Lancia Beta big 40th birthday weekend 25-27 May 2012 details and booking form

[thecolonel]

Can I have a copy of the "andy" photo, it'll keep
the kids away from the fireplace...

[VXdeMayo]

Dear All,
first of all many thanks to Amanda for the superb event, It was our first "Lancia specific" event and we did not know what to expect! Anyway great people, great cars, great venue, oh and GREAT WEATHER.
It was a shame Anne and I did not make it in our HPE VX, however we were not the only ones,  and having Howard turn up with his Alfa Brera S meant we could have mini photoshoot of the blue and red Alfas together, before the real deal happened!
I spent the day with Mark Milne in his lovely bronze spyder playing navigator with Anne following in the Alfa. Fantastic.

However, on the way home from the hotel Mark suffered a breakdown with a broken fuel pump. (He ended up on the back of an AA relay truck), and got home at 10 o'clock. Ouch!

Meet you all again soon,
Best,
Chas and Anne,
(VXdeMAYO).

[millieman]

Many thanks to Amanda for a great day. Unfortunatley 20 miles from home i had to request a piggyback from the AA, suspect fuel problem. At least it didnt ruin my day. PS if you ever need a Co Driver Chas is your man.

[cgo75]

From Paris with love

Tuesday 29 May  5:45 AM: Wake-up, gym, shower, breakfast, dress up, pack, drive to work….
Tuesday 29 May  8:00 AM: hundreds of e-mails, meeting at 9:00, the boss wants to see me, the  telephone is ringing,…
It looks like hell; Let’s close our eyes for a moment….
Thursday 24 May 13:00: luggage packed, all papers ok, full fuel tank, we drive from downtown Paris heading North. Temperature is 30°C, no aircond, noise over 100 dB if windows left open at 70 MPH. Why did we buy a dark blue car 30 years ago?
Thursday 17:00: arrival in Calais, we refuel, ignition…. Nothing, Catherine looks at me without a word… Ignition ….works!! Hotel Mercure, nice restaurant “L’Assiette ancienne », go to bed.
Friday 25 May 7:00 AM: Wake-up, no gym, shower, breakfast, dress up, pack, drive to Eurotunnel….
Friday 25 May 8:50 AM the car is in the train, we talk with an American living in Belgium who admires the car. He owns a “Citroen 2 CV” that he uses every day to go to work.
Friday 8:00 AM(UK Time): beware! Drive on the left side! 200 Miles to Norwich, Traffic Jam announced between London & Cambridge, we decide to change our plan and take the A12 to Ipswich; after a cool drive and several stops (coffee at Little Chief is quite the experience!) we arrive at Norwich at 1:00 AM.
Message from Matt (MattNoVAT) who wants to make sure we’re all right.
First goal: find the Tesco for refuelling (who can escape Tesco in the UK?), refuel, and car-wash out of order.
Friday 1:30 PM: We enter the De-Vere Dunston Hotel; what a gorgeous place! Our room is ready, everything’s fine.
Friday 2:30 PM: we meet with Amanda who give us the Beta pack; should be younger than the Beta; walk around the hotel, swimming pool, rest,…
Friday 5:00 PM: A lot of people are on site and the parking is full of Betas; I talk to a lot of guys and realize that I’m not alone: they are all crazy about their car.
Friday 7:00 PM: Buffet Dinner with Anne & Chas who will make our live easy during all the week-end (Thanks a lot!). Quiz: speaking English (more or less) is not the same as having a British culture! Our team (Eurovision) is only average, our added value is …limited. Andy is a fantastic entertainer!
Saturday 26 May 10:00 AM: everybody is pampering his car or discussing the merits of such or such modification to make his Beta more robust; talk to a lot of guys (ex: mark who also offered his help and too many the names of which I can’t remember); never seen so many Betas in my life (and some friends: Fulvia, delta, Anne’s Alfa)
Saturday 26 May 12:00: Matt is doing a fantastic job, like a conductor; in a very short time, all The Betas were parked in front of the hotel, photos, photos, and more photos.
Saturday 26 May 14:00: The wolf pack is released in the country side; the visit of the gardens is relaxing; you can see Betas in all directions; we decide to go and see the seafront.
Saturday 26 May 17:00: Back at the Hotel; beauty contest ; my preferred one is Matt’s red coupe; Catherine prefers the blue immaculate Spider (What should I do during the next 12 months to win the next contest?)
Saturday 26 May 19:00: Washed, dressed, the face as red as my tie, I hope I’m as elegant as my wife Catherine. Interesting discussion with Martin (one of the Fiat owners) and his wife; we could spend hours comparing France and England (Industry, landscape, weather, roads, health, bureaucratic issues, etc.)
Saturday 26 May 20:00 Dinner with Amanda, Ann, Chas and the family who won the prize for the most beautiful Beta (be fair play, Claude, she is, really!); once again, Andy takes the mike and cheers/thanks those you made this event possible(special attention to Amanda who did a fantastic job); a great moment when Catherine and I were asked to go on stage and receive a Lancia bottle of wine from Mark (Lanciabetaparts, without him, some/ most  of our betas wouldn’t be able to start ); the speech was unprepared and the words were lacking; thank you all for your welcoming attitude
Sunday 27 May 09:30: Catherine is doing some tourism in Norwich; see a beautiful jaguar Type E on the parking
Sunday 27 May 10:00: Who else than Andy can answer the following question: What brand of tyres are mounted on a Beta coupe 1300 Series 1 FL 1 manufactured in November 1976 first batch of production (Note: first shift of the day, Lorenzo was in charge of this stand on the production line)?
Note: Andy, please correct type, date, etc.
Sunday 27 May 12:00: goodbye everybody, picks Catherine in Norwich, heading to Folkestone
Sunday 27 May 17:20, Eurotunnel, 19:00 (French Time) drive right side of the road, heading Arras; Hotel Best western, Dinner, go to bed
Monday 28 May 8:00: Wake-up, no gym, shower, breakfast, dressing, packing, visit of the city center (the two amazing places are a must see)
Monday 28 May 13:00: departure to Paris; arrival at 3:00 PM; unpack the luggage, mail, washing machine, end of this fantastic Week-end

