Vijay Pattni catches up with the winner of the 2008 Miss England competition – Laura Coleman.

Laura stifles a laugh as she remembers her high school disco…

“Picture this: I’m being driven into school and I can see everyone waiting outside, thinking they’re really cool being chauffeured into school in these amazing limousines.

“And then I get dropped off in a 1950s Riley!”

Laura tries to play it down but her voice ripples with enthusiasm – this girl is a real petrolhead.

“It had those suicide-style doors and indicators which pop out of the side. I just can’t believe everyone turned up in standard limos and I turn up in my dad’s 1950s Riley in the middle of the school!

“It was hilarious…but I’m all into that anyway.”

She most definitely is.

Crankshafts…and Queens

The 2008 Miss England winner was raised on a diet of crankshafts, cogs – and Aston Martins.

“My dad bought his first Aston Martin – a DBS – when he was around 18. He raced it at Brands Hatch and broke the crankshaft.

“I remember because I had to help push it back home, but kept falling over and scraping my knee!

“I’m stuck behind this racing car getting scars on my knees, and my dad is shouting at me saying ‘what are you doing?’ – I was about four!”

The self-confessed petrolhead admits she loved it. “My dad’s been an enthusiast since he was 15 – I’ve always been around cars and car bits.”

View images of Miss England – and her dream motors…

But motoring is taking a back seat at the moment…

“My mum and my grandma were both beauty queens”, she explains. “I saw the Miss England competition advertised in the paper about three years ago – 2005 was my first beauty pageant.

“I just thought ‘I’ll have a go’ and went into Miss England in 2005 as Miss Leicestershire.”

Despite finishing in the top ten in 2005, Laura thought long term, and went to university to complete a degree in Marketing.

After sailing through her studies, Laura felt the time was right to hit the pageant once again – and emerged victorious.

“I remember I graduated on Tuesday and had the Miss England final on the Friday.”

Laura was so engrossed in the buzz of her degree and Miss England, it didn’t even register when she won.

Cars, Clarkson…and Corsas

“I remember standing there and they announced my name…I just didn’t believe it!

“The other girls were shouting ‘it’s you, it’s you!’ It was a really surreal moment.”

And Laura is currently looking for a car sponsor at the moment for her reign as 2008’s Miss England.

“I quite like the Mercedes-Benz CLK, and I think the Fiat 500 is really nice as well – I remember watching Top Gear and laughed when Jeremy Clarkson started shouting out ‘it’s cute, it’s cute’!

And after the talk of beauty pageants, Laura gets back on her familiar turf – cars.

“I actually know quite a lot about cars – for a girl. I love driving Subaru Imprezas and Mitsubishi Evos. The new Impreza might be a very different car from the old STi, but they’re seriously cool cars.”

“I don’t like the Ford Ka though – I don’t like its shape or anything about it.

View images of Miss England – and her dream motors…

“I also remember driving a courtesy car a while ago – it was a Vauxhall Corsa, and it was like driving a lunchbox. I didn’t like that either.”

There is one car Laura absolutely adores…

“I love my little Smart roadster because it’s rear-wheel-drive, it’s rear-engined and it’s a convertible.

“Apart from my Smart I’d love to own a Bentley Continental GT, or a Lamborghini – the Diablo.”