A confession... or at least a revelation.

I’m jotting this as I travel in a car, it's okay, I’m a passenger, not the driver.

I realise many people like to know about the authors whose books they read, so this post is a reveal, a confession... I am a bit of a petrolhead.

I'm on the right, wearing sunglasses.

Although I do mention cars in several of my books, I do not often go into any intricate descriptions. I like to leave much of the detail in my stories to the reader's imagination. I think this respects the reader, allowing them the freedom to create such subjective images, and for their imaginings to become an integral part of the story.

My belief is allowing the reader personal visualisation is what makes books far superior to a film, or a movie, where every detail is spoon-fed to those watching, it leaves nothing, or very little to the imagination.

Whereas with a book the author simply suggests many things, it is the reader whose mind interprets and creates the fictitious, fanciful world they find themselves enveloped in. The details, such as the lighting, the furniture in a room, the scent carried on the breeze, that faint noise, the car the protagonist is driving... are all best left to the reader's imagination.

This is why two, or more, people can read the same book, arrive at the same destination, the conclusion, yet experience a very different journey. A book is a personal, unique, and distinctive passage between the front and rear covers. A trip only one person can travel.

So, back to me being a petrolhead.

Now, I’m not a full-blown V8 - cannot live without going to the track, an exhibition, a car show, or even needing to down a pint of super unleaded petrol for breakfast, type of motor manic.

I just enjoy cars and driving.

I have been fortunate enough to have owned many vehicles, the good, the bad, and downright crumbling death traps. It’s all part of being a car fanatic.

Disasters include a Mark 2 Ford Escort. The only thing keeping my feet from scraping the tarmac through the gaping hole in the floor were the rubber mats and a loose sheet of plywood.

Another was an Opel Manta. A rather sleek-looking sporty number, at least when new. Mine however had coach bolts holding the doors in place. Oh, and the engine exploded one afternoon as I coaxed the rattling wreck homewards.

There were other cars I’ve owned which I would not classify as amazing, but each, in its way gets a touch of affection from me, primarily for having character.

One was a Mark 1 Escort. Not any Mark 1 but an Escort Mexico. Painted in Daytona Yellow with a large rear fin, and a blue and red stripe running the length of the body from the boot, over the roof to the bonnet.

Cool.

Way off the mark was a car I purchased simply to use as a truck. I needed to move some house bricks, quite a few, from a reclamation yard a few miles up the road to where I was building a raised patio.

These bricks came from a demolished farmhouse. They were old, red, and handmade. Perfect for the look I intended for my build.

£300 got me a beige... yes, old man beige coloured, Austin Maxi. You know the car, one with hydropneumatic suspension.

The other great thing about this antiquated machine was how the seats folded flat. The rear seats lifted and sat flush with the backs of the front seats, and the backs of the rear seats then folded flush with the floor. The result was a massive, perfectly flat goods area. All this was metal-lined. It was like a king-sized double bed.

I had only intended to keep the car whilst I was doing the building work but ended up owning it for three years. I sold it for the same amount I purchased it £300.

Bargain.

The third, an underrated, but excellent car was the Daewoo Laganza. The ‘posh’ luxury offering of this manufacturer, and quite a rare car.

I bought my Laganza when I exchanged an excellent car, a Ford Granada Scorpio, but more about that later. The Laganza had electric everything, wooden trim, leather upholstery, and excellent road holding. It was a very comfortable drive.

A little-known fact is this car’s design was originally for Jaguar. Several designs for a new Jaguar were submitted and, in my opinion, the wrong one was selected. Had the design which became the Daewoo Laganza been chosen by Jaguar it would have been given the name ‘Jaguar Westminster’... very British indeed.

So, now onto some cars worthy of a petrol head.

I’ve had many but will pick a few I think will interest you most.

As I’ve already mentioned it, I’ll start with the Ford Granada Scorpio. This was not the sad boggle-eyed version, which was a total farce in almost every sense, but the previous model.

It was a heavy lump of luxury combined with amazing power. A three-litre V6 Cosworth engine enabled this luxury cruiser to accelerate wonderfully and smoothly.

