Martin Port

With the Fiat back on the road - I used it for the run to Goodwood for last month’s Alfa Spider cover story - and sporting its new gearbox, I resolved to get some of the niggles sorted. Brian Ingham of CBD Service Centre, just across the road from my Cirencester home, was happy to take a look at my list.

When I told a French friend that I was going back to England in the Renault, he assumed I meant that I would drive it to the local station, then catch a train. He was shocked when I told him that I was going to drive 600 miles up through France.

When the Mazda MX-5 returned to the road late last summer, a knocking sound was traced to the alternator’s rear bearing. Briefly running the engine without the belt attached seemed to confirm that because the noise disappeared. Genuine Mazda alternators are expensive and I was considering settling for a second-hand unit, but fortunately I noticed on one of my frequent visits to its website that MX-5 Parts was stocking a new aftermarket version at a far more palatable price. One of the many advantages of owning the popular Mazda is the parts back-up on offer, and the alternator arrived the day after I’d placed the order.

It’s hard to believe that this month (May) marks the 26th anniversary of my acquiring the Galaxie. It being a 1964 car means that I have been its custodian for more than half of its life. Bought from the original ‘little old lady’ in Redondo Beach, California for the princely sum of $850 - less than £500 - it arrived at Felixstowe on a sunny spring day in 1988. The first thing I did is what I always do - wound down all the windows to emphasise the coupe’s pillarless roofline.