#Team ‘Southend Or Bust’
THE BOYS ARE BACK…yeah it ain’t as good as the song is it.
Seb, James and Martin are returning to piss off the competition as much as possible by being the students that they are. Having done pretty well in the previous incarnation of this competition, they’re hoping they can prove that it wasn’t all luck in this round.
The bios are as follows:
[ul]James Hurley - 21 year old actually-named-after-the-Twin-Peaks-character who’s a cooking master and loves BMWs. Shares one too many car memes on Facebook. Turns out he’s quite the, er, ‘exuberant’ driver as proven in the previous rounds.
Seb Anitolo - The long haired Spanish 20 year old who’s much more attractive than his friends would like him to be. Loves his aniseed liquor. Taking Geography at uni, for no real reason, but it helped the team’s navigation last round.
Martin Deenham - Every-worrying 21 year old mechanical wiz who helped to ensure the car finished in just about one piece last time. No-longer secret love of The 1975, still hates camping, was once again designated to choose the car for this round.
[/ul]
So, the whole team is back once more. However, the trusty un-air-conditioned Berlose isn’t going to be. It has gone up to the great scrapheap in the sky, and in its place we have this:
#1994 Erin Merna Lex 1.6
In ‘Sunshine Coast Orange’!
This fairly well kept example of a Mk 5 Merna is to be the chariot of TSOB this round. It’s noticeably smaller than the Berlose (much to the annoyance of Seb), but it’s much more efficient, which should be useful over the long distances that will be covered this round. And, because it weighs in at barely under 1 ton, it should be quite fun to drive too!
The Lex trim was specific choice by Martin (as is everything with him) as it was the cheapest trim that came with fog lights (you know, just in case they need them). The standard 14" wheels have been fitted with off roading tires, just so they are really really prepared, and they’ve even given the car a good clean for old times sake.
In terms of condition, it’s exactly what you’d expect of a car that rolled off of the production line nearly 23 years ago. 180,000 miles on the clock, a slightly musky interior, and the usual scuffs and rattles you’d expect on this sort of a car. Mechanically, however, everything seems to be ok, hence why Martin chose it.
That said, he suspects the slightly rough tick-over to be signs that there is a compression issue in one of the cylinders. Suspension is also a little squeaky on one of the rear trailing arms, which could be the bushing about to give up - he’s not too sure. Also, the windscreen washer has completely packed up.
Still, these are but minor faults in the grand scheme of things, and as they learned on the previous round, a lot can go wrong anyway.
Spotify Mobile ready to go, beer packed and the Merna up and running: Team ‘Southend Or Bust’ ride out into the unknown once more!
. Andrew has installed clutches and suspension before, does his own services but much prefers racing to ratcheting…
Cooks a mean “rabbit stew, bro”.
