It was my dad, but not in the way you'd think!
His 40th birthday (and my cousins 21st) we all went to phil price rally school, and near the end of the day my dad arranged for me to have a blast in one of the mk2 escorts (i was 13 at the time) and that was it, after half an hour of sliding it round the track (the instructor/tutor that came with me said i had the best clutch control and i could hold the slide very well, and that was when i was 13!!!) i decided i wanted on. Even though i haven't actually got one yet, it won't be long, one of my friends, girlfriends, grandads friends is selling a mk rs2000 (flat front) VERY cheap because he's emigrating to New Zealand next month, and if he's still got it i'm having it.