Today was not just the day to head home, it was the start of another days adventure. 

There must have been lots of bed wetting as we all got up pretty early, and at around 7:30am the sun was already starting to shine. It had rained in the night, but we reckoned that by the time we had been down for some breakfast, that the tents would be dry enough to pack away - always a bonus.





I decided to have a fairly light breakfast this morning as I don't like traveling on too full a stomach, and opted for a nice crispy bacon roll (with a slice of Spam of course). Their Coffee is really good, but don't be too put off by the milk. The Europeans do not have nice fresh milk like we do, they have an ivory coloured UHT goo that has the same consistency as watered down Dulux. Tastes pretty good in the Coffee, but not I would be brave enough to try any on my cornflakes.

With most of the last bits of moisture gone, it was time to dismantle Camp GB





We packed the Campsite quickly in order to hit the road with a target time of 10:00am sharp as the Northern Crew had an early ferry to catch. We were easily on target.





All that noise we were making, along with the sound of the Buggies moving about, and we suddenly realized that nobody had seen Zip Buggy. He was still in his tent snoring. We flipped a coin to see if we should vacate the area without him, and then Ruben drew the short straw and gave him a wake up call. After a very frantic run for breakfast, we then helped him to take his tent down.

Time to say a fond farewell to some of our close mates too. Jon and Mags will be returning back to Sweden, and Patrick, Sabrina and the kids will be heading back to Belgium.





For reasons best known to herself, Vicky was now shotputting water melons    







All packed and ready to roll. 





Just one thing left to do, and that is the obligatory line up and group photo.
I often wonder if we are the only Nationality that seems to do this, as seldom see it on any of the other club websites. 

In hindsight (after downloading the camera photos) I think that we should have tried two rows of cars instead, as this spectacular line up was almost impossible to take a good photo of.





It was far too large an Arc to get everybody in  -  Hang on, is someone having problems over there?





Baggybuggy's alternator has shaken itself loose and the mounting strap has failed, so it was pushed into the line up so that the all important photo could be taken first.






Still, spares in a field of sleeping Germans are not difficult to find and it was not long before Ruben came tip toeing over with a replacement strap. Not even going to ask where that came from. The Motorhome onlookers seemed very impressed at our team of mechanics, but soon found out that we can only fix Alternators and not generators.





We had to stand at the far end of the field to get all of the cars within the same camera shot





Oh the irony - Only learning everyone's names on the last day      





No matter how hard you try, you simply cannot get everyone in the same place at the same time - So we went with what we had.





The Ladies gloated about making far less fuss about it - Right up to the point we told them that they also had some people missing   





Chad couldn't resist taking a quick family picture for his album





Tick - Tock - Tick - Tick
Time was pressing on, and we said Bon Voyage to the Northern Crew who were now heading back to Rotterdam for the afternoon Ferry. That was the catalyst for us to also break camp and hit the road, else, we too, would have just stood there yapping all day.





A huge thanks to the Onsnabruk Buggy Club, that was a mighty fine show you put on there   

We set out in no particular order in small groups with the Rendezvous point of Bing Beach in Holland. There was no real arranging of the groups, it just naturally happened.





Although we didn''t keep contact with each other, I would imagine we all did the same thing with regards to fuel stops and leg stretches.





Matt and Tom did have a few gearbox issues though due to somehow losing both bolts from the front transmission mount, but Flags and Big GP managed to get them going again and more importantly, back to the Ferry.

Meanwhile, somewhere else in Germany . . . .

We traveled in one of the smaller groups, and whilst fairly uneventful, it was one of those really nice drives out. We kept a leisurely pace, the sun was streaming, and it could only have been better if Ruben were in his Buggy and not his van - It was just great to be cruising with my best mates across the Continent. I could see Dave Doon's Buggy in front of me, and the complete blur behind me that was Zip Buggy. Blur? Well you know how Animal, that Mad Psychotic Drummer from the Muppets bounces around? Yep ! - That was Mark, courtesy of some Lynyrd Skynyrd in his ears. He was in a state of pure bliss.

We stopped a few places for fuel and some much needed ice cream





Ruben needed a pee quite urgently at this point and decided to use the woods as they were 15 feet closer than the toilet in the building. Yes, he really was that desperate. Zip Buggy, knowing that Public Urination was a hanging offense over here, thought that it would be funny to take a picture of Ruben doing this and post it on the forum. So here is the picture taken of Mark instead, which I thought would be funnier.





We drove past one of the other groups who it turned out were about to have a significantly more eventful trip than we were

Meanwhile, Somewhere else in Holland . . . .

Some of the groups were taking in some of the great roads and stunning scenery.





Like the rest of us, Hugh was having the time of his life, cruising around with his mates . . . When all of a sudden . . .   





Hugh, along with Gary and Hudge were traveling around the Rotterdam Ring when his Buggy suffered a loss of power followed by a rapid clicking noise that Gary could hear over his headphones and was bad enough for Hudge to have heard over his exhaust. There was not anywhere good to stop, but after trying to kill Gary by firing smoke and debris out of his exhaust, a stop on the  hard shoulder was called for. In fact they had no choice.

Hudge burst into action with the Red Warning triangles and High Viz jackets (No point packing them if you never get to use them) and Gary took a spanner to the engine, only to confirm their worst fears. It had seized solid.





It was a really noisy road, but it was time to make "that" phone call to the AA, only to hear that the first number was barred. Gary managed to get a second number to work whilst Chris extracted their location from the Sat Nav. the AA indicated that they would be there in around an hour. The Dutch AA rang back and asked for the barrier marker location, like we have here, and a quick walk along the oncoming traffic confirmed the location. Hugh was told that he was in a very dangerous location (I suspect he may have worked that one out for himself) and they would send someone along to recover him first to a place of safety within 90 minutes, and then recover the vehicle back to the same point afterwards. There was little more that the others could do, so applying Top Gear Rules, they tried (with some difficulty) to rejoin the fast moving traffic, on a dangerous bend, just in front of another motorway junction. Hugh really had picked a great spot to break down.





Around 15 minutes later, He was spotted by a Dutch highways camera, and a vehicle was sent out to rescue him. They very courteously confirmed the Dutch policy of getting him to a place of safety first, and to recover the car afterwards. This was along similar lines to the Free Recovery service we see in the UK, where you are dragged off to the nearest services so that you can then arrange your own Recovery.





Within minutes, their Recovery Truck arrived and started to load him on board.





Just as the Buggy was being tied down, his Official AA Recovery Truck pulled alongside and it was agreed to all head for the safety area.





Back at the safety area Hugh's Buggy was now surrounded for nearly an hour by what can only be described as 6 Dutch AA Jobsworths on an eternal fag break, that were now trying to find a reason not to transport it to the ferry. After all, it was still Pentecost and they just didn't want to do any work. They were also trying to work out why a non automatic should have an automatic gear lever and could not grasp why a 50 year old vehicle should have so much play in the steering. But you have to question their mechanical intelligence when these people that Recover and Repair automobiles ask the question of whether it is a four wheel drive or not?

The UK AA then made contact and said that they had arranged for the Recovery Truck to get them to the Ferry, but were unsure of the procedure (or whether they would be allowed) to tow a vehicle onto the boat. Hugh pointed out that we had towed one on board last year and after some gentle persuasion, they came to a mutual arrangement. If Hugh could find a way of getting the Buggy on and off the ferry (There is enough of us, we'll push it), then there would be an AA Transporter to meet him at Harwich.

Just a note of cautionary awareness here. Most of us doing this trip will have some sort of "Relay" breakdown policy, but it does not necessarily mean that you and your Buggy will be repatriated at the same time. If this breakdown had happened in Germany, then I would not be surprised if they had sent him to the ferry by Taxi, and for his car to follow a few weeks later. Worth checking out those clauses when you renew your policy.

