"My first car was a 1959 Triumph TR3A in powder blue. It was purchased from Green Street Motors in Darlington for £110.

It was languishing outside of the garage among scrap vehicles with two inches of water inside.

I just had to own it.

I wish I hadn't sold it. But we had a baby daughter so we had to get a bigger car which turned out to be a Triumph 2000 from St Paul's Motors in Darlington.

I had a crash going to Darlington Technical College in March in the snow at Redworth, involving a Martindales coach from Ferryhill which smashed the back end in.

We managed to repair it by a stroke of luck, finding a complete half a bodyshell near Dunston, Gateshead, when we stopped for petrol at a garage. It was propped up against a wall next to it.

After it was repaired it was resprayed metallic blue with an orange stripe down the middle - Gulf racing colours.

I sold it after ten-and-a-half years for, if I remember correctly, £250. If it is still on the road it will be worth about a 100 times more.

I now drive a Land Rover Freelander 2 from 2007 because I do quite a bit of fishing which involves a bit of off road driving."