THIS WEEK IN OUR FLEET...

DAVID SIMISTER EDITOR ❚ 1977 RELIANT Scimitar GTE Helped out with some already overdue Christmas shopping on an equally overdue week off. Isn’t it great having a sensible estate car? JAMES SADLIER MANAGING EDITOR ❚ 1999 PEUGEOT 406 Coupé The good news is that the mighty 406 has finally been released from longterm incarceration in the garage. The bad news is that the bill is huge.

MIKE LE CAPLAIN PRODUCTION EDITOR ❚ 2001 MGF 1.8i Weather looks like it’ll be rubbish for weeks to come, so the ‘F is now safely tucked away in its winter residence. But I’m not putting it on SORN…

JON BURGESS NEWS EDITOR ❚ 1994 JEEP Cherokee Limited Hoping to reinstate the rest of the interior that the previous owner took out. It’s currently half cream, half grey – I’m returning it to the former for the full chintzy experience.

CHARLIE CALDERWOOD EVENTS EDITOR ❚ 1999 BMW 318Ti Found the gearchange a bit notchy recently. Could just be the cold, but I need to figure out where the tranmsission oil filler is to make sure.

CHRIS HOPE FEATURES EDITOR ❚ 1980 TRIUMPH TR7 FHC Three-year-old BMW suffering an exhaust fault may soon force the 1970s ‘7 into daily use. Is it up to the task? We’ll soon find out, I guess!

RICHARD GUNN SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR ❚ 1994 ROVER 216 SLi Recent frosty weather has confirmed that the heated door mirrors work rather better than the heater element in the rear window.

NICK LARKIN EDITOR-AT-LARGE ❚ 2003 ROVER 75 Right, I’ve done it – Rover is booked for its MoT next week! I’ve a horrible feeling I’ll need a swig of consolation pre-Christmas sherry afterwards…

❚ ALSO ON THE FLEET David Brown 1999 Rover 200 BRM. Steve Berry 1970 Reliant Scimitar. Richard Kilpatrick 1992 Jaguar XJS. John Lakey 1984 Opel Monza. Nick Larkin 1960 Austin A55. Alex Riley 1981 Triumph TR7 Conv. James Taylor 1950 Rover P4. Fuzz Townshend Austin 7 Special.