After leaving Amsterdam, we headed for Visselhovede, Germany to see our friends Klaus and Mia Von Deylen. We met them in 2008 when we drove the American leg of the 1908 NY to Paris Great Race, traveling from NYC to San Francisco. Though no one knew each other prior to the tour, it turned out to be a great mix of participants and one of the best and most fun car tours I have done.
R to L ….Klaus, Mia, Christopher (Son), Cora (Christopher’s Girlfriend)
Christopher is a well known musician in Europe and currently moving into the US music scene as well…..Check him out on Google, YouTube and his website: musik.schillerserver.de
Both Klaus and Mia have toured the world extensively, participating in various rally’s and car events…..in fact, Klaus had just returned from the Himalayas a few days before after participating in a drive to the highest village in the world at an elevation of over 18,380 ft. Because of the lack of oxygen, the only vehicles that will operate at that height are turbo diesels….and the road is pretty much single lane with sheer cliffs dropping thousands of feet with no guard rails. The other issue is rocks dropping off the cliffs from above….all this combined make it one of the most dangerous roads to drive in the world. This is not the road for the meek and timid….
Klaus at the top!!!
We arrived mid afternoon and spent the time catching up on things since we last met…..while that was going on Klaus offered his shop and car lift to check over the roadster for any potential problems. Believe it or not everything checked out fine until we were lowering the car on the lift. As it was going down, we noticed the right front tire looked really low and when checked had only about 15 lbs of air! We checked for any punctures and could find none so inflated it to correct pressure and left it to check in the morning.
Well, morning came and I checked the tire pressure and of course it was low once again. Fortunately, we met Klaus and family for breakfast and I mentioned the problem and the next thing I knew Klaus was on the phone calling a nearby garage. We finished eating and Klaus and I headed for the garage to get it checked out. They pulled the tire and found no nail or puncture in the tire, and also could find no leak in the inner tube using soapy water. They finally put the tube in a water tank and sure enough, a tiny leak showed up. Now that the leak was found it was a quick job to patch and re-balance the tire. It’s now been several days and the tire is fine….no air leak !!! Thanks Klaus !!!!!!
Luke and I checking over the roadster
Klaus also has a great car collection as well ….my personal favorite is “Bertha” his 1928 Daimler with a sleeve valve engine. The sleeve valve was a different technology that didn’t use a standard valve configuration but rather 2 sleeves that moved up and down surrounding the piston cylinder wall. This setup provided a very quite running engine, however, its main drawback was because of the oiling requirements they produced a lot of exhaust smoke. When Klaus started the car it ran like a watch….you could hardly hear it run!! Klaus then got out of the drivers seat and walked to the rear of the car, threw up his hands and exclaimed….”where’s the smoke”!!! Klaus explained the way he solved the smoke problem …..it’s his secret so you’ll have to ask him.
Klaus’s Daimler
Daimler Sleeve Valve Engine
Thanks again Klaus, Mia, Christopher and Cora for all your hospitality in providing us with a relaxing day and our first home cooked meal with friends in over 2 1/2 months on the road….it was really a great
the tour group relaxing
I’m a little behind on our travels, but plan to catch up when we board the ferry tomorrow AM bound for Iceland…..also, we bid our last guide/translator goodbye this afternoon and are now on our own. Karen, we’ll really miss you!!!!!!!
