1964 Ford Falcon Futura 1970 Oldsmobile 442 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee

Last time I wrote, back in the February issue, there were no signs of what was to come in March and April. I mentioned how the ClassicAmericanJ eep was imminently about to roll over the 200k mark on the odometer; however, then lockdown came and other than the odd scoot down to the supermarket, not a lot of driving has been done at all. Amazingly, the weekend before the lockdown was announced on March 23, I took my Olds for a run up to Lytham St Annes on the North West coast from Manchester and the odometer on that rolled over from 99,999 miles, resetting to zero.

It's appropriate really, as the car underwent a bare-metal respray last year, only coming out in October, only to go straight into storage over winter. This was its first run out since then, with its fresh paint, looking every bit like the new car it must have done 50 years ago when it rolled out of the plant in Lansing. While having the body fettled and resprayed, I also took the opportunity to fit a new convertible top and carpet set inside, as well as various items of weather stripping. The final cherry on the cake was a new mat set from ACC in the States (American Carpet Company, www.accmats.com) who specialise in carpet sets, mats and sound deadening for all American cars, old and new. In a way, that odometer rolling over to zero couldn't have been more timely, as the car pretty much feels new. Fingers crossed I can put some more miles on this coming

* summer ...