I drove on a few miles, practicing my story in my mind, then pulled over onto the grass verge and stopped. Sue pulled in behind me - but as I climbed out - there was no police car to be seen. I quickly told her why I had stopped, then trotted back to the van and prepared to leave. I looked around before pulling out, and there was the police car pulled up alongside Sue. Blast! I unbuckled and prepared to get out - when he drove off..! Apparently he asked if we were ok, and after Sue's "yes thanks.." he did the honourable thing. We proceeded with great joy, but knowing we would most likely have to pass him again. Several miles later we did - but this time he stayed put, and we finished our trip in the midst of city traffic - as anonymous as the next bloke. In a Marina van...

Phew..!

The van is currently being stripped for panel repairs. All bumpers, grille, radiator, dashboard and wiring are out. Motor and gearbox are next - then the rear lights, which will involve the removal of some carpet. Front windscreen will be removed too, and a new rubber fitted after the repair of any rust found there. Hopefully some progress will be evident by the end of January 2007 - I anticipate the paintwork will be the biggest expense. I have wrecked two complete cars in the last year, and parts from both will be used in the van project. Engine and gearbox from an 1800 HL - running gear, dashboard and wiring from a 1700L.

Can't wait to start putting it together.

This is one of the photos that caused me to purchase this 575 van - unseen and unknown. Apart from the fact that there was no apparent rust, the region from which it came has a very dry climate, and is acknowledged as a good place to find rust-free older models. I had already acquired one low mileage saloon from the same area, and the 200 mile drive was also a fun thing to include in the delivery run.

Unfortunately, this vehicle had no current warrant of fitness or registration, so in order to drive it home I would run the risk of being apprehended by the law - a fact that only really managed to make the whole plot more exciting!

I corresponded with the vendor via the online auction, and managed to ascertain that he thought the van would manage the trip ok otherwise, and though I would take another vehicle up and with a towrope aboard, I did not want to risk overloading the latter's auto by towing for such a distance. It would be drive or bust.

I asked if the flat tyre on the drivers front could be inflated, and was assured that it only went down after a long period of standing - in fact, the van had not been used for the 6 months since the current owner had purchased it - it was a 'project' that had been superceded. A few phone calls followed my successful purchase and we arranged to do the business on the forthcoming Sunday.

I had a few other questions about the mechanicals - an interior photo showed an odd shaped gearlever, and I wondered if it had been repowered - but the owner was unsure of the mechanical aspects of the thing except to say that he thought it still had its original motor and gearbox. This indeed turned out to be the case, but as usual, its the questions you didn't know you had to ask that would have given the most important answers. This is not to say that the seller was trying to avoid revealing any of the warts - but thats pretty much what was happening anyway.

About the first thing I noticed after arriving at the vans location and peering over the fence - was that both rear doors were damaged, and the handle was missing. At this point I suddenly remembered that none of the photos had in fact shown the rear doors. A bit disappointing. Dishonest? Certainly not forthcoming - the price had been reasonable considering the general state of the body - but it felt as if I had been misled to some extent. Apart from the usual number of scars from a life of average use, this was the only nasty surprise in the body department.

Mechanically however, there were a few left to come. The motor and gearbox were in fact original, and the curved gearlever visible in the interior pic had in fact been bent by some previous owner - possibly to accomodate the foreign seats whose 'turbo' logos suggested they were of oriental origin. The seat despite being pretty grubby were well mounted and comfortable, with a couple of very useful features - they slid well forward, and also tilted - thus giving an extra 12 to 18 inches of deck space which would prove invaluable in the van's new role as a camper - enabling me to stretch my 6ft frame straight whilst sleeping - something that my estates could not do.

Another unexpected bonus that fitted the camper scenario - the entire back of the van appeared to have been professionally carpetted. Not only neatly around the wheelarches and contours of the body - but right up the sides to the top of the windows - and the extra soundproofing that this afforded was immediately noticeable when on the road. This alone pretty well made up for the unexpected rear door situation. A makeshift type of headlining had been fitted to the rear, somewhat letting the rest of the job down, so this would probably need to be removed and a better job done at some later stage. The rear windows had been painted black inside - thus affording some privacy in the back. A good idea, but conducted in a makeshift fashion too. It would be nice to apply a very dark tint so that one way vision would be possible - but in the meantime the status is fine. All in all - a mixed bag, but looking quite optimistic considering the van's intended use. Lack of front carpets and creature comforts was purely in keeping with the original level of trim offered when new - but my aim was to fit all of the options from a saloon, so that would cure the shortcomings there.

To the mechanicals. It was always my intention to swap the entire running gear from a saloon into the van - so all the current installation needed to achieve was a safe trip home - a mere 200 miles - then it could die quietly, or explode if it felt so inclined - not much to ask I thought. Not necessarily. Initially the motor would not start at all. It had an aftermarket twin-choke downdraft carb and custom manifold fitted, presumably in a rather poor state of tune, if its reluctance to start was any indication. I removed the oil filler cap and the dipstick for inspection - obvious signs of water contamination on both - it appeared we had a leaking - or blown head gasket. The seller looked rather perplexed at this point, and denied that any of these symptoms had been noticed before. I was obviously sceptical, but we persevered and finally coaxed some life out of the thing - which proceeded to idle at great revs or stall. There did not appear to be any intermediate option. A bit of fiddling with plug and points succeeded in small improvement, but by the time we managed to finally drive the thing out of the yard, it seemed like an impossible task to consider driving it any distance at all.

We made it 100 yards to the nearest petrol station. Filled up, then it refused to start. I pushed it across the forecourt and proceeded to clean all the battery terminals and earthing point. instant success, and we now had a van that would start and run badly. We hit the highway, and I noticed a large cloud of oil smoke following us. Hmmm. It doesn't get better..! Progress was extremely erratic unless the pedal was held to the floor. I decided that this could be a timing issue, so stopped and removed the vacuum advance. Yes! Much smoother, and no smoke. Maybe we could pull this off after all. Despite having every apparent reason not to be so - this van was much quieter at cruising speed than the other. No doubt this was due to the carpet and headlining - as the exhaust note was certainly less restrained.

Our luck held, and the red peril continued to run. A few brief stops to try and induce better behaviour were to no avail - despite parking near holy places.

We made Kaikoura just before dark. Still 120 miles to go. It was now I discovered the extent of the vans lighting capabilities. Left front parklight and right headlight worked. Left tail light worked. No brake lights. No numberplate lights. This was a worry - it would be hard to avoid catching the eye of your average tally-orientated police person with this assortment. I instructed Sue to stay close and keep her lights well fixed on the van to hide the lack of an indigenous variety. In this fashion we made it to Amberley - within about 30 miles of the city. This is a favourite spot for the law to lurk, and sure enough, we passed one immediately. I kept my eye on the left mirror to see if he pulled out, and I imagined I saw his lights flash as he did just that.