It doesn't take much to lift the spirit when things have not been going well. I was sitting in my Jaguar the other night, warming the engine, when a friend popped around.

"How's it going, chief?" he asked. So I reeled off the list of expensive problems I've had to fix. "Still looks great, though," he said, and took a seat beside me. I smiled, turned up the music and noticed that there was still some light in the sky and decided to take the Jag for a quick run.

We turned out of the driveway and headed for some open road. The engine was purring softly (the expensive triple-SU's I fitted were paying off!) The carbs kicked in, gave a rush of power and soon we were travelling at a speed I can't mention here. I took my foot off, slowed down to a decent cruising speed and at the next turn-off headed back for home, the list of "expensive problems" totally forgotten.

A question that pops up quite often is about classic cars as an investment. There's now doubt that the abysmal performance of financial institutions has encouraged investors to have some fun with their money and put it into a classic car.

If you had a spare R300 000 lying in an investment account, the best growth you could hope for (at current interest rates in Money Market of 9-11%) is about R18 000 growth per annum (after tax).

R300 000 invested in say, an Austin Healey, would render a growth of around R46 000 per annum (after tax - almost 16%).

With summer still in full swing, it's still time to think about top-down motoring. You must own a convertible at some time, so why not make it now? Austin Healy, Jaguar E-Type, MGB Roadster, Morgan, Lotus, TVR, and Triumph TR2, TR3, TR4, TR5 and TR6 all offer 'topless' motoring and an excellent investment to boot but, as the saying goes, THE TRUE VALUE IS APPRECIATION!