I did something far more stupid Alan. In the 90's I was offered a Nobel on "Eel Pie Island" on the Thames. In order to get the car to the mainland we ( the then owner, Steve Vine, my neighbour an myself ) had to push it onto a ralf not much bigger than the Nobel and paddle with oars to dry land. I was petrified as I can't swim and we were caught in the flow of the river and were gradually drifting out to the middle of the Thames. I had visions of "News at Ten" showing a Nobel sailing under Tower Bridge with four idiots paddling like crazy getting nowhere. In the end we managed to get back to where we started, very knackered as it was also getting dark. In the end the owner got a friend with a boat to tow us to the mainland. When we got the car to my house near Alton, my neighbour said "that'll never run". Well, that was like a red rag to a bull . I cleaned the petrol tap, put fresh fuel in it. put the battery in from my normal car with some jump leads, pumped up the tyres. On one wheel the inner tube was poking through the perished tyre like a bubble gum bubble. It started with a hell of a noise ( no silencer ), but I managed to coax it down the road to my neighbour who came outside to see what the din was and after the smoke screen cleared he saw me smiling in my new toy.