Terry Harris has always lived life at a good pace, which is one of the reasons why he is one of a select few who can call themselves a British champion.

Now 74, Harris likes cars – he owned and ran Cleeve Hill Garage for 35 years – but he’s not one of those who just likes fixing them, he likes driving them too.

More specifically, he likes driving them quickly which is how, back in the day, he became a British champion.

“I won the Slick 50 British Road Saloon Car Championship in 1989,” he told The Local Answer with some pride.

“I’d started racing in 1975 and I started competing in the Slick 50 in 1985. I won the title in a 3.5 Rover Vitesse, it put out 300 horsepower.”

And his title success was certainly no fluke because he had to take on all-comers all over the country at such iconic venues as Brands Hatch, Silverstone and Donington Park.

“The championship was over 13 rounds,” he continued. “I won three or four rounds but I never finished lower than third.

“I was always on the front row of the grid, the car never ever had a scratch, which in modern-day racing is pretty good.

“Mind you, I always used to say that if you’re out in front it’s difficult to get scratched!”

The championship also took in a round at Zandvoort in the Netherlands – the only time Harris has competed outside Britain – as well as Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire.

“I won the championship at Donington Park,” recalled Harris. “I needed to finish second.

“It was very special, I remember picking up my girlfriend at the time and doing a lap of honour.”

Harris, who lives in Bishop’s Cleeve – he and his partner Nicky Christie have been together 10 years – came to this part of the world at the age of 14. Born in Dudley in the West Midlands, he spent his formative years in Wolverhampton before moving to Cheltenham.

The one-time Cheltenham Grammar School pupil was always going to make a living out of cars and although he retired nine years ago, his love of cars has never left him.

“I still drive too fast now,” he laughed. “This year I’ve been to Texas for the NASCAR race – when I was competing I was one of the few people who was a racer and a spectator.”

And he can still remember his first ever race, even though it was close to 50 years ago.

“It was at Silverstone,” he said. “It was in the Pre-1959 Classic Saloon Car Championship.

“I had a Jaguar Mk 1, but there were Zodiacs and Zephyrs in the race as well as Jaguars.”

He loved it, of course, but he had to wait until the mid-1980s for his first win.

“It was at Mallory Park in the wet,” he said. “I was in a Rover SD1, that was exceedingly special.

“There’s nothing like it. You can’t explain to people what it’s like to race a car. People think they can drive fast but they haven’t a clue.

“You can’t replicate it on the road, boy racers think they can but they can’t.

“When you’re racing the surface is smooth, everybody is going in the same direction and there are no blind corners.”

Harris has driven in excess of 130mph when he’s competing, which is obviously very quick.

“I’ve had passengers with me who we used to take out on what we called ‘track days’,” he said.

“As we approached a corner I would see them hitting an imaginary brake pedal in front of them, but I’m not thinking of braking for another 100 yards!”

It’s easy to see why Harris enjoyed it so much.

“It’s the adrenaline as you sit there waiting for the flag to go down,” he explained.

“If you watch Steve McQueen in Le Mans, he’s sitting on the grid waiting and waiting for the start. The film shows his heartbeat getting faster and faster, that’s exactly what’s it’s like.

“The flag drops, there’s nothing like that adrenaline rush.”

But that adrenaline rush came at a cost, of course, which is why Harris stopped competing in the early 90s.

“It is very expensive,” he said. “I’m the sort of person who has to try to win, I’ve got to try and have a front-running car.

“I was running a business, I had a mortgage and I was an amateur, but it was good fun while it lasted.

“I used to get people coming up and asking me to sign their programmes, that was good for the ego!”

So would he still like to be competing today?

“I would if I could, but it’s a young man’s game,” he said. “I’d be braking 10 yards before today’s whizz-kids and 10 yards is a lifetime in motor racing.”

So how does Harris, who these days drives a BMW 640 convertible, look back on that championship win in 1989?

“I realised a dream,” he said. “It gave me a few bragging rights. I remember when I won the title my car doubled in value, I sold it immediately for £10,000. It was a classic car.”

That’s a lot of money now, let alone three decades ago when a litre of petrol cost about 40p, and Harris added with some understatement: “It was a good year!”