You can say that again Robert !!!it was safer up on a nice rise about a klick off the road nice breeze with a cuppa watching the lights wing past …away from the noise …occasionally hearing the echo of the PA on a police cruiser then get woken up by snorteling camels in the middle of the night or sometimes a herd of goats
Backsplice , I know where you are coming from , the flat desert in the East with no arisen approaching the tin huts of the red sand going towards Riyhad was hot and sticky with the occasion lump of rock with the Mercedes having the best pitch in the shade !! It was a relief to see anything that stood out, looking at the dead wrecks in the desert some still with paint on and others that had gone rusty blown clean with the sand , sign post coming up with 500 klicks to some oasis in this land of hot sun, getting closer to the mountain range you have had in your windscreen for an hour or so, and then to park up for the night ,knowing tomorrow you will be back to Jedda ,the only time I went off road was to the mine , the one that stands out was the all mountain road to Khamis from leaving Tief to go south was ever changing scenery ,I remember Erick Bowers in 116 mack road train carrying construction material from Damman turning off road at an oil drum he struggled on and on eventually coming over soft sand the Americans said it was a sight of enjoyment to see this Mac reaching the site!!! on inspection there where parts missing ?!! EB said I’m up front Solo,I don’t know what’s going on back there , well done Erick,it had to be Trans Arabia !! Going off road with a double bottom, Ron.
A-J , it looks more likely !! That this lamp came off Hispano Suiza looking into there history nearly all there fantastic automobiles, they have this type of lamp , the fact that I found it in Spain and with your suggestion this is more of a probability than the Bentley who also used the best of lighting , the mystery of the Aladdin lamp deepens there are some numbers on a plate on the bottom I will investigate further Ron
backsplice:
Back to SA …did anyone notice that when heading somewhere off the asphalt that the mountain range never seemed to get closer …drive for 3 or 4 hours somehow the mountains still always seemed to be just as far away !! here are a couple of pics that might show what I mean !!!
Hi
So where about were you? And where were you heading to?? Don’t like those dark black stones real tyre cutters
Ken Broster
ronhawk:
A-J , it looks more likely !! That this lamp came off Hispano Suiza looking into there history nearly all there fantastic automobiles, they have this type of lamp , the fact that I found it in Spain and with your suggestion this is more of a probability than the Bentley who also used the best of lighting , the mystery of the Aladdin lamp deepens there are some numbers on a plate on the bottom I will investigate further Ron
Ron (Sherlock) Holmes…I’m proud of you! You’ll know that Hispano Suiza also did make commercial vehicles? There are some nice
scale models (in fact cheap) from Altaya…front and normal steer but I suppose your Marchal’ was applied on a fast car…belonging
to a rich wine (port) merchant or a trader in tobacco, textiles or…
Ronaldo, all this talk about big headlights is giving me a stiff neck. Maybe I should swallow my tablets a bit quicker.
I once knew a girl who had a pair of quite amazingly large headlights. Her nick name was Big Aud. Whilst courting this lady I would oft wake up in the middle of the night and find myself both blind and deaf! There was no escape! I sometimes had nightmares about being suffocated in the small hours.
Anyway, perhaps I digress. Regarding your mention of a loan, I am more than willing to oblige in exchange for a few seeds from that tree you have at the bottom of your garden!
Whilst you have been busy rummaging in your garage drawers for bits and pieces from yesteryear, I thought I would do the same, only in my bedroom cupboards.
You know how I never liked to throw anything away. Well here it is then! A blast from the past. And guess what? It still fits me, if only just.
Next time I come a visiting you, I will wear it. It should give your friendly neighbours a laugh if nothing else!!
Finally a cyclist like Rik Van Steenbergen and Rik van Looy? Tour d’Arab!!!
This T-shirt would make several bobs on ebay but I hope you’ll keep it with you as the nice memories!
Wirlinjmerlin thanks for the laugh I really did, and are smiling at you torso looking very closely do I detect the shadow of something lurking in the groin region very impressive ,■■ I also located a faint needle Mark in the upper right arm !! but I am not a qualified ginocoligest and would have preferred the full body to give a more true assessment !! The flattening of the ears is a Sert give away to someone who may have been suffocated by a “buck 'some wench” !! also the nose is normally bent !!! And will remain so until an antidote is injected , the lower part from the navel down could have difficulty recovering and could take days to recover from this Trauma ! Ron 
Oh Ronaldo! What in heavens name are you doing trying to set yourself up as a sugar daddy at your age. ( You are wasting your time trying to emulate the master) .
