The General Lee(xus) was put through its paces at Silverstone recently, thanks to the wonderful people at the Silverstone Track Club.

Invited down to put their new track day product to the test, we decided to stretch credibility to its limits and eschewed the option of a BMW sports car or an aging Toyota MR2, and instead arrived with a two tonne, four litre luxury car. Painted orange. With a Confederate flag on the roof.

However, The General was still very much under-tyred, with the front tyres being somewhat shy of the legal minimum tread depth. Fortunately our good friends at Continental Tyres stepped in and provided a new set of ContiSportContact 2’s, so we weren’t in danger of sliding off the damp circuit.

Thrashing The General round the technical Stowe and super fast Southern circuits, we managed to achieve 8mpg, but did show a clean pair of tail lights to a Porsche Boxster, amongst other less exotic machinery. With no metal bent, and tyres still mostly in one piece, it was definitely a successful day.

The dry run for Silverstone’s product went well too; they’ve got a great package for track days available, and we’d recommend at least taking a look. Race instructors and sports psychologists sre on hand, so your technique will improve, and you’ll come back a better, more confident driver.

2010 Home2Rome, Other Events

It’s alive.

Yes, The General Lee(xus) will soon see action again, as it’s heading to Silverstone to terrorise the Saxo’s, Corsa’s and Fiesta’s of this world at one of Silverstone’s ever popular track days.

Courtesy of Silverstone Circuits Ltd, we’ve got a full day on track and, rather than taking something seen as traditionally sporty, thought we’d give the cobwebs on the General a dust off and put it through its paces. Sadly, we have to take the roll cage out as anything moveable is considered dangerous; as it’s not actually attached to anything, it’s probably safer out of the car than in it.

Tyres are an issue but, thanks to the lovely people at Continental and the crew at STS Tyre Pros in Huntingdon, there’ll be a complete new set of boots on the car by the time we reach the track. Once they’re in place, we’ll have fun seeing just how much of Northamptonshire we can flatten with the back end of a luxury barge.

If you happen to be passing by on Sunday, do drop in and say hi. We’d love to see you.

2010 Home2Rome

The General Lee(xus) grabs a fair chunk of attention wherever it goes, with stares, waves and laughter being common as it’s driven around the UK and Europe.

However, it’s also managed to get attention in the press. To date, it’s appeared on the following sites…

Jalopnik.com
CarDomain.com
Newsodrome
MotorNewsHub
StreetSafari
AutoBlogger
Kilometer Magazine
Lexus Owners Club USA
Lexus Owners Club UK
The Lexus Enthusiast

And many others, including, er, GayCarFans.com. It will also be appearing on the official Lexus website in the near future.

Bear that in mind when we’re looking for supporters for our next project…

2010 Home2Rome

2010 Home2Rome

It’s taken a while, but the StreetSafari team have finally got the scores for Home2Rome finalised and out, and the Cima Racing team took The General Lee(xus) to ninth place overall.

Using an unfathomably complicated scoring system, we scored an impressive 4,495 points, ensuring a top ten position; not a bad achievement when there were 70 starters.

Whilst we’d not entered to win, intending to enjoy the event more as a social do rather than a competition, our competitiveness meant a decent score was a key goal. Thanks to the support of a number of people, we certainly managed that.

Top five for 2011?

2010 Home2Rome

2010 Home2Rome

After a few days rest and relaxation in Rome, it was time to take The General Lee(xus) back home, making it the Home2Rome2Home rally, and putting another 1,250 miles and numerous mountain passes on the car. Again.

Leaving Rome was interesting. The road up to the Vatican had been closed for an event but, as that was the only way out of our hotel, we had no choice but to ignore the signs and drive the not inconspicuous General Lee(xus) past the guards and exit as quickly as we could. From there, it was north for a brief stop in Pisa.

Yes, it leans.