Hugh in the meantime was getting a little agitated. This Recovery Lorry was just not to his taste. It was not pure Yellow, and had lots of blue markings down the side. I mean, if those markings had been green, then he may have become jolly well cross.





So, in order to shut him up, they found him another Lorry with a bit more Yellow on it.





Hugh was now happy to be heading for the ferry, especially as he was now in a big shiny yellow lorry.   

Meanwhile, Somewhere else in Holland . . .

We received good news that the Northern Crew had safely made it to the Ferry and were now waiting to board.





There had also been a few issues to contend with, such as Baggybuggy's HT lead falling off, and Arran's clutch cable going out of adjustment.

Just to prove that even in Holland, you can always find some right Wallys on the road





The Sat Nav had guided us across 2 Countries without any issues and just as we were about to have some faith in that electronic map, it promptly sent us into the wrong car park. In fairness, the Beach area we use is located behind a set of street furniture that doesn't appear as though you should be driving through it. I guess its to keep the public in the main car park, where we were now. No sooner had we driven in, did a man shout and wave at us, saying that our friends were parked over the other side of the dune, which was exactly where we had hoped to be. Its been a couple of years since I have been here now, and I am amazed as to how much busier this hidden gem of a place has become.





I don't think that there could be a more perfect location of a Buggy friendly Cafe on a Beach than this place





Even towards the end of our long trip, the cars were still looking their best and just glistening in the afternoon sun





Metalflake is notoriously difficult to photograph, unless you are in this sort of sunshine  -  I think I captured it





The Paintwork on Flag's Buggy is really popping here - its awesome - The picture does not do it any justice whatsoever





This man got here without breaking down. Who is he, and more importantly, what has he done with DC as seen on TV ?   





Epic "Fail" by Ruben. Another six inches and he could have also claimed to have had his van on the sandy beach 





Reports were coming in about the seriously diabolical weather that the UK was currently experiencing just a few miles in the distance





We just laughed.

I really like this little Cafe on the Beach, and it always amazes me that every time we visit, we seem to have the place to ourselves. I suppose not many places are going to be over busy on a Bank Holiday Monday afternoon, but I trust that they must also appreciate the boost in trade too as 30 hungry punters suddenly descend on them. News was shared of Hugh's disaster and it was only then that I spotted my phone was switched off (cannot hear it in my Buggy anyway) and I had a few missed calls on it.  I think I may know why.

There we were, basking in the glorious sunshine and swapping tales of adventure from the last few days





Kath seemed very unsettled, was moving from one chair to another, and we wondered if she had caught the dreaded "Drunken Holiday Itch" (You know the one I mean) but it turned out that she was desperately trying to find a seat that was in the shade. She asked the waitress if they could put up the folded umbrella behind us, but whether lost in translation, or just too busy at that time, the request sadly went ignored. So Kath decided to take it upon herself to erect it. The Umbrella was wedged against the side wall and when Kath swung on the ropes in a manner that would gain considerable respect from Tarzan, the inevitable happened. We all heard a very large crack as the wooden parasol arm gave way with a vengeance





Knowing we were going to have a Curry on the boat, we opted to have a slice of their home made apple pie from the specials board, and it tasted just as good as I remember. Oojamaflip was very hungry, and any order that went past, he jokingly told the waitress (as we all do) to "leave that here, I'll eat it" and after a few times of saying it, she did. Confirmation that he had eaten someone else's lunch was apparent when his own turned up. He seemed a little surprised by the bill at the end, wondering if he had now been charged for all those meals he had eaten, or if the umbrella had been included on it. Unbeknown to him, we had secretly all put our drinks on his tab. Cheers Dave !!





