A 'mature' Rover saloon left a young Angela Brett's street cred near zero but she lost no money on her first buy.

My first car story has little, or no, romance at all – unfortunately, only that of desperation and necessity.

After passing my test first time in a burgundy Ford Fiesta 1.25 Zetec – and occasionally having the use of my mum's red Vauxhall Nova 1.2 Spin which I would have much preferred to be my first car as it was much cooler than my actual one – I just needed a car. My first job was 30 miles away and, with only a limited bus service where I lived, I needed to get something sorted.

My £1,200 purchase was a 1988 F-registered Rover 213i four-door saloon, five-speed manual in (almost) white and with patches of sunburnt rust. But it had a full service history, a clean MOT, one previous (mature) owner and a manual choke – which I struggled with and managed to flood the engine – but it was roadworthy and did the job.

This car purchase, at the age that I was, would have been more suited as a mature family car, so my street cred was close to zero.

The best bits of owning this car were that I managed to sell it six months later for the same price and that it had big, soft, squidgy velour grey seats.

Memories of my second car are much more romantic, as my first job in the motor trade came with a company car – a girl's dream come true... a pink 1.3 Toyota Starlet.

Everyone has memories of their first car and we want to hear about your original set of wheels. Email your story with a picture of the car to motoring@archant.co.uk or post it to Andy Russell, motoring editor, Archant, Prospect House, Rouen Road, Norwich, NR1 1RE.