I would like opinions on something here. Last Tuesday we finally had the 128 running by itself and it sounded pretty damn good considering it hasn't been on the road since 2005 (though it was driven briefly last year), but it needs a tune-up. All was well until the car stopped dead.

As we had removed the majority of the fuel from the tank to fix the blockage I thought it might have run out of fuel, however it surely would have clattered before stopping if it had run out, and sure enough, pouring more fuel into the tank didn't do anything.

The next step was electrical. We recharged the battery as we thought it might have been run down owing to us merely starting the car and not getting the revs over the point needed for the battery to recharge itself. However, this was fruitless as well - it still would not start.

I now think it may be the condenser - the shock of the ignition being used after 9 years may have caused it to give up, which would explain the car stopping dead.