Unimog Club UK

I struggled at school to do French, and as I was supposedly gifted at drawing, I was allowed to do art instead. Big big mistake now.

I found the Rosetta stone system very good in deed, but it is also ridiculously expensive.

About 10 years after leaving school, an opportunity to buy equipment from France came up.
It was buying from scrap vehicle merchants, basically breakers yards. Most of these guys probably spike poor French and not a word of English.
In this instance, in a position where I really wanted to learn the language myself and two businesses partners paid a retired teacher for hour long lessons every week.
 guy was a saint! He prepared three different levels of class work,and homework, as well as in class lessons for just the 3 of us where we all learnt the language at our varying levels.
When we stop trading, one of my mates went on to take his O & A levels and passing with flying colours.
From those lessons, the only thing I could remember was to ask for the boss, introduce myself and ask for 10;000 starter motors!!!!

Over the past 3 or 4 years, I have been using my "Translate" app on my iPhone, and now HTC.
These allow you to pick a language to start in and one to translate to. There are something like 30 languages in there to pick from, plus it doesn't just translate it in written form but it actually says it out loud! This is great as the  way it is written is often different way it is pronounced.

Also you can absolutely Taylor the lines you use for what you need. Eg. Camper, 4x4, motorcycle relayed stuff.

I really do spend many evenings chilling out creating lines I may need.
The other really good thing is, you can save all your phrases to refer back to or keep them so you can read/gear it over a couple of times before you actually need to use it for real.

One slightly crazy but funny yet effective way to get by is from a mobile phone advert several years ago...
A young guy travels to I think Japan/Tokyo, and has pre loaded loads of photos of things he may need such as toilet, taxi, airport, restaurant etc, and simply scrolls to the picture of what ever he needed and showing it to passers by.

The difference between having to learn at school and wanting to learn for yourself is (for me, massive)

Hindsight.... they ain't kidding!!!

Have you tried Westfield 4x4?

They are dealers of Brand new Unimog parts. They are based in between Preston & Lancaster.

Tel: 01524 79 19 68
Email: sales@west-4x4demon.co.uk

They do specialize in 404 & 411 models but as a supplier they could well know who can supply you if they can not.

Good luck.

Hey guys, thanks for the warm welcomes.

My love of Mogs is really in the overland expedition side although it would e nice to have a flat back for off roading too, but I am really getting ahead of myself there!

As I have started a 4x4 business in the past 18months or so all money I make gets piled straight back in so I won't have one this year unless things really take off.

Re the German show Mog Boss, I'm embarrassed to say my German language is limited to asking for 4 beers!!
Fortunately, everyone one at the campsite and at the show speaks English so there are no language barriers.
In fact one trader on a very small stand didn't, but we managed to muddle through laughing at each other.
I have been trying to teach myself basic phrases but I forget them as soon as I learn a new one!

Everyone at the show and campsite are real friendly and appreciate you making the effort to travel there.
Around the campsite everyone mingled wondering around looking at each others drives and its surprising how often a beer is given to you once you stop and talk to someone.
We made contact with quite a few people from Germany and Holland and it wi be good to crack a few more beers this year.

Right next to the campsite are two supermarkets so supplies are on hand plus there is a pizza & beer van on site.
At the show ground there is a large covered eating picnic area with loads of huge long tables and benches to stop at for lunch.

The variety in vehicles makes the whole show really interesting too.

The show is totally mind blowing.

The main camp site which is huge is approximately 5+ miles away from the showground, but all day long there are free shuttle buses running back and forth and I don't mean mini buses, they are luxury coaches running there and back every 20minutes or
Facilities at both the campsite and show ground are superb and very clean.
Entry for all 4days was cheap unlike rip off British shows.
In terms of layout, organisation, cleanliness and cost, we can learn a lot from our German cousins.

I was hoping to have a trade stand there this year, but that will have to wait til next year I think.

I will be heading across on the Hull ferry if anyone fancies going.
At the moment it is me & my other half in our cruiser, and hopefully one of the guys from West Coast Off Road Centre in his cruiser.

Anyone else going?

We saw something like 30+ mogs around the campsite plus Loads on the various stands at the show.
Some stands were privates showing their Mogs off, some were owners selling them at the show, and others were either companies doing accessories or conversions.

There are also loads of bigger trucks right down to adventure motorcycles.

In the centre of the show there is a test track where you can drive anything from Land Rivers, H1 Humvees and 8 wheel MAN trucks for just a few euros.

The biggest shocker is how much gear there  for sale is not found in the UK so its a real good chance to discover new cool products.

Despite being in the job, I'm like a big kid and can't wait to go back.