I’m still feeling a bit groggy this week, the result of a heavy cold followed by gripey guts. I think the 281-mile drive in the 2CV may not have helped. It was hard work! I have no regrets though. It was a top day out.

Still, it left the 2CV filthy and, despite grogginess, I felt I had to give her a wash – seeing as Wales had decided to be rather pleasant in the weather stakes. That doesn’t necessarily happen often.

Clean again!

In this shot, you really can see how ‘pink’ the front wings are compared to the rears. I’ll be painting all the red bits to match at some point, honest! I still need to sort out some side stripes as well.

It was the first time I’ve washed this car in getting on for two years, and there wasn’t much point doing it last time! It feels more rewarding when the car looks nice at the end of it. There are still areas where there’s wax clearly visible – down the rear door for a start. I’d rather have those areas protected by wax than looking immaculate though.

After a break, in which I may have watched snooker, I decided to give the other members of the fleet a check-over. I’m glad I did, as the tyre pressures were low on the Honda and the Nippa – not vastly so on the Honda, but 20psi at the front of the Nippa when it should be 32! I’m forced to admit, I haven’t checked the pressures on that car since the tyres were fitted almost two years ago…

Check your tyre pressures! These were all low.

The final bit of ‘maintenance’ was to open up the ZX while it sat in the sun, to try and allow the floors to dry out. There’s clearly a bad water leak somewhere (thankfully it doesn’t smell of engine coolant, so not the heater matrix, which is common) but my appetite to investigate is not really there.

To return to the Nippa, it’s been an awesome buy for £300. For the first MOT in our ownership, it needed a steering rack gaiter. For the second, it needed wiper blades. It’s due again in March. We’ll see how it does this time. Motoring does not get a lot cheaper though.