HughJanus' self interview

Your Forum name HughJanus


Real name Carl Whitley


Age 29


Occupation Senior Technical Services Officer for a County Council


Lives Nottinghamshire


Marital Status Single


which cars do you drive and why? Vauxhall Vectra 2.5v6 SRi - I bought it because I wanted a normal but sporty looking car and it was a bit of a billy bargain. I'm looking to buy an Alfa 156 2.4JTD Sportwagon though.


Are you a real passionate for Alfa Romeo? I have a real passion for most cars - spread the auto love!


What or how started your passion for Alfa Romeo and…
….do you think it’s fundamental to own one to have the passion? As I have a passion for cars in general, I think it's important to have one, to drive one, to feel one - otherwise it's just a load of people messing about with inanimate lumps of metal.


Would you ever consider joining an Alfa Club or are you already a member of one? When I get an Alfa, I will be joining a club.


What do you like most about Alfas? The looks, the way that everything is about the driver.


What do you like least about Alfas? The reputation for being unreliable - that can be said of almost any car - especially British!


What would be your dream cars? Noble M12 GTO-3R. Aston Martin V8 Vantage - with Prodrive kit on. Koenigseg - the bio fuel one.


What car would you least like to drive? A Robin Reliant.


For you, what’s the most popular thread on AO? This one

What would be your ideal drive in an Alfa (destination, passenger, driving music, etc)? Destination - Nurburgring. Passenger - Sabine Schmit. Music - 3 Colours Red, or any punk/rock stuff.


Any humorous Alfa or car-related stories you wish to share with us? I once wrote a Range Rover off. With a Mini.


What interests do you have outside of Alfas? I play and coach rugby union. I am into martial arts and will be opening my own taekwon-do school up this year.


Tell us something nobody knows about you. (E.g. special skill, ever been on TV, etc) I can insult huge amounts of people without knowing it. It's a gift.


Do you have a party trick? If so what is it? I can roll my tongue around - sounds weird - but it's difficult to explain.


What do you like most about the Alfaowner forum? Any favourite threads, episodes or people? Not yet - looking forward to finding that out though!


If you had £50,000 you had to spend in 72 hours, how would you choose to spend it? I'd go buy myself a Noble M12 GTO-3R

Nice interview, thanks for sharing and good luck with the opening of the school

Nice forum name Hugh. Or is it Mr Janus?

I'd love to hear about the mini/range rover incident

Are you related to Samantha ??

Cheers peoples!

I'm quite looking forward to taking control of my own little ninja army!

I'm Samantha's brother Honest...

The mini/rangerover incident... I had passed my test by all of 3 months and was driving to college. It was a fairly rubbish October day - grey, misty, rainy etc. I was in the outside lane on a dual carriageway and like an inexperienced driver, didn't check my blindspot as I pulled in, I tagged the n/s/r of my mini which put me in a spin. I tried to correct, but I was out of control and really a passenger in the spin/crash. I went down a bank and ground to a halt in a ditch, with the car pretty much on it's side. My passenger door was the way out, but wouldn't open, so we had to climb out through the window. I remember seeing leaves and debris on the glass and not wanting to wind the window down as some of the dirty debris and leaves would fall into my car - I was in a ditch, so it should have been the last thing on my mind really! We climbed out and there was a Range Rover Vogue (about 1984 reg) that had hit a sign post and didn't have much back end. I'd apparently hit it when I was in my spin, but I can't remember that for the life of me. I got 5 points and a £250 fine for driving without due care and learned a very valuable blind spot checking lesson.

Just goes to show how much luck can play a part in things.
Shortly after I passed my test (maybe a few months at most), during my first major motorway journey I did exactly the same thing. I was in an Astravan, and didn't realise that I needed to adjust my mirrors to take account of not being able to check blind spot through rear side windows.
I cut up a transit van, which luckily saw me coming and swerved into the hard shoulder.
Unfortunately the driver spent the next ten miles trying to catch up with me again, so he could cut me up in return (which he did).
A valuable lesson learnt - but more cheaply than yours.

Thanks for sharing Janus

Not a problem Faromeo!

Nice one Carl