Motoring: Uri's car crosses the world

World famous paranormal practitioner Uri Geller recalls his worst car

IT WAS the first big money that I had earned from my paranormal work, and I decided to invest that in a brand new car. I'd had a couple of used cars previously, but needed a reliable vehicle, which how I came to own a Peugeot 404.

I believed the advertising. At that time, around 1970, the Peugeot was being sold as a luxury car which was also very strong. That was precisely what I needed, because I had a long journey to and from Jerusalem every day. However, the first time I used the Peugeot I found out just how bad it was.

I could not believe how it struggled up the hills. People on bicycles would be overtaking me. The Peugeot got progressively slower and slower, and just before I thought it would come to a halt, it finally reached the brow of the hill. After that it would pick up speed on the way down.

It was truly awful. I had it checked out by several garages, but they could not find any problem with it. I put up with it for about a year, and then got rid of it. I thought no more about that 404 until four years ago.

I was in Brazil in 1994, and every day I jog. I was with my son Daniel, and we were in a suburb of Rio de Janiero, when I saw the front of an old Peugeot poking out from a garage. I remember saying to my son that I had a car like that more than 20 years ago.

As I got closer, though, I became convinced that it actually was my old 404. We finally went over and looked through the window. On the dashboard I spotted a sticker which said F N Handguns, which was the make of gun I owned when I lived in Israel. So it was definitely my car.

If I had come across my old worst car in Cyprus, that would not have been so much of a surprise. So how on earth it had ended up on the other side of the world, I will never really understand.

Presumably, someone knew it was my old car and had it shipped out there. But if anyone else has another explanation, I'd love to hear it.

Uri Geller's Little Book of Mind-Power is published by Robson Books and costs pounds 2.50.