My other car's an old 4x4 too.

Always a thrill to get an MOT certificate. Dug out of it’s resting place of six months in my lock up, persuaded to start, tyres pumped up and £1.15 lavished on a new exhaust gasket, fitted after dinner one night. A pleasant trundle up to a remote garage in Derbyshire where the owner races classic bikes. A thorough test of the few things on an old Land Rover that apply in such tests and Bob’s your uncle! He even commented how good it was to drive. A new ‘Tax Exempt’ disk in the windscreen and away we go for another year. The bike in the picture is a stripped down CB 350. Very successful apparently.

Another mindless purchase.

After writing in Land Rover World, last month: ‘Tucked behind a barn, was a 1952, 80 inch. It looked as though it could have been there for about 20 years. I resisted asking the farmer as to whether it was for sale or not. I have a weakness for such things and really, really, don’t need any more.’ And here it is, safely tucked up in Jo’s garage. It’s the male equivalent of buying a new pair of designer shoes. Illogical, but irresistible and I know I’m preaching to the converted. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it yet, but the signs are good. Yesterday I managed to get the engine to turn over, first on the starting handle, then on the starter motor. There was a spark, but the petrol had been in there for ten years, so ignition was not forthcoming. Lovely patina though, eh?