The Cafe owners asked if we could put a few cars down the side of the building so that they could take some publicity photos. We were certainly not going to say No to a request like that, but it did mean that we had to try and move some of the cars into place. I vividly remember mine sinking in the sand last time I tried to drive on this bit.





After four cars, we were out of breath, so left it at that. Its kind of funny that our Buggy's are impossible to drive on this soft sand.





Someone is still being a right Wally





Ruben swapped some Club details with the Cafe owner and they hope that we will visit them again next year

For as long as I can remember, we have nicknamed this place "Bing Beach" but I cannot for the life of me remember where that name came from or how we came to call it that. I suppose its better than calling it by its correct name of "Slag Beach" as that conjures up a whole different image.





Let me take a moment to show you some of this stunning beach. If I take a look to the left you will see a block of strange wooden buildings, and as far as I can tell they appear to be dual storey beach huts. In the far background is the deep water channel that the boats use, so as you can see, we really are close to the Ferry Port.





If I now pan round to the right (North), you will see that this golden beach with incredibly soft sand just goes on for miles and miles





And behind us are some of the Cafes and Bars. The place we have just visited is the one on the right





Lisa and I head off in search of Ice Cream, whilst Hudge and Chris just chill out and soak up some summer sun





Understandably, there are some that just cannot resist dipping their toes in the water





Whilst Gail strongly urged DC (as seen on TV) to go and have a wash





News update: Hugh has reached the Ferry Port, so as all good things must come to an end, its time to go and join him. This is one of the genuinely sad moments of IBW as I now have to say goodbye to one of my best mates and Honorary Brit, Ruben. Its always sad to leave him behind and I know that the new Buggy mates he has made on this trip will feel exactly the same way. Take care mate, and catch up with you soon.





Oh, and especially for Ruben, my Monty Panenkoeken munching fixated friend. I know that this is such an alien concept for you and that you really do not believe me when I said that here in the UK, we only have Pancakes once a year. Pancake day is a National Holiday over here, if you are religious, you would call it Shrove Tuesday and if not, then its called Jif Lemon day. Traditionally made sweet and covered in lashings of Lemon Juice (Jif is the brand name), Maple Syrup and Sugar.





I have a suspicion that we will all now all make the Panenkoeken mix you gave us and we will think of you fondly whenever we next have a Crepe. 

We are now heading the short distance back to the Ferry terminal on a main road that is clearly signposted with a Boat and an arrow that says Engeland, but the Sat Nav decides that it wants to take us one last time through a housing estate. Eventually, we turned the corner and knew that we had reached our destination. No, it wasn't the huge boat in front of us, it was the collection of 3 wheelers that we seem to follow on every trip.





Where we now join the queue for Passport Control. We are usually only here for about 20 minutes or so.





It would appear that Passport control are also listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd  -  Zip Buggy needs to be careful here





Round the corner into the next 30 minute queue while they determine which deck to load us on to.





The big group of bikes pulled up alongside us, and I have a feeling that they were having a few troubles of their own. I'm guessing that they do not agree with Euro fuel as they all sounded completely knackered, coughing, spluttering, refusing to start, being pushed - A far cry from the sweet revving sounds that they made a few days ago.





It was a relief to see Hugh was there. Hudge had provided a Tow Rope that Snoopy was going to use to pull him onto the Ferry.





But it was a far bigger relief to see that he was still in good spirits. Snoopy had been having a little poke around the engine and his diagnosis was that it may have dropped a valve, a "minor" hiccup, rather than a full blown seizure.





Lee was pointing out to the others that the end to this story, and our epic adventure were now in sight. (Or so you may think).





Time to roll onto the Ferry, and Hudge forgets to remove his tall aerial again 





Which do I fancy first? A cold Beer or a Hot shower? Its a tough choice, and before You all shout "shower" because I smell, the choice was because I was going to let Lisa go first and was wondering if I could get a swift pint in.




