BUMPER
TO BUMPER
My First Car
Jane Seymour
Award-winning British actress Jane Seymour got
her biggest break and made a splash as Bond girl
Solitaire in the 1973 James Bond film “Live and
Let Die.” 
She is perhaps best known for role as frontier
doctor in the hit television series “Dr. Quinn,
Medicine Woman,” for which she won a Golden Globe.
She won an Emmy for her portrayal of Marie Callas
in the TV miniseries “Onassis” and another for her
role as Cathy Ames in the TV miniseries “East
of Eden.” Most recently, she took a comedic turn
as the wife of Christopher Walken’s U.S. Treasury
Secretary in the 2005 hit “Wedding Crashers.”
In 2007, she appeared on ABC’s hit series “Dancing
with the Stars.”
In addition to her acting career, she is an accomplished
artist, dedicated mother of six, committed philanthropist,
and recipient of the Christopher and Dana Reeve
Foundation’s 2008 Philanthropy Award.
Seymour is also the official spokesperson for
Camp Soaring Eagle in Sedona, scheduled to open
in June. The camp — for children in the Southwest
living with fatal or life-threatening diseases
— is part of Paul Newman’s Association of Hole
in the Wall Camps, which have hosted more than
100,000 seriously ill children from across the
globe.
I recently spoke to her about her first car.
“I grew up in England where my father was a doctor.
My first car was a 1947 English Ford that was
absolutely one of the most difficult vehicles
ever to drive. It was a manual shift with three
gears, each and every one requiring a double shift.
“The car was given to me by one of my father’s
patients because it was too difficult for him
to drive. He gave me driving lessons in a local
car park.
“I recall taking the written and road test for
my driver’s license, which is at least ten times
harder than it is here in the U.S. In fact,
if you fail, you must wait a full year to take
it again.
“The road test is 40 minutes long, but after
about 20 minutes the instructor said he couldn’t
believe I could drive that Ford, especially the
way it shifted, and said he couldn’t do what
I was doing. He said to quit, that if I could
drive that, I could drive anything.
“Later, my father sold the Ford and got a used
Humber Super Snipe that I drove. He never did
own a new car. I recall that he owned an English
Rover, but borrowed my Humber for a black-tie
event because the Rover wasn’t reliable. My Humber
eventually rusted out and died — but I still
have the license plate.
“When I was going to school my father bought
me a new VW Beetle because he said it had the
best resale of any vehicle. It was marine blue,
not the color I wanted, but one my father said
would be easiest to sell.
“When I came to America for my acting career,
I had no money so I drove cars from Rent-a-Wreck
in Hollywood. I rented and drove a classic Mustang.
People always stopped me to inquire about the
Mustang, thinking it was mine. One time I went
to the Hollywood Hotel to pick up one of the
biggest producers in the business, who thought
it was one of the classiest things he had seen.
“Later I bought a Ford Pinto, then a Chevy Blazer.
But my most special and favorite car was a beautiful
1976 Bentley that I bought from Goldie Hawn.
I was with her when she bought it new and always
admired it.
For the last few years I have been driving a
Mercedes-Benz S-Class and get a new one every
two years. My next car will be a hybrid, but
I’m not sure which one.”
— Jim Prueter
Photo courtesy of Jane Seymour
