View Full Version : The Real Italian Job: James Martin's Mille Miglia
Anybody watch this? I watched the first ten minutes and rather than it being about one of the oldest road races in the world or very special cars it seemed to be about a smug celebrity chef boasting about how much money he had/how fit his girlfriend was.
is it worth downloading or does it continue in this vein?
Shorty
it's gubbins, all about his ego and very poor coverage of the actual race
and he breaks the car on day one and doesn't get back in the race
it's gubbins, all about his ego and very poor coverage of the actual race
and he breaks the car on day one and doesn't get back in the race
Not sure that spoilers are that necessary I don't think that many people care! But anyway
oh well, at least he didn't spend over half a million quid on the car.... hahahahahahaha. Sorry that's not very nice is it
scooby snacks
28-12-2008, 22:39
is it worth downloading or does it continue in this vein?
Shorty
Nah, It was crap. Pretty daft to acquire a driver to do nothing but navigating and repair work. What a lazy tit. She'd have driven better, faster and probably not have broke it:lol:
Jesus, he was very smug and pompous.
scoobyood
28-12-2008, 23:44
James Martin is a complete smug ****. <- Yes that's the swearword you are thinking of.
Drysolder
29-12-2008, 02:16
It was very poor. And Martin didn't do himself any favours.
George vader
29-12-2008, 07:57
I'm not sure if people are aware of this but James is from Yorkshire, he might have mentioned it ;)
Watched it and he did come across as a bit of a ****, so not the best piece of self promotion ever if that's what he intended. Had to feel a bit sorry for him though when it packed in.
I reckon the story he was telling about his dad having a cry when he drove out the showroom in his first Ferrari was less about him being proud and more about the fact that the car probably lost more in value the instant it hit the road than he had made that year.
Did the car run on batter (butter to you and me)?
The co-driver was quite nice, they should have showed more of her.
I thought the programme was OK actually. Got a bit of info on the race itself, and the bit where it becomes clear the car isn't going to finish the race was enough to make you feel sorry for anyone. I didn't get the impression he was trying to show off, as it became clear that even with all the cash he splashed out he still couldn't get a car that made it to the end. It sounded to me like he couldn't actually afford to sell it, and he'd have to try again next year to try and raise the value of the car enough so that he could.
Wendell Armbruster
29-12-2008, 15:22
I sort of blanked the berkful James Martin out and just ogled the the beautiful cars on display. Like the earlier Top Gear which has revitalised an old keen-ness to go to Vietnam, I'm now also keen to witness the Mille Miglia and this morning found a travel company that organises trips - your own car, they provide hotels, dinners, access to the paddock enclosure etc.
JohnMid1098
30-12-2008, 13:35
I don't think the producers expected him to blow the engine on the first part of the race, so I guess that left them wondering how to piece together a programme out of the wreckage, which probably explains there being a bit too much "background" and not enough driving/mille miglia.
scooby snacks
30-12-2008, 14:47
I really don't see the point of the mille miglia nowadays. Sure, its a good chance to see some rare cars but they are so expensive and rare that the owners (understandably) tip toe round. In the past it was run with cars from the era so no one was overly concerned with damaging the car. Stirling Moss averaging 97mph over a thousand miles:notworthy
I'm not sure if people are aware of this but James is from Yorkshire, he might have mentioned it ;)
Aye, yorkshire man "say what I like.....like what I say"
Anybody who spends that sort of money on a car which can't even travel a few hundred miles is :cuckoo: IMO
Couldn't help but :lol: when it all went tits up.
As for crying by the roadside......Get a Grip!
Would you not cry if you'd just blown £900,000?
Harold1066
30-12-2008, 17:33
Thought it was funny when he saw the little bubble car finish and the really **** him off :lol:
Thought it was funny when he saw the little bubble car finish and the really **** him off :lol:
Didn't the narrator say he had one of those in his car collection? So if competing in the race was the main aim, he could have used that and saved himself a packet.
Ultimately though, as others have said, it seemed more of an ego trip, hence the requirement for a big 'throbbing' red race car and the token trophy blonde as co-pilot (didn't he 'alledgedly' rattle camilla from come dancing? :n0rty:)
I half expected the car's nose to rise to a 45 degree angle as he pulled away from the start line, a la 'Hale & Pace'.................. :D
raymondlin
30-12-2008, 20:20
Didn't the narrator say he had one of those in his car collection? So if competing in the race was the main aim, he could have used that and saved himself a packet.
I think he said it himself when he was watching the finish line at the end.
I think that's what he really should have done, spent the million quid on some modern classic instead, McLearen F1 or something.
The car had to be made between 1927 and 1957 to enter though.
I think to be absolutely sure of getting in it has to be a car that has been in the race previously, entered not completed.
http://www.1000miglia.eu/inglese/partecipare/informazioni/accettazione_vetture.html
Yes, I think the programme mentioned that over 2000 applicants wanted just 350 places, so I'm guessing you'd have to get very lucky to be accepted in a bubble car.*
*though if it's been his dream for so long, why hasn't he been applying for the last 10-20 years with his bubble car? :suspect:
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