Garth Johnstone: What was your first ever car?
Wendy Knowler: A 1979 Ford Escort 1600 Sport aptly called Harvey Wallbanger.
GJ: How did you come to get it, through your folks, or did you have to wait on tables, etc?
WK: I was 18, and it was a hand-me-down from my mother. Yes, very spoilt.
GJ: Looking back now, what did you love or hate about the car?
WK: I adored everything about the car, with a passion – its power, its sporty looks (by 80s standards!) and mostly the way it made me feel: wild and free. I retain a fondness for the Ford brand to this day as a result.
GJ: Any fond stories, anecdotes, features about the car that come to mind?
WK: It travelled between Durban and Maritzburg Varsity every week at speeds which would have given my father sleepless nights had he known.
GJ: What was the cost of the car, and if you can remember, what did it cost to fill up?
WK: I remember it cost R4 200 new from a Durban dealership called Grosvenor Ford. I’m afraid I don’t remember what it cost to fill up.
GJ: What car do you and Alan (husband and fellow journo Alan Cooper) own today?
WK: A six-year-old Subaru Forester and a new turbo-diesel Ford Figo.
GJ: Are you a gadget and gizmos person when it comes to cars, or do you look for performance?
WK: Performance is the main thing for me.
GJ: As a family, what do you look in for a car?
WK: In the primary family car, a balance between performance, “go-anywhere-ness”, flexible space and affordability.
GJ: Your dream car/vehicle?
WK: Right now, I’m coveting the new diesel Forester. If you’re talking real “dream on” stuff, of all the cars I’ve ever test driven, the most desirable, exhilarating one by far was the Bentley Continental Supersports Coupe. Dynamite.
GJ: Any fond road trip memories in a special car?
WK: Travelling to Cape Town and back in the hybrid Toyota Prius soon after its launch in SA in 2005. The looks on the faces of the petrol attendants in the little dorps as we pulled up in absolute silence under electric power was priceless! R