So can he sort his relationship, have a great day out and drive the car of his dreams? Here's his story.

I realised what I’d done even before I'd opened my eyes that morning.

Laura, my long-suffering girlfriend was sitting up in bed, looking on expectantly.

'Morning', she said. 'Happy anniversary'.

'Crumbs', I said; or it would have been had a small expletive not left my lips.

Despite begging, grovelling and generally being on best behaviour for the next 36 hours, Laura wasn't happy.

I needed to do something. And fast; because you only forget your anniversary once.

It was only after explaining my situation to the guys at work, I realised the answer - take Laura for a day of all things Italian - the country of lurve.

But what could I do that wasn't the same old cheesy stuff everyone's done before?

As I was pondering this over a large cup of coffee, the answer popped into my inbox; like an electronic fairy godmother.

It was from Philip Moir, boss at Parc Ferme, asking if I'd like to come down and drive some of his classic cars.

In the quickest email reply in history, I told Philip I'd love to drive his 1972 Ferrari Dino for the day, and would love to take Laura along with me.

Parc Ferme are based near Windsor, which is about 45 minutes from Oxford; home of the Bridge of Sighs - and has its namesake in Venice.

Philip had unwittingly saved 'Happy Home'.

The morning of my Italian Job, I woke early to the sounds birds twittering and bright sunshine. Having only told Laura I had 'something' planned, she was suspicious.

Not least because I was trying unsuccessfully to contain my excitement of driving one of my favourite cars ever.

Making the journey across town, I was getting nervous. What if I crashed? What if it broke down?

Laura was getting more suspicious, right up to the point we pulled up outside Parc Ferme and Philip opened the doors to greet us.

The moment she laid eyes on the Dino, she was smitten…almost as much as me.

Phillip gave us a quick briefing on the finer points of driving a 34 year old supercar - don't rely on the brakes too much, careful with the gears and not to use first gear for the first 20 minutes (the gearbox doesn’t have a heater, so the oil needs to warm up to avoid gear crunching embarrassment).

A few minutes later, we were heading towards the M40.

I started driving the Dino with kid gloves, but it would handle all I threw at it, so my pace started picking up.

It wasn't long before we were overtaking lorries in the fast lane, with grins slapped across our faces.

Ferrari Dinos should come with a government health warning like 'this car could cause your head to twist clean off your shoulders', such is the head turning ability.

Camera phones were pointed at us, people waved and kids pointed. We both agreed this would how it'd be if we were global superstars.

We weren't, of course - it was all the Ferrari, and with good reason.

It looks sensational, drives superbly and has the rarest of abilities - to make this cynical motoring hack feel truly special behind the chromed steering wheel.

An hour later, we hit Oxford to continue the romantic Italian-themed day.

First stop was the Bridge of Sighs, which bares an uncanny resemblance to the one in Venice, and on for a quick peak at the Bodleian Library which appeared in the Harry Potter films.

But the Dino started to get hot, and we were getting hungry…so time for pizza!

Not having been to Oxford for a couple of years, my knowledge of restaurants was sketchy at best. It was more by luck than judgement we stumbled across a cosy Italian who stocked an impressive wine list and some tasty pasta-based meals.

As we waited for the meal, we gazed into each other's eyes; only pausing briefly to answer a call from the editor demanding to know why I was trying to stick a duck pizza and some linguine on expenses.

The food was good, the wine better and the company fantastic, so with a new-found enthusiasm for me, Laura suggested we walk off the meal.

Wandering through the streets of Oxford, we dodged intellectual-looking types on bikes and camera-toting tourists and stumbled across Christ Church College.

The grounds are stunning, and the building is one of my favourites anywhere. So grabbing a couple of Cornettos, we wandered through the grounds, and taking in the sights and sounds.

Sadly my phone broke the silence once more. It was Parc Ferme's Phillip asking when we'd be handing the Dino back.

Never before have I been so gutted to hand over a set of keys.

But I was back in Laura's good books, so some things are more important than flash cars.

But not many.

Related links

Look at the Wheels on That: Ferrari Dino

A massive thanks goes out to Phillip at Parc Ferme.

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