Follow-up; I drove the car in question on Saturday afternoon. It is indeed a lot of metal for the money! Things that put me off this one were paintwork on bonnet,air-con in-op, and ultimately,the huge fuel- sucking engine. It drove well, gearbox really smooth, pulled well, very quiet at 70,......maybe i'm still thinking about it! Thanks for all your responses, Nigel. PS: has anyone heard of/seen an estate conversion on an S type?