Well done Nextmove!

I don't know if you plan on flying down but National Distress - sorry Express coaches often do online deals where you can book tickets in advance for a ridiculously small amount.
Not sure where your nearest pick-up point would be but Heathrow is a terminal for NatEx as well as an airport. Depends how near to Heathrow airport you actually need to be.

I'd guess your nearest NatEx pick-up point might be closer than your nearest airport so might make more sense, especially if you came down on the red-eye and slept for most of it and it only cost you a fiver or something.

Thanks guys for the well wishing, and for your travel info Laird. Getting the car from south to way up northwest is going to be a bit of a slug whichever way we do it, but the price seemed to me to be so good I factored that cost and the rust repairs in, and still felt we were ahead.

It was suggested that trucking the car home might be a safer (not cheaper though) option, but the BH and I decided to take a punt on driving the 600-700 miles, depending on the exact route, in a car that hasn't seen a lot of action in the last year or so, but was apparently well looked after, mechanically at least, all it's life until recently, mainly by the owner himself, who had an impressive skill set to do the job properly (marine engineer). He died recently, and the family is now selling his pride and joy with quite a degree of sadness. Just how well it's been kept up to scratch in the last couple of years is something we're taking a bit of a risk on, but all the reports from people who've seen it, the mechanic who did what work the owner didn't want to do over the years, and it's MOT record, indicate it's a good one.

We chose travelling as painlessly as we can, and not get too uptight about the cost ....bussing down to Glasgow from up near Skye and then flying down to Heathrow, which is only a few miles from the car's location. That will take all day. Then we do the handover the next day and head as gently as possible all the way up the east coast of that southern country and over the border on secondary roads to Edinburgh and finally back home, taking however long it takes, and smelling the few roses that are brave enough to bloom at this time of year, and haven't been washed away in the last few weeks.

If the car's as good as we hope, it'll be a gentle doddle and touring holiday, though maybe a damp one, in a very pleasant car. If it isn't as good, things could get embarrassing. We're in no hurry. Retirement is a wonderful career.

Currently the owner's family has it being looked after at a nearby car dealer's yard, and I've commissioned them to give it a good safety check-over and tell me if anything obvious is likely to fall off. Another piece of trust, as I don't know them at all, but we're trying to "always look on the bright side of life.... de dum, de dum, etc":animal-smiley-085:

I'm driving a 140 from Devon to Aberdeen next month as well. Hopefully all goes well for both trips.

Get AA cover or similar before you go and ensure they will transport the car if you break down and they can't fix it.

Join here:~ https://autoaidbreakdown.co.uk/personal-based-cover/

Recovery is a must for piece of mind- classic or biscuit tins!
Good Luck
Bob

Thanks for that link Bob, i've been looking for another recovery provider since i terminated my relationship with the RAC after many years of faithful customership (is that even a word? :thinking: ) they kept sneaking my monthly payment up and up and up while trying to convince me they were giving me a discount for being a loyal customer! Also new customers were paying much less, even in their second years than i was and i hadn't even called the RAC out at any point!

Bookmarked the link, can't take it out just now because of bills in need of payment but will sometime soon! :thumbs_up:

Why not book a b/b halfway up, say, in the Lakes? More relaxing, to do the trip in two stages, an there is that excellent motor museum to visit.
I would not now buy a classic from a dealer, got burned, my fault for not doing proper inspection, but just get fed up with folks who only want to rip you off. Good luck with the 164, it sounds as if has potential to be good.

We're actually banking on taking 3 or more days and seeing a friend in Edinburgh. Went via the Lakes last January when it was a bit snowy, and very pleasant, so we'll try over the other side this time. As far north as the top bits of York we haven't seen before. I suspect it'll be a tad flatter than over here in the western wilds.

Hoping for marginally better weather, and windscreen wipers and washers that work. And no nasty warning lights or the smell of smoke.

PS. Just paid my dues as a proper member of the Volvo club, and not just a forum lurker.