ME AND MY CARS: Tim Vincent: TV PRESENTER

My first car

It was a Nova Merit 1.2-litre, which I paid for myself. I had been working on Children's Ward since I was 15, so I was being paid; but, unlike most kids whose parents will put them on their insurance to save money, I had to pay for my own. Still my parents refused to let me buy the Peugeot 205 I really wanted! You never forget the feeling of driving by yourself for the first time " it's a feeling of absolute freedom

My worst car

The next car that I had was a Peugeot 205 Excess. I bought it from a friend of a friend who was in the trade. It had all those trademark signs of a slightly sporty car that has been driven really hard. Both the exhaust and the clutch needed replacing.

My favourite car

When the Porsche Boxster was first released, I saw it and thought that I had to have one. I really enjoyed driving it and it got a lot of attention, because it was only a few months after it first came out and the first one that people had seen driving around.

I don't like private registrations very much, but as it was one of the first off the production line, I just took it with the price of the car; it was P200 BOX for Porsche Boxster.

One day I was driving down this street, stuck in traffic, and this bunch of kids were yelling: 'Nice car, pity about the number plate,' and I asked what was wrong with the number plate. 'It says it's a Poo Box.'

I thought: 'Great! I have worked hard and bought the car I really wanted. Trust a bunch of kids to tell it how it is.'

My worst crash

I wrote off a hire car once. People always say it is not their fault when they have an accident, but it really wasn't mine. I was on quite a fast road and a couple in a caravan just pulled right out in front of me. There was nowhere I could go other than straight into the back of them. It was pretty messy; the car and caravan went one way and I went the other. They accepted full responsibility, the driver just hadn't looked properly before pulling over. Before I bought my first car I used to drive my mum's Nissan Micra. I did some damage to the wheels by scraping them all the way up the pavement " not dramatic but quite expensive.

Tim Vincent is in New York presenting 'Access Hollywood' six nights a week on NBC.

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