Ah ha!! Thankyou once again, CJ and Gadge. I thought the bi-fold handles were something that had been added to it somewhere along the line, so I'm very happy to learn that they're actually original! And yes, the handle did fold down beautifully to fit into the back of my car. I can't believe that every mower doesn't have that arrangement......it's simply BRILLIANT! I picked up another Mayfair this afternoon. The engine number starts with 371......so I'm guessing that it's a '71 model? As you can see from the photos, it has a different handle to my '68 Mayfair.......it doesn't kick up at the top like the '68's handle does. The seller was selling it for his Dad, who's moving into a home, and has had it since new, although it has apparently not been started for 10 yrs. I would say that is probably true, given the state of the fuel in the carb bowl and bottom of the tank. I cleaned the carb and tank out, checked the spark (has a nice fat spark!), added some fresh fuel and, after a couple of pulls on the starter, she roared to life and ran like a little beauty! I'm not sure what to do about the damage to the Consul 2. I was thinking of trying some aluminium putty.....the stuff that can be drilled and sanded etc. While I will use the mower occasionally, just as something more interesting to use than my new Masport, I will be very careful not to knock it about. If I was fortunate enough to come across a better base, I'd use that. But I wouldn't want to be holding my breath waiting for an undamaged one to appear
