James May

[Pete-M]

I enjoyed it an' all.Has anyone else noticed that Tiff seems to be getting a lot more involved in Top Gear type stuff again, what with him and VBH being in Clarkson's latest vid, etc...

[RedSparrow]

Yeah I agree Tiff was good.Maybe get Tiff in instead of Hammond?Also, I always thought a good presenting combination might be May, Clarkson and Sabine Schmitz.

[trigger]

Sabine Schmitz.

What the tennis player?

[RedSparrow]

Sabine Schmitz.

What the tennis player?

Yes, exactly.

[Pete-M]

Personally, Hammond is my least favourite of them, but he's one of those happy chirpy people who it's always good to have around.Clarkson, May, Hammond, Ben Collins is still pretty much unbeatable for me, although I did used to enjoy the Clarkson, Willson, Needell, VB-H, Top Gear (until they tried to fiddle with it and killed it).May is excellent. I cancelled my 'CAR' subscription when he stopped writing for them.

[trigger]

Sabine Schmitz.

What the tennis player?

Yes, exactly.

Turns out it's Sabine Lisicki I'm thinking off, Very nice It would be great to see Tiff back on Top Gear but i guess the idea of the Stig was to replace him as what the Stig does now on TG is the same as Tiff done before him.

[Tayne]

.

[retrogeezer]

yeh, that was great! (the Scalextric thing)

[Pete-M]

I enjoyed it an' all.Has anyone else noticed that Tiff seems to be getting a lot more involved in Top Gear type stuff again, what with him and VBH being in Clarkson's latest vid, etc...

Tiffany Dell has no permanent employment since 5th gear got cancelled.

5th gear was cancelled? So why are they advertising a new series?(Or is that just a combination of too much Dave and not enough attention)

[Tayne]

..

[AXrescuer]

Heres some classic top gear for you all, 21 years ago and Clarkson was going on about something very very different!Wonder how many of the background cars still exist.....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9PAfx7g_ec&feature=related

WOW. Martin Mogridge is a freaky looking fella. See 2:17 into the clip.Bet he has a brown Lada.

He died in April 2000.

[zephyr ally]

I would like to announce the award of AUTOSHITE ALL ROUND GOOD EGG 2009 award to

 

MR JAMES MAY

 

 

Sorry to be a bit late with this, but I met him when the boy and I went to help build the lego house for his program (and had my car photo'd by mnde - hi Mark!) and he seemed exactly the same as on the telly, even though the cameras were off. Junior_ally said to him "You're Captain Slow" to which he replied "I'm Captain Intelligent" in his customary deadpan, which went down well and he was happy to sign lots of autographs too. But then he had just recruited lots of slave labour to make his program work so I guess he was in a good mood!

[Pillock]

Awww, that's quite good - I'd heard reports he was a bit of a twat off-camera, but then I guess everyone has bad days, the difference being if I tell someone to f'k off out of my face it doesn't appear on every car forum in the land.He does appear to actually care about what he represents on TV - obscure older cars without all this powaaaaaaar bollox.

[Guest]

Has anyone else noticed that Tiff seems to be getting a lot more involved in Top Gear type stuff again, what with him and VBH being in Clarkson's latest vid, etc...

I was about to say something to that end actually. I reckon he'll guest on Top Gear at some point.I was convinced for ages and ages that he was the Stig, and that he couldn't talk because of some daft contractual observation. It made sense at the time.I'm actually surprised May hasn't brought out a collection of his articles from CAR or something. If there was a compilation of 'England Made Me' I'd defo buy it.Is there any truth he did some time back in the late 80's for selling bent second hand cars? Or should I stop listening to Harold at work?

[FredTransit]

Is there any truth he did some time back in the late 80's for selling bent second hand cars? Or should I stop listening to Harold at work?

I think that was Quentin Wilson....

