We've got and XJ6 but no tax or MOT.  How do we  get the car back to Berkshire. I toyed with the idea of getting the car MOT'd locally, Tax and insuring it to drive it back.  But if it failed it could be expensive to repair at a garage. Nothing for it but to trailer it back or get a car transporter to bring it back. Trailer looked the cheapest option but I had no tow vehicle. Casting my net wide, nobody I knew had one either, except my brother who has a small trailer he tows  with  Renault Laguna Estate. Peter lives in West Sussex only about 25 miles from where the XJ6 was.  He agreed to give it a go and see if we could hire a suitable trailer local to him.

The XJ6 awaits collection

Backing up to load up

Peter and Sue did a sterling job. They found a trailer hire company in Billingshurst who had a suitable trailer at reasonable rates per day.  Peter collected the trailer on Friday night. However the trailer weighed 600 Kg and the XJ6 weighs 1700 Kg. This made the train weight over the limit for Peter to tow with his Renault 2.0L Laguna Estate. Peter contacted a friend, Keith Strivens, who agreed to loan us his Mitsubishi Pickup. To keep the cost down to a single days hire we had to have the trailer back by 4:00 pm. Saturday. Peter and I agreed to meet at Chelwood at 8:00 am. to give us plenty of time to transport the car to Berkshire and get the trailer back before the deadline.

I set off in the Westfield, a good opportunity for a drive,  it was cool but dry and very pleasant, to do the 80 miles to Chelwood.  By the time I got there Peter had already arrived and was working out how to reverse the trailer up to the XJ6. It was a good trailer very easy to use and we soon had the XJ6 driven on to it and strapped down. We set off in convoy, at a steady pace, with me leading in the Westfield, to negotiate the M25, M3 and A339 to home.  Keeping a watchful eye on the traffic, which `was quite busy, and how Peter was coping, meant driving the Westfield at a steady  50 mph.  I've never seen the Westfield so economical.  However we still needed to stop for petrol at Fleet services.