James Martin's Mille Miglia

[chazpowerslide]

As the tital suggests and following on from the comments on the Top Gear Thread what did you think to the programme?

I must say that as passionate fan of historic racing it left me a bit cold so strangely enough the program failed to live up to my expectation of it.

I thought it was pretty low rent for a Beeb production, very repetitive in parts (particularly the commentry) and failed to focus on the main part of the event IE the cars (or more particularly the James Martin's car)

I really thought that the program showed James Martin as a bit of an egotistical control freak (IMHO) trying to live a dream that he hadn't the financial means to support (the way he chose to do it) and getting stressed out when it did'nt go right for him.

I lost count of the number of times he used "I" like he was just the most important thing on the plannet.

The bit when he was getting all ****** about the cameras on the car and said that if it was'nt done his way "there'd be no TV programme" summed it up for me.

I can understand why he was gutted by not finishing but to me it all seemed to hinge around the debt he'd got himself into trying to pay for it all and it did'nt go his way.

It seemed strange to me that the "value" of the car had risen from £450,000 he paid for it to a million with the subsequent re-build and no particular racing pedigree.

The fact that it wasn't going to be worth a million at the end of it which he was banking on to sell it to clear the debts only served to show how misguided it all was.

Lovely car, great event, fantastic cars and roads, P**s poor tv show really.

Chaz.

[Dave]

Bit of a damp squib  kept waiting for it to start  

That said the guy is a true car nut they could have made a programm about his garages  would have been cheeper and better telly

I think i would have done a couple of 100 miles after the rebuild    just the check all the bits were working   before going all that way    

Just goes to show 450K (or 1 million) cant buy common sense  

[Guest]

oh sir ,how you underestimate the classic car market ........ , that sort of car with that sort of rebuild ,with that sort of race under its belt ..... trust me he isn't misguided , i know as rob navin does people involved in the classic endurance scene and in the restoration business ... the car will fetch good money when he finishes the mille .

and as for being self centered and arogant .... you do know what he does ?  never met a good one who isn't ,and looking at the GF the house and the car collection it does not seem to have hurt him .

thinking about it being a chef isn't the exclusive to that kinda attitude , spend time with the large proportion of the bigger money club motorsport and you may see a theme ... nice enough people once you get over how they are.

[fatbaldbloke]

QUOTE

I really thought that the program showed James Martin as a bit of an egotistical control freak (IMHO) trying to live a dream that he hadn't the financial means to support (the way he chose to do it) and getting stressed out when it did'nt go right for him.

The following quote is from Wikipedia (so must be right) and tends to indicate it's not just cars where he has tastes that might stretch his budget...

"James has previously been romantically linked to Alice Beer, Esther McVey, Barbara Broccoli, Claire Goose, Martine McCutcheon, Camilla Dallerup Charlotte Fortes, Anna Short and Fearne Cotton. He is currently dating former Miss England, Sally Kettle."

[pistonbroke]

Chefs privlages apart,  I was looking forward to this but very dissapointed in the final menu  

As far as a programme about a Cook showing how much he was perpared to pay to indulge himself it was worth at most 15 minutes air time

As a BBC documentary about one of the worlds greatest road races it was sadly lacking in content .

J Martin came over as a complete prat in my book , he should stick to making pasties  

[Guest]

shows how different people saw it ..... as can be seen on the other thread , don't disagree with anything thats been said , however opinions of how he came across will no doubt differ

[Tom Frankland (T3OMF)]

Couldn't of happend to a nice guy!!      

Especially when he found out he could of used one of his cars he already owns.......  just shows you dont need to spend s**t load of money    

[perksy]

"I had a Ferrari when i was 23..."  

(Quote from the Chef)

Really mate...                

Pity the programme didn't spend more time looking at the Cars taking part    

and it might of been a Good idea to follow the two lads from Yorkshire who actually Finished the Race    

Have to say abit more time following His Girlfriend might have been a Good idea Aswell    

[Cleggy the Spyder Man]

problem was he is nowhere near as likeable or watchable as the likes of ewan mcgregor or charlie boardman ---

they did this sort of show sooo much better, shame really cause the show had all the right ingredients (guffaw) apart from him

[Bananaman]

Watched the prog, was dissapointed in the content and lack of footage of the race/cars...

James wotsit came across as a kok. So full of himself i found it difficult to feel sorry for him.

Whole thing reminded me of our trip to the classic lemans earlier this year..... We did 1000 miles or so, had afew breakdowns, drove on some top roads etc...

But cost about 1000th of the cost and was about 1000x more fun due to the people being a 1000x more down to earth!!!! QED

[Rob Navin]

Especially when he found out he could of used one of his cars he already owns.......  just shows you dont need to spend s**t load of money    

The problem is though he would probably not have got an entry with the Fiat.  The selection process for the event is based on the provonence of the car and they go in to a lot of detail with it.  Just to have a car that qualifies and to have the enty fee is just not enough.

As far as value goes the histoic market is full of bits like this that do go to silly values.  The value will come from the cars original value, then as Harv says the rebuild and spares will all add to that.  To then have the car on the TV (which is possibly what the show was actually about ) will further add to its value.  Add to that the proof of finishing the event then I could have seen it reaching that value.

Not sure it would now though, the last couple of motorsport auctions have seen a couple of high value cars not reaching the reserve when a few years ago they would have been snapped up.

For the program I have to say I was suprised by the fact ti was on at all.

It was the first time in a long time that the BBC has had anything motorsport related on and, as it was something I enjoy, I saw through the bloke and watched it for the event and based on that enjoyed it for what it was.  As far as James goes, I don't know the bloke but have shared in his feelings too often at events that have not gone well.  

Don't disagree with any of the feelings towards about his attitude though, but I know a lot of people who share it!

[ChrisF]

I had seen the trailer and was eagerly anticipating watching some real classic racers in action, however in the end this program was a real disappointment    In my opinion Chaz's comments and observation just about sum it up for me too  

[perksy]

A Few Photo's of The Chef's Girlfriend   CLICKY

Just for 'Background' Info for the Thread    

[Truly Skint]

Why would a guy from deepest darket Shropshire, just happen to have pictures of James Martins girlfriend to hand ??  

OR

Do the words "to hand" have anything to do with it  

[chazpowerslide]

I think that the point that Rob made about the TV programme/publicity being there as a vehicle to promote the value of the car is a valid one and as such it could have been done better.

You can appreciate that when that kind of money is involved the risk goes up as the consequences of it all going wrong are bigger but I got the feeling that he was in way over his head with the costs involved.

The fact that he hadn't accounted for 12 grands worth of life insurance required to do the event and ignored Stirling Moss' advice on using in car comms didn't say to me "here's a guy who knows exactly what he's up against"

I thought the way that he talked to his G/F and his co driver (particularly when things were not going his own way or he couldn't get his own way) was at times particularly rude, petulant and chauvinistic.

I hope the Beeb do more programmes in these subjects but the formula needs to change.

I can imagine Charlie and Ewan doing something similar, the fact that they have more technical knowledge and are easier people to rub along with would surely make better TV

Chaz.