Yeah, roll on the miles - I've put pretty much 20k on my 360 and done over 1000 miles in my 343 now which had sat since 2001 - it most likely would've been scrapped at some point otherwise anyway

In 2004 we bought a 1974 Mk1 Transit from a local village fire brigade. The thing had done only 10900 kms (6700 miles!) in 30 years and was pretty much in mint condition.

One of the first things we did with it was to drive it down to Greece, piling on more miles in a month than the thing had done in the first 30 years of its life! Getting a long-wheel-base 3.5 tonne van sideways up an unsurfaced Greek mountain track makes you feel GOOD! I didn't feel bad about not being able to preserve the mileage at all, I looked after it - keeping it garaged the whole time I had it, and it was off the road in the winter.

Just having a car standing around doesn't do it any good, they need to be driven. I make an exception in the winter (3 of my 4 cars are off the road from 1st December to 1st March because road salt causes so much damage) but other than that I try to keep them moving as much as possible.

Late 2005 the Transit had to go - sold it to the producer of German Big Brother. One of the major regrets in my life It was a fantastic machine: bright red, dual tyres at the back and working siren & lights ...



Tom