MY FIRST CAR
Former Calendar presenter Duncan Wood learned a tough lesson with his first car: buy with caution.
Duncan, now 61, bought the car from a car trader who used the same golf club but it turned out to be far from a good buy.
“It taught me an important lesson,” said Duncan. “Don’t buy from pals. I was a keen golfer – still am – and all the second-hand car salesmen met up at the club and I got friendly with them.
“I can’t remember how it came about but I think the salesmen knew I was looking to buy a car.
“One of them said he had a good car for me and I went for it but it started leaking oil and it was never a good car for me.”
He had used his mother’s car, a Ford Escort Mark II, for a while but felt he needed his own wheels when he was working on the Sunderland Echo as a journalist.
“The Renault 5 probably cost me about £800,” he said. “This was in the early 1980s. I remember it had a very rock and roll drive.” He has now moved on to a Lexus which he adores for its ride and specification. “I have a NX300 and I love it,” he said.
“It’s big enough for my golf clubs – which is an important consideration for me – and it has a good interior with a feeling of luxury.
“I drive a lot up to Sunderland to see family and I love the car. It’s my second Lexus.”
Duncan, who now plays golf at Wetherby, retired from Calendar last year and is in the process of setting up a media company to offer training, guidance and content to CEOs and the like. He is just getting the business up and running.
He also does event hosting and is a patron to some charities in the region which he has long supported.
For details of his training enterprise visit www.broadcasttraining.org.