The showers are pretty good on this boat, and you can hear everyone going "Aahhhh" at the same time. Then its off to the restaurant at the pointy end for a Curry. That's our way of ending the trip. To most people, this boat is identical to the one that we came in on, but it isn't, this is the Britannica, the sister ship that is run by predominantly English.

For the last 4 days, we have enjoyed fantastic hospitality, smiles and waves wherever we have gone from our European friends. The Germans have been great Company, the Dutch are just as mad as a box of frogs, and now we are back on the English boat where the staff just want your money and will snarl at you if you do not give it quick enough. No, I do not like this Boat. Its an unwelcome reminder that we are heading home.

In the bar, Dave Doon introduces me to Murphy's Red, I have never had it before but I can tell you that the second pint tasted just as good as that first one. After that, we decided to hit the sack for an early night, after another shower and a quick check on the weather.

The whistling tune . . . "Don't Worry . . Be Happy"

Buts it's not that easy to be too happy at 5:30 am when you have just seen the weather report. Last night the forecast was not looking promising, but today the sirens were going off to the tune "Abandon Britain". Against my better judgement, the forecast looked to be a slightly milder form of "The end of the world" if I headed down south and round the M25.

Hugh's Buggy was towed off the Ferry and into the local Morrisons, where we had decided to have our last meal.





We were nervously hoping the forecast was wrong. It was. It was going to get much, much, much worse.





A few hundred yards from the Ferry is a Morrisons, where the plan was to have a last big fry up. The problem is that Morrisons do not understand the concept of "200 yards from the Early Morning Ferry" or "Captive Audience" and like previous years, we got caught out yet again. This year they were not starting breakfasts until 8:00am. Previous years left us waiting until 7:30am for them to open, but when the current time is 6:45am and the weather is closing in, we choose to say a few quick goodbyes instead.





One by one, we left in our groups  -  Actually, that doesn't sound right, but you should know what I mean by now.





Until once more, Hugh was left on his own, like Billy No Mates.





But far from being sad, Hugh was actually chuckling to himself. He knew that the sky in front of him was like a sunny day compared to what we were all about the encounter, and whats more, he knew he had a dry seat all the way home.





The first of Hugh's transports that took him to Chorley Services was another big Recovery Truck, ordered in regulation Yellow.





The next one was not as fancy, but it did have a matching yellow trailer, so that's kind of acceptable.





Hugh had huge respect for all those that made the drive in the horrid weather, but was so relieved to have spent out £71 on his AA European Cover and to have had such help along the way from all and sundry in the Buggy Community.

Meanwhile, Somewhere up north . . .

Whilst we were complaining about the monsoon, the Northern forecast just said that it would be pretty damp all the way home. A early start meant they could try and waterproof the Buggy's before setting off. Davydoff took the lead through passport control and the rush hour of Hull in the rain. The Buggies were all having slight issues with the wet weather but they made it back to the ferry bridge services where they stopped for some breakfast.





They all said their goodbyes and left the services with Arran, Roisin, Alan, Stephen and Claire all now heading North on the A1 towards Leeds. It was not long before the rain really started coming down and luckily for Stephen and Claire they reached their turn off and it was now just Team Scotland. Progress was smooth but very wet. Heading to Newcastle the rain however became much, much worse. Visibility was down to less than 50m and it was horrible. They were soaked, and still had 4 hours of driving to go! The rain was torrential and Arran's Buggy soon started filling up with rain water. Poor Roisin got the most as the rain seemed to prefer flying into her side of the car. After a short stop at Durham his speedometer broke, but it wasn't long before they had made it back into Scotland.





The run up to the border was thick with fog, less than 100m visibility and they struggled to keep sight of each other. They said farewell at the Edinburgh bypass. The rain was still hammering down and to make things worse the A702 bypass was closed down to one lane due to flooding. Arran and Roisin crawled through the rain for nearly 20 minutes before they made it back onto the open road towards the Fourth Bridge. They eventually got into Dundee and parked up.





