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I spent the return journey of a day trip to Leicester thinking about cars.

It was brought on by the sight of our friends’ eldest son’s bright yellow Mercedes turbo on their drive, complete with racing seats and personalised plate.

As this was a young man we watched growing up, it got me thinking: why had I not aspired to own a motor like that in my youth?

While it’s true that as a young man I did say my dream car was an AC Cobra or, failing that, an Audi TT, I did nothing to pursue either.

Instead, I owned a series of bangers up until our current car, which is finally pretty decent, if not cutting edge.

On the journey home, as luxury marques passed me, I kept asking myself why none of those had ever turned my head.

Perhaps it was merely our approach to finances. We have always refused to spend money we don’t have, so naturally moderated our expectations.

Regardless, as we neared Hemel Hempstead, I was no longer thinking about sporty coupés, but had started daydreaming about a vehicle for Turkey.

By then I had settled upon some kind of people transporter with raised suspension which could serve all of our different needs.

An eight seater for day trips here and there. A van at harvest time to sell our crops. A camper van for countrywide tours.

Yes, the perfect plan… removable seats and a camper unit we could just slide in as needed.

Of course, my wife would inject some realism when I blurted these thoughts out loud. “Let’s get the kids settled at university first.”

Well at least it wasn’t a no. Another concept to sink my grey matter into for a couple of years. Some kind of aspiration.