Les Stubbs is a photographer from Hull who has co-written a new book – 2,000 Weddings But No Funerals! – which features stories from his 40 years in the profession.

Here, he recalls a collision with a Reliant Robin and ponders why Billy Connolly would make the perfect driving companion.

QWhat do you drive?

AI drive a Ford Focus 1.8 TDCi, which I find spacious and being the new breed of diesel, very economic. I can get up to 60mpg on a long run.

QWhat was your first car?

AA good old 1959 Morris 1000 Saloon in a near battleship grey. It was affectionately called Betsy.

QWhat was your best car?

A My best car was bought during the 1980s. It was a Mk 2 Ford Escort XR3i in jet black – a beautiful car to drive and very nippy for the time, being one of the new breed of "hot hatches".

Q... and your worst car?

AA Ford Mondeo 2.0 TDCi only became my worst car when it suddenly decided to have a run of very costly breakdowns, including head gasket, turbo blowing up and injector failure culminating in costs of about £3,500 over a space of three months.

QWhat is your dream car, and why?

AAs a youngster I had all sorts of dream cars, but I suppose you mellow with age – only looking for a functional and cost-effective mode of transport with which to run my photography business. I've always had a passion for the sport of drag- racing and used to take photographs and write race reports for a couple of national magazines, so my dream car would probably take the form of a hot rod. I have always loved the classic Ford Mustang 500 Shelby Cobra as driven by Steve McQueen in the 1960s film Bullitt. They command a tidy sum these days if you can get hold of one.

QDo you consider yourself to be a good driver?

AI do consider myself a good driver and, touch wood, have never caused a crash. I've always driven within my limits to the road and weather conditions and always been aware of my surroundings while behind the wheel.

QHave you ever had a crash. If so, what happened?

AThere was one back in the 1980s when I owned a Volvo estate. An elderly chap driving a Reliant just didn't see the give way signs approaching the main road and flew out in front of me. I broadsided him at 30mph, almost rolling him over. Fortunately, he was completely uninjured, which is more than can be said for his fibreglass-bodied Reliant Robin. His car was a total wreck, but there wasn't so much as a scratch on my Volvo.

QWhat do you keep in your glovebox?

AThere's just about everything in my glove box – that's if I can get it closed. It does tend to be a temporary waste bin. There's always a plentiful supply of extra strong mints, a favourite of mine.

QWhat drives you mad behind the wheel?

ABoy racers and people's lack of courtesy, but mostly seeing a driver of a top-end saloon with a mobile in one hand while driving – when he or she can obviously afford a state-of-the-art hands-free kit.

QWhat music do you drive to?

A Being a child of the 1960s, I grew up with music and have a very varied taste. It can be U2, Pink Floyd, Stereophonics, David Gray or any of the CD stack in my car. I adore blues music and at the moment I'm into Sea Sick Steve. Other times it can be classical or a favourite is the score from the film Gladiator.

QWho would be your perfect passenger?

AIf my wife isn't reading this then it would probably be Nicole Scherzinger, Tulisa or even all of The Saturdays. But it would probably be Billy Connolly. I think a long journey with him in the passenger seat would make it a pleasure rather than a chore.

QWhat's the craziest thing you have ever done in a car?

AProbably being a passenger in a six-litre Pontiac Firebird doing more than 160mph back in the mid-1970s, on a road not too far outside Hull.

QWho cleans your car, and how often?

A I'm not fanatical about a clean car, it gets cleaned when it looks too dirty or when I have time. I'm the chief car cleaner in our family and usually get conned into cleaning my wife Ann's car as well.

QHow many points on your licence?

AI'm proud to say my licence is pointless.

QWhat does your partner drive?

AMy wife drives a little Nissan Micra and loves it.