BEAU RYAN TRAINING WHEELS

Radio and TV personality and former rugby league star Beau Ryan likes his cars big and comfy. Ryan has a penchant for utes and SUVs which he says gives him some peace-of-mind when he is carting his family around.

“When I have my family in the car I feel a lot safer in the bigger cars. I like the space and sitting up high — and so does my daughter,” he says. “I’m big on comfort, too. I’m not too big on stereos and going really fast. I’m more into comfy seats and cruising.”

And thanks to his sponsorship with a Wollongong dealership he gets to sample a wide variety of cars. Ryan is getting around in a Nissan Navara dual-cab ute at the moment.

Ryan says his ultimate ride would be a RollsRoyce Wraith or Ghost: “I’m a big fan even though I’ll never be able to afford one. I think it is because you don’t see them very much — they’re big and classy.”

Ryan’s earlier driving experiences were a lot more humble. He had his first taste of driving on his uncle’s farm in western NSW.

“(My uncle) had the local dealership and he used to have old paddock bashers and I used to drive them from a young age,” he says.

But despite his early experience with driving manuals out in the paddocks he still had the odd hiccup learning to drive.

“One of my first times learning to drive I was in my mum’s Corolla, and my mate was in the back, and we were going up this really big hill outside Wollongong. At the top I rolled back 30 metres and did the biggest burnout you’ve ever seen. It was like Summernats,” Ryan says.

“I didn’t mean to do it but my mum went psycho and I wasn’t allowed in that car again until I got my Ps.”

Ryan tried to avoid learning to drive with his mum, instead preferring his dad’s teaching methods. “I used to learn with my dad because my mum — she’s a very lovely woman — but she gets psycho road rage,” he says.

He hoped to graduate to his parents’ Holden VT Commodore once he got his Ps but he was stuck driving the 1990 Corolla.

It served him well, ferrying him between Wollongong and Sydney when he was starting his league career.

Ryan has lived south of Sydney most of his life and learned to relax on the road during the long commutes heading to training for various league teams and his early morning radio spots.

“I’ve got a pretty good tolerance in the car. And it is every man for himself on the road in Sydney but I’m not too bad because I saw my mum and the way she was and I try and avoid the rage,” he says.

“I used to listen to CDs and make calls when I was in the car and then I was able to turn my phone on to silent when I got home.”

Beau Ryan will join Julia Morris and Dr Chris Brown on a new Channel Ten variety show Sunday Night Takeaway from February 24.