I’D JUST PASSED MY DRIVING TEST WHEN A COMPLETE STRANGER GAVE ME A FREE CAR
New driver at Preston test centre is brought to tears by ‘Elite Contributions’ vehicle giveaway team who chose her as the new owner of a free Vauxhall Corsa.
A new driver was brought to tears when she was gifted her first car by a total stranger just moments after passing her test at Preston driving test centre.
Art student Lydia Black was surprised as she stepped out of the city's test centre - having just been handed her pass certificate by an examiner. Lydia, from Leyland, was planning to borrow her mum’s car and use local buses while she saved to buy a runaround.
However the busy teenager is now driving to and from work, and college, in a free shiny silver Vauxhall Corsa hatchback worth £3,000. The Elite Competitions’ giveaways team picked Lydia at random outside Preston test centre on Friday, October 17, as part of its ‘Elite Contributions’ community programme to support schools, sports teams, key services and people with items they need.
Recalling how the company surprised her with a free car, Lydia revealed that her mum was so confused by the gesture that she rushed out of work to meet her, worried she was being scammed. Lydia, who turned 18 two days before her test, explained: "I rang my mum to say I’d passed my test and she was very happy for me.
"Then I told her, ‘oh, and I’ve been given a car.’ But she wouldn’t believe me and thought I was being scammed, so she said ‘oh my god, don't sign anything’, left work and rushed home to find out what was going on.
"Her mouth dropped open when she saw me standing in our driveway next to a car wrapped in a big red bow. Then she started crying.
"That set me off. Then all the neighbours came out and couldn’t believe it either.
"And when my dad got home, he was totally shocked by my luck too."
Lydia revealed that she’d recently spent money she’d saved for a new car on a girls’ summer holiday in Salou, Spain. She added: "We had a great time but the holiday in July set my plans back to buy a car, so this is just perfect really.
"I still can’t believe it. Things like this don’t happen to me."
The part-time worker - who balances her studies at Cardinal Newman college in Preston with work at Burger King in Bamber Bridge and netball coaching at two clubs - revealed she was enjoying life as a new driver but still getting to grips with being a car owner.
Lydia told Elite Competitions: “It's really important for me to get around right now. I'm working two jobs. I can’t be late for either. And I had to get up an hour early to catch the bus to college because it always turns up late. Now I don't have to rely on anyone, or the bus. I can just get in my car and go.”
She added: “Last Thursday I took my friends to the Trafford Centre. I needed a dress for my birthday party and was kind of panicking over it. So, I took my friends with me but, before I went, I realised I didn't even know how to put fuel in a car. My mum had to show me. To be fair, it was pretty easy.”
Lydia’s car was the first of Elite Competitions’ new driver vehicle giveaways, with more ‘starter cars’ to be handed over randomly at test centres across the country in the coming weeks. Her Corsa had a full inspection check and came with a 12 month MOT and road tax.
Elite Competitions managing director Alex Beckett said: “Everyone remembers the day they passed their driving test, but being given a free car by a stranger, right after it, has to be an insane feeling. And that’s why we did it.
“It’s the first ‘new driver vehicle giveaway’ in our ‘Elite Contributions’ programme, which is all about us supporting communities in as nice a way as possible. I’m pretty sure this will have a good impact on Lydia's life, and I think more random acts of kindness in the world is what will make it a better place. We’re made up for Lydia and hope she has many miles of happy motoring in her new car.”