What is it about car enthusiasts; generally they are never satisfied with their lot? They can spend their lives saving up for a mint condition 2.7 911 RS complete with a provenance, only to be unfulfilled once they have achieved their goal, and an ultra rare 3.0 RSR being the only thing that will satisfy that itch. It doesn’t stop at multimillionaires though and us more mundane petrol heads have exactly the same feelings, if not the funds.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a blog on how good my shed, a 2003 Honda Civic, was at being easy to drive, the ideal car when I wasn’t feeling well or just fancied a relaxing drive. Since then I have found how great the large boot is at lugging stuff around, how useful the massive rear leg room is and how cheap the thing is to run. But it’s bland, characterless and it bores me – senseless!

So the hunt is on for something practical and interesting.

I’ve fancied an MG ZS180 for a while now, ideally a saloon, 2004 face lift model. However, practicality says it has to be a hatch back and for the money I want to spend, it’s going to have to be one of the Rover 400 in drag earlier models. Shame, but we can’t have everything.

Now’s not exactly the right time to sell though, besides its cold and filthy out there, not a great time for a private seller to flog a motor. Then a thought hit me. Why not try and swap the Civic for my desired car? How desperate are the dealers at the moment to shift “lumpy” metal like the ZS for something cheap, reliable and economical to run, and would they do a direct swap?

I have a figure in mind. I know what the Civic stands me in at the moment, and I know its rough market value. I wonder how close I can get to what I want? To make this work properly though I am going to have to be a little less choosey on the choice of vehicle. Still something practical, perhaps an Alfa 156 Sportwagen or a Mondeo ST24, but still interesting!

Watch this space and see how much success I will have!