The real italian job

[CO2000]

Hey this thread takes longer to read than the Prog took to watch !

Anyway he did come across as a C*ck but not all the time & far less than an Celeb Chef ought to be ! but how many of us would come out with similar quipes/jibes just to look funny if we were being filmed on such a event or even with a group of friends? It looked like his wealth was making him the car nut, people telling him what he should buy & not knowing much detail about Cars etc etc.

He seemed to be making up for it (for the Mille Miglia at least) after the event by buying loads of books on the subject at some pretty nice prices (for the Bookstore Owner anyway !)

It was a bit strange that he was told that it was going to be 300k min for a car but then some pretty cheap (in comparison) Cars were in it. Someone taking a nice % cut of the purchase ??Could he not have rented a car/team? & he also looked to take far too long to buy a Car & it was all a bit of a rush in the end.

All in all though it was way better than nothing (or Two Ronnies/Morecambe & Wise re-runs !!!!!!)

I hope he does it next year (& finishes it) & we get a proper programme

Co.

[Oilchange]

I agree there, do it on a budget though, with an old Brit car and a load of (mechanically minded) mates as backup instead of all the money and hype. That would be worth watching.

[TonyHetherington]

heebeegeetee said:

...he was a genuine enthusiast but the prog was made by bullstters...

I think in one sentence you've summed up the entire program and the entire thread there

[Apache]

TonyHetherington said:

heebeegeetee said:

...he was a genuine enthusiast but the prog was made by bullstters...

I think in one sentence you've summed up the entire program and the entire thread there

It's TV what did anyone expect? like watching coverage of a music festival and the presenters become the main feature or anything vaguely aeronautical and you have to go through the basics of how a wing works or road tests consisting of 'how loud is the stereo' or 'can my girlfriend apply make up whilst being driven over a bumpy road'
These people are enthusiastic about making TV and the subject material is secondary. The only one that went against this grain was the Mark Evans series

[RichB]

Ordinary Bloke said:

I really don't understand how this thread got so 'heated'???

It's Pistonheads

[DjSki]

unclefester said:

What about the claim from an 'insider' that he didn't even actually BUY the car, but that it was somehow fronted/loaned by Maserati UK as some sort of arse about face 'publicity stunt'?

No more supporting info on this? It sounds massively unlikely......

Could it be true? I thought it strange that he gave his co driver the Maserati driving outfit before he had "decided" what make and model of car to go for............few shots of his apparently daily driver Maserati in the drive and him driving it...........

[CO2000]

DjSki said:

unclefester said:

What about the claim from an 'insider' that he didn't even actually BUY the car, but that it was somehow fronted/loaned by Maserati UK as some sort of arse about face 'publicity stunt'?

No more supporting info on this? It sounds massively unlikely......

Could it be true? I thought it strange that he gave his co driver the Maserati driving outfit before he had "decided" what make and model of car to go for............few shots of his apparently daily driver Maserati in the drive and him driving it...........

If true this is worse than the Blue Peter cat naming scandal !!!!!!

Fire in the complaints to the BBC !

[Red Devil]

DjSki said:

unclefester said:

What about the claim from an 'insider' that he didn't even actually BUY the car, but that it was somehow fronted/loaned by Maserati UK as some sort of arse about face 'publicity stunt'?

No more supporting info on this? It sounds massively unlikely......

Could it be true? I thought it strange that he gave his co driver the Maserati driving outfit before he had "decided" what make and model of car to go for............few shots of his apparently daily driver Maserati in the drive and him driving it...........

Good call. Didn't notice that timing difference.
BBC prime time TV. Dumbing down for the masses. Followed by the worst ever Top Gear.
They might as well now call it Clarkson Hammond and May Go Large and bill it as a comedy programme......

[DjSki]

This looks like a Maserati UK press release.....he might have had a hand from them?.....Maserati are very keen to publicise their racing hertiage of the 1950/60's aren't they after it's been lost/forgotten in recent years.......

http://www.hrowen.co.uk/Maserati/news-and-offers-d...

[J111]

DjSki said:

unclefester said:

What about the claim from an 'insider' that he didn't even actually BUY the car, but that it was somehow fronted/loaned by Maserati UK as some sort of arse about face 'publicity stunt'?

No more supporting info on this? It sounds massively unlikely......

Could it be true? I thought it strange that he gave his co driver the Maserati driving outfit before he had "decided" what make and model of car to go for............few shots of his apparently daily driver Maserati in the drive and him driving it...........

James Martin does have a promotional relationship with Maserati, he did a puff piece for the Daily Mail on factory collection earlier in the year.

[fastfreddy]

DjSki said:

unclefester said:

What about the claim from an 'insider' that he didn't even actually BUY the car, but that it was somehow fronted/loaned by Maserati UK as some sort of arse about face 'publicity stunt'?

No more supporting info on this? It sounds massively unlikely......

Could it be true? I thought it strange that he gave his co driver the Maserati driving outfit before he had "decided" what make and model of car to go for............few shots of his apparently daily driver Maserati in the drive and him driving it...........

