Me and My Car: Lucy Stuart of Whoopie Pies

Lucy Stuart makes Whoopie Pies, a Kiwi spin on a classic American treat of two soft cakes, sandwiched together with creamy fillings. Photo / Ted Baghurst

Lucy Stuart makes Whoopie Pies, a Kiwi spin on a classic American treat of two soft cakes, sandwiched together with creamy fillings.

What do you drive?
A cute maroon 2006 Toyota bB, with tinted windows and alloy wheels. The brief was it needed to be a funky shape to suit the Whoopie brand, economical to run and able to be a van or a passenger vehicle. Nick saw the (used import) bB and fell in love with it.

Who is allowed to drive your car?
My fiance Nick but we have it insured for anyone over 25 to drive. As much as I want to have this car as my own, we are always delivering around town and the little bB is our workhorse.

First car?
Toyota Rav4, absolutely loved it.

Your dream car?
A 1960s American classic will always melt my heart.

Favourite car colour?
Yellow always brings a ray of sunshine into my day.

Manual or automatic?
Auto all the way. I can drive a manual car, however, I find traffic stressful so I enjoy the simplicity of an automatic.

What do you always have in your car?
Hair clips, hair ties, empty bottles of water, mints, dog treats and a Satnav - I use it religiously. My car is like my bag with wheels.

Most memorable road trip?
When Nick and I were courting (I like that old-fashioned word) we did a slow road trip to Wellington to see his parents. It was my first time driving through the North Island. We went off the main road a few times to look at the beautiful country.

What do you listen to?
Music is important in our car. When I was younger my dad said if you can sing all the words to the song you can keep listening to that particular radio station. If you didn't know the words then it would get changed. So now the car has become a travelling karaoke machine with auto detune on the voice. Nick comes from working in the music biz and likes to keep the tunes varied but I always get my Sam Smith moment.

Great day trip out of Auckland?
We had a great day trip for Nick's birthday. We live in Kumeu so we drove up the back roads north and had a morning at Snow Planet, carried on north to Matakana for lunch, then to Orewa beach to walk it off then back down to the Waiwera Hot Pools for a bit of R & R before heading home for a good sleep.

If you could go anywhere with anyone in any car?
With Nick and our dog, and we would travel in a convertible in summer from Venice to St Tropez, Rome and Paris.

Do you judge people by their car?
Not at all. For some people, cars are simply a means of transport, for others they are a statement and a passion.

Would you rather drive in Auckland or take public transport?
Drive all the way. When we moved to Kumeu we saw the train line to Newmarket was just eight minutes' drive away, so we thought we would give it a go. For Nick and I return is around $32. Our Toyota bB is around $10 in fuel.

Is there room for cars and cyclists on NZ roads?
The way NZ roads have been designed there needs to be respect from both parties. Cars need to give room and cyclists need to ride in single file and keep to the side of the road. I hope future road design takes cars and bikes into consideration.