[REPORT] London Bridges and Tunnels - 10 March 2002

[Alex Clouter]

[EDIT - see below for a report and photos from this event]

Sunday 10 March 2002

Dany Gagnon, our London/ HomeCounties SCORE rep, is organising this event.

The aim is to cross the River Thames, above water and below water, starting from the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge in Dartford, Kent and finishing quite a few hours later at Hampton Court Bridge, Surrey.

We only cross each bridge and tunnel just the once, so it's a zigzag sort of drive - crazy but enjoyable. We will most certainly cause a stir on the London roads!

Please register your interest with Dany via email (deleted) or mobile phone (deleted) giving your name, your companion's name if you are bringing someone along and your car registration number.

Joining instructions of the place and time we are meeting will be sent to you. The route we will be taking will be handed over when you arrive.

Come along and enjoy this very unusual Cappuccino convoy!

[Alex Clouter]

Despite the grey clouds, the few of us who turned up had already given their mother's day presents and cards the previous day!

The Suzuki Cappuccino Owners Register had its first club outing of the year on Sunday, 10 March.

Called the Thames Crossing Fun Run, a route was devised by Alex Clouter, Club Secretary, and Dany Gagnon, London Rep for the Club, enabling members to drive over and under the River Thames.




The route started at the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge at Dartford and after 21 bridges and 3 tunnels, finished at Hampton Court Bridge some 4 hours later. The route dictates that one travels over a bridge or under a tunnel only once, with the exception of railway bridges (obviously) and the infamous “wobbly” bridge!

There were of course plenty of photo opportunities close to some familiar London landmarks, as the small group of Cappuccino’s caused quite a stir with the tourists adding the convoy of cars to their holiday snapshots of England’s capital city.

The starting assemby point was at Thurrock Lakeside in the freezing wind. It really was a tops on sort of day. The first crossing was the awesome Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, travelling southbound, then a quick turnaround to go through the Dartford Tunnel northbound. And so the journey continued, alternating southbound and northbound between the bridges and tunnels.

          


The famous Cutty Sark was the first stopping point for a photo-call, where another Cappuccino - a limited edition blue - joined the convoy. Other calling points included the London Eye (the queues were too long for the Cappuccino's to get inside the pods), Battersea Power Station Westminster Bridge.



Our final destination was reached early afternoon at The Streets of London, a delightful pub/ pizza restaurant situated by the Thames and Hampton Court Bridge.

The Bridges & Tunnels

1. Queen Elizabeth II Bridge
2. Dartford Tunnel
3. Blackwall Tunnel
4. Rotherhithe Tunnel
5. Tower Bridge
6. London Bridge
7. Southwark Bridge
8. Blackfriars Bridge
9. Waterloo Bridge
10. Westminster Bridge
11. Lambeth Bridge
12. Vauxhall Bridge
13. Chelsea Bridge
14. Albert Bridge
15. Battersea Bridge
16. Wandsworth Bridge
17. Putney Bridge
18. Hammersmith Bridge (closed for repair)
19. Chiswick Bridge
20. Kew Bridge
21. Twickenham Bridge
22. Richmond Bridge
23. Kingston Bridge
24. Hampton Court

[Barry Moore]

You can see the complete set of full sized photos in the Regional Events section of the Gallery

[Alex Clouter]

Our London Bridges Run is featured in this month's issue of Classics Magazine which came out last week (8 May) - just taken a call from a Cappuccino owner who had just seen it and wants to become a SCORE member!

[Barry Moore]

The sun was shining, the roof was down. The perfect excuse for everyone and anyone with a open-top car to hit the roads.

Well it was a good enough excuse for nearly forty Suzuki Cappuccino owners to uncover their cars and feel the wind through their hair. I was invited to take part in their annual Brighton to London fun run along with 33 other drivers from around the world. SCORE which is the Suzuki Cappuccino Owners Register for Enthusiasts, organised the event which gathers proud owners of the rare car to compare and show-off their pride and joys.



For those of you who don't know much about the Cappuccino , here's a few facts about the 'matchbox sized' car. It's the home of a 657cc Turbocharged three-cylinder engine pumping out 64bhp. It's down to the sheer size (or lack of it), that gives the Cappuccino a 0-60 time of 8 seconds.



The 'dinky' convoy set off from Telscombe Cliffs near Brighton early on Sunday morning, with the help of the traffic police to give the right of way. Pedestrians stopped in the streets to the spectacular view of the thirty four cars in a line looking like a swarm of ladybirds. Red being the most popular colour of the cappo, there was only a handful of cars in other colours, such as silver, champagne and dark green. After being delayed at the beginning of the rally, the team took a more direct route to Brooklands Race course in Surrey. Along the A27 toward Worthing, up the lengthy and boring M23 onto the even more boring M25. It's not until you get into a cappo, you realise how big other cars actually are! You see lorry tyres in a completely different light in one of these cars! Overtaking lorries is a moment when you'd rather close your eyes and just smell the diesel fumes and taste the wildlife between your teeth.



After losing a cherished baseball cap along with way - I started to think if I was actually too tall for one of these cars, when I eventually met all the other drivers, was I going to be in the company of a group, all under 5 feet tall? In fact I wasn't, I dread to think how many caps had been lost amongst us. We arrived at Brooklands, where we were carefully positioned for the first photoshoot of the day, and a time where owners scrutinised and compared cappos. I heard an array of stories, from drivers shipping cars to the other side of the world, to re-builds after accidents and owners trying to pump as many bhp's under the bonnet as possible giving the car the kick more of an Irish coffee than a Cappuccino ! To celebrate the fifth anniversary of SCORE, we were carefully positioned for the final photoshoot. It was a fun and enlightening day, which saw my walk changed to a limp for the next few days!



Courtesy of Paul Gibson and www.motoringtoday.co.uk

[Barry Moore]

As well as the photos above and the ones in the Gallery, Dany Gagnon (organizer of this event) has some photos on his website - http://www.simcom.co.uk/cappuccino/Index.htm - as well as maps and directions for the trip.

[Marcel Spoelstra]

Unbelievable that this Cappo is still running after so many miles!!!
I am no longer the Cappo marathon man.
They beat me on travelled miles but I win on average speed during my Italian Job