My First Car: Why Peter Horbury's first love was a Renault

Peter, who was raised in Sheffield, is now the senior vice president, executive advisor, at Group Lotus, where he is revered as a “globally renowned designer”.

But he was a young man when he got his hands on the Renault. “I would like to get my hands on one again,” he said.

“It was a 1967 model with a wide grille and I had many adventures with that car. I changed the drive shaft on it on a regular basis but I had it for about five years.

“I had a neighbour who worked in the motor trade who helped me to keep it going.”

Peter, 72, has had a wide and varied career. He is widely known for his design work for Volvo, including as Executive Design Director, Americas for Ford between 2004 and 2009.

He was named UK magazine Autocar’s Designer of the Year in 1998 and during his career has been actively involved in the design of more than 50 cars.

It was during his time in America that he entered a draw for the right to buy a Ford GT, such was demand for the car. He was lucky enough to win and still has the car.

“I paid 170,000 dollars for it and it’s probably worth 400,000 dollars so it has been a good investment, but I still drive it.”

He now lives and works in Sweden and has a plug-in hybrid Range Rover as his everyday car.