I once was the proud owner of a Mazda MX5, mark 1. The car was red with two broad white stripes going back to front, a black convertible roof, red steering wheel, red gear lever sleeve and a small spoiler. In addition the suspension had been lowered, there was a huge cold air inlet, racing exhausts, low profile tyres and Lambo doors. That little car was my pride and joy.

Until the advent of what in UK was called ‘sleeping policemen’, a sort of bump in the road that is meant to slow traffic down. My little car could normally handle those ok, though you had to be careful. Then I took a trip to Cambridge one day. Instead of driving into Cambridge and paying the exorbitant parking fees, I parked in the Park and Ride and took the free bus in.

On the way out of the Park and Ride was a particularly broad and high sleeping policeman, which scraped the underside of the car. I managed to drive back to where I needed to be. The next day I could not drive the car, apparently there is a slave cylinder underneath the car which was completely destroyed. That was a very expensive way to avoid car parking fees.

I had the car repaired and then sold it, since it was getting too expensive to maintain. Now I have another Mazda of a more sedate kind, but I still miss my little MX5.

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