Guernsey Press

'My van is actually smaller than my toolbox!’

Oliver Ashplant, commercial vehicles technician at TrustFord runs us through his life in cars

Published
Oliver Ashplant at TrustFord (Sophie Rabey, 25647663)

1. What was your first car?

It was a typical 17-year-old boy car: a Citroen Saxo 1.1 Desire. I soon saw the light and sold the Citroen to fund a Ford Fiesta Zetec-S which I enjoyed for a while. I then bought my van as it is much more practical.

Ford Fiesta Zetec S (25732649)

2.What do you drive now?

Now I drive a Piaggio Porter Van. The guys in the workshop take the mickey and call it ‘Olly’s Postman Pat van’ but it’s great for moving stuff around or putting tools in the back, yet small enough for the local roads. It’s actually smaller than my toolbox!

3. Any car disasters?

I was invited to attend the Awards for Excellence last year in Milton Keynes to collect my award for Apprentice of the Year. On the way, I was sick all over myself in the back of the hire car so had to strip off at the side of the road, get changed, then clean the car with what I had and spray it with deodorant. To make matters worse, I took my suitcase out of the car, put it on the floor and opened the lid against the exhaust that burnt a hole in my suitcase. The guys have never let me forget it – they even bought me a bright orange bucket for future trips.

Olly being congratulated by TV personality, Vernon Kay, general manager for Channel Islands, Jonathan Bell, TrustFord CEO, Stuart Foulds and the award sponsors (Paul Starr, 25732688)

4. Most interesting place you’ve ever driven?

I have only ever driven in Guernsey and Jersey, but when going to Awards for Excellence, we collected the hire car and my manager Steve was panicking that the car didn’t have sat nav, Mark, our sales manager just seems to know every road in the UK, so when we got

stuck in traffic on the motorway he just turns off and goes a different way. The staff from Jersey left the hotel two hours before us, yet we got to Gatwick 10 minutes after them. Steve now calls Mark ‘the human sat nav.’

5. What is your dream car?

I would love a MK1 Ford Escort that needs restoring, It’s the first Ford that was turned into a performance model with the Mexico and then the RS, I would then completely strip it and re-build it in concourse condition (meaning restored to how the vehicle came out of the factory new) then maybe do a road trip in it to some Ford classic shows in the UK.

MK1 Ford Escort (25732757)

Find out more about TrustFord at trustfordguernsey.co.uk