I was driving home Thursday night. It was a beautiful evening, the rain that had hung around all day had cleared. It was still and clear. I had just picked up the 356 from the Powerhaus where it had a new ignition switch fitted and it was running like a dream.

All was well with the world.

I was winding around the hills of Wellington on one of those narrow roads that is only wide enough for two cars when a bus approached from the other direction. A bus always looks big but on narrow Grafton Road it looked huge. The only option was for one of us to mount the pavement to let the other pass. As the bus approached I realised that was going to be me. But no problems, it was a lovely night, there was room for both of us.

I used a driveway ramp to get my left hands wheels up onto the pavement. All went we’ll until my front and rear wheels dropped into the gap between the driveway ramp and the pavement and I was stuck. Completely stuck – I couldn’t move forward or backward. No amount of power would free the wheels.

Bugger.

A call to the AA rapidly had a service vehicle on the scene. The bemused AA man admitted that this was a first for him but with a gentle pull the 356 was free and the journey home was completed without incident and only a slight denting of pride.