Me And My Car: Emma Hope, shoe designer

Emma Hope loves all things automotive. She speaks to Elizabeth Skerritt

FIRST CAR

It was a white Mini with a sunroof that I could wind back. I inherited it from my aunt, who lived on the King's Road, when I first moved to London, aged 18. I used to struggle parking it, and used the metal bumpers a lot. It was eventually destroyed when a car crashed into it outside the house.

WORST CAR

I think people always love their cars - I get very attached to mine. But the worst car was a black Polo I had for a few years. It had blacked-out windows which meant it counted as a van, so I didn't have to pay VAT. For a while it didn't have any back seats and passengers just had to lie down, until I decided to upgrade it and bought some second-hand seats from a junk-dealer. I had a minor crash in it on Ebury Street once and overheard a man saying, "I would have thought Emma Hope would drive a more expensive car than that"!

FAVOURITE CAR

I currently drive my ideal car. It is a blue Toyota 4Runner. It is a farmer-style car and is perfect for pulling a horsebox along. It is quite a rare model that came from Scotland - I found it on the Auto Trader Interactive website. Once found, all I had to do was pay an AA man £200 to check it over, haggle a bit, and the car was then delivered to my door. I'm now on my second Toyota 4Runner.

WORST CRASH

I was the spectator of my worst crash. I had just finished a day's hunting and felt exhausted and very hungry. I got out of my car and, distracted by a piece of cheesecake, forgot to put the handbrake on. Unfortunately, I had also locked the car so could not jump in when the car started to roll backwards. I watched it gain speed and crash into a barn. It was very odd watching it all, rather like watching a stunt.