Should I rescue a Peugeot 406 Coupe?

You know how it is. One minute you're cycling along a country lane with your family, the next minute you're speaking to a lady about a Peugeot 406 Coupe.

That's what happened an hour ago, when I chanced upon a 406 Coupe looking decidedly sorry for itself.

There are three things to point out: it's a V6, it's effectively a one-owner car, and it's for sale.

In my head, I've already bought it. I've always wanted to own this Pininfarina masterpiece – ideally with the V6 – and my fleet is need of something glamorous to counter the beigeness of the motorhome.

In fairness to 'Erika', I'm writing this from the comfort of the captain's chair while enjoying a barista-style coffee, and I wouldn't have found the 406 Coupe without 'her'. Beige is good, as Gordon Gekko nearly said.

I don't need the 406 Coupe – nobody really needs a V6 Peugeot, no matter how beautiful it is. Logic would say that buying it would open more cans of worms than a festival of amateur fishermen.

There's also the significant sum of money spent making the Clio Baccara roadworthy, the fact that the £100 Laguna needs an MOT, the Corrado and AX GT masquerading as garden ornaments, and... but, but... 406 COUPE!

Its last MOT was in September 2016, but aside from warming the engine, saving the tyres from flat spots and general maintenance, it has been untouched for 18 months.

It belonged to the vendor's father who bought the car new in 1999, having walked into the Peugeot showroom and asking for the best possible 406 Coupe with all the toys. It has wanted for nothing, but all that stopped in September last year when he sadly passed away.

So now it's for sale, with a cardboard sign on the dashboard hoping to attract the dozen or so people who will pass it everyday. WeBuyAnyOldTat offered £275 for it, on the basis of it being delivered to Exeter, where they'd inevitably remove 50 per cent from the original quote.

I sense that the lady doesn't really want to part with her late father's car; she referred to it as "she" and "my beautiful". She regaled me with stories of how her 83-year-old dad couldn't stand dawdlers on the A-road and he often used it its fullest potential. Good man.

Sentimentality shouldn't come into it. My fleet has other mouths to feed and rescuing a 406 Coupe would be akin to leaving a blank cheque behind the bar at a stag do. At the very least it will need a service, an MOT, new brakes and, well, how long have you got?

But Peugeot 406 Coupe, right? And a V6, right? My heart says "Yes", my head says "Sleep on it until the morning, give yourself a few hours of extra thinking time, then say 'Yes'".

So, what do you think, dear reader. Should I add another slice of beautiful French Tat to the fleet, or should I have done a Dionne Warwick and walked on by?

Answers to this not at all rhetorical question on a postcard to the usual address.