I remembered, earlier today, that my car's annual inspection is due next month , so I'll see how that goes before looking into air fares to the US. I don't want to be in the (not unique!) position of paying out a few hundred GBP on an airline ticket and then having to find another few hundred GBP for repairs to my car. I'll know more soon because I'll get it checked out well before inspection time.

That said, the car is only five years old and has only just over 27,000 miles on it, which is practically nothing so hopefully it'll be okay.