The cars of today reflect the anti-auto mood in the anonymity of their shape and form: if they all look the same, perhaps we will be able to believe that they are fewer and less harmful The issue is urgent and the message is clear We must learn to get around without cars We must remember that to drive is a privilege We abuse it at our peril. Once a week, we would find it broken into and a part missing First it was the gear stick knob, then the hubcaps. I took advantage of the long pause after the "well" and thrust the required pounds 400 into the car owner's hands. The red Lancia was mine.That Lancia lasted longer than any car I had owned It took me to the party at which I met my husband It took us on a date to Oxford It broke down on the way to the airport for our honeymoon We had it fixed for when we returned to our new life But someone else in our street wanted it, too. He crawled under it, opened the bonnet, scratched his head and said "Well..." in the typical way men do with cars.

I wanted it desperately, but I knew I had to be grown-up about it I persuaded a male friend to come and inspect it. In disgust, I sold it to the mechanic who had restored it for me. After that, my boyfriend gave me a weird car with a square steering wheel. I don't know what make it was, and I did not take proper care of it. It broke down in Portobello Road one evening and I never went to collect it.And then I fell madly in love It was a red Lancia with wooden and chrome knobs and facias.