At the time of writing, the contribution pot for Elly’s restoration stands at £1096. Remarkable. I’ve also had offers of spares and assistance. I hate to turn all hippy, but I really can feel the love.

I’m hoping to get started on the project today. This morning, I’m trying to clear some work out of the way (Classic Car Buyer mostly) so I have time to get started. The plan is to swap the Dyane and 2CV over, as the 2CV is in a friend’s garage at the moment. Because no-one has bought my Honda Prelude (anyone? Please?), I don’t actually have room to store the Dyane on the driveway…

Time for Elly to get naked again. (this was in 2003)

Incidentally, the XM has a stay of execution. I’ll need it for towing duties.

Speaking of which, I have FINALLY located the wheels I need to get my trailer roadworthy again. That’s important, because once I have removed Elly’s body from her chassis, I’ll be transporting it up to Citwins for Stage Two to begin.

At this stage, it’s safe to say that a good chunk of your contributions will be spent on panels. The 2CV is blessed with truly excellent parts support, and you can now get pretty much every part of a bodyshell. In fact, you can get entire bodyshells, but that remains out of budget as an option. So, panels and Alan Rogers’ skills are what you lot are buying.

I’ve already had someone offer a stash of zintec panels for an exceedingly good price that will cover many of the problem areas, and someone else has donated a small panel that will be essential for the seatbox repair. That said, to do the job properly, I reckon that a good few hundred pound’s worth of panels will still be needed. Your contributions will be making the impossible possible.

What exciting times!