Driving north west from there, we hit the glorious Italian Riviera motorways on the approach to Genova, and then from Genova north to Mont Blanc. If you’ve never thought a motorway could be fun, head to northern Italy and you’ll soon be proved wrong.

After passing through the Mont Blanc tunnel, we stopped overnight at Archamps, just outside Geneva, before heading north the next morning to Paris. Where in Paris, we have no idea. We’re meeting a good friend there, but she’s not told us her address. Still, that’s all part of the adventure.

Arriving in Paris, we stop by the Notre Dame and then the Eiffel Tower, before getting an address via text. Entering it in to the sat nav, we’re faced with navigating round the famous Arc de Triomphe roundabout. That said, seemingly driving a five metre, bright orange Lexus means you’re given a wide berth. Result.

An evening with friends, a short day in Paris, and then we were off again, this time heading all the way home to Cambridgeshire on an uneventful, even boring, final stint.

After 3,210 miles, 511 litres of fuel, 11 days and six countries, The General Lee(xus) and crew made it home in one piece.

Home2Rome 2010 was, by far, the best banger rally we’ve done. We can’t wait for the next one.

2010 Home2Rome

This was it. The last day of the main event.

Fortunately, after the mountains, floods, tunnels, France and snow, it’s a relatively simple motorway drive down to Rome. Although the Italian idea of a motorway is a pot hole ridden, narrow, concrete lined, roughly tarmaced, poorly repaired, badly surfaced, race track. Still, we’re in The General so we were sure we could cope.

Twisting through some of the low mountains, the drive was pleasant as the sun shone and outside temperatures rose. By the time we hit Rome, it was 32c and we had to face the infamous city centre traffic.

We thought we were good at bullying other cars, especially in a massive orange Lexus, but we’ve got nothing on the Rome drivers. Somehow we made it to the hotel unscathed, and headed in to Piazza Navona for the finale.

A meal, some wine and a prize giving ceremony. We’d made it. We’d got from Home to Rome in a £150 banger unscathed.

We weren’t the winners, but we feel everyone who made it to Rome (and not everyone did) was a winner in their own way.

Now it’s time to relax for a few days, before turning round and going back again…

2010 Home2Rome

Today saw us heading down Stelvio and driving in to Venice. Dressed as nuns. Oh dear.

There’s always a costume day on these events, and this year it was ‘Nuns on the Run’, so our best nuns outfits were dusted down and we gathered at the top of Stelvio for a photo shoot. And water pistol fight.

The drive down Stelvio was every bit as good as the drive up. Hundreds of hairpin bends, hot brakes, no tyres and narrow roads with roadworks in places meant there was an equal balance of joy and fear. The General Lee(xus) being five metres long and feeling very wide perhaps didn’t help…

After Stelvio, there was rain of biblical proportions. Perhaps the whole nun idea wasn’t so great. Visibility on the Italian motorways was near zero, but that didn’t stop the locals driving at crazy speeds. We felt very slow, and that perhaps wasn’t helped by the lonely single millimetre of tread our front tyres are carrying. Standing water isn’t fun right now.

Driving on to the Venice island and parking there, we headed by water bus to St Mark’s Square, where we managed to be the only people there, thanks to the huge amounts of rain coming down. our challenge was to be photographed with groups of people and, thanks to them all sheltering, it wasn’t too difficult to achieve.

It also meant we didn’t give Venice a fair crack, as it was dark, depressing and major sites were covered in advertising hoardings, hopefully covering up restoration work. Perhaps we’ll be back. Apparently the city flooded soon after we left, but we’re not sure how that’s possible.

From Venice it was off to Sottomarina for the night, before the final leg to Rome.

2010 Home2Rome

This is it. The big one. The day that will kill any cars that have any problems, no matter how minor.

Starting of at Menton, it’s an easy but glorious drive through the Italian Riviera, taking in awesome mountinside motorways and hundreds of tunnels to Genoa, before turning north and heading to Milan. Stopping off at Malpensa airport to pick up good friend Jaime Michavila, it was then a short drive to Lake Como, and that’s where the fun starts.

