Losing the horn

Driving away from the office there was a loud bang as something hit the underside of the car. There had been nothing in the road in front of me but looking in the mirror I saw something in the road behind me. Something that must have fallen off the car. I three-point turned and went back to find one of the horns, slightly battered but intact. I threw it into the passenger footwell. Another job for the list.

Pretend MoT nerves

Met photographer at MoT station to photograph the XJ6 pretending to be tested. Still feel nervous, even though she only passed in April! Fool.

Idiots thrill the radio star

I appeared on Southern Counties Radio this morning, telling how important rear seat belts were in my decision to buy the Jaguar. Bizarrely found myself arguing with the woman from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents who seemed to be making a case for not having rear seat belts because people look at a classic car, smile and wave as they pass. The idea of old people grinning and gurning at me as they drive along is terrifying.

Great run home

Perfect drive home from Beaulieu. Temperature gauge held steady and heater worked fine when I tried it. Must have been an airlock. Great CD to drive back to: Joss Stone's Mind, Body and Soul.

Nits picking

I'm not bringing the Jaguar to any more shows. The state of the paint attracts too many critical looks. People paw the wings and shake their heads in dismay. One bloke even suggested I take the car back to the restorers and ask for my money back. Well for the car was restored between 1997 and 1998. Seven years ago! It's done about 30,000 miles since then and they rusted a lot faster when they were new.

Blowing hot and cold

Uneventful, enjoyable drive to Beaulieu until I hit slow moving traffic near Southampton. Water temperature crept up and the heater wasn't drawing as I used it to try to cool her down. Arrived safely at Beaulieu and parked the Jaguar on the stand. Checked under the bonnet and noticed a slight leak from a crack near the top hose joint on the radiator. Coolant level was still good, though.

Photos at Maxey

Drove from Birmingham to photo shoot at Maxey. Road tested Mini 'Wildgoose' camper after photo session.

The 'wrap' party

Got horribly lost driving to Edgbaston for filming BBC's 20th Century Roadshow. Showed off in front of film crew with a dodgy handbrake turn in the car park. Filmed segment with a Fifties Mister Softee ice cream van and another with the gorgeous Jaguar E-type restored by Practical Classics magazine. Recording went well, best yet, probably.

Got lost again on way back to city centre hotel and led the lovely presenter Hilary Kay (Mercedes SLK) astray to boot.

Got drunk at the splendid 'wrap' party in the evening. Filming the last show in the series on the day the first one went out made for a happy coincidence. Didn't hear much of the programme, though. Still, I wasn't in it.

Testing time

Another late MoT test. I gain about a fortnight a year. It will all change when the computerised system kicks in.

The Jaguar sailed through with nothing worse than a blown numberplate light bulb, which I replaced in the test bay. They even did a non-essential emmisions test (cars as old as this require a visual test only) and told me it would have passed that too, easily, so the engine is in very good condition.

Filming at MK

Filmed prototype Mini hatchback for 20th Century Roadshow at Milton Keynes.

More door dents

Drove to Milton Keynes to film 20th Century Roadshow. Parked beside shopping centre and then went off with film crew to make the vintage Daimler feature. Filming went really well until the Daimler broke down on the A5. Suspected big end bearing failure!

Returned to the Jaguar to discover two huge dents in the nearside doors. Somebody must have really whacked it with their car doors to make dents like that. Deeply depressing.

Long haul

Filming 20th Century Roadshow at Goonhilly, Cornwall. Valued and filmed a VW camper and a vintage Austin, plus the 19th driving licence issued in UK.

Going potty

Filming 20th Century Roadshow at Wedgwood factory, Stoke. Valued and filmed a set of workshop manuals.

More filming

Filming 20th Century Roadshow at Bristol Grammar School. Valued and filmed a Triumph Stag and lovely Mini pickup.

On set

Filming 20th Century Roadshow at Brighton. Valued a 1962 Vespa scooter.

TV filming starts

Drove to Brighton for the start of filming for the 20th Century Roadshow. Car ran perfectly. Not happy leaving it in the NCP half a mile from the hotel. Persuaded hotel manager to let me park it on the hotel forecourt - pride of place. Felt good to be turning up for my first TV job as a classic car expert in such a lovely old car.

Exciting opportunity

Visit from researcher and producer of a new TV show called the 20th Century Roadshow presented by Alan Titchmarsh. They came to the office and I did a screen test in the car park talking about the Jaguar XJ6. I thought it went OK. The car is clean, too. Fingers crossed. I might be on TV!

Ace night

Went to classic cars night at the Ace Cafe with Michelle from the events department.

NEC Autojumble

Drove to the NEC Autojumble and put the Jaguar on the Practical Classics stand. People are commenting on the deterioration of the paintwork..

That's a year of the XJ

Finally got round to washing the grime off. It was all high speed A1 filth from the trip up to Yorkshire before Christmas and it looked OK, really. Sort of streaked, like speed blur! But there was salt on there, so I gave the car a good rinse and then a caress with my Meguiar's wash mit.

Started the engine and number four pot doesn't fire straight away. It chimes in after a minute but there's no damp or bad connection that I can see. Suggestions please...

Spent some time on the greasy windows, too, and tidied the boot. It's looking grand for the new year. I feel some relief at having kept this going for 12 months (with a couple of lengthy lapses that annoyed a few of you). I suppose I have to keep going now. CD of the year: American Idiot by Green Day.