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My Life in Cars: Sharron Davies | Top Gear

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The Olympic swimmer on 2CVs, Audi Quattros and powerboat racing

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The Olympic swimmer on 2CVs, Audi Quattros and powerboat racing

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The Olympic swimmer on 2CVs, Audi Quattros and powerboat racing

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The Olympic swimmer on 2CVs, Audi Quattros and powerboat racing

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As soon as I turned 17 I learnt to drive in a Triumph Dolomite. Then after that I used to steal my dad’s car all the time – that was one of those awful Austin Princesses. It looked like a wedge on wheels.

I wouldn’t really say I was into cars when I was young, not like my son. He absolutely adores Formula 1.

The first car that I ever bought was a Citroën 2CV. I remember pulling the gearstick off when I was trying to change gear one time. They weren’t quite as loved in the early 1980s as they are now.

I progressed quite quickly to a Honda Prelude. Honda were kind enough to help me with a sponsorship deal and they gave me a very sensible price to buy it. I was very proud of that because in that day it was quite sporty. It was really reliable too.

After that I had an Audi Quattro. This is when I started to get into cars a little bit and I was a big follower of Michèle Mouton. I loved the idea that you had this car that was like glue on the roads, which is what everyone thought at the time.

Then I had a Mercedes CLK and a C4 Audi A6, both of which I really loved. And after those I treated myself to what was a brand-new BMW 8 Series. It was that lovely shade of blue and wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea at the time, but I absolutely loved it and kept it for four or five years. It was the first car that I blew some serious money on. The new 8 Series is lovely too and I went to have a look recently, but I put my sensible hat on and didn’t get one. It’s a lot of money.

I’ve always liked cars that are a bit different. When I bought the CLK it was six months old and an Australian millionaire had owned it before me. He’d specced a green leather interior and a walnut dash.

After the BMW I bought myself a Porsche 911 Carrera 4. Without doubt that was the best car I’ve ever driven. It was around the same time as when BMW first brought the Mini back and I got one of those too. That was the only car I’ve ever sold for more money than I bought it for.

I’ve had Minis ever since to go alongside family cars. The Porsche had to go when I ended up having my son because we just couldn’t get everybody in it. I got a Lexus RX Hybrid after that.

There were phases of my life where I was knocking out 30,000 miles a year, but I don’t do that these days. I went through a couple of Range Rovers – I had an Evoque and then a Range-Rover Sport, but on a New Years Eve my Range Rover Sport caught fire and took part of my house with it. I wouldn’t touch them now.

At the moment I’ve still got my Mini Convertible that I bought brand-new six or seven years ago, and I’ve got a Mini Clubman. The Convertible used to be orange but I’ve had it wrapped metallic gold.

I’ve done a bit of track driving. I actually did some testing with Lotus and also some rallying with Jimmy McRae up in the Welsh mountains. That was really cool. When you sit in the car with a rally driver is when you realise you’re not such a good driver.

I raced inshore powerboats for a while in the 1980s too. It wasn’t cars but they still had pretty big engines. I did two seasons in a monohull until I realised quite how dangerous it was. The catamarans are extraordinary – the engines are so big that if you sit still they sink. We were doing things like London and Bristol docks, but the problem with that was if there was any debris it would go straight through the boat. I stopped when a boat flipped and went over the top of me and landed the other side.

Sharron’s dream three-car garage

McLaren 720S

Porsche Cayenne

Mini Cabriolet

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As soon as I turned 17 I learnt to drive in a Triumph Dolomite. Then after that I used to steal my dad’s car all the time – that was one of those awful Austin Princesses. It looked like a wedge on wheels.

I wouldn’t really say I was into cars when I was young, not like my son. He absolutely adores Formula 1.

The first car that I ever bought was a Citroën 2CV. I remember pulling the gearstick off when I was trying to change gear one time. They weren’t quite as loved in the early 1980s as they are now.

I progressed quite quickly to a Honda Prelude. Honda were kind enough to help me with a sponsorship deal and they gave me a very sensible price to buy it. I was very proud of that because in that day it was quite sporty. It was really reliable too.

After that I had an Audi Quattro. This is when I started to get into cars a little bit and I was a big follower of Michèle Mouton. I loved the idea that you had this car that was like glue on the roads, which is what everyone thought at the time.

Then I had a Mercedes CLK and a C4 Audi A6, both of which I really loved. And after those I treated myself to what was a brand-new BMW 8 Series. It was that lovely shade of blue and wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea at the time, but I absolutely loved it and kept it for four or five years. It was the first car that I blew some serious money on. The new 8 Series is lovely too and I went to have a look recently, but I put my sensible hat on and didn’t get one. It’s a lot of money.

I’ve always liked cars that are a bit different. When I bought the CLK it was six months old and an Australian millionaire had owned it before me. He’d specced a green leather interior and a walnut dash.

After the BMW I bought myself a Porsche 911 Carrera 4. Without doubt that was the best car I’ve ever driven. It was around the same time as when BMW first brought the Mini back and I got one of those too. That was the only car I’ve ever sold for more money than I bought it for.

I’ve had Minis ever since to go alongside family cars. The Porsche had to go when I ended up having my son because we just couldn’t get everybody in it. I got a Lexus RX Hybrid after that.

There were phases of my life where I was knocking out 30,000 miles a year, but I don’t do that these days. I went through a couple of Range Rovers – I had an Evoque and then a Range-Rover Sport, but on a New Years Eve my Range Rover Sport caught fire and took part of my house with it. I wouldn’t touch them now.

At the moment I’ve still got my Mini Convertible that I bought brand-new six or seven years ago, and I’ve got a Mini Clubman. The Convertible used to be orange but I’ve had it wrapped metallic gold.

I’ve done a bit of track driving. I actually did some testing with Lotus and also some rallying with Jimmy McRae up in the Welsh mountains. That was really cool. When you sit in the car with a rally driver is when you realise you’re not such a good driver.

I raced inshore powerboats for a while in the 1980s too. It wasn’t cars but they still had pretty big engines. I did two seasons in a monohull until I realised quite how dangerous it was. The catamarans are extraordinary – the engines are so big that if you sit still they sink. We were doing things like London and Bristol docks, but the problem with that was if there was any debris it would go straight through the boat. I stopped when a boat flipped and went over the top of me and landed the other side.

Sharron’s dream three-car garage

McLaren 720S

Porsche Cayenne

Mini Cabriolet

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The Olympic swimmer on 2CVs, Audi Quattros and powerboat racing