Taking delivery of a new car is an exciting time for anyone, but there was an added bonus for civil servant Jason Wilson – he won his new Fiat Bravo in a national motoring magazine competition.

The 38-year-old Derby man was the triumphant entry picked from a total of 226,000 hopefuls in an Auto Express competition run earlier this year to celebrate the magazine’s 1,000th issue.

Father-of-two Jason said he was “ecstatic” when he was told he had won the top-of-the-range £16,355 Bravo 1.9 16v MultiJet 150 Sport – even though he didn’t believe it at first.

“I thought someone was winding me up when Auto Express rang to tell me that I had won the car,” said Jason. “You enter these competitions but you don’t actually expect to win. I guess someone has to, but you never think it’s going to be you.

“When I rang my wife Tracey she was the same as me – she thought it was a joke. But now that it’s finally sinking in, we are both absolutely delighted.”

Jason collected the keys to his new car from Frank Worboys, dealer principal at Sunwin Fiat Derby, who said: “We’re really pleased for Jason. I know he likes the car very much.”

The Fiat Bravo was launched in the UK in June 2007 since when more than 9,000 examples have been sold. The range recently benefited from a frugal but exciting new 1.6 MultiJet engine offering an exceptional drive coupled with lower tax and fuel costs. The Bravo range currently starts at £10,995 for the entry level 1.4.