Clad in soft leather, roof, doors and armchair-like heated seats, back and front, the rear ones reclining by a smooth worm drive mechanism. Heated ‘quick clear’ windscreen, and even a trip computer... high tech back in the day.

It handled amazingly well for a huge car, assisted, if needed by ABS and other techy gizmos.

I loved driving this beast.

Sadly, like many cars of the era, its bodywork was prone to rust, especially the rear wheel arches. I was in a dilemma whether to repair or buy another vehicle. As I said above, I eventually exchanged the Scorpio for the Laganza. I liked the Laganza, but it was not a patch on the Cosworth Scorpio.

The next car I’ll speak of was a little sporty number. Well, it was little in size, but I was back to a car with a powerful engine and one with a great power-to-weight ratio.

It was a Toyota Celica GT4 (WRC). Black, sleek, and very fast. Two litre, twin entry turbo, 200bhp, slick gearshift and, to my son's delight ‘pop-up’ headlights.

It was a delight to drive, comfortable, great acceleration, very, very slick gearshift, and superb road-holding.

One of my all-time favourites was my beautiful, dark blue Nissan Skyline R34 GTT. It was one of only four of this model imported into the UK from Japan. When it arrived it only had twenty-five miles on the clock.

Unlike many other R34s, this one, the GTT (not a GTR) was a practical supercar. It was not a two-door coupe, but a four-door saloon. It still came with Nismo’s amazing 2.5 twin-turbo, four-wheel drive, four-wheel steering, along with all the electronic gizmos one associates with the Skyline. Oh, when it arrived in the UK it was limited to 150mph. I soon had the limiter removed… but, of course, I never exceeded the speed limits on public roads.

The GTT stands for Grand Turismo Tiptronic, which means this car had a Tiptronic gearbox, giving the driver several options for changing gears.

The first option was fully automatic, the lazy way, but ideal for stop/start town and city motoring.

Option two was to push the gear lever to the left, where it would become a sequential gear change, simply flick it forward or backward to change gears up or down.

The third option, and good for the track, was the two rocker switches on the steering wheel. Using your thumbs you pressed the switches, rocking them up or down to change gear. To engage this function, you put the car into sequential mode, then press a small button, with a steering wheel logo on it, located on the central consul just above the gear lever. You are now set to change gears with a tap of your thumb.

Both switches, one located on each side of the steering wheel, did the same thing, so you could change gears with whichever hand, or thumb, was most convenient.

Distinctive, fast… very fast, stunning acceleration, and superb handling, the Skyline R34 is one of my favourite drives of all time.

Lastly, for today's post, is my Aston Martin DB7 Volante.

6 litre, V12 with a supercharger that screamed when you accelerated swiftly. It was always tempting to press the pedal just to hear the supercharger kick in, and unlike single turbo charge cars, which can sometimes have a slight ‘lag’ while the turbo winds up to speed, the supercharger kicked in immediately.

As this car was a soft top cabriolet coupe, or Volante in Aston's terms, it was a wonderful feeling to be open to the elements and feel the wind blow through your hair as you powered down the road.

Fast cars are great fun. I love them. They deserve respect though and one cannot do better than to learn to drive them well.

Track days are perfect for this.

I have been lucky enough to have a few, from learning to handle a car on a tarmac training and rally course based on a disused airfield in Yorkshire, the same location used to train Police pursuit drivers, to spending time at Brands Hatch motor racing circuit, and racing various cars at the Yas Marina track in Dubai.

The above are just a few of the cars I have owned, I have driven many more and intend to carry on driving for as long as I'm physically able.

I intend to carry on writing too.

I am working on a new novel right now, one titled ‘Floyd’. It’s a fast-paced tale of revenge; a violent, slasher style of a tale but one with a twisted and intricate storyline.

While you wait for Floyd, why not browse my website and select your next read? https://bit.ly/paulswebsite 

Let me know what you think of the book you chose, DM me, or leave a review on Amazon.

Thank you for reading this post. I hope you have learnt a little more about me. I’m open to comments, and feedback.I would love to hear from you.

Keep Happy, Paul.