Listen to your Elders.

A year before, a conversation with one of the students in the year above me, the great Ian Kenworthy, resulted in a recommendation to never, ever, buy a Hillman Imp.

Kenworthy was a nutbar, a six foot extreme apprentice that I tried to emulate, albeit half a foot shorter. I believe his room mate was a chap called Vince Bygrove, not Max Bygraves.

They had a three wheeled Reliant Supervan at College and one night, driving back from the pub, they dropped the thing on its side. This was a common occurence, I had seen Pete Benjafield drop his Reliant on its side in front of the college, right at the bus stop.

The Kenworthy Reliant had skidded into a pole and the top was wrecked, so they hacksawed the top off and created the first Reliant Supervan convertible.

Classy.

Fast forward and I can honestly say that, although the Hillman Imp was in pristine condition, it was perhaps the most unreliable car I have ever had the honour of owning. If only I had listened to Kenworthy when he told me that he'd had an Imp once, changed the engine numerous times and would be unwilling to ever own one ever again.

That was shortly before he broke a pint glass on his head, so perhaps the advice was lost in the magic of that moment.