With so many of the posts on the BoK being to report bad news & ask for help, I would like to redress the balance with a post that sings the praises of these great vehicles.

We have today returned from a week on the Isle Of Wight, naturally we had to use the Townie (we have four kids, hence we own the Townie) I did all the usual checks before we went away, and an oil service, and as most of you will know I have converted to electric fan & did the timing belt a few weeks ago. Went to Portsmouth last weekend in record time, across on the ferry, and had a greta week on the Island with lots of miles of touring on visits, the engine purred like a kitten, the gearbox selected the right gears most of the time, with just a little intervention on some of the really steep downhillers and the occsional knock it out of overdrive to get the revs up. She performed brilliantly all week, and on the way back must have been the best part of 2.5 tonnes all up, and still went OK. In a Car Park one lady did say 'your pouring water out' to me, but this was on a damp, humid day & the Air Con was obviously working well to dessicate & cool the air, so no problem with the torrent pouring out of the drain from the air con. So as to the electric fan conversion, the needle just sat below the middle of the temp gauge all the time, so no problems there either. 600 miles all round the hills & country roads of the island. All in all the old beast performed excellently and I can't praise it too highly. If your thinking about buying one, make sure you test drive it & look at the temp gauge, if all OK, then this is an excellent touring wagon. See you, Rob.

- (#3279) Rob Drinkwater, 8 Jun 02

hi rob. i didn't see you drive on to the isle of wight ferry last week, as we drove off ! i would, of course, have signalled to another wise owner if i had seen you. our week in that splendid island was made more perfect by the superb running of my masterace, due in part to the excellent service from my local (leicester) adl blueprint parts stockist, when i replaced the disc pads, filters, and lubricant, just before we left. our round trip was also about 600 miles and, the masterace was it's usual well behaved self, even though it was loaded with my grown up "brats", my grandson, "she who must be obeyed", the dogs, and enough "stuff" for a round the world trip.
happy days.


- (#3280) John Davis, 8 Jun 02

I only have good experiences

taken the townie on the following long jouneys with rock bands....

london - amsterdam - ghent - london (2 days)

london - cardiff - peterborough - london (with trailer - 3 days)

london - bristol - dublin - limerick - nottingham - glasgow - newcastle - leeds - birmingham - london (with trailer - 9 days)

london - bristol - leeds - glasgow - widnes - northampton - norwich (6 days)

a week in the lake district in 4 wheel drive in the snow

runs like a dream :o)

- (#3287) skippy, 9 Jun 02

Yep mates, agreed. Mine's done several thousand miles since new lump, without complaint really (south of Ireland, AceJam in Devon, 20 mile round trip school run twice a day).

Skippy, yours isn't the one I saw pictured in a Pulp promo pic is it? Saw it in Q ages agao and kept meaning to scan it and stick it on TTNUK as first known pukka celebrity Townie drivers.

- (#3308) SteveFE, 11 Jun 02

I'm a bit boringly blase about long- distance jaunts, as I use mine for business, and my patch is Ireland(all of it...)
But my townie had 89kkm on it and now has 192kkm- three years, and all the high- mileage stuff tends to be at high speed, and well loaded too!

- (#3311) david miller, 11 Jun 02

Hope everone is well and enjoying the summer with your townace(s)
Well summer hasn't started here yet in North Devon,but the House Martins and sollows are flying a little bit higher now so the weather must be getting warmer!No I have not gone mad since the Ace Jam.

My request is Curtains.
Does anyone have any old curtains. I wish to make some for my Masterace and need some for patterns.I cane return them after use.
If anyone can help please let me know.
Regards to all

- (#3314) Barry Thorogood, 11 Jun 02

SteveFE....

no it wasn't mine - I haven't got all the skylights, due to it being that much less secure

it's up to 209000 kms on the clock now - and still going stronger than ever

picture of the beast below
- (#3315) skippy, 11 Jun 02

Can I use the pic when I finish updating my gallery Skippy? Looks nice and clear, and a bit diff to the others.

- (#3332) SteveFE, 12 Jun 02

I could always do you another if needed anyway

The main difference I've noticed is the "meatier" bumper - protrudes more instaed of going down vertically from the end of the lights (and it a manual box)

- (#3333) skippy, 12 Jun 02

another touring success! went up to lake district for jubilee bank holiday. 1st time i've taken my townie on a long motorway run so was a bit wary having heard about cooling problems, especially as i have a leak somewhere.
so couple of litres of water in boot, just in case and off we went, wife, kids and camping gear.
she handled a treat, temp below 1/2.
got to use aircon on journey there as that day was summer! then got to use 4wd for 1st time to get off muddy camp site while everyone else was sliding around!
definately right choice of car!

- (#3361) eddie arrowsmith, 14 Jun 02

hi there

we have a townace royal lounge people carrier diesel automatic and need to know what the towing weights are ie what weight is the max for a caravan

if anyone knows please come back as soon as possible

also if they can recommend a make/model of towbar

- (#3774) ernie, 12 Jul 02

Ernie

If you start a new thread, your question is more likely to be picked up. Also check Townace.com I'm sure it's already been answered before.

- (#3776) Ian Dunse, 12 Jul 02