Aston Martin Virage Volante

My day started and carried on pretty much like any other.

Picked up my mate and we were promptly stopped by the police. (No apparent reason but they said that nice cars do get nicked in Uxbridge and when they see a nice car tootling along - not breaking any laws - then they put two and two together and come up with 86. Bizarre)

Prevention is often better than cure, but Uxbridge is hardly East L.A., especially at 8.45am....

Took the Mercedes in for it's MOT. It failed.

Had a conversation with a man with a gun about journalists copying people's number plates whilst we're standing outside Tony Blair's house.

Had the BMW washed at the Pink Limo company and immediately had the owner try to sell me this Aston Martin Virage Volante, I was wandering around whilst the car was tended to.

The carwash was a nuthouse. The owner had the most ridiculously tight tan coloured jeans, different hued cowboy boots and Texan necktie. There was 20 metres of shelving under the shack (stacked four high) covered with every pink cuddly toy you've ever seen, and around 40 budgies in cages chirruping along as the cars went through the production line. Nuts.

But what really made my eyes pop out was how much he asked for the Virage:

"60 grand boss..."

'60!!!'

"60 boss. Good car boss, yes boss, good car. Hand made boss, Haston! Know what I'm saying boss."

'Boom. I'll get back to you, mate. Cheers. [Always feign surprise. And awe]'

For me, an absolutely lovely looking car, with an evocative 330bhp 5.4 litre V8, it has an immense presence. Just for a minute, my eyes glazed over the awkward panel gaps and the uneven hood buttons, and considered how life would be, 'boulevardiering' through Sandbanks in one these. Then a car horn jolted me back to reality.

Uncommon as they are with just 231 made, and regardless of their handbuilt status, you'd have to be as nutty as the carwash boss to expect to pay £60k for one of these. With components derived from the parts bins of VAG, Jaguar, Ford and Chevrolet, then you're essentially purchasing an apprentice's time with a hammer and the side panels.

What price exclusivity?