I think it was me collected the Bluebird from Beaulieu Museum - or perhaps it was I dropped it off afterwards? Alas it’s all a bit of a fog these days. Staggie warned of the dangers of sending someone as youthful as me to the museum and suggested I act with great caution. Nice to see this photo. I didn’t mind the Ford flatbed because it had a sleeper - unlike the bloody Pantechnicon which didn’t. Trying to sleep across the seats in the Pantech was just too dreadful for words.
That flatbed used to take me to Spain to collect smashed up cars and caravans. A fantastic job as the Spaniards are always on holiday for local saints days which meant I could go and see - and meet - the local sights! What a great time! On the way back I often had a caravan to live in which I towed behind. Happy days indeed for any young fellow.
Moving on to Coles Cranes, I was flown up North to collect from their factory to take a crane to Zagreb show. I pulled out of the factory, half out of the main gate when it broke down. Not an auspicious start to the trip. The gate-man called the factory and the factory said as as I was outside the gates it was my responsibility to fix the bloody thing… He then put me on the phone to them and I told them that only the front wheels were outside the factory… The grumbled a while and then sent someone to get the thing started…
I remember doing a Baghdad and passed a Coles crane broken down at the side of the road… If I remember correctly it was on the military road which has the minefield and iron fencing on the other side which is the Syrian border… I think John Preece told me a story once that he was driving one in Turkey and the counterweight fell off the back and sank into the road and he managed to work the crane to lift it and put it back.