Your skills at brake adjustment must have been put to the ultimate test!
Just had a nightmare thought. Imagine dragging yourself up Taif in crawler only to be confronted by this mountain of loveliness coming down towards you,out of cog and brakes afire. If it came to a choice of just closing your eyes and hoping for the Brest (!?!) or tossing yourself off over the edge I know which you should choose!!
robert1952:
backsplice:
Back to SA …did anyone notice that when heading somewhere off the asphalt that the mountain range never seemed to get closer …drive for 3 or 4 hours somehow the mountains still always seemed to be just as far away !! here are a couple of pics that might show what I mean !!!It was the same with ‘approaching’ towns on the TAP-line. It seemed even worse at night (sometimes you couldn’t avoid a bit of night driving, even though it was a bit dodgy 'cos of the loony drivers). Robert
For me this effect was most noticeable on the ‘military’ road, which ran alongside Syria on the southern Turkish border. Paul Kerr and I were on our way to south of Baghdad in 1976. Before,this the road involved many unnecessary detours, including Mardin, where children and adults gave lorry drivers a hard time in the hope of getting cigarettes. Luckily for us, though certainly not for thousands of others, there had been an earthquake, centred around Mardin. The Turks allowed us on the mostly untarmacced 'military road alongside the border.
At the same time, there was a pipeline being built and there were many yellow Dafs pulling pipes for a Dutch company, who were known in Turkey as Al Haq or Haq - I can’t remember which. I do remember that one of the Turkish drivers we got friendly with would hang his arm out of the window, ‘whip’ the cab and say 100, 100, 100!
This was not a road - very little Tarmac on its length - to do 62 MPH!
Paul and I rarely exceeded 50MPH. Somehow, we always seemed to catch up with our friend.
The thing that fascinated me was that there was a mountain in front of us - and it was so far in front of us that I think it was actually in Iran - which never grew any smaller over 2 whole days!
We just couldn’t get any nearer to it!
We did eventually turn South into Iraq, and left our mountain behind. It surely must have been 20,000 feet at least to create that optical illusion!
John.
Wirlinmerlin:
Oh Ronaldo! What in heavens name are you doing trying to set yourself up as a sugar daddy at your age. ( You are wasting your time trying to emulate the master) .
Your skills at brake adjustment must have been put to the ultimate test!
Just had a nightmare thought. Imagine dragging yourself up Taif in crawler only to be confronted by this mountain of loveliness coming down towards you,out of cog and brakes afire. If it came to a choice of just closing your eyes and hoping for the Brest (!?!) or tossing yourself off over the edge I know which you should choose!!
To be fair Merlin…
A hell of a jump either way!
John
Just a sidestep for Ron…your village-pall Fuzz Townshend from Walsall is on National Geographic Channel
this evening …
Thanks for the info A-J Ron
John West:
At the same time, there was a pipeline being built and there were many yellow Dafs pulling pipes for a Dutch company, who were known in Turkey as Al Haq or Haq - I can’t remember which.John.
Morning John…I think it was/is the Dutch company “A. Hak” from Tricht (region Utrecht) who are worldknown for their activities.
In KSA they had a joint venture with Al Rashid, forming Al Rashid - Hak. The yellow DAFs turned into red since long.
See link (it starts at about 2.20mins) with regard to Middle East.
a-hakleidingbouw.nl/english/company-movies
Have fun!
A-J ? There are 3.52 billion women in the world , and there would have been more, only I kept Wilinmerlin in check , he is now on the loose !!! Heaven knows how many more there could have been ,had he not gone to the KSA, But tell me A -J is she FINNISH !!? She looks like a film Star ? A good looking girl with a ring on, well done A-J, I presume I am close ? Ron,
As a matter of fact the lady comes from the 1970 brochure…she’s quite handsome indeed but
then I would differ som 10 years in age with her. My lady is blond and plays in her own movies!
Good you kept W chained or KSA was the right country for him 
On the subject of cars ? I must to tell you that my Wife & I !! Used to drive round Khobar in a white custom built Corvette Stingray red leather interior air con with a hint of RR radiator Crome front the Managers at GCC could Not believe it , this car was later written off on the Damman road just where the road was branching into a duel carriageway towards Khobar JW will know the spot ? Nothing to do with me ! I found it a bit loose at the tail end , Ron. A/J I was close when I said film Star ,