The weekend before last was 2CVGB Registers’ Day in Cambridgeshire. We clocked up about 500 miles driving there and back, having forgotten almost entirely just how far away it is! We didn’t make it last year, so it was nice to head back to our old stamping ground, and the superb location of Burleigh Hill Farm. Rustic barns, beautiful scenery and nice flat camping fields!

Pitched up with Combi-Camp friends at 2CV meet.

The XM coped with the trip very well, though I thought I’d lost turbo boost at one point. It seems more likely that I’d just misjudged the weight of all of our camping gear, plus the trailer tent and changed up into fifth a little bit too early on a really steep hill.

After a few days of local trips back in Wales, it was then back out on the road again to attend a beautiful wedding in the Peak District. Generally, the XM was fairly well behaved, though the ABS warning light came on at one point – and then self-repaired at the same time as the remote central locking packed up. That was another 400 miles covered and there’s more mileage to do this month yet! I’ll be getting on for needing to give it another service again at this rate.

The XM looks at home at Chatsworth House, even though this is just The Stables!

So, it’s now getting on for 8000 miles in my ownership and I still like it. Have I suddenly become a changed man? Or have I truly found the closest thing to motoring perfection?

I must give a big thanks to the many people in 2CVGB who have let me drive their cars this year though. It has taken the edge off the frustration of not having my own 2CV on the road, though it truly has fired up by desires to own another Dyane, or perhaps even an Ami. There’s a real danger that my 2CV rebuild plans could end up on the back burner while I blow my meagre budget on something else instead. Is that the right thing to do?