Cupid for cars

If it hadn’t been for a keen online rival bidder, you would now be reading about how I’d just bought a Renault Avantime and how I was embarking on an ill-judged foray into weird French car ownership.

During four decades of classic car enthusiasm, I’ve personally encountered only three real examples of a barn find: I recall a straw-filled barn (literally) at a Cornish farm we camped on as a child,

Nostalgia drove Paul Nicholes on to recreate the family favourite of his childhood

The classics you love, drive and restore

Classic values & essential buying advice

For its inaugural auction held during the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este weekend (p12), Broad Arrow’s 24-25 May event at the nearby Villa Erba estate produced a remarkable reflection of the show car