Biography: JD Van Zyl

Born and bred in South Africa, JD relocated to England in 2008 and now finds himself in Yorkshire where the brilliantly winding and unclogged roads of the Dales compensate (at least to some extent) for the decided lack of sunshine this side of the equator.

JD started his editorial career at Condé Nast in Cape Town. Since then he has mainly written about motoring topics and has contributed to a number of leading titles including Men's Health, Fifth Gear online and Daily Express on models that ranged from bumbling fuel-cell SUV's to tyre-shredding supercar prototypes. And pretty much everything in-between.

Customer publications hold a special place in JD's portfolio. Before leaving Cape Town he was editor of Subaru Connect - the customer publication of Subaru in Southern Africa - which gave him a thorough understanding of the niche manufacturer's model range. He has also contributed to the customer publications of Honda South Africa, Honda UK and Ford of Europe.

All time favourite car: Austin-Healey 3000 (right), though the fact that I've been deliberating over this answer for the better part of two days proves there really isn't just one clear winner. Ultimately I dream about a collection of four-wheeled toys (and quite number of two-wheeled once too) that could rival that of Jay Leno.