It’s now 5 months since I became the owner of a second-hand Mitsubishi Pajero, a car that to be honest I bought as a “sensible” choice, but not one that makes me smile and appreciate its looks when I walk past one in the street. I spent a couple of months thinking about buying a Rover instead and selling the Pajero; or even buying a Rover as well and having two cars.

However, the Rovers that occasionally came up for sale were not quite right – too cheap or too expensive and so I carried on with the sensible, vast, unprepossessing Pajero.

Then we went West for a long weekend and I drove it, because being able to take it almost anywhere was one of the reasons I’d bought it. I’d been to the West two weeks before in an old government Rover which shook and bounced on the untarmaced roads and refused to go into low ratio when we needed it to, it wasn’t an endearing car. In comparison the Pajero was a star – comfortable, fuel efficient and quick. It ate up the distance with no trouble and I didn’t even need to have it in 4WD. It went up in my estimation and I decided that it was definitely a good thing to keep it through the winter and see how it does on snow and ice.

And then this weekend, it revealed a previously hidden secret to me.

I was in the car, waiting for a friend, randomly pressing buttons on the steering wheel to see what they do. I pressed Mode and it started changing through Audio modes – FM1, FM2, AM and then something called Music System.

A pause and then the sound of melodious Japanese pop filled the car…. I burst out laughing at the unexpected, ridiculousness of it and spent the rest of the weekend demonstrating the car’s party trick to anyone who got in it. So far we have tried a playlist called Love Stories and I’ve found something that appears to be a Christmas playlist and some Beatles!

I need to go back to Google to find out what on earth is going on – but I rather love the fact that my awkward looking, brick of a car has brought a bit of Japanese culture into my life with the ethereal, whimsical sound of J-pop. I’m not sure any Rover can top this…