4 replies to this topic

[kez_19]

I am a member of a mini forum in Sweden and we have been talking about how much some of us would like to come over to Birmingham with our own cars and be a part of the celebrations.

The thing we have been looking at is the problem with getting our cars over to England without having to re-mortgage our houses to be able to pay for it

for example taking the ferry over to England we have been quoted £830 per car

we have looked at driving and coming through the channel tunnel but it is a very long drive for some of us for example me as I live not far from the artic circle.

What we would like help with is if there is anyone there that has any GOOD ideas as to how we can get our own cars over to England as it would be fantastic to be able to attend IMM with our own cars.

As a last resort if there is anyone that would like to hire out their car to a member of our club then i can pass on any details to our members...

thanks for any help

michael and members of hundkoja.com

[Zacherius]

I am a member of a mini forum in Sweden and we have been talking about how much some of us would like to come over to Birmingham with our own cars and be a part of the celebrations.

The thing we have been looking at is the problem with getting our cars over to England without having to re-mortgage our houses to be able to pay for it

for example taking the ferry over to England we have been quoted £830 per car

we have looked at driving and coming through the channel tunnel but it is a very long drive for some of us for example me as I live not far from the artic circle.

What we would like help with is if there is anyone there that has any GOOD ideas as to how we can get our own cars over to England as it would be fantastic to be able to attend IMM with our own cars.

As a last resort if there is anyone that would like to hire out their car to a member of our club then i can pass on any details to our members...

thanks for any help

michael and members of hundkoja.com

I tried looking at the Newcastle - Gothenburg ferry but it says it no longer is operational ? Will try another now......

[Jordie]

Yeah that ferry is out of operation now. I believe there still is a ferry that leaves for the north from newcastle, but only like once a month depending on weather?

Drive down to holland and come across that way? then drive from newcastle or hull down to birmingham?

[2lrminivan]

my brother went to sweden to collect a car about 2 years ago and found the cheapest way was to drive and get the tunnel as the ferry was very expensive and was just as quick to drive than get the ferry.he was going from london to sweden, birmingham is only 2 hours from london and i would have thought from up north from the ferry port would take longer to drive down.

[dave21478]

This has been discussed recently on my local club forum. (southern France, so not even as far as you!) And the simple fact is that if we want to go in our minis, its going to cost a fortune - Petrol, road tolls, ferry, hotels/camping, food....this is going to be a minimum of £400-500 per car, not to mention the long, tedious drive, potential for breakdowns etc - We can either storm up the autoroutes, paying the tolls, or take the lesser roads, but spend more on petrol, and probably add another overnight stay to each leg to account for the longer journey time.
Plus, I regularly do the drive, but in a modern, comfortable car with aircon, cruise control etc and the journey still leaves me exhausted. I have done it in crappy old vans, but never a mini, and frankly, its not something I would look forward to. 2 days driving to get there, a couple of days at the show, then 2 days back again....it wont be fun.
we looked into hiring a transporter lorry that could take up to 12 cars on it, and the owners either flying or going in a minibus, but te costs worked out about the same. On the plus side, fatigue and mechanical problems would be less of a problem.
Either we fly out with a cheapo carrier and not take our cars at all, or we take much less minis and car-share to cut down costs....nothing has been decided yet though.