Under the shiny exterior panels, this was the kind of horror that lurked in the BMW 635 CSi I have owned for 13 years and 73,000 of its 159,000 miles. Still a work in progress…

As the 635 progressed at Sienna Cars in rural Wiltshire, thanks to the panel expertise of former TT Restorations ace Colin Skard, I brought the Sprite in for an assessment to rectifying its long-twisted bonnet. Even Colin couldn’t fix it affordably…

But there were Citröen corrugated panel vans galore to admire whilst boss Neville Partridge flew back to Kiwi-Land just in time for Christchurch earthquake!