Chevy ..or not Chevy

That certainly is the question at the moment. We're 10 days from departure, and really getting close to the wire with the Chevy van.

Remember, this is a van which has had 10 owners in the last 10 years, and has been sitting in a field for the last 12 months. Before then it was used for pulling ski boats in and out of lakes. So it was always going to be touch and go to get it running, yet alone MOT'd and halfway round Europe.

The boys have put so much time in to it, in readiness for its MOT on Monday. Not content with being too wide for the tow truck a few weeks back, we now discover it's too big for the MOT bay at Ricky Service Station. So MOT was postponed until today.

It failed - I think we all expected that - but it's not dead in the water just yet. A few minor bits and pieces such as adjusting the headlamps and securing the passenger seat, but also a few more critical issues such as suspension, for which we'll need to get it booked in with an American import specialist. Naturally, the only one in Watford can't fit us in until after our departure date, so we're now frantically trying to find alternatives.

It's a blow at this stage, as we desperately want the van to come on the trip. We had the Jag, BMW and Chevy all together for the first time on Monday for a photo shoot for the local rag, and they look fantastic together.

So, the British and German contingent are ready to battle it out. Can the Americans enter the fray at the 11th hour?