Over the years, Andrew McLeod has owned more than 20 cars, starting with a white 1967 Volkswagen Beetle. At the moment, he is driving a 2010 Chevrolet Silverado pickup with a six-inch lift kit, alloys and all-terrain tyres.
"I had been talking about buying a new car or truck for about two years - I am sure that my friends were bored of listening to the endless lists of what I was looking at and what I was thinking about," he says.
The Silverado is predominantly a workhorse for the Dubai-based Scot who manages TerraTech Events, which supplies temporary access roads and pathways for UAE events.
"I needed a vehicle primarily for work, so that required four-wheel drive and the ability to carry tools and equipment, it needed to be comfortable as I normally cover around 40,000 to 50,000km a year, and it needed to stand out from the crowd as I use it to promote my business."
It has been a reliable off-roader, apart from one embarrassing incident when it got stuck in sand when he was helping set up for the Yasalam events on the Abu Dhabi Corniche for the Grand Prix.
"I loaded up the truck and wondered if it would get off the beach just in high four-wheel drive, which in hindsight was a little bit optimistic with half a ton in the back and very soft sand," he says. "It gave the Civil Defence personnel something to watch though, and I am sure they were arguing about how many attempts would be needed to free it and which one of them was going to have to help."
The car has been nicknamed the TerraTruck and, when it's not on duty, it spends a lot of time at the beach, carrying his off-road bike and taking his dogs out.
When he was looking for a new truck, he considered other brands but decided to go for another GM model after having owned a GMC Dually: "It was back in 1998 when it was rare to see expats in pickups, due to the local regulations restricting who could register them."
It was the model with the twin rear wheels and he was never sure of the model year.
"I did manage to find out that a member of the Kuwaiti royal family had owned it, and at some time it had received fairly extensive engine modifications from a company in New York, which had taken the engine capacity well over eight litres - needless to say, the fuel consumption was terrible and I sold it to a work colleague after a few months," he recalls.
"I actually saw it for sale in the Ras Al Khor car yards last year, looking a little bit rough and worse for wear."
McLeod's father taught him to drive from the age of 13 or 14 on quiet industrial estate roads. "My dad was my hero when I was a kid, so everything he would tell me I would absorb and try and show him that I had been listening - I used to watch him drive and mimic what he was doing from the back seat."
After passing his test on the first attempt at the age of 17, McLeod proudly remembers driving his VW Beetle to school. He found out it was a rare six-volt Beetle and kept it in its original condition while simultaneously owning a heavily modified 1969 Beetle in yellow. From then, his cars included a Triumph Vitesse convertible, an Alfa Romeo 75, a Ford Granada Scorpio and two Range Rovers.
McLeod says he wishes he had more time to go off-roading but, in the meantime, he is both alarmed and amused by some the sights he can see from his Silverado vantage point: "Being so high up, means that I can see down into most cars - I am really surprised by the number of people who hide their phones below the window level of their cars and text message while they are driving.
"People reading newspapers and paperwork on their laps is something else I have been noticing; it's as if they believe no one can see them!"
