Looks so good alex, loving that interior shot

You seriously have a car you should be proud of :)

Yeah I'm chuffed, I kinda have my own way of doing things with this. It's not really Euro, or a sleeper, or completely OEM+. I've just gone around changing bits I don't like. And I'm running out of bits I don't like, so I can't see it changing much now.

It's funny because I remember taking this, and looking back I had no idea I'd keep it this long.

Annoyingly I might be at Polo Show without it. Off to Toronto Wednesday-Friday, aiming to head straight up to Billing from Heathrow Airport early on Friday afternoon. If I'm staying at a hotel on Tuesday night then I'll take the car and hide it in the underground car park. If not, I'm not detouring to Cardiff to pick it up, and I'm not leaving it in Long Stay to get nudged and battered by jet lagged travellers.

Your welcome to leave it at ours in Derby... not sure if it would help or not! :)

That's really kind of you Mark, but I don't know how I'd get it there before I fly out on Wednesday morning. It's a logistical nightmare, moving cars about. I kinda wish I could shrink it down to pocket size and just tuck it in the glovebox of whatever press car I've got that week.

I'm more bothered about missing the social side of things, but I know if I end up there without the G40 I'll wish I had it with me. One of those moments where living in Northamptonshire would've made things easier! Heathrow to Billing via Cardiff is a massive detour.

In all likelihood if it's an early flight I'll be in a hotel the night before to avoid the M4, so if that's the case I'll just dump it in a hotel car park for a couple of days.

Of course, I could just come up on Saturday morning. Wouldn't feel right though.

Oh yeah, and check out my new travel bag:

Drove the new Golf GTD in Munich last week, and the press pack came in this! Perfect for shows! :)

Managed to charge my camera battery, so...

...new pics.

So thanks to an old couple in a Corsa, it looks like my car's due some body shop time.

Great start to my Polo Show weekend.

gutted . Just boot and bumper ?

And how did this happen?

Bumper, hatch and offside light's smashed too. Rear panel is pushed in as well.

I stopped for some traffic lights. Car behind didn't.

Pretty gutting! At least no one got hurt though

Yeah and I've got a straight boot floor and rear wings so I don't see it being a tough repair job.

Getting a quote tomorrow.

A slightly better pic of the damage:

And one of my latest purchase:

That and a full 63mm system.

Current Longlife system will be for sale shortly, complete with a G40 decat manifold and downpipe.

It's been a while, so time to fill in some gaps.

The assessor came out to look at the G40 a few days after the accident. Spent ages looking around it, photographing trophies and magazine articles and leafing through my three folders of service history. Value came back at £4,000, specifically mentioning that I wanted to repair it with second hand genuine parts and that I didn't want it written off. This was successful, and I was given the green light to get it repaired.

So... it's going up to Eastcote Customs on Saturday.

This lot is in the garage, waiting to go:

And the tailgate turned up at the bodyshop earlier (thanks Tav). It's already Pearl Grey, just needs painting to match the rest of the bodywork.

Assuming there are no snags, I should get the car back a week on Saturday. Huge thanks to Brentacre for sorting this out quickly, and giving me a first-name point of contact throughout. Having had a run-in with a non-specialist insurer (don't judge a policy by the cost of the premium!) it's refreshing to deal with an insurance company whic a) gives a fuck about customer service and b) knows what they're talking about.

Now for the boring bit.

Going through this has reminded me how vital it is to be 100% up to date with your paperwork. And I am, I should make that clear.

This was a non-fault accident, but:

- My car was photographed IN DETAIL by the assessor - because all mods are declared it's been valued properly

- My driving licence has been checked to make sure I've not got any undeclared points, my address is current and my licence is up to date

- I've had to report the accident to my broker AND my insurer. Legally you have to report all accidents to the latter regardless of blame or whether you're claiming off them.

Consider it a word of warning. No matter how carefully you drive, it only takes a non-fault bump like this to blow the covers off anything you've been hiding, then you're on your own. It's not worth it.

One battered Polo, deposited at Eastcote Customs to be repaired.

I got bored during the week and started stripping it.

It felt great on the drive up, despite looking a bit sorry for itself. Kinda regretting abandoning it in the garage since the bump now.

Making my way home via public transport at the moment. If all goes to plan, I'll be collecting it next Saturday, in time for a session at Rockingham on the 22nd. The tailgate was already in the booth being prepped, due to be painted on Monday.

Picked up the latest PVW on the way back. No escaping that car!

Looking forward to collecting it now! :-)

Hard work is done:

On track for Saturday! \:D/

Great stuff. Good to see it getting back to its old self :-)

One battered Polo, deposited at Eastcote Customs to be repaired.

I got bored during the week and started stripping it.

It felt great on the drive up, despite looking a bit sorry for itself. Kinda regretting abandoning it in the garage since the bump now.

Making my way home via public transport at the moment. If all goes to plan, I'll be collecting it next Saturday, in time for a session at Rockingham on the 22nd. The tailgate was already in the booth being prepped, due to be painted on Monday.

Picked up the latest PVW on the way back. No escaping that car!

Looking forward to collecting it now! :-)

I can't believe I was parked up next to you for that shot at Bristol volksfest snuck in to the shot and got to meet a proper sound guy with a mad home grown g40 .

quick turn around!

Yeah, very quick.

It would've been a much slower repair if the bits which needed to be painted had to be welded on.

Thankfully the other car hit the tail light, the boot and the bumper. The panel behind the bumper was bent, but unmarked, and the bit under the light had a small chip in the paint. So all it's needed is a bit of panel beating, a touch-up around the panel under the light, the tailgate had a blow-over on the exterior part (it was already pearl grey so I've said not to bother with the rest of it) and everything else was bolted on. Easy.

Apart from not having the accident at all, I couldn't have been much luckier.

I can't believe I was parked up next to you for that shot at Bristol volksfest snuck in to the shot and got to meet a proper sound guy with a mad home grown g40 .

Was good to meet you too! Did you get to the Polo Show afterwards? As you've probably seen, I wasn't there for long.

Edited 14 August, 201312 yr by Alex

Awweessoommmeee!!!

NEED to come RR gathering, who needs family anyway

As just about to say. Seen this in the new PVW. Looks so good man

Yeah, very quick.

It would've been a much slower repair if the bits which needed to be painted had to be welded on.

Thankfully the other car hit the tail light, the boot and the bumper. The panel behind the bumper was bent, but unmarked, and the bit under the light had a small chip in the paint. So all it's needed is a bit of panel beating, a touch-up around the panel under the light, the tailgate had a blow-over on the exterior part (it was already pearl grey so I've said not to bother with the rest of it) and everything else was bolted on. Easy.

Apart from not having the accident at all, I couldn't have been much luckier.

Not actually that bad then I guess! you coming to the So-Wal Megameet?

Awweessoommmeee!!!

NEED to come RR gathering, who needs family anyway

I wish I could go - it's unmissable. I have awful luck with Retro Rides. My clutch cable snapped before last year's show, this year it clashes with something I can't miss. Typical.

As just about to say. Seen this in the new PVW. Looks so good man

Thanks :)

Not actually that bad then I guess! you coming to the So-Wal Megameet?

Ohhhh yes.

It's home 8)

That bumper is going to need a thorough going over but it's looking good!

Happy for you mate :)