Life in cars
Practise your tennis, kids, and you too could have a VW Polo
Iwas quite old when I passed my test, I can’t remember exactly when it was, but I was 21 or 22. I used to live in Wandsworth when I frst moved to London and used the tube all the time. Then my wife and I moved to Surrey, so I did a one-week crash course. The frst car I bought was a Volkswagen Polo, and I still have it. One of the guys I work with drives it regularly, but I still love that car. When I stopped driving it my wife told me I needed to sell it, but I couldn’t – it’s strange, I haven’t had that feeling towards any of my other cars.
After that I got a Golf GTI – it felt like a big step up. My wife and I split up for eight weeks at one stage and she took the Golf. When we met up and got back together she turned up in a Mini. She said she couldn’t aford the insurance so had sold it without telling me and bought the Mini instead. I missed it so much that I actually bought another Golf GTI a few years later. We still have the Mini, but I don’t like it at all, it’s one with a British fag on the roof and it’s too small for me to drive.
I bought myself a Ferrari F430, but I just didn’t enjoy it. I went from driving a Golf to that and it felt odd, I felt like everyone was staring at me all the time, so I hardly used it. All my friends were telling me I had to buy a Ferrari, so it felt a bit like peer pressure that made me do it.
I was doing a training block in Miami and I fell in love with the Audi R8, so I considered getting one just to drive out there. Then I had a dream about the Porsche 911 one night, so I changed my mind and decided it had to be one of them. But when I went to a garage in the UK I saw the Ferrari and just went for it. I wouldn’t say I was bullied into buying it, but my friends defnitely planted a seed in there, and I ended up regretting it. In the end, I decided to exchange it after only a couple of months for an Aston Martin DB9, which was fantastic. I just felt so much more comfortable.
A couple of years ago I got a deal with Jaguar, so lately I’ve been driving those. At the moment it’s an F-Pace. I’ve had issues with my hips, so driving sports cars isn’t the best. Having something bigger, where I sit upright and with loads of space is perfect. I’ve had problems with my back as well, and driving sports cars for any length of time leaves my back stif and sore. I’ve also got two young children now, so I need something I can ft them in.
My wife drives a Range Rover; she’s had a couple of those since we’ve been together. She loves them. She won’t go in my car and I’m not allowed to drive hers. We had a Defender too – she loved it. I liked how it looked, but found it really difcult to drive. It’s the only car I’ve ever driven that felt like too much work.
I wouldn’t rule out getting another sports car in the future, when I’m fnished playing, but for now I’m sticking to the bigger stuf – it’s just better for my body.