Driving along the A40, Oxford By-pass in the VW 412 Variant with our caravan in tow. In the rear view mirror I noticed that we were being followed by an ancient Rover 105. As this venerable machine overtook us we saw that it was wearing a large padded armchair, which was balanced precariously on a roof-rack. It struggled past, gradually building up sufficient lead to pull back to the nearside. When it was about fifty yards ahead of us, the armchair broke loose from the roof-rack and fell onto the road!
Imagine our fear and panic as this item of household furniture came bouncing down the highway towards us. Due to its irregular shape we had no idea which way it would go after each touch down! Fortunately it passed down our off-side as I pulled as far toward the kerb as possible. The whole incident was over so quickly that I had no time to take any sort of evasive action!
The Rover pulled over and stopped as we went on our merry way, having escaped what might have been a very nasty incident. After about ten miles we were overtaken again by the Rover, with the armchair back on the roof-rack, but looking very much the worse for wear. I slowed down and allowed him to get well ahead and out of harm’s way.