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What a torrent of poetic imagery the words 'Wimpy bar' dredged up from a few 50-year-olds. But it's hardly Virgil.

Wimpy has hardly touched anyone under 40, although they may be aware it was something their dads indulged in, like records and Skol.

This quick straw-poll leaves me with three thoughts, in the context that Wimpy is to be reinvented as a US-style diner.

First, the name invokes lots of nostalgia; second, this nostalgia isn't exactly for a lost Arcadia that we want to rediscover; and third, for those people the relaunch is probably aimed at, it's a blank sheet of paper anyway.

So if retro is a vital part of this brand, the more sunlit retro of Route 66 speaks more positively to the target market than the dismal reality of 60s Ilford.