Chris A

Yes I too remember cars with padded covers over part of the grill at the front of the car. From memory a part of it could be fixed open with press studs. Cheap skates tied a piece of cardboard to the grill.

Saw H & B do their "Stackton Tressle" tour. Mrs Me used to be a theatre costumiére before she retired and actually made some outfits for them, charming ladies they were too

What do you mean retro look? When I learnt to drive in 1970, in a Herald 13/60, they were (almost) the latest thing. OK so I am a dinosaur.

Welcome to the band of eccentrics. Excellent taste nothing better than a 1968 convertible Herald 13/60 in white, unless it is in red. It took me a while to find the right one for me. Look everywhere, look every day and you will start to build up a picture of what is out there, what to avoid and what to want. Good luck.

I bought one from Hamilton Classic, it meets most of your requirements except : colour & no vents. What I would say is that the seams don't last that well, I have glued most of them over the last 2 years as they split in some areas. If I were to buy another I would immediately turn it inside out and glue all the seems from the inside. I can't fully recommend this one then but worth a look.

I assume that Vitesse is the same as Herald when it comes to petrol caps, so Rimmers reference GSS193 out of stock at the moment though James Paddock reference 600153 also out of stock at the moment. As has been mentioned already the Herald/ Vitesse needs 3 prongs and is, I think, unique to these cars so be wary of 'fits triumph...' etc. Good luck, it did take me a while to find a chrome one but don't give up they are out there somewhere.

They can be bought from the usual suppliers, but they are black plastic and, in my opinion don't look nice. I was lucky enough to find an old one on the bay that was in good condition, I keep it in reserve in case I am somewhere where I would want to have a locked cap. The one on my Herald is an original non-locking one which I prefer.

When this version first appeared I immediately thought why did they change it, couldn't they leave things as they were? Being a dinosaur this is a logical reaction, however having got used to it I do like the way it is laid out and works. A positive vote from me.

Now I know what the "10CR" stands for. The 10 Cake Run, you have to eat 10 cakes in each country, is that it?

Switzerland, they are so finicky they banned cake because of the crumbs that attract the cuckoos.

No, not better just different. ????

I don't​ I get my pickles from the chef at my village bistro, picked herring​s, onions,mixed pickle etc He's Danish, wife is Belgian. Running a bistro in what was the prespetry,leased from the village council in a small village in Normandy, oh! I'm on my second term as a councillor. Standard everyday stuff really

Yes, white wine vinegar. Good for glass,descaling sinks etc,not sure about the coffee machine though (smell/taste lingering). It is very cheap and readily available here as lots of people use it for jobs like this. However malt vinegar is very hard to find,my last bottle was bought in Spain in a shop run by Brits for expats. I felt so guilty going in

I have used this company for copies of my Herald ignition key and for blanks for a locking petrol cap for the same. Service was rapid and they are helpful. www.keytrader.co.uk

I wave at all the 'classics' I pass and they almost always wave back. it does sometimes surprise them that it is the 'passenger' who waves and there is no 'driver' that what comes of driving a RHD in a LHD country

No wouldn't have been Quickfit, I got them here in France from a fairly local classic car spares place - well it made a nice trip in the Herald. Reading an above post I now recall they are Securon.

I fitted inertia to my 13/60 convertible, unfortunately I can't be certain about the make but it is one of the main companies the exact part number is SBS500/30, well I am almost certain. They came with quite a range of bits to help fitting, however they were tricky to mount in the correct position so the belt would move freely. Once done they work fine, they do block from time to time but so do those on my modern. Make sure you do get once where the mechanism is designed to work in any position and not just vertical. Mine are roughly 90° to vertical in the hood well. Before you ask they don't seem to interfere with the hood & the hood doesn't interfere with them.

The discs aren't required everywhere, just a few cities and there again not every day. In September I'll be taking Mrs Me to Orly airport I still haven't made my mind up whether I'll bet the sticker or not, the devil in me says no on principle but the coward will probably buy it, less than 5 Euros, even though we won't go through Paris on be within the control zone. Best recommendation to you all: come and visit rural France, open roads, no traffic and 4 course lunch with coffee and 1/4 litre of wine for 13 Euros in my neck of the woods. Oh, next weekend is the 53rd Foire au boudin in my local town (I'll let you do the translation)

Should you need to top up a cooling system in an emergency water is easier to find. For example : 2 years ago the drain tap failed whilst I was out and to top up I called into a local bar/restaurant who kindly gave me all the water I needed for the car to get me back home

I use it in my coffee machine, works a treat.

