]

No worries. I haven't updated. Glad you mention it. I'm going to update it xD