Rover 75
2003 ROVER 75
My trusty-ish Rover 75 was, I felt, the most appropriate vehicle in which to cover the extraordinary Bright Yellow Car Convoy in support of Peter Maddox, whose custard-coloured Corsa was attacked by vandals who felt it ruined the view in the beautiful Cotwolds village of Bibury.
I arrived there untarnished with an hour-and-a-half spare to park in the centre of the village and find a good photographic spot ready for the convoy, which was heavily covered by the national mainstream media.
Long distance dashes are where the Rover comes into its own and it has been behaving itself very well recently. It even passed its MoT, after some wiring work around the rear lights following my ‘repairs’ when the car got hit by a bus. Memo to self: unless it’s just one wire, leave electrics to the professionals in future.
The car also proved its worth in getting me from Bibury to the Cotswold Motor Museum in Bourton-on-the-Water, to catch the convoy returning to its base. As a treat, it was introduced to the amazing line-up of yellow MG Rover ZSs that had taken part in the event ( CCW, 12 April).
When the time came to journey back, I decided that it was time for a gentle run and a bit of sightseeing. I wouldn’t say it was posh around here but even the local Little Chef was built from Cotswold stone with gleaming chrome signage.
I trudged around the lovely but incredibly traffic-clogged (despite a vast free car park) town of Burford.
Following an unspeakable incident involving the local speciality of lardy cake, I tooled along the A361 into Oxfordshire and photographed the car by Banbury Cross and the statue of the famous lady who made the journey there on a white horse. Then it was into Warwickshire, then Daventry and Northampton and back to Peterborough, via a stop at Lidl near Rushden when I realised that I’d forgotten to buy some cat food. Glamorous cars, fast living. That’s me!