Kiltarlity offshore worker revved up after surprise supercar win
OFFSHORE worker Niall Gunn had the surprise of his life when he discovered he had won his dream £80,000 super car – plus £10,000 cash stashed away in the boot.
The 50-year-old, who lives near Kiltarlity, was virtually speechless after representatives of competition company, Best of the Best (BOTB), turned up unannounced on his doorstep with the keys of an Audi RS6 Avant.
It came just two weeks after Inverness man Craig Wood won a Caterham 620R, worth £50,000, in BOTB’s weekly spot-the-ball competition which attracts entrants worldwide.
Mr Gunn, who could not stop shaking as he took in the news, currently drives a VW Touran while his wife, Doreen, drives a Vauxhall Corsa.
As he eyed up a demonstration model of his new car – which goes from 0 to 60mph in 3.9 seconds and has a top speed of 190 miles per hour – a stunned Mr Gunn said: "This is an awesome bit of kit. It is a beauty.
"My current car is almost 10 years old. It doubles up as a van and everything else."
Mr Gunn has two sons, Jack (20) and Sam (17), plus 18-year-old twin stepdaughters, Jay and Summer Hannah, and a flat-coated retriever, Findlay.
He and his wife, an adminstration assistant in Raigmore Hospital’s occupational therapy department, had put plans to replace his car on hold because of household expenses.
"We were looking a new cars but we got a loan to pay for windows and doors first," said Mrs Gunn (50).
Mr Gunn, a mechanic on the Britannia oil rig in the North Sea, began playing BOTB’s competiton two-and-a-half years ago. He spends about £30 a week taking part.
"I have dreamed about this," said Mr Gunn, who came back onshore last week. "Dreams come true. They really do. This is fantastic. I can’t believe it."
He now has the task of deciding on the colour of his new Audi RS6 Avant. He also plans to spend some of the £10,000 on a holiday for the couple.
"We were both 50 this year and did not get away on holiday - one of the girls is at university," he said. "We were going to put a holiday back to next year."
Mrs Gunn was in on the surprise for her husband, having been contacted by the company the previous day. Shortly before the company representatives turned up, she told her husband - who had been busy putting in flagstones at their home - to change out of his work clothes as they were going out to lunch with relatives.
Will Hindmarch, BOTB’s founder and chief executive, travelled from London to the Highlands to surprise the lucky winner.
"This thing is faster than almost anything else on the road," he said. "It is one of the best cars you can have. You can get all the family in and it goes like a rocket."
Since setting up the company 15 years ago, he has presented cars collectively worth £17 million to winners.
"Everyone likes to dream and this makes those dreams come true," he said. "People’s reactions are very different. A typical reaction is of disbelief because people think it is never going to happen to them."
