Ben Hooper @popup-breakdown.bsky.social · 8hWent for a flight in this yesterday. My Belgian pilot said it cost the same for him to fly home to the low countries from the south of France as it does for him to drive. £500 each, just one takes 3 hours the other 10 060
Ben Hooper @popup-breakdown.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Will second every word of this. This wasn't car YouTube, it was online television. Martin is an auteur 020
Reposted by Ben HooperGuy Roberts @bakeliteguy.bsky.social · 01/10/2026But carry on adding gadgetry and buying cars from China or Elon instead of going back to basics because it will all be fine. 3101
Reposted by Ben HooperGrand Thrift Auto @grandthriftauto.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Was it the Sound of the Crowd or just Total Panic? Still, truly a Thing That Dreams Are Made Of. 021
Reposted by Ben HooperGrand Thrift Auto @grandthriftauto.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Indeed. Here you go: I've been wrong about the Mitsubishi Starion all this time youtu.be/zfTxUGcZLecyoutu.beI've been wrong about the Mitsubishi Starion all this timeYouTube video by Grand Thrift Auto 282
Reposted by Ben HooperGrand Thrift Auto @grandthriftauto.bsky.social · 30/09/2026I debunked that racist urban myth about the Starion name in a video I made about Ben’s car earlier this year. I got actual death threats from Clarkson fans. 2112
Ben Hooper @popup-breakdown.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Would love to import one of these, shipping shouldn't be too... Fuck's sake 020
Ben Hooper @popup-breakdown.bsky.social · 29/09/2026These are the Starion's stats on the run from Lake Garda to Provence yesterday. Pretty hard to do better than that, tho wonder what would happen if I put stupidly high pressures in the tyres 2100
Reposted by Ben HooperJD Burgess @blacktopmagazine.bsky.social · 28/09/2026Like crack for autistic Millenials. 052
Ben Hooper @popup-breakdown.bsky.social · 28/09/2026I suppose there aren’t any other UK Market, Taxed, MOTed 1987 Starion Turbos that have a gash in the offside rear arch flare caused by a bit of Italian Autostrada, so in that sense it’s priceless (And yes I know it is all filler, whatevs) 0111
Ben Hooper @popup-breakdown.bsky.social · 26/09/2026Blasted through Austria, now at lake Garda. Wondering if the car will start tomorrow, I have my "first" finish line in Provence* *where I will be staying with family, so the car technically doesn't have to get me home from that point, tho would be nice #weirdcarbs 070
Reposted by Ben HooperMatthew Willis (Naval Air History) @navalairhistory.com · 25/09/2026When the photography shop assures you that these expired films are unused 281085175
Reposted by Ben HooperChloe Phillips @vhschloe.bsky.social · 23/09/2026Facebook is a hive of arm chair specialists. As is YouTube at times… It’s one of the things I hate about being a British car enthusiast. I either get abuse because “them were shite, weren’t they?” Or people going “MA ROVER HELP ME THINK ABOUT TIME BEFORE THEM DINGYS!!” It’s so tiring… 161
Ben Hooper @popup-breakdown.bsky.social · 19/09/2026www.facebook.com/share/1CQpbH... It takes the logic of a man who is piloting a recalcitrant Starion on a lap of Europe to see this as a good idea. I am a man who is piloting a recalcitrant Starion on a lap of Europe 190
Ben Hooper @popup-breakdown.bsky.social · 19/09/2026www.facebook.com/marketplace/... Didn't know these were a thing 120
Ben Hooper @popup-breakdown.bsky.social · 19/09/2026It had already been fixed in Lithuania with a new distributor, but this time the tired leads (1 year old Densos) had meant the plugs had gotten gummed up with unburnt fuel and a bit of oil too. I scoured Bratislava for leads, plugs and a plug removal tool, only to find the latter utterly useless 220
Ben Hooper @popup-breakdown.bsky.social · 19/09/2026The Spark Plug God demanded my scissor jack in sacrifice. What a day... 020
Ben Hooper @popup-breakdown.bsky.social · 08/09/2026This is EJ. EJ saved my arse today by finding and replacing the distributor cap and proceeded to help drain the bores of flooded fuel. If you feel a breakdown coming on, I suggest you try to limp it to Lithuania. They have some brilliant engineers here 0191
Ben Hooper @popup-breakdown.bsky.social · 07/09/2026This distributor cap has been redistributed. Lenin would approve 070
Ben Hooper @popup-breakdown.bsky.social · 04/09/2026FIXED! Thank you to the Colt Car Club putting me in touch with the biggest rally car builder in Latvia, Edgars. Together (well, him mostly) we traced the fault to you guessed it: an earthing wire in the boot that had come detached. This wire held up the whole system, obvs. Reattached and reinforced. 6333
Reposted by Ben HooperRory @norwichgiant.bsky.social · 02/09/2026Issue 42 of @classicretromodern.bsky.social came through the door this morning, and you should subscribe yourself even just on the merits of the amazing feature by @antonyingram.bsky.social showing our boy @notposhpete.bsky.social ripping 2 stroke glory on his Motocompo! 1123