They had done it. They made it home! What a trip. One they will not forget for a very long time.

Meanwhile, Somewhere around the middle . . .

The Midlands group were now heading for Cambridgeshire. For a moment, they thought Mark had lost control and crashed into a grass bank, but it turned out that all of that water was exiting his bladder a little too much, so locked up the fronts and drove up the bank before jumping out for a quick splash. Everyone thought Gary deserved a medal. No roof, No decent rain gear, just a coat, gloves and a woolly hat. Apart from the rain, it was also starting to get cold. Very cold. In fact, it was chuffing freezing.

After the rain eased back to only torrential, Gary was unsure if he would actually survive the rest of the journey. There was a real threat of drowning as at least 3 inches of water were now sloshing about in his Buggy. His speedometer had now taken on so much water that it was starting to read in knots with a plimsole line now visible at the bottom. Thankfully, he made it home safely and is now looking for a Goldfish.





Unconfirmed reports are that the torrential rain also claimed Alan's Buggy and that he made the last leg on the back of a Recovery truck.

Meanwhile, Floating down the Thames Estuary . . .

It was just getting wetter and wetter. It was also starting to get very windy and cold too. The rain after Colchester was torrential and had reduced the speed limit of the road to ensure that we were getting properly soaked. I hadn't bothered putting my side panels on, as I was struggling to see as it was with water now running down the inside of my glasses like an open tap. The side windows would just have been another layer to have contended with and wipe down, which would have been difficult to do as I needed both hands firmly gripped on the wheel due to the sideways wind.

By the time we hit the M25 the speed limit sights were showing 40, but it was a struggle to get anywhere near that. We were all starting to suffer with taking on serious amounts of water and the engines were starting to cough and splutter from the spray. Keeping the speeds down to a snails pace meant the engines ran a little better but it did little to prevent the onset of hypothermia that was now setting in to some of the others. The sideways rain was completely horizontal and hitting us with such a force that it was not only soaking us to the skin, but it was now trying to push the car sideways.

I briefly saw a sign for the Dartford Crossing, but my visibility by this time was so impaired by the water that I could not see the bridge ahead. This had now gone way past being dangerous, but we had no option than to soldier on as if we had stopped here we would have been killed. Every so often a lorry would go thundering past and for a brief moment it was not only shelter from the wind, but they were throwing up far less water than was coming in horizontally.

The wind and rain were not only getting significantly worse, but I was also mindful of the depth of water that we were now driving through. Several inches by my reckoning, which was some achievement bearing in mind we were now several hundred feet in the air on the QEII bridge. We slowly drove up the bridge with only 2 waterlogged cylinders now firing, and emerged gushing down the other side of the bridge like a log flume. I wondered if the dart crossing charge receipt would be accompanied by a cheesy souvenir photo like you get at Alton Towers.

We pulled off the Motorway heading for Big GP's house, whilst Matt and Tom continued, not wanting to prolong the trip. They had already suffered one "scare" this trip by losing their mounting bolts, but the gearbox had decided to go for an encore when they stopped for some traffic lights. First gear fine, second gear fine, third gear . . . clutch pedal straight to the floor! Clutch bearing had come off the arm and they now only had one means for getting home.





As we pulled off the Motorway, we hit the Essex Commuter Rush hour and they were not coping well with the wind and rain that were now on a truly biblical scale. There were accidents everywhere and all I could see though the water droplets were blue lights flashing in all directions. I can only conclude that we were also following in the wake of a nasty flood judging by the way we were now navigating around the recently abandoned cars.

Finally, we slowed down by a few knots, and pulled hard a port into the harbour entrance that was Gary's house. Flags had a clicking noise that had emerged that turned out to be his speedometer cable, and after donning some sub aqua gear, it was quickly checked. Gary suggested we should take a break for some food, and whilst I initially just wanted to crack on, this was actually a good call as continuing on was just madness. I have driven through some things in my time, but I would have balked at doing this leg in my Land Rover, let alone a Buggy.

