Me and my car: Nik Brown

Coast host Nik Brown. Picture / Ted Baghurst

Nik Brown of Coast, the Warriors and Sky TV on his love affair with an ageing BMW

You drive a 1988 BMW 525 E28?

I've had it for 18 years. The colour is described as Cirrus Blue Metallic. When I did my big OE in 1986 I worked for a London garage specialising in BMW, Mercedes, Rolls-Royce, Volkswagen and Opel. The car I enjoyed driving most was the 525. Back in NZ a car yard had one, I took it for a drive and it felt good. So I got my wife to have a drive and she disappeared for an hour and said, "Buy it if you like." So I did. Mechanics always tell me this car drives almost like brand new. It has done 297,000k. I love it so much I have spent nearly $6000 at Jordan Panelbeaters -- they are artists -- getting the panels done, all the rust taken out.

First car?

A black 1961 Morris Minor two-door. I got my licence when I was 15 and got the car when I was 17. My dad gave me the basic instructions and then he made me go to a driving school. He didn't want me to learn any bad habits. The instructor smoked a pipe and if I kept my foot on the clutch too long he would whack me with the pipe.

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Your dream car ...

I decided if I had to buy one car for the rest of my life, it would be a Mercedes because they are rewarding. Until I drove a Bentley Flying Spur. The Mercedes would come a good second.

Manual or automatic?

The older you get, the more you tend to use automatics. But I recently bought a small car so the kids can learn in a manual. It doesn't matter that it is only 1400cc, you can have more fun in a manual, at the speed limit, than you can in an automatic. You learn more car control with a manual, you have to be aware of what the engine is doing.

Most memorable road trip?

When I had just left school, a friend and I decided to go to Northland in a Mini. We got on a forestry road and met a logging truck coming the other way. The road wasn't wide so we had to back all the way out. We also got the car stuck on Ninety Mile Beach.

How often do you clean your car?

It used to be every weekend but now it's every three weeks because I use long-lasting wax and that's easy to hose off every couple of weeks.

What do you listen to?

I work in radio so I like to listen to the engine. I am a strange person, I talk to my car so I let my car talk to me when I'm just in there by myself.

Great day trip out of Auckland?

I go to see my parents in Hamilton. In the big blue car I can get it down to about 7 litres per 100km without breaking the speed limit and it is a 2.7-litre car so it can be quite economical. It's a pleasurable run. I open the sunroof and if it's sunny I wind the windows down and pretend I am in a convertible. If it's not, I have the heater on.

Do you judge people by what they drive?

What I have noticed on the road more and more is, Audi drivers are by far the most arrogant drivers. I did a study of it in Grey Lynn. Silver Audis are the worst drivers, white Audis are the next worse, then red Audis and then BMW drivers.

Do you have a special number plate?

I have this number plate PLONKA but I haven't had a car ridiculous enough to put it on. It would definitely go on a pink Lamborghini or an enormous white Bentley.

• Nik Brown is music director and 12-to-3 announcer on Coast, ground announcer at Warriors home games and part of The Dirt team on Sky TV over summer. He spoke to Donna McIntyre.