Tuesday 29 May 9:00: let’s go to this bloody rotten meeting


See you next year or sooner if you come in France

Claude & Catherine

[St Volumex]

My sincere apologies to all that the promotional gifts sent by DHL (Damned Highway Larceny) which should have arrived on Friday, are still sitting in the East Midlands awaiting clearance.... 

They also sat around in Amsterdam for an entire Friday night and the whole of Saturday, and only moved to the UK on Sunday. 

Still, I hope we will get them to you all somehow soon.

Regards,

[HFStuart]

See you next year or sooner if you come in France

Now there's a thought.....  Amanda?

[Dodgems]

Already have my thinking cap on - Claude is going to let me know of any events they are holding next year, however, there was a general view of holding a bi-annual weekend event.
If the interest is high enough I can look into doing an event next year in northern France or here. I would rather have a year's notice to organise something rather than the 4 months I had for Norwich!

Cheers

Mandy

[MattNoVAT]

Depending on how the house hunting goes during the next two weeks, I may well be living in France and able to help out with a bi-annual event.  Regardless of where I'm living though, I'd definately be interested it would fantastic if we could co-ordinate something with Squadra Beta (the French equivilent of Lancia Beta Forum)

Ask me when I get back   

[peteracs]

Hi Matt

What area of France are you looking to move to?

Peter

[MattNoVAT]

Poitou Charentes is where we are looking but we have one "wildcard" just inside Limosin.

[mtulloch]

We're looking near that area too, more around Preiully/Yzeures. Well placed for the racing at Angoleme.

[peteracs]

We're looking near that area too, more around Preiully/Yzeures. Well placed for the racing at Angoleme.

Hi Matt/mtulloch

Sorry to hijack the thread, our place is a bit East of you just to the East of the Loire near to Nevers and Pouilly, one of the reasons my Spider is taking so long to be finished. We spend around 10 weeks a year here with a long list of jobs to do on the house.....

Good time to buying in France at present with the Euro going back down and the market being pretty slow from what I understand.

If you need any help (I am no expert) feel free to get in touch.

Peter

[andybeta]

A very nice day although I arrived late sat afternoon, sans Beta. A very impressive venue.
A lot of hard work had obviously gone into organising the event. A fine crop of Betas.

[mtulloch]

We're looking near that area too, more around Preiully/Yzeures. Well placed for the racing at Angoleme.

Hi Matt/mtulloch

Sorry to hijack the thread, our place is a bit East of you just to the East of the Loire near to Nevers and Pouilly, one of the reasons my Spider is taking so long to be finished. We spend around 10 weeks a year here with a long list of jobs to do on the house.....

Good time to buying in France at present with the Euro going back down and the market being pretty slow from what I understand.

If you need any help (I am no expert) feel free to get in touch.

Peter

Thanks for that, might take you up on the offer later in the year.

Matt.

[St Volumex]

Your promotional gift is now available from John Bower aka johnb!