We all jumped in Gary's van and headed down to a garden centre that had a proper Greasy Spoon on the side of it. On the walls were lists of every combination of Truckers Breakfast that you could wish for. The Fat Boy was decided upon and Oh Man, What a welcome Breakfast that was. Gary dropped Flags, Lisa and myself back at the cars and took Tim off to a train station as he was heading back north anyway.

By the time we hit Clacket Lane Services on the M25, the Rain had eased off a bit (still heavy though) which was what I had anticipated after the weather forecast I had seen. Heaven help the rest of the MBC and the Northern Crew as it looked like they may have to contend with that for the whole journey which would have been an absolute nightmare. By the time we had reached Hogs Back the rain had eased off considerably although the skies were still very black. The wind was now the problem though as it was trying to physically lift the car. At one point we seriously considered losing the roof which was now proving to act like a parachute. After all, we couldn't get any wetter.

We followed Flags down a very busy M3 when all of a sudden we could smell fuel. Where was that coming from? At which point Flags suddenly pulled over to the hard shoulder with a very large puddle now appearing under his car. The source of the smell was him, as that puddle was petrol. One of the metal bungs in the side of his carburetors had popped out. (How?) Thankfully the fuel squirting out had missed his hot exhaust by a fraction, else the car would have gone up like a Roman Candle. Flags grabbed a chair, sat on the grass verge and watched the world go by as he waited for a recovery truck. We bid our farewells and continued on.





The next 100 mile saw us driving head on into the wind. We were being thrown around so much that I doubt if we ever had all four wheels on the ground at the same time. It was horrific. The only saving grace was that it was dry and the engine was back firing on all four cylinders again. By the time we had reached Exeter we had been blow dried, but we were still paddling in the swimming pool that was the floor of the car.

Eventually, we arrived at our house where we both breathed a sigh of relief and my car had a little nervous wee as the water ran out. At least I hope that it was the car and not Lisa - Dirty girl !





5 days later and my marine carpets are still sodden

Trip Breakdown - Or Breakdowns of the trip.

And I am not referring to my own mental breakdown of having to leave half a crate of beer behind as there was no space to carry it..


One of the conversation threads we always have before such an epic trip like this, is what sort of spares should you carry? The usual ones come up like throttle and clutch cables, points and condensers etc, so I thought it may be useful to think about the troubles we had on this trip that were not Sat Nav related.

Flags: Threw a fan belt, had a loose handbrake cable and suffered a Carb Disintegration (Couldn't have fixed the last one)
Arran & Roisin: Split their Rubber steering coupling and had clutch cable adjustment issues
Matthew & Tom: Lost their gearbox mounting bolts and Clutch Release Bearing failure (Couldn't have fixed the last one)
Stephen and Claire: HT Leads and Generator Bracket - Broken aerial was his own fault
Dave Dream: Rear Hub Seal failure
Oojamaflip: Broken accelerator pedal spring - (but just carried on)
Gary Prince: Never broke down but got crap MPG due to carrying so much water

I think that if you have a small range on your tank, or a fuel sender that is a bit iffy, then carrying some sort of Jerry Can is an idea, as there were at least 3 people that ran out of fuel on the trip. I would also throw into the list of parts to carry of Tow Ropes and a selection of nuts and bolts.

We must never forget that we are driving 50 year old cars and embarking on a 1000 mile journey across Europe is going to throw up a few issues. We all made it there and we all made it back. It was back in the UK that caused the most problems though, with the bad weather claiming many of us - virtually everybody was on 3 cylinders due to water ingress at some point. When we travel, we do so in the company of some of the best VW Mechanics the world has to offer and as long as we stay together in groups we also have safety in numbers.

There was obviously one breakdown that was not possible for a roadside bodge, Hugh's - And I will simply let the pictures do the talking here