GPV

Sixth in the series of Chapman family Volvos, the Girly Pink Volvo, deceased (sadly) due to a 50/50 collision manoeuvring out fo the drive. I guess it could have been saved but I was commuting by bike and train by then and the car was doing next to no miles; cars which stand idle tend to decay mechanically, so I'd have had to sell it sooner or later. Write-off value was £3,000, not bad for a ten-year-old car with 150,000 miles on the clock.

I knew we'd buy it as soon as I saw it because it's a colour I hate! Everything else about it was good - 193bhp turbocharged engine, CD spec with cruise, traction control and so on, auto (of course), roof rails as you can see, and a genuine Volvo towbar for the bike rack. Economy was better than the old 940, 30mpg on the commute or the motorway, but obviously not great around town. Since we prefer bikes around town anyway that's not a problem!

Our house was built in the 60s, a time when people were notoriously parsimonious with garage space and cars were smaller anyway. The Volvo was narrow enough to fit the garage, but the length was a bit of a squeeze.