Car Torque .... with F1 commentator James Allen

What was your first car?

My first car was an orange VW Beetle 1303S - the 1970s one. It wasn't very fast, but it was very strong. I understeered in the snow once, the car went straight as I turned right and it slid into a lamp post and bent the lamp post, not the car! At school we used to go down in it to the beach north of Liverpool at lunchtime to meet the girls from the school down the road. One of them had a similar orange Beetle.

How many times did it take to pass your test?

Passing my test was my main goal in life from about the age of 13 so I'm happy to say I did it first time, about three months after my 17th birthday. My wife always boasts that she beat that, she passed one month after! I was lucky though. On the test day as we arrived at the Test Centre, my instructor said: "Read the number plate on that car." I couldn't. "You're kidding?" he said. I wasn't. We moved closer until I could read it. "Good luck," he said. I needed glasses but there was no time now. When the test started the examiner said: "Read the number plate on that car." It was the same car! I remembered the plate from ten minutes earlier and on we went from there. About 60 seconds after driving out of the test centre a dog ran into the road. I did a real emergency stop. I knew I'd passed then.

Who would be your ideal fantasy passenger and where would you go?

My great-grandfather Clarry, who was a well-known engineer and editor in the late Victorian era. He wrote definitive books on steam locomotives and other engineering matters. I'm fascinated by him and my Dad - who is now 81 and an ex-Lotus racer – and I are determined to find out more about him. I'd drive with him around London in his day, hearing his stories and seeing London of the late 1800s.

What is your dream car?

I've always liked Ferraris from the 1960s and 1970s and cars that were on Top Trumps when I was a kid, like the Lamborghini Miura and Ferrari Daytona. I know someone who has a Miura, lucky sod. If I have to name one it would be the Ferrari 275GTB, the most beautiful car ever made.

How would you describe your driving style?

On the road I'm quite a smooth driver, no jerky movements - I like the car to be stable. I have very good anticipation from years as a motorbike rider - you have to on a bike. I get on with it though and always have the sat nav on even if I know the route backwards, because I like to know how long to the destination. As a Dad with two boys who ride bicycles, I've found that I observe the 20mph and 30mph limits more than before I had kids.

Tell me one driving anecdote from your past?

I once travelled in a car with Paul Newman, the movie star, back to the hotel we were all staying in from a race track in the USA. That was one of the most memorable 30 minutes of my life. I used to drive Murray Walker to the circuit from the hotel every day when we worked together on ITV F1. He had these fantastic stories from the War and the old days of racing. One day I put unleaded in a diesel hire car by mistake and he went off with the cameraman and produced this p***-take video about it. If there had been Facebook in those days it would have gone viral, it was very funny.

What are you listening to?

My youngest boy sings a lot; in the house, in the bath, in the car, so we have to listen to that quite a bit! I love music, from the latest stuff on 6 Music to Radio 3, I have very wide tastes. And lots of Radio 5 Live of course. I love to find myself on Saturday afternoon driving a long distance, listening to Dermot O'Leary and his Saturday Sessions on Radio 2. They always have great stuff.

What do you drive now?

I really like the Land Rover Discovery; I'm about to buy a Disco 4, replacing my Disco 3. I also have an Audi A3 convertible and my every day transport in London is a Yamaha XMax 250, which is a brilliant scooter. For fun, off road, I ride a 1973 Honda 250 Elsinore motocross bike.