In the beginning….

Like most people, I started driving at 17 and like a lot of people, my first year was spent driving my Mum’s car. First up a Talbot Samba, which doesn’t deserve any additional comment, and then a Renault 11 which had a scarily loose back end with the tendency to let go mid corner without any notice, then just as you caught it swing violently back the other way. I learnt a lot about car control that first year…

In the January of 1991 I decided it was time to buy my own car. It was my 18th birthday and I had 700GBP that had been invested for me when my grandad had passed away so I turned to Autotrader…. what should I get? A Mini? definitely cheap to run and loads of fun but my brother, all of his friends, and half of my friends already drove a Mini. I wanted something different… and then I found my car…. an economy version of that lovely Astra GTE that the college principle drove.

My Dad was busy entertaining friends, so being a sulky impatient teenager, I borrowed my Mum’s Renault and drove to Petersfield to look at the car.

I was instantly in love. It wasn’t perfect but it wasn’t a Mini. Fun handling, peppy engine and more importantly it was mine!!

So there it was my first car a 1983 Opel Kadet 1.2, in White  (European badged Vauhxall Astra Mk1).