IN THIS FEATURE Space now-boy When a pilot loves his cars Part-time racer A vision of space tourism

Aldrin's greatest thrill in a car came two years ago when he was invited to compete in the Toyota celebrity car race at Long Beach. "It gave Buzz a buzz," he says. "Some of us are hot shot race car drivers. Some pilots or astronauts. I went through four or five days of driver training. I got to know some interesting young ladies who were quite aggressive," he titters in a style familiar to Carry-On movie fans.

Aldrin not only enjoyed racing a grid of models, actresses and actors, he relished the sense of speed. "The practice walls were grass but down in Long Beach the walls were concrete, and pretty hard."

Aldrin meets then President Reagan

Aldrin and a swimsuit model called Angie Everhart came together mid-race in a bit of a fender-bender. She came off better, ending the race 5th. Aldrin, by far the biggest name in a field of Z-listers, lost a minute and finished last.

Not being first is a subject anyone who meets Aldrin is advised to avoid. That's because Buzz Aldrin was supposed to be first to step onto the moon ahead of his colleague Neil Armstrong, but NASA changed its mind at the last minute. So Aldrin is keen to be remembered as a pioneer of mass space travel and not just as the second man on the moon.