Driving alongside the lakes, looking at the stunning scenery, and picking out bits of road used in James Bond films, was just the prelude to what as to come.

Turning in to Switzerland, we headed to St Moritz, where the roads took on a different feel. Climbing up Bernina Pass, the General Lee(xus) guzzled its fuel as the altitude added steep hills, crazy bends and less oxygen. At the other side we dropped down a frighteningly narrow and poorly maintained pass, with nothing but plastic tape in places to keep you from a very long and painful drop, and headed in to Livigno.

Historically, whoever owns Livigno (and the Italians and Swiss keep arguing about it) keeps taxes low, so filling up The General at 80 pence a litre was pleasing.

From Livigno it was a steady drive to Bormio, where Stelvio then loomed large.

Stelvio. The highest mountain pass in Europe. One of the steepest and narrowest. And we took The General all the way to the top.

Despite it being late July, there’s still snow in places it’s that high. glaciers are a stones throw away. It was 32c at the bottom, but it’s only 6c at the top. And there’s no air –  the stairs to the fourth floor room are surprisingly difficult when you can’t breathe!

We’re here for the night, and then we head down the other side. We can’t wait…

2010 Home2Rome

Day three was always going to be an incredibly easy day, and it proved to be so.

After meeting at the collection point, the rally split in to two groups – one group took a tortuous route through some stunning French scenery, passing through the Gorge du Verdon, while the other half took a leisurely drive down to Monte-Carlo to hang out with the rich and famous.

Most teams parked outside and got the train in to Monte-Carlo, but we’re braver than that. Parking may be a nightmare in the tiny principality, but we’re in a bright orange Lexus, so how can we fail to find a spot.

And, after driving round the Grand Prix circuit, find a spot we did. Outside the famous casino. Alongside the Lamborghini’s, Ferrari’s, Bentley’s and so on. The General Lee(xus) fitted right in.

After a meal and a mooch, it was off the the seaside town of Menton for the night, ready for a big day tomorrow…

2010 Home2Rome

France exists purely to get to somewhere else. It’s dull. Mind numbingly dull. It’s dull enough to put ditchwater out of a job. And today we drove through most of it.

Arriving at the start line slightly late, we were one of the last to leave before heading down the motorway to Reims. Oddly, despite setting the crusie control to a fuel friendly speed, we arrived at the historic Reims GP circuit first, and took pole position for the photo shoot.

After a bite to eat, it was down the motorway again, this time right down to Montelimar. 578 miles of near straight motorway, with nothing but a few toll booths to break up the monootony.

And then we arrived at Montelimar, the only town I know of with a town centre area with a nice restauraunt that doesn’t serve food in the evening. Time for bed and then to Monte-Carlo tomorrow.

The sooner the better.

2010 Home2Rome

Finally, it’s time to put The General Lee(xus) through it’s paces. Home2Rome has officially started, and we’re on our way across Europe in £150 of knackered Lexus.

Day one is traditionally an easy day, with nothing more strenuous than a gentle motorway drive down to Calais, where the fun really starts the next day. After topping up the fuel tank in the morning before we left (with a calculated average of 13.6mpg), we headed down on a non stop run to Calais.

Non stop apart from popping in to the co-driving totty who joined us on Bangers4BEN last year for tea and cakes. And then in Dover for more fuel. Still, 163 miles on £28 of petrol isn’t too bad. For a 4.0 V8.

Next stop is Reims tomorrow morning for a photoshoot, and then on to Montelimar. Only 577 miles. What can possibly go wrong…

2010 Home2Rome

After three months of preperations, everything becomes very real tomorrow morning. The car is ready, we’re ready. We’re off to join Home2Rome and drive our £150 banger 3,200 miles or so across Europe.

