After leaving school with no exam passes, I got a job selling cars in 1971 aged 18, much to the disappointment of my dad. I worked at a few garages selling Renault, Ford, Austin/Rover, MG, Jaguar, Land Rover, and LDV. Most of the cars I sold back then were poorly built, unreliable, and had rust problems, but today the same cars are classics and worth a fortune. In those years selling cars, I learned a lot about the motor industry.

In 1987 I was persuaded to leave the garage life and moved to a new company in Skipton called CAP. There were only nine of us, and us ex-car salesman Yorkshire bumpkins thought we could take on the mighty Glass’s Guide and do current car values. A few years later we had this mad, stupid idea, that us bumpkins could predict future values — an idea we all thought wouldn’t catch on or work. It took some time, and Yorkshire determination, but it worked and CAP went from a tiny company to the giant it is today.

At CAP I wrote articles for in-house, and others for magazines, including EMAP titles. I was a late starter at writing, with no training at all, but I created my own style, and it seemed to work and be liked. I ‘retired’ from CAP in April 2020, and four days later — at the start of the Pandemic — the phone started ringing, and wanting me to do independent consulting work, and motor industry articles and car reviews for magazines and websites.

In early 2022 I was asked to work part-time for UK Vehicle Data, to help set up New Vehicle Data, Used Values, and Future Values, so it was a bit of deja vu and retirement has been put on hold! I currently write for Fleet titles including Fleet News, Business Car, Fleet World, and Gibraltar Insight, Burton Bulletin, and more.

Contact email: [email protected]
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Twitter: @MartinWard_Cars
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