Castle on wheels
Castle on wheels
1981 Bristol Lodekka (lowbridge doubledecker) purchased for fl 6.000,-
in Dartford - England and transferred to Hoogerheide - The Netherlands for the first renovation.
1981 - 1982 Ceriale - Italy
1983 Cap d’Agde - France
1984 - 1985 Marbella - Puerto Banus - Spain
1986 Alanya - Turkey
1987 Malaga - Spain
1985 Walter And Carlo - Up On Daddy’s Hat - Marbella - España
1985 Demonstration parasailing - Lake Hubbard - Texas
1985 Parasailing demonstration - Paris - France
1986 First paragliding championship - Mont Salève - France
1987 In November the bus was flooded by a huge flood in Malaga - Spain and could not be saved.
From dream to nightmare in 450 km.
On Monday, 3rd of August, I left for Hoogerheide in the Netherlands to buy a double-decker bus. AB-BC.nl
It turned out to be in very bad condition, so the purchase was cancelled.
"From the outside splendid, from the inside a disaster".
Via the site of Truckscout24 we found a Neoplan bus at Mario Röttgen GmbH in Untersteinach.
Photos and video were very attractive, so I decided to travel here on the 4th of August.
On the 5th of August the bus will be bought for the price of € 26.680,00 + € 3.000,00 cash.
The office and technical staff were very friendly.
On the 7th of August the bus was prepared and fitted with new number plates for export to Spain.
On the 8th of August the bus left for Spain.
We refuelled at the first filling station.
After ± 200 km, the instrument panel indicated that there was a shortage of coolant.
At a parking place let the engine cool down and added 5 liters of water.
After this the automatic gear did not work anymore for ± 100 km.
On the Núrnberg - Heilbrunnen motorway, the maximum speed often did not exceed 40 km/h.
At the filling station Kraichnau Autobahn A6 in the direction of Mannheim stopped to refuel.
The bus didn't want to start anymore. From the toilet I heard hissing of escaping air.
At 11 P.M. I called the ADAC for help. On the 9th of August at 5 A.M. I called the ADAC again.
Too bad, no help received.
Called several times with Mr. Thorsten Spörl of Mario Röttgen GmbH. He gave me a telephone number of a friendly company: Florian Herbold (company for store and towing).
The mechanic spent several hours trying to find the cause.
Getting air pressure on the system and repairing the leaks.
The cause of the problem was not found, so it was decided to tow the bus.
(Hofgartenstraße 25, 74626 Bretzfeld)
I have been brought to a hotel in the area. Very cosy under different circumstances. Kueffner-Hof
On the 10th of August I contacted Mr. Thorsten Spörl to look for a solution.
He even suggested to pay back the amount of the purchase.
He promised to call me back, which did not happen.
Then I decided to travel back to Untersteinach by train to talk about a solution of the problem.
The reception this time was very cool. I was asked to wait until Mr. Thorsten Spörl had spoken to Mr. Florian Herbold. After waiting for 1.5 hours it was clear to me that I was being fooled and left for the Hotel in Nürnberg to find a lawyer.
The first contact with lawyer Dzevdet Fetahi was excellent. He immediately contacted Mr. Spörl.
His statement was very convincing: "This problem is going to cost you and my client a lot of money. The only one who is going to make money from this case is the lawyer".
Pending a satisfactory answer, I decided to fly back home. This was to avoid a possible lockdown in Germany. In hindsight, a good decision.
20 November 2020
Meanwhile we are a few months further and nothing or little has changed. Mr. Spörl's telephone commitment to reimburse the costs has not been confirmed in writing. An account is now open with the Herbold company. ( ± € 5.000,00 )
To be continued shortly.