[Rusty Pelican]

Somehow hes always been the underdog but always the most likable , his new series is top tele , fun , entertaining and a bloody good idea , why it hasnt been done before beats me

[Guest]

Is there any truth he did some time back in the late 80's for selling bent second hand cars? Or should I stop listening to Harold at work?

I think that was Quentin Wilson....

Actually that makes more sense.

[brammy777]

Oh i just remembered, my younger brother got his book, i forget which one, but it was signed by James May at a booksign in Basingstoke. It reads:'To ScottBest etc etcJames May'

[AXrescuer]

I'm pretty sure that he was at some point the main presenter on Top Gear before Hammond joined and Clarkson came back.

[dollywobbler]

I was at Anglia Car Auctions when they bought the classics for the rally. While the 'Ami as last car in sale' was a complete fake, I did witness May RUNNING towards the brown Triumph 2000 in a clear state of desire, off camera. Clearly the man has impeccable taste and thoroughly deserves his Autoshite honours.Mind you, Hammond seemed to get very interested in an Austin Seven. Maybe he felt it was scaled perfectly for him...

[ChinaTom]

Is it really true that we do not know who the Stig is? I also thought it was Tiff for a while, then had a slight suspicion it was her from the Nurburgring. In this day and age I am surprised something so far in the public arena can be kept so successfully secret.James May does seem to be a top bloke who makes entertaining telly. I can't say Hammond offends me - but I did get half way through the "on the edge" book and finally threw it against the wall in exasperation.

[Timewaster]

I think the whole thing with the stig is that it can be anybody.For example, if Ferrari hand them the latest F70 or whatever, after Clarkson has finished dicking around in it and it goes to the track for a timed lap then the chances are it will be a Ferrari test driver in the outfit.Its a win win for top gear. It looks like their bloke drives everything, and really well and means they dont have to admit that they weren't allowed to drive it themselves.Plus he is a good straight man for any childish gags.

[Tayne]

.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

A couple of mates and I were talking to Sabine at T'Ring. She implied that Hammond was an obnoxious little fuck away from the camera, a real Prima Donna. He strikes me as someone who came from nowhere and got too famous too quickly. James May has been known to everyone into cars for a long time.

[The Liberator]

At the Auto Italia Concours last year (the one where the TG Alfa segment was filmed) James May and Clarkson both spent their off-camera time walking around the Italian cars present like kids in a sweet shop - admiring Alfa 164s and Giuliettas, cooing about Montecarlos and Fulvias, asking to sit in a Fiat 126 and chatting about the shape of the gearknob of an early X1/9 1500. They seemed genuinely interested, and stayed away from the Ferraris and Lamborghinis.Richard Hammond, meanwhile, stropped off somewhere out of sight, only emerging when he was required to be filmed.

[Mr Lobster]

You certainly get the impression that both Clarkson and May are serious petrolheads and really are into cars. Not so sure about Hammond though, I get the impression he's not quite as keen - he has to appear to be interested because thats his job but I just don't get the impression he is quite that passionate about cars generally.I read his book (stuck on a ferry from Norway for 30 hours - had to do something) and it was very very bland, didn't give a great insight into him and was pretty forgettable. That in itself is possibly quite apt.

[Tayne]

.

[brammy777]

I read hammonds latest book and its not very good at all. He doesnt have any sort of flair which makes him stand out in writing like May and Clarkson have.Lets not forget that he wasnt really involved with cars to a great extent before he joined top gear, and is the nobody in the programme. And hes really really really not funny anymore. Does anyone remember that godawful primetime chat show he had with that other boring woman a few years back? Proves hes not versatile to any sort of extent.May and Clarkson have proved their worth outside of TG, whereas all Hammond can muster is some bloody supermarket adverts.

[wuvvum]

A couple of mates and I were talking to Sabine at T'Ring. She implied that Hammond was an obnoxious little fuck away from the camera

Hammond is an obnoxious little fuck when he's on camera as well.

[Mr Lobster]

Lets not forget that he wasnt really involved with cars to a great extent before he joined top gear

Think he was on Men & Motors wasn't he?