Ben Hooper @popup-breakdown.bsky.social · 02/09/2026Tallinn was gorgeous. Very touristy, but given the culture was oppressed for many centuries, I reckon they have earned the right to be a little pushy when it comes to that. Well worth a visit if you like Medieval Architecture and Brutalism 191
Ben Hooper @popup-breakdown.bsky.social · 27/08/2026The Finnish radio station in my hostel is currently playing Sheena Easton's For Your Eyes Only (1981) Not sure I have ever heard this on any radio. It's a decent song, and the film attached to it I think was actually Moore's best Bond. That's all for now 1130
Ben Hooper @popup-breakdown.bsky.social · 27/08/2026Went swimming in a Finnish lake yesterday and it was the purest water I think I have ever swam in. Utterly untouched 0100
Reposted by Ben HooperBen Hooper @popup-breakdown.bsky.social · 25/08/2026Safe to say, I adore it here 061
Ben Hooper @popup-breakdown.bsky.social · 25/08/2026Finnish Car Meet last night. Utterly incredible spread for #weirdcarbs to devour 3173
Ben Hooper @popup-breakdown.bsky.social · 24/08/2026Here have a Finnish Probe. Ugh, that sounds wrong. Wild Probe? FFS Casual... no. Here, have that weird Japanese-American Failed Mustang Replacement currently parked in Turku (no disrespect, am the proud owner of a car similarly bullied for its name. Still, Ford, should have known better) #weirdcarbs 2182
Ben Hooper @popup-breakdown.bsky.social · 20/08/2026Genuinely stunned by Sweden. If it wasn't the fairytale archipelagos, warm cities and lush wildernesses, it's the £1.36/litre 98 E5! So sad to only be spending 24 hours here, but I will definitely be making my return. With such vast spaces and lonely roads, I do see why US cars make sense here... 1152
Ben Hooper @popup-breakdown.bsky.social · 19/08/2026Sweden is already delivering for #weirdcarbs Not shown are the countless hot rods, the immaculate Volvo 145 Estate, and period modded Opel Manta B on the very chill motorway. Happy to report the Starion did Copenhagen to Stockholm on one tank, about 405 miles (out of a 75 litre tank yikes) 3288
Ben Hooper @popup-breakdown.bsky.social · 19/08/2026Will be tackling the Oresund Bridge today. In honour of my second favourite Top Gear race, M83's Moonchild will be playing in my McLaren* SLR* #weirdcarbs 150
Reposted by Ben HooperGrand Thrift Auto @grandthriftauto.bsky.social · 18/08/2026I can see why some might prefer the 928 Gemballa over the Koenig. Personally, and at the risk of being quoted out of context, I much prefer it with its kit off. 152
Ben Hooper @popup-breakdown.bsky.social · 17/08/2026Reminded that this site exists, reminded that there are still one owner, manual Skyline R32 GTS-4s out there... www.carsensor.net/usedcar/deta...carsensor.netスカイライン 2.0 GTS-4 4WD GTオートスポイラー(三重)の中古車詳細 | 中古車なら【カーセンサー】スカイライン 2.0 GTS-4 4WD GTオートスポイラー【380.0万円】の中古車詳細情報です。三重県・CREWCH クルウチの中古車情報なら「カーセンサー」! 050
Ben Hooper @popup-breakdown.bsky.social · 16/08/2026youtu.be/poyQp685y_w?... Really interesting mini-doc, would like to explore this culture at some point - alas my imminent trip to Sweden won't give me enough time #weirdcarbsyoutu.beHow American Cars Took Over SwedenYouTube video by DW REV - Mobility & Innovation 021
Ben Hooper @popup-breakdown.bsky.social · 16/08/2026Drove to Copenhagen yesterday. Was immensely satisfied to see a Chrysler 300C speeding up to, talgating and then bullying a BMW 5 series into moving out of the outside lane before carrying on. Feel like the 300C was quite a tasteful car in a perverse way #weirdcarbs 290
Reposted by Ben HooperMaaronSpiderweber🕷️🕸️🎃 @maaronweber.bsky.social · 16/08/2026It’s very funny to have a collection of undriven “driver’s” cars you call “The drivers philosophy” that were exclusively purchased to hold + flip 7305
Reposted by Ben HooperGrand Thrift Auto @grandthriftauto.bsky.social · 14/08/2026I love my Skoda but it is slightly disconcerting driving around with Roland Rat grinning up at you the whole time. 1252
Ben Hooper @popup-breakdown.bsky.social · 11/08/2026In the UK we don't readily associate Denmark with car culture, but what a meet that was. So much variety, summed up by seeing an ex-1976 motorshow Maserati Merak SS parked next to a 2dr Opel Ascona B. Tonnes of interesting metal, and the potential for far more on a "busy" night 1162
Ben Hooper @popup-breakdown.bsky.social · 09/08/2026I have been invited to a Danish Car Meet by a Danish Starion owner. #weirdcarbs will be receiving updates from ground zero 150
Reposted by Ben Hooper👻 Jack Djinn Wail 🧞 @jacktindale.bsky.social · 05/08/2026Properly gone at the idea of having this awarded like a corporate award gigs in one of those massive but soulless business hotel ballrooms, with Romesh Ranganathan hosting. 2428838
Reposted by Ben HooperJohn C @badsocialism.bsky.social · 04/08/2026I will fight and die on the hill that no one fought braver and better in 1940 than the French army in June, knowing that their best troops had already been lost and the Germans would show them little mercy 2151275