An Austin-Healey Sprite has been holidaying at our house, but with deliveries of sand and stone on their way it had to roll on out. Purely for our own amusement we convinced our tallest housemate to take the wheel of this stylish sardine can.

Much to the glee of the RACV man visiting our neighbour initial attempts to roll start this “death trap” ended in a cough and splutter at the bottom of the hill. On closer inspection we discovered its owner had disconnected the engine, the boys made sure to thank him for remembering after we had run out of slope.

After an hour of jumper leads and noncommittal rumbles the engine jumped to life purring like a 500kg tiger with a bee in its bonnet. Taking a turn around the block, I had the unnerving feeling my bottom was just about to skim the asphalt, but anything as cute as this can be forgiven for being a tiny bit impractical.