Heart and soul

This is a car from an era when cars were real, writes

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It was a time when, if you had a problem with your car, you could have a go at fixing it yourself, or get your local mechanic to give it a once over and maybe stick a screwdriver down the carb.

With modern cars, lights will flash from the dash and instruct you to get to your nearest main dealer, where a vehicle trained technician will plug your pride and joy into a laptop and send your car an instant message.

In 1978 cars were put together by workers rather than robots, but the main difference was an added extra part which came with the car at no extra cost. A soul!

For those of you who have not had the experience of driving a pre 90s car, If you ever do, you will appreciate what I'm saying. You may not like the car but you will get a feeling, that this car is not just another jelly mould.

This is even more apparent in the Porsche 911. My 3.0 Sport Coupe is not a show winner or perfect by any standard, but it exudes character from every panel and every stitch of its being.

The look of the classic 911 can't be mistaken. It shouts originality. It is a car that doesn't have perfectly elegant lines or grace, but for some reason when you look at it, you love it and find it appealing. You don't want to take your eyes away from it.

After owning and driving hundreds of cars, vans and trucks over the years, this has got to be the most demanding and awkward vehicle I have driven.

As you sit facing forwards, you have to bend at the hips so that your legs point left at the offset pedals. If you don't give 100% concentration, you won't get get a clean gear change.

Somewhere between the clutch and the gating of the gears it can so easily become a grinding mess instead of a smooth operation. The cramped and hot surroundings due to the air-cooled engine sitting behind you make it even harder work.

After bearing with the brute up to this stage, it slowly becomes a fight on the road. You have to tame this car and show it that you are master.

As you take control you forget that it's such a chore, and start to enjoy the prowess of the car through the bends, as the engine sitting over the back wheels has a pendulum effect on the handling of the car.

You really do feel rewarded and closer to the car when you take it back home and park it away in the garage.

You won't generate moods and feelings like these in a Mondeo or Vectra - they just don't have the soul!

The babe in the picture is my four-year-old daughter, Vaneeta.

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