Car Torque .... with TV host and Middlesbrough fan Kay Murray

It was a silver Ford Fiesta, which we nicknamed the ‘Silver Surfer’. It has already had a mention in this column, as it was also my best mate Hayley McQueen’s first set of wheels! Her lovely Granddad had been the original owner.

I paid less than a grand for it and it never let me down. I moved to London when I was 18 and so I didn't really need a car for my first few years there.

That all changed when I got a job as a trainee journalist, working for the Hendon Times. I sold the car to a young female teacher when I landed a job at Real Madrid TV in Spain. It actually broke my heart a little bit to do so. It’s funny how attached you can become emotionally attached to a big hunk of metal.

How many times did it take to pass your test?

I passed on my second attempt. My first driving instructor was a lovely fella called Bill Butcher, whose son I went to primary school with. I took the second test down in London, after a course of lessons in the big city, with another really good instructor, named Vinod. I think I was in a Nissan Micra with both instructors. When I passed, I still gave Bill a call to let him know and to thank him for all the time he’d spent teaching me how to drive. I never told him nor Vinod about the time I crashed a golf buggy in Estepona when I was 12, though.

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

I think it would have to be the comedian, Louis CK. The more annoying the journey, the better because frustrating situations are where his best jokes seem to stem from. He also has some poor eating habits, which are more than welcome on road trips. We’d take the ‘Going-To-The-Sun’ road, which crosses the Glacier National Park in Montana.

I’m told it’s amazing. I’m lucky to have already taken some pretty epic road trips in the US and beyond with my boyfriend - we love a road trip!

In the last few years we’ve done a number of drives to Orlando – obviously - Las Vegas to LA, Denver to Aspen and Milan to Monte Carlo, to name but a few.

What is your dream car?

I like classic cars, but a Porsche 911 has been my dream car since I was a kid. But I also have a big thing for big American cars - I daydream about having a Chevy Tahoe or a Cadillac Escalade, below.

How would you describe your driving style?

Apart from the fact that I like to go fast, I pretty much go by the rules, because I get so frustrated at those who don’t. Miami has got to have the worst drivers I have ever encountered. The city has actually been voted as America’s worst when it comes to driving. Rules are rarely obeyed and they get away with things we never would in the UK.

Tell me one driving anecdote from your past?

My friends used to call my driving anecdotes ‘Kay’s Driving Diaries’ because I’d always come home and tell them something that had happened during my travels each day. If I started to rant, they'd tell me to ‘save it for the driving diaries!’ The best of my driving stories actually happened when someone else was driving - my Dad. He was a long-distance lorry driver and as kids we took in turns to go on road trips with him. He had bunk beds in his wagon and it was always a brilliant feeling and great fun when it was your turn to go.

What are you listening to?

I listen to a subscription-based channel called Sirius XM, because it has a football channel and it helps me keep up to date with all that’s going on each day. In between the US-based programs, it broadcasts TalkSPORT. I like hearing the UK traffic news comes on, it’s a taste of home. I also like the easy-listening stations that I can sing along too! Never mind the shower, I do my singing in the car.

What do you drive now?

I drive an Audi A4, because I really like Audis. They look really nice and sporty, they have great interiors and they drive well.

I’m ready for a change though, but I think I’ll stay with the same manufacturer - maybe something a bit bigger or sportier. Or both!