Automobile Liability Insurance when buying a car in England
 

My husband is going to be BUYING an old station wagon in England and we will be using that vehicle to continue on with our journey through Europe. Our question: We assume we will need to get liability insurance in England. Will this be a problem for someone with an American driver's license? If it is, he remembers doing it once before and being able to buy insurance when going through Customs to enter a country. Do European countries still offer this?

You will need what we call here Third Party Insurance for your car. It won't be easy as most companies only cover UK residents, but I hear Norwich Union is willing to consider short-term visitors. Once you have a UK policy, it will be valid throughout Western Europe for the minimum legally required level for each country (you no longer need Green Card - just take your insurance documents). There are a few extra things you'll need for driving on mainland Europe, like warning triangle, headlights adjustment and spare lightbulbs. You also need to take your car's registration document (which will be sent from Swansea in about a week after registering it in your name, so you need an address at which you can be contacted, like a friend's).

You might want to consider buying the car after you cross the channel (or looking for a left hand drive car in the UK). A right-hand drive car will be difficult to drive on the continent. Brits do it all the time - but they are used to right-hand drive. For an American it would be sort of a double conversion.

Sounds good, thanks!

Question for Alec: We were hoping to get the registration quicker (and go to Ireland after about a week and then double back to England and beyond) Is there anyway to get it faster like going to Swansea?

It does seem to make sense to buy a left-hand drive car on the mainland, but unfortunately it's next to impossible for non-residents to register a used car except in UK (and possibly Ireland). You can get customs plate for taking it out of the country, but you still have the problem of registering it in the next country. You could bring it to UK, but it's too much of a hassle and expensive, with extra ferry, documents and so on.
As for getting vehicle registration document (Form V5) quickly, your best bet is to contact a local DVLA office. There is a list at http://www.dvla.gov.uk/contact/dvla_contact.htm#lo

Assuming that it is MOT'ed, do we have to register it in our own name in order to drive it to the continent OR can we merely insured it and drive it off to the continent?

The car has to be in your name, or you need to carry a letter from the owner authorising you to drive. Several years ago, I wanted to take my brand-new car to Germany before my registration document came through, so I went to a local office and they issued a temporary note confirming that I was the registered keeper. It is an offence to drive a car on the mainland without in possession of registration papers, plus insurance certificate and driving licence.