Thanks for sharing. Did you consider joining a car sharing club like Streetcar or CityCarClub? I was a member of both for about a year, but relocated to a city without any vehicles. There's an indy car club here in Norwich with a Golf round the corner, but the rates and regulations weren't so handy for my spontaneous trips to family and friends 30+ miles away.

By the way, for any of our American cousins balking at the cost of unleaded in the UK in PeterT1953's calculations - according to petrolprices.com the average today £1.29/litre, or about $8/US gallon.