Practical Classics (UK)

Matt Tomkins makes a mistake!

-

I’ve been on the look-out for a diesel estate, and my primary target was a Montego Countryman. They generally sell for around the £800 mark, so when this 2.0-litre turbo DLX estate came online at £400, I went to have a look. By the time I’d picked up the seller and taken him 20 miles ‘just down the road’ to where the car was located, it was dark and it was raining. The photos online didn’t do the car injustice.

Parked hard against a hedge, the visible side was cosmetical­ly appalling but it did look structural­ly reasonable. The seller said he would cut out the engine and crush the rest if it didn’t sell, and flog the engine to someone with a Land Rover. Cold, tired and not wanting scarce parts to be lost, I agreed to buy it.

It arrived at the workshop late one evening and it wasn’t until dawn broke that I saw the true horror of what I’d bought. The sill on one side needs welding for an MOT, plus a patch on the other side. The passenger door doesn’t open and every panel is dented.

The engine is strong, though, and has had thousands spent on it. Sam Skelton informs me it wears two French spec hubcaps, too. It’s hard to believe that the MOT only ran out a few weeks ago... Do you want to buy it?

 ??  ?? The look of a man not impressed by French hubcaps.
The look of a man not impressed by French hubcaps.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom