MY FIRST CAR
SIMON EVANS’ first car was a Peugeot 205 which he loved when he was a young sales rep in London.
“It wasn’t grand but it was good,” he said. “I was selling advertising space and I was doing well. This must have been 1989 or so.
“I know the car took me to Glastonbury one year to the festival so I have some pretty good memories of that car.
“I was a little late to driving, probably 22 or 23, but I enjoyed it.
“I was starting to become seduced by the corporate world, which I realised eventually wasn’t for me.”
Eventually he went on a late gap year break to Karachi and then to Australia. “I inherited £1,000, which wasn’t a fortune but it was enough to pay off my credit card bills, which weren’t enormous my today’s standards. The inheritance allowed me to travel, which was great.
Simon picked up juggling skills abroad and even made his own juggling balls – “bird seed and balloons, it’s very easy” – before eventually becoming a comedian.
“I developed a love for big older cars, like BMWs, sort of ocean-going liners of the road,” he added.
“I have a BMW 520i now which is fabulous. It has a lot of the new features like head- up display and the like.”
Simon, 57, is touring at the moment (Selby Town Hall on May 19 and Bradford Alhambra on June 17) and uses his car for most dates, “Trains are OK, but I don’t find it as relaxing as I should. All that shared space, it doesn’t do it for me,” he said.
“And trains tend to drop you off miles from where you actually want to be, so I do prefer cars to be honest.
“I have considered electric and I will probably get one at some point but the infrastructure isn’t there at the moment.”