My first car … John Power (lead singer with Cast)

THE first car that was properly mine was a Triumph TR4A, 1967. I drove that everywhere for about ten years.

I’d never made enough money to buy a car until the band took off, and Triumph is a good old British make, classic without being flash. If you’re driving a little Trumph, you don’t really get a lot of people thinking, “Aye aye look at him.” You tend to get a warmth because of the history of it and the way they look. It used to make a wonderful noise and people would be endeared to it. It says a bit about your character, doesn’t it? Driving it was like playing an old Gibson guitar. I’ve never played really contemporary guitars. There’s something about old amps, old guitars and old cars. I’m not a mechanic but the smell of the oil, the hot air coming up... I always use to be a bit upset when I’d got where I was going to because the drive was wonderful. It was a soft top, the wind would be blowing around you and you could hear the sheep in the fields. It’s a completely different experience to driving a modern car – modern cars just feel like a space buggy, you’re so removed from the actual experience of driving.

I tell you something I noticed – the mechanics would be racing to get to it because they were always working on modern cars and with something like a Triumph, they could get their hands on an engine and actually fix it. Most of the guys would tell you they’d worked on one when they were lads – you’d end up having a nice chat with the fella while he got you on your way.

• John Power is lead singer of the band Cast. The band’s UK tour includes a date at the O2 Academy, Glasgow, on Friday