The shortest charity radio appeal ever

MY friends in the Mini fraternity are probably thinking of disowning me, because I'm toying with the idea of a Mazda MX-5.

Regular readers will probably already know that I think the British sports car with a Japanese twist is an absolutely cracking invention, a thought not helped even slightly by the fact I've just spent a week with one (more on that later, I promise).

But even I admit it wouldn't be the latest 2.0 litre version I'd be lashing about in, and that's not because I can't afford one. As is almost always the case it's the first of the breed that's the finest, and every time the Life On Cars Mini is jacked up in a garage I'm contemplating the idea of a Life On Cars Mazda MX-5. Any would do, but ideally it'd be one of the early ones with the pop-up headlights, the 1.8 litre engine, the Minilite alloys and Classic Red paint job. Bliss.

After pulling up at the Dune FM studio for my latest spot on Martin Hovden's Live From Studio One show I reckoned, optimistically, that if just a fraction of the station's listeners gave me £1 each to show their appreciation, I'd easily raise the £1,500 needed for a decent Mazzer.



Unfortunately, broadcasting rules mean you can't start charity appeals live on commerical radio. If only I'd known that at the time...