Van Man Gordon Scoops £50K Dream Car
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Van man Gordon McAteer is now driving a £50,000 Porsche after his luck took a spooky turn for the better.
Hours after a tenner blew across his feet in the street, the Preston grandad scooped his dream car in an online competition.
Gordon McAteer with his Porsche - and his van.
And now he’s bidding for a hat-trick on the lottery, declaring: “I’d be a fool not to get a ticket - it’s my lucky week!”
Gordon, 57, claims good fortune has given him a wide berth for decades.
“I’m an unlucky bloke, I never seem to win a thing,” he confessed. “But the other morning I was out working and the site was a real mess. So I got my litter picker out and started clearing up.
“At that moment a tenner rolled across my path. I thought, ‘That’s lucky, maybe I’ll win the car this week’. Weirdly that’s just what’s happened. So I’m on a roll now.”
The senior estates officer for the Your Housing Group, based on the city’s Docklands, was surprised at his desk by a team from Best Of The Best who give away a dream car every week in an online spot-the-ball contest.
Gordon, who lives with his wife Julie in Broughton, had been told he was in a tie-breaker with four other people. But the visit still left him stunned, especially when he was led outside to see a gleaming yellow Porsche Cayman S standing in the car park next to his silver Fiat van.
“I can’t believe it,” he said, surrounded by workmates. “It really is my dream car, but I’ve never been able to afford one. “I’ve driven vans for years because they’re cheaper and they’re handy to throw things in the back when I’m working.
“I’ve been entering the BOTB competition online for about 12 years. I’ve had some close calls. But about three weeks ago I said to myself, ‘I’ll be playing for a disability car instead of a sports car at this rate’.
“When I found that tenner I went back to the office and got the phone call that I was one of five in a tie-breaker. I had to dash home on my lunch to fill in the tie-break entry.
“After I’d done it I thought I’d made a right mess of it. I kept thinking I’d put the ball too low. I hardly slept a wink that night.
“Then at work people kept having me on, saying there was a bloke in reception with a flash car, or ringing up pretending to be from BOTB.
“I’m normally the biggest wind-up merchant in the office, so it was pay-back time. “Needless to say I won’t be bringing the Porsche to work. It’ll be my Sunday car.
“I’ve already told Julie that there’s only one passenger seat - and that’s reserved for my three-year-old grandson Harry. He loves my van, so I’m sure he’ll like this.”