My car interests started at a young age. My grandmother was driving a Morris Minor Traveller (See more) which I just loved and spent hours sketching it with various modifications. The car wasn't standard at the time, however I still liked to draw it sporting flames down the side with bigger wheels at the back. When my Grandmother passed on, the car became mine. I was 16 and the car was missing an engine by then. First job, get her running to start driving lessons at 17. 1 week after my 17th she was on the road, with a little help from a friend's dad.

Next up came my family Triumph 2500TC. A 2.5 litre, 6 cylinder engine with twin carb's, hence the TC. This was a beast of a car, but even with all that cubic capacity, reaching 100mph 4 up on the A3 was still an achievement. The fuel economy was diabolical too so it had to go, but it felt like a real grown-ups car.

Now in a full time job with part time, paid for college, I was on my way up in the world and decided I needed something to reflect this new status and so moved onto a Vauxhall Cavalier GL. It was a good car in which I clocked up some miles, but it fell to the same fate as most of those Cavaliers did in The Bill - which had just come out on TV - I managed to wrap it around another car.

Waiting for the Insurance man to pay out, I returned to BL once again in the form of a couple of Mini's (See more). The first, a friends MkII called Herman, then a short term purchase in the form of a Clubman. Mini's are great fun, even commuting became a full blown outing, but as friends were buying into XR3i's I felt the need for a little more speed and turned to a MG Metro Turbo. The most disastrous car I have every owned, blew a turbo shortly after buying it, and started to rust at an alarming rate. An expensive turbo replacement and some strategically placed "splat" stickers and it was up for sale.

During all this the Morris was still in ownership and undergoing a full re-spray. During all this I purchased an original convertible Morris to restore. However whilst restoring the Traveller, the convertible ended up donating more parts than it should and it was later sold in worse condition than when I bought it. I stuck with the Traveller as my daily transport for a couple of years, attending Classic Car shows all over the place. As most events were over a full weekend, accommodation became an issue, so what better way to attend a weekend long classic show than with a classic camper van. Another Classic disaster as it turned out in the shape of a Bedford CA Dormobile. In fairness the layout was a master design but with a 1500cc engine and only 3 gears, it was a chore to move around. Hand painted, it wasn't the prettiest for of accommodation transport so that was moved on before we'd even spent a night in it.

To coincide with a new carrier, time came to get a grown-up job and a grown-up car to go with it. Or at least a baby form of it in the shape of a Vauxhall Astra Belmont GLS. It was a good car, nothing outstanding, but a comfortable means of transport and well equipped for the time.

 

With another change of job came another change of car, this time a Vauxhall Cavalier CDX. My girlfriend of the time hated it, an old mans car she would say. She was probably right too.

A promotion landed me with my first company car. What a surprise I got when they handed over a BMW 520i. Looking back the car was probably under powered and was very short on "extras" as BMW charged for every little extra and this had none. I soon personalised it with a decent stereo and some alloy wheels, but still this was some machine for a 23 year old. This started my passion for BMW's. The 520i clocked up 193,000 miles before I cracked the head, driving it dry.

After being fobbed off with an old Mondeo, I switched to a car allowance scheme and bought a 525i Sport from one of the Directors. A little more power than the 520, but looked the part with the M body kit and Reccaro seats.

My BMW passion was growing and the release of the new E46 3 series coincided with a good year at work and with it a cash bonus. The 525i lasted a year before being traded for a beautiful 328ci with a host of extras. 70,000 miles were clocked up in no time at all as my job took me nationwide. I loved this car and spend a fortune on it updating it with all the M Sport extras. (See More). A new line of work meant I was setting up new sites in the middle of fields - literally - so the poor 328 was getting a mud splattering on a regular basis. Time for a Landrover!

I never aspired to owning a 4x4 but was pleasantly surprised with the Freelander. I kept the BMW for weekends whilst taking the Freelander all over the country but when I felt that the BMW wasn't quite a weekend only car, I dipped into a new line of motoring. Back with a classic status - I splashed out on a Ferrari 308 GTS. (See more).

The Freelander was sold before a short round-the-world tour and I did without a daily hack for around 3 years. I still have the Ferrari and the Morris for high days and holidays, but now the daily hack is an old Ford Focus. Its nothing special, but it does the job.