It wasn’t my idea to get a taxi, but I think I might have been the first to proclaim the idea genius. My name is Phil, and if somebody has a bad idea, I will usually go along with it out of morbid curiosity.We are going to Le Mans, but nobody wanted to take their own car. We decided to buy one for less than £500 and take that. The only rule was that it had to have style. There was much talk about getting a Jaguar, and a little talk of other cars, then somebody suggested a taxi. Specifically, a grand old black cab; a Hackney carriage; and ours is certainly hackneyed.

There’s work to do, and we might not make it, but the right kind of stupidity can be heroic, and arriving at the destination isn’t always the most important part of the journey.

I’m in it for a laugh, and because there are no good stories in careful planning and sensible choices. I haven’t made myself particularly useful so far, so I had better get my finger out and start doing something helpful.