My car as you will see from the pic above is an XR2 lookalike coloured Coral beige, one of the original old classic colours of a Popular Plus. Cos that is what it is underneath, a Popular Plus, 1100. In all, the total amount of converting the Pop Plus to an XR2 lookalike has costed me just under 2000 pounds!!!

When travelling to Bakewell in the moorlands, I was fastly approaching a car in front of me, a Peugeot 306 who was travelling about 35 mph, and this road had a national speed limit notice enabling it to be up to 60mph. So I decided to overtake the car in front, the road ahead was clear, there were no cars approaching and no bends in the road ahead. So I pulled out alongside him and put my foot down, I was now alongside him the road was still clear and I was about to finish my overtaking maneouvre. I was going to pull in front of him when he decides to put his foot down. By now we are head to head doing about 60mph and taking the whole of the road up between us. What the hell was he playing at? I tried to get in front of him, but I could not beat that bigger engine. I looked ahead of me and there was a corner I was approaching, and there also happens to be a motorbike coming around the corner. This is all happening too fast!!! I had no choice but to avoid the two vehicles, I moved from the middle of the road to the right hand side to avoid the motorbike coming the other way!! And so I tried to move the car to some grass on the right hand side to slow it down as the brakes had completly locked, the skidding from the speed dragging my car more to the right, and it hit a verge, went through grass, bushes, brambles, hedges and then slowly stopped in some trees!!! Damage was squashed front right hand side wing, bent radio ariel, dent on the front bonnet (which if you look closely at the bonnet you can see it still), smashed right indicator, smashed headlamp, marks all over the paintwork with bits chipped out and grass in the doors, radiator etc. etc. It didn't look too good!The motorbike had kindly stopped, the Peugeot didn't, and a 4 x wheel drive had also stopped which was travelling behind after the motorbike. Fortunately I was Ok, just a bit of shock!!

Herb's mate's car.