Shots aren't necessarily edited in the order they were recorded and anyway I don't think there was any Maserati stuff in shot until after he was supposed to have picked the car.
Even if there was it was no more deceptive than Jools Holland pretending his Hootananny goes out live or Clarkson pretending he hasn't ridden a moped before.

If programme makers were to stick to the truth completely, TV would be even more boring and dull than it is now.

[grimfandango]

ok i havent read all the thread so excuse me if this has been done before.

Ignoriing the claim that the car was loaned by Maserati, what i couldnt understand is why he didnt buy something cheaper! surely theres loads of cars made between 1920something and 1950something, that could have entered the race. i mean old mgs, and porsche's arnt that dear! what about a beatle!! for probabley around £3-5k or so! unless theres some rules im not aware about??? we all saw the bubble car, and there was some kind of old van at some point?!

[Tony*T3]

Anyone who pre-records a 'live' TV show series that asks people to ring in to win a prize is going to have a load of money to spend on dodgy Italian cars.....

[Roo.]

Tony*T3 said:

Anyone who pre-records a 'live' TV show series that asks people to ring in to win a prize is going to have a load of money to spend on dodgy Italian cars.....

In fairness they do normally say before hand if it's pre-recorded.

[Legion]

grimfandango said:

ok i havent read all the thread so excuse me if this has been done before.

Ignoriing the claim that the car was loaned by Maserati, what i couldnt understand is why he didnt buy something cheaper! surely theres loads of cars made between 1920something and 1950something, that could have entered the race. i mean old mgs, and porsche's arnt that dear! what about a beatle!! for probabley around £3-5k or so! unless theres some rules im not aware about??? we all saw the bubble car, and there was some kind of old van at some point?!

Hello,

In the nicest possible way.....why do you say you haven't [bothered to?] read the thread (there are loads on PH far far longer), and therefore not taken in what people have already said, and then hope people will read your post and be bothered to reply?

The answer is already here. Not meant in a rude way, but there is loads of good Mille Miglia information in and amongst the postings, so do people the courtesy of taking it all in!

[Tony*T3]

Roo. said:

Tony*T3 said:

Anyone who pre-records a 'live' TV show series that asks people to ring in to win a prize is going to have a load of money to spend on dodgy Italian cars.....

In fairness they do normally say before hand if it's pre-recorded.

Only since they got caught. Before that it was just a con job.

[Gruffy]

grimfandango said:

…surely theres loads of cars made that could have entered the race. i mean old mgs, and porsche's arnt that dear! what about a beatle!! for probabley around £3-5k or so! unless theres some rules im not aware about?

The are rules and then there's reality. There are ~350-400 spaces and many of those are filled by 'regulars'. It doesn't leave much room for the ~2,000 applicants without connections. You need to stand out to have a hope in hell of securing a place on the start ramp.

[screwloose]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

The issue I have with the dealer was the extremely poor advice he seemed to offer. Would you let a customer try and complete the Mille Miglia in a car that had done 200 miles since an engine rebuild?
Naive?!... Its bloody ridiculous!
I would also never buy a car with the intention of doing such an event without first driving it.

[screwloose]

Gruffy said:

grimfandango said:

…surely theres loads of cars made that could have entered the race. i mean old mgs, and porsche's arnt that dear! what about a beatle!! for probabley around £3-5k or so! unless theres some rules im not aware about?

The are rules and then there's reality. There are ~350-400 spaces and many of those are filled by 'regulars'. It doesn't leave much room for the ~2,000 applicants without connections. You need to stand out to have a hope in hell of securing a place on the start ramp.

If you trawl through the info available in reality the cars most eligable and therefore the ones that typically get on the event are those cars that have historically actually competed in the event or were built specially.
So for instance a 300SL Gullwing or Porsche 356 may well fall within the right age gap but if they do not have the provenance of historically completing the event the likelihood of their gaining a place are very slim. On the flip side if that Gullwing or 356 have or indeed were built to compete in the event they would be more likely to get a place.

HTH

[dr_gn]

Guys,

Did anyone else notice that as well as the tachometer not working, the oil pressure gauge was barely moving off its stop? (see approx 30 minutes into the prog on iplayer). I wouldn't expect Martin to notice, but the bird might have said something...then again I got the impression she couldn't care less by the end of it.

Judging by the amount of incredulous bile being directed towards the guy, I'm assuming not many of you have ever been to a Vintage Sports Car Club meeting? There you can witness many, many examples of Mr. Martin clones : Way too much money and vanity but absolutely no mechanical sense.

If anyone needs confirmation that the guy is rather pleased with himself, then go to his website and look at the biography section. You'll also be glad to know that the prog. will be available for you to buy on DVD, and according to him, it's great:

"Here it is the best show I've done
Times for your sky plus
December 28th 9pm after Top Gear Christmas Special
Repeat at 7pm on Sunday 4th January
DVD out in the New Year
Hope you like it
Best wishes
James"

Dr.G