Revive your interior

The subtleties of patination versus knackeredness have never been more focused than in the cabin. A gently creased leather seat that’s shiny with use is patina: torn hide and pulled-apart stitching is simply damage. To lift your car in the condition stakes, you’ll have to deep clean the seats, nourish any cow involved, and protect.

Any damage should be sympathetically repaired to elevate it to honest-looking patina. Now do the same to the headlining, carpets and door cards. Vinegar and brown-paper the Bakelite, buff up the instruments’ glass, give back the bezels’ lustre, and polish the woodwork. Get the clock working, make sure the electric windows move faster than a Stannah Stairlift, and ensure the dials and switches are illuminated. Don’t slather everything in silicone as it’ll be as tactile as someone-else’s chewing gum.

What does the interior smell like? That upturned carton of chocolate-milk from summer? Mildew and decomposition? Hunt down the source of any unsocial odours and replace the offending soft furnishings after curing any water leaks from window rubbers. Avoid using air-fresheners or fake atmospheres: a new owner will expect to smell decades of motoring’s happy past, not a pine forest or a Hamburg nightlclub.

COST AND TIME

£10 on cleaning materials and a few hours of elbow grease.