IAN POULTER

The two-time World Golf Champion and Ryder Cup legend on his vast collection

“I NEEDED TO UP MY GAME TO BE ABLE TO BUY A DECENT CAR”

Iwas always a wannabe petrolhead as a youngster – I just didn’t have the finances to be able to buy a nice car. My mum and dad always had very high mileage secondhand cars and my first was a £300 Vauxhall Astra. I had that for about 18 months before it died, then I bought myself a Fiesta XR2i. That was a very high mileage car again, but at least it was something a bit quicker. It didn’t last long, though – I crashed it soon after.

All I could afford afterwards was a £150 1.0-litre Fiesta. I was doing 50-minute drives to work every day, so it wasn’t long before that died. When I was 20, I realised that I really needed to up my golf game to be able to buy a decent car. I remember winning my first tournament and earning about £1,400 – shortly after I upgraded to a much newer Vauxhall Nova.

Over the next couple of years, my golf improved significantly, and my first proper car as a petrolhead was an R34 Nissan Skyline GT-R. It was an awesome car. I had it in Bayside Blue with no modifications.

I’m actually trying to find it at the moment so I can buy it back. I know it’s in the UK.

I won the Italian Open in 2000, and then a couple of other tournaments after that, and eventually I managed to buy myself a Ferrari 360 Modena. That was the first of my Ferraris – I’ve got a few now. I look at the history and heritage, going right back to their racing roots. They’ve had so much success through the years and I just love learning about all the different models.

I drive them a bit, but I also try and maintain them in perfect condition. My oldest is a 1967 275 GTB Four Cam. I had that fully restored about three years ago. It’s silver with black leather and won a Platinum Award at the Cavallino Classic concours last year. Next, in age order, is a 288 GTO. That’s an amazing car, it’s done 2,800 miles in 34 years.

I’ve got a 1990 Testarossa, which is my dad’s favourite car so I had to buy it. Then there’s an Enzo, a 458 Speciale Aperta – I’m jumping around now – and a 550 Barchetta. I’ve also got the LaFerrari and a LaFerrari

Aperta, and my daily-driving Ferrari is an FF. Then there’s the 488 Pista Aperta – that’s an absolute weapon. You can thrash the living hell out of it and it still wants more. And I’ve got a 512M – a right-hand drive version – I think they made 36 of them for the UK market.

It’s not just Ferraris, though. I’ve got a Ford GT from 2005 and also a new one – that wasn’t easy to get hold of. Then I’ve got a Porsche 911 GT2 RS and a MercedesAMG G63 which I like to use every day. The family car is a GLS 63.

Asking which is my favourite is like asking which one of my kids I prefer. I sold two cars a couple of years ago that I sort of regret, though; I had an amazing F50 which had done 240 miles from new, and an F40 which was just such an awesome car to drive. I’m looking to get both of those back.

I have a wish list of cars I’d love to own at some point, but being 43 I’m probably not going to be able to fulfil it. They’re bloody expensive, so I’m trying to play as good golf as I can to pacify the fascination.