Technical data:
Model: Merlin plus 2
Year of construction: 1993
Engine: Ford 1.6 L- 4 cylinder OHC
Power: 88 hp
Special features: Right-hand drive
On a grey and cold November day, my son and I moved towards England to
Southampton to view a Merlin and take it home if they liked it. Beforehand, there had been various email exchanges with the previous owner, a professional pilot. In the process
Not only were photos of the engine, interior, etc. sent, but the price was also negotiated and a preliminary contract concluded. I had discovered the Merlin by chance on the homepage of the Merlin Owners Club GB. Two Merlins were offered for sale there at the time, a British racing green Merlin from Stafford and a midnight blue Merlin from Southampton. I was immediately enthusiastic about the first Merlin, but when I contacted the club, it turned out that it had already been sold, so I was too late.
late. So I decided to go for the second Merlin (interestingly, this first Merlin
in Andreas' possession since 2011 via unknown detours).
On Friday, 1 0 1 1 .2006, at around midday, we drove towards Calais in our VW Passat with a transport trailer and a large envelope filled with British banknotes (50 GBP is the largest) at a leisurely 80 to 90 km/h. We arrived at the P&O port in Calais shortly before midnight. After a completely stress-free few hours, we arrived at the P&O port in Calais shortly before midnight. You wouldn't believe how relaxing this speed can be.
On embarkation we were welcomed at both the French
and at the British checkpoint about the purpose of the transport trailer;
We replied each time that we wanted to pick up a car in England.
Dover gave us a really British welcome, it was raining cats and dogs. On this side of the canal, we were again asked at the checkpoint about the purpose of the trailer
and we responded in exactly the same way as on the French side of the canal. After the
nice lady of our sat nav twice again through the roundabouts in the direction of
ferry, we disagreed and simply followed the signs for the M5 Southampton. When we finally arrived on the motorway
the nice lady on the sat nav was happy again. After several kilometres on the wrong side of the motorway in the rain that wouldn't stop, we made it about 20 miles to our destination.
before Southampton we pulled into a motorway service area with a motel and after a restless night
lying on a thick envelope of money and a morning English breakfast
(that the British can eat this in the morning) we continued our adventure tour.
When we arrived in Southampton, the rain had finally stopped. The wife (Pipper) of my commercial pilot opened the door for us and spoke to us in English that was almost incomprehensible to us. I think she could see from our faces that we were
She switched timidly to another language and told us she was from Wales and Alan was on a plane to Iceland. Well, that's not so bad, as long as the Merlin is there and it's in the garage. The three of us went to the garage, Pipper folded up the window and steered the Merlin from the outside, which we wanted to push backwards out of the garage. We arrived at the door frame on wheels,
the window folded back again and the hinges were torn out.
Okay, the window is off, but now it's time to inspect and test drive the Merlin.
These tests came out very well and my son, who is a car mechanic, said, "If you can get it
I'll take him"; but I wanted this Merlin. I finalised the paperwork and payment with Pipper, she was allowed to count all the many 50 GBP notes and my son drove the Merlin onto the transport trailer and secured it. As it looked like it was going to rain again, Pipper got us a nylon garage so that we could wrap the Merlin up rainproof because of the missing plug-in window. We thanked Pipper for everything, also for
the coffee she had bought and cooked especially for us Germans, and drove off with
We set off again in the direction of Dover, with Merlin packed up. Shortly before the checkpoint in Dover, we realised that we hadn't even asked Pipper where
The Merlin has the chassis number on it, so we would have to unpack the Merlin completely and search everywhere for the number. With this uneasy feeling we drove towards the checkpoint, but to our great surprise the nice lady waved us through without any questions. After crossing to the French side, we arrived at the French checkpoint again and had the same procedure ahead of us. But here, too, we were waved through without stopping! Thank goodness (you could smuggle a car from England to the "continent" that quickly). Our return journey to Bremen was only interrupted by refuelling stops. From Duisburg onwards we had the English weather and it rained like - well, you know what I mean. We finally arrived in Bremen at 02:30 on Sunday morning and it was still raining. Our motto was to quickly drive the Merlin from the trailer into the garage and then off to bed.
But as soon as we had unpacked the Merlin and I got behind the wheel, I was standing next to the car again with completely wet trousers. The inside of the roadster was
completely wet - only now did we realise that Pipper had given us an indoor nylon garage without knowing it. No matter! The Merlin is drained and now has a new home here with us.
new home.