Along the way we’ve been assisted by some very generous people, so here’s a quick run down to thank you all…

• Richard Porter at BBC Top Gear
• The staff at ASAP in Huntingdon
• Jason McKnight at J M Auto Services
• Danny Jones at Spectrum Signs and Display
• The team at Invent Partners
• Jason Jenkin
• Stew Toal
• Anthony Phoenix

Thank you all. We just hope we make it…

Phil & Sam.

2010 Home2Rome

Dixie Horns sound great, and they’re a vital part of the whole Dukes of Hazzard experience, so The General Lee(xus) really should have some fitted.

Fortunately we got some delivered some time ago, and last night it was time to fit them. First up, we wired it all up to check everything worked, and left them dangling out of the front of the car.

Amazingly, the sound came out and locals were bemused.

Amusingly, the wiring caught fire.

Oops.

2010 Home2Rome

The General Lee(xus) went in for another MOT today. Was it a case of third time lucky?

Fortunately, yes. Thanks to some sterling efforts from Jason McKnight at J M Auto Services (07866 565405 / jkcmcknight@hotmail.co.uk) on the handbrake and exhaust system, The General finally managed to squeeze through its MOT test.

Barring cosmetics on the car, we’re now ready to tackle Home2Rome!

2010 Home2Rome

2010 Home2Rome

As we get ever closer to the Home2Rome rally, we get ever closer to having a fully prepared car. To most people that means making sure it’s safe, solid, reliable, with things like an MOT and tax, perhaps a spare wheel, or maybe even some kind of breakdown cover.

To us it means putting stickers on the car.

And so it was early in the morning that we took The General down to Chatham Historic Dockyard where Spectrum Signs and Display’s Danny Jones was waiting for us, with a Confederate flag, some ‘01′ decals and the emotive words ‘General’ and ‘Lee’, all ready to be applied to the Lexus.

Some cutting, some hair dryering and some swearing later, and it was all in place. The respectable dark blue 1994 Lexus LS400 we purchased a few months ago now bore more than a passing resemblance to the Duke’s General Lee.

There’s still work to do – roll bar, push bars, wobbly CB aerial, and the like, as well as that pesky MOT – but we’re close enough to feel like we’ve nearly finished.

2010 Home2Rome

One of the flaws on the Lexus is a slightly dodgy upper wishbone at the front left of the car. Dodgy meaning ‘only slightly attached’, and that’s always led to an interesting rhythmic vibration from the front of the car.

Fortunately there’s a brace of brand new wishbones in the boot, so it was off to see the Toal this evening to get them swapped over.

Arriving at what looked like the back of a Ford plant in Dagenham, the Lexus was jacked up, wheels off, and suspension bits unbolted, but nothing was moving.

Obviously it was time to resort to a hammer.

After bouts of banging, swearing and general abuse of the front of the LS400, the suspension bits fell out. New bits were in place quickly, everything bolted back together, and wheels back in place.

It’s now smoother than Barry White, although probably doesn’t handle any better. The handbrake is also sorted, so it’s just emissions to work on now.

2010 Home2Rome

With the Lexus sanded down nicely, if you consider ‘nice’ to mean uneven and with deep gouges in places, it was time to make it look at least a little bit more like the General Lee.

Halfords kindly supplied plenty of Hemi Orange paint and a bit of lacquer for barely any money at all, so then it was simply and early morning drive to Swadlincote where our good friends would help us paint a perfectly good Lexus quite badly.

Following a bit of breakfast, we set about removing lights, grilles, number plates and anything else that had a screw or nut holding it on. Then we fired up the compressor and started spraying primer around, before retiring for a round of drinks.

Finally, it was time for the paint. “Bloody hell, that’s orange” was a frequently uttered exclamation. It’s really very very orange indeed. More orange than many a minor celebrity. But exactly the right amount of orange for it pass as The General.

That’s the basics now sorted. Next up is the mechanical bits to mend, and the extra accessories to add.

2010 Home2Rome