MY first car was a two-tone, 2.4 litre Vauxhall Cresta from 1954.

It was owned by my dad who had bought it as a 16-year-old car from the owner of a business in Loftus called Daisy Dairy, a local provisions store. My dad owned it for a couple of years until the annual MOT test was imminent and as Vauxhall in those days were not reputed to be very rust proof, he offered the car to me, provided I spent the money to get it through the test. I had recently passed my driving test and was desperate to own my first car so I spent £30 to MOT it and subsequently became the car’s new and enthusiastic owner.

As you will see from the photograph, the car was impressive to look at and also to drive and to be seen in for a 19-year-old lad. The front seat was a bench style in leather and it had a three-speed column gear change. It was very American in looks and had the appearance of a Gangster car, well that’s what I imagined anyway.

Although a nice car to drive, the main drawback was heavy fuel consumption.

I owned the car for four years until I joined North Yorkshire Police and my first posting was to York where I walked the beat in the city centre. One day I was issuing a parking ticket to a motorist with a 1954 Ford Anglia and got in conversation about cars and somehow discussed swapping cars. We did indeed later exchange cars and he ended up with the Vauxhall Cresta. He still got his ticket by the way.

When I applied to join the police I was called to the police headquarters in Northallerton for an interview and drove there in the Vauxhall. I managed to find a parking place quite close by to the main building through a large arched gateway and into a forecourt.

Whilst waiting to be called for interview I overheard a senior officer remarking how someone had parked a Vauxhall in the Chief Constable’s private parking place - whoops. Needless to say I kept quiet as to my ownership of the offending car.

I have owned nearly every Ford model made from the middle 50s to the present time and currently own a Ford Focus C Max and a Honda CRV.