My Life in Cars: Tim Henman

My dad has always been into cars. He got an MGB GT V8 in July 1974, and then I was born in September that same year. He’d take me and my two brothers to school every morning in it. My dad and my eldest brother in the front were OK, but how my middle brother and I fitted in the back I don’t know. The rear seat was probably about six inches deep and there were no seatbelts. It was always a fun ride though. He still has that car – it’s his pride and joy.

With tennis commitments and all the travelling that went with it, I didn’t get around to taking my test until I was 18 or 19. I failed first time, passed the second time. When I did pass, though, my tennis was improving and I was starting to earn a little bit of money, so my first car was a Peugeot 306 XSi. I was very happy with that. I bought it brand new from the Peugeot garage on Chiswick roundabout, and it was around that time that I’d bought my first flat in London, which was obviously a big moment. The car was another step in the direction of independence.

I wasn’t racking up a massive amount of miles at that stage. I remember in my last year of junior tennis I was away for between 35 and 40 weeks of the year – and the next couple of years were very much like that too. I was chasing the ranking points and trying to play in as many tournaments as possible to improve my game, so I didn’t get to drive all that much.

I had the 306 for a few years, and then the next car I bought was a Porsche 911 Carrera 4S. That was when I was 22 or 23. I had a couple of Porsches after that too – all Carrera 4Ss. I test drove a rear-drive Carrera and I think I felt having 4WD at that age was a bit more secure. The reality of being away so much was frustrating, though, because the cars sat at home in the garage for long periods of time.

After that I had a contract with Mercedes. I had two cars from them – an SL500 and then a C43 AMG. They were very different, but both drove very well.

I haven’t done much track driving in my life, but when Mercedes sponsored the ATP Tour, we had an event in Stuttgart and they took us to their Untertürkheim factory. There’s a test track there with banking and they took us around it in a 36-seat bus. I certainly wasn’t feeling that confident or comfortable.

When that deal with Merc ended, I entered into a relationship with Jaguar. That was 14 years ago, before my retirement in 2007, but I’ve been with them since.

After the Mercedes, I had a Jag XKR. I think, way back when, Jaguar had slightly gone off the boil and then – certainly with the XKR – the cars were getting better and better each year. The details and interiors were improving all the time.

I feel very fortunate now that it’s Jaguar Land Rover. We’ve ended up with a very good combination of cars – I’m still managing to hold onto an F-Type R Coupe and my wife has a Range Rover. The F-Type isn’t particularly practical on the school run with three children, but I love it. The kids are at three different schools too, so if I’m only collecting one of them it can work.

I’ve had quite a few F-Types over the past four or five years. It’s a great car and the 5.0-litre V8 is magical. I can safely say that opening up the exhaust when driving out of the village on an early morning would not be popular, though.

Tim’s dream three-car garage

Ferrari Testarossa

Aston Martin DB5

Bugatti Veyron