Or, as is the case in my 3 local towns - NO public bus services serving the local areas.

According to the French equivalent of Which? the ban concerns 870,000 vehicles in the "Greater Paris Region". Another site talks of 300,000 to 600,000. The Paris council claims it affects 1% of the cars going into Paris. These are cars banned from ever setting a wheel in Paris not those affected by the occasional restriction due to pollution levels being high on a particular day. Where will Paris and others stop? Maybe all vehicles that don't meet Euro 5 or 6 i.e. before 2011. Think about it any car that is older than 5 years would only have scrap value. Ouch!

Well you asked. The N roads are really called RN which stands for Route Nationale. These are the trunk roads and keep the same number where ever they go throughout France. On a map they are red, as is the background colour on the panels and the mile (kilometre) stones (pierres). The N7 for example runs from the outskirts of Paris all the way to the Mediterranean coast, it is a mythic route the French version of say the American Route 66. People are now starting to use it again as a nostalgic trip, there is a motorway the A7 that replaces it now. Did I mention how the motorway system operates? Oh well next time maybe. These trunk roads are maintained by the state, in short. Next down the pecking order are the D roads these can be quite small local roads or quite good and less used main roads. The background colours on signs and map colour is yellow. To give them their full name they are Route Départmentale or RD. The fun thing with these is that they are maintained by the Départment (County) – I said fun? Well the number can and almost always does change as you cross into another department. Take the road that passes by our village, I often do naturally, it is the D931 here in the Orne after about 10 kms it crosses into the Sarthe (yes of Le Mans, famed for its rillettes) where it becomes the D300, there is no junction no customs post nothing. We have actually, a few years ago now, been on a road that zig zaged across two county boundaries so every kilometre or two it changed number back and forth and back again. A good few years ago a number of N roads were downgraded to D roads, meaning that as well as their upkeep being handed over to the department they had D numbers rather than N numbers, for example a stretch near us is the N12, downgraded to the D912. Adding a 9 was a common practice. For quite a few years road signs were not replaced, so your map if up to date would call it the D912 and it would be in yellow but in reality the signs were still in red and labelled N12...There is still the odd one about in some (very) rural areas. Next in line are the C roads, RC, they are roads belonging to Communes. They work on the same principle as Ds but communes take over, yes every time you cross into a new commune they have their own numbering system. The C1 in one commune has nothing, or rarely, to do with the C1 of the next door commune. Q.E.D. or rather C.F.Q.D. as we say here.

The 'A' roads are in fact 'N' roads the ones you want are the 'B' roads which are the 'D' roads, all clear so far?There are of course the 'C' roads but they get a bit small. I assume you know the significance of the N,D and C? N.B. Any of you thinking of asking what they mean and the differences, think twice as I could make War and Peace look like a short pamphlet.????

Here in France if you have a vehicle over 30 years old you can opt to have it registered as a "Véhicle de collection" as long as it is fairly standard. There are two registration documents, the "carte grise" For a classic it is the CGC "Carte grise de collection" for your ordinary modern or old car you don't want or doesn't pass muster as a classic it is the CGN "carte grise normale". The document clearly states which it is. Because of the two categories the powers have agreed that vehicles on a CGC are ok as a way of making it easy for Monsieur Plod to differenciate between an old car from before 1997 and a real classic. What would he do to a foreign registered "classic"? My guess is. 1. Not stop the car in the first place. 2. If he did accidentally stop one, a) wave it on as if you had stopped to pester him while he was busy on state business. Smile and give you the thumbs up saying "Buttyfool voiture" I think other countries have different registrations for Classics (Germany, Switzerland & Austria come to mind but don't quote me on it) Unless you run over Monsieur Plod's foot I doubt that a UK registered car that looks to be over 30 years old or has a first registered date that backs it up will have a problem.