CAR’S CURVEBALLS

6 questions only we would ask

Tell us about your irst car... ‘It was a rear-drive Toyota Corolla 1.2, 1972 I think. I was given the car a day or two after getting my licence, and two days later I had an accident, changing the CD Discman while turning. That was a lesson.’ Which achievement makes you most proud? ‘My career. I come from Portugal, which doesn’t have a big car industry tradition. I began at Fiat, then Alfa, selling 1500 cars a year with a [small] €1.2m comms budget. Somehow I was responsible for marketing, product, sales. To come from such a small beginning, that’s it.’ What’s the best thing you’ve ever done in a car? ‘A road trip with my two best friends, all over Portugal in an Opel Corsa. We hadn’t planned where to go, had no places to sleep, had to work to earn money for food and fuel. We came home after six weeks.’ Supercar or classic car? ‘I love cars, I like supercars, but for me it’s an Alfa Giulietta Spider from 1962. I was trying to buy one in Italy but it’s a lot of money, even for one with lots of work to be done!’ Tell us how you screwed up ‘I can’t say when but in conversation I was invited to do another job… I didn’t quite realise I’d been o¨ered something! I screwed up an opportunity but sometimes you close a door and another one opens.’ Company curveball: which car won Kia’s irst motorsport race? ‘I have no clue! [It was a Kia Forte Koup in the 2010 Grand-Am Continental Tyre Challenge]. The US might do something racing Stinger. But Hyundai’s in WRC and now TCR [touring cars] oªicially, and to get di¨erentiation, if they’re doing something, we try not to do it!’