As usual ,I don't suppose I'll be too bothered about Top Gear this evening, (you can see people in bad areas of cities abusing cars without paying license fee money to do it!) . However, the programme after with TV chef and car-nut James Martin, may be of interest, on the classic Mille Miglia featuring 300 classic cars, many of which I'm sure may be Italian!!

wonderfull bit of TV!

Thanks for the posting Martin - As soon as I saw this I went in to watch the TV - Great bit of programme making and it really makes me want to enter the MM - If I had the money and they accepted Fiat 131s!!

Absolutely marvellous TV! Firstly , I must apologise for not putting the reminder on our forum earlier. Therefore giving people more notice.

Beautiful scenery, and how wonderful to see those old cars.

Are we still in a "credit crunch?" Just wondered. You know where I'm going here, don't you? £800,000 for a car, needing a engine rebuild at a cost of £300,000, £8000 entrance fee plus more bits and pieces...............Hmm?

Ah well......

Still, hope the programme gets repeated in the near future (as BBC2 very often do) so others may see

I kind of got the feeling he was only in it for the money, which I think was a shame. And by the end of it I didnt really care about him, he was like a spoilt child !! As for the scenery, it was amazing - what an experience!!

I'm with you on this Jeni. He came across as a total plonker. His attitude to his co-driver when they watched her racing should've got him a slap from both her and his girlfriend.

Voice over didn't help either, all that blather about how it was costing him so much money that he didn't really have (anyone else notice the Jordan F1 car in his garage and the Quattroporte outside?) and how dangerous the MM was. Yes, Voice-Over Man, WAS. In 1957 it WAS. NOW, it's a regularity run so the only "danger" involved is that you may run over a spectators foot. As usual everything was hyped up by the Beeb to make it seem more "dangerous" than it really is.

Here's a precis of the programme for those who missed nothing worth watching.

1. Between 1928 and 1957 there was a really dangerous road race around Italy every year. The race was banned in 1957 when a Ferrari left the road at 170 mph and killed several spectators including children.

2. The race has been resurrected as a non-competitive road run open to cars made between 1928 and 1957.

3. Enter our hero, a posh toff, you may know him if your life is empty enough that you watch cookery programmes on Saturday morning. From this, he's made enough money that he's bought loads of nice cars, even though he doesn't really seem to have much interest in them. He's heard about this race and want to enter.

4. He could do this on a reasonable budget, £60k would buy him an eligible Giulietta Sprint with MM history but because this is telly, he spends £600k sight unseen on a Maserati A6GCS which needs an engine rebuild.

5. He needs a co-driver to read the maps but instead of taking his girlfriend, he picks some other random piece of blonde totty, apparently on the basis that she races a Porsche on the weekend although, as she's a bird, he obviously has no intention of letting her drive the Maserati. It's not adequately explained why she was chosen by the way, ok, she can drive but nothing was made of her map reading abilities.

6. Newly rebuilt engine breaks down after 120 miles. Rest of race ignored in favour of shots of our hero blubbing at the side of the road in a manner not dissimilar to that of a little girl.

A promising programme ruined by picking the wrong protagonist. Memo to BBC, next time you do something like this, pick someone who has a bit of likeability about him so we actually care what happens to him. They should've deserted him at the start and followed the two guys in the old Alfa who looked like they were having a hoot. I have to admit that I actually laughed out loud when he had to retire the car.

BTW, if you missed Top Gear, it was possibly the best episode in ages, topped off by JC having a REAL crash with REAL road-rash. Some of the sequences of them scootering ahead of huge lorries in a tropical downpour looked decidedly dicey too.

I must have watched a different version to you guys.

Whilst the (obligatory) dumbed down voice over did James Martin no favours, much was made of it being his life-long ambition to take part in the race. If he could afford to buy the Maserati, why would he want to "lump it" in a cheaper car. It was the narrator who made a big issue of the price, not James Martin.

Jealousy is not a pretty thing people

I felt really sorry for him, and I hope he tries again this year - and gets to complete the rally

I'm not jealous (well, apart from the girlfriend).

I'd have had a lot more sympathy for him if he'd come across as a nice bloke.

He just didn't.

Sadly I missed both, but thanks to Jim for the overview. I get the idea and didn't like the cheffy bloke in the first place, so it probably would have annoyed me too

I must catch the repeat of TG though - I know it's childish, but I love the programme. Good job we don't all agree on everything..........

Interesting and alternative viewpoint Jim.

I didn't know the guy from Adam and sort of filtered out any personal feelings for him as an individual. However as a fanaitic of Italy and it's cars...

Did I get to see some rare classic Iatlain exotica being driven rather than sitting in a museum for a change...Yes.

Did I get to see some of beautiful Italy and it's historic cities (Verona, Rome, etc)... Yes.

Did I get to learn about an Italian car I had never heard of or seen..? Yes

Did I learn a little about the "other half" and how they spend their money...? Yes

Did I empathise with an Italian car owner whose pride and joy broke down just at the wrong moment..?

Al of these experiences were enjoyable in their own way and I'm delighted that he agreed to let us "little people" in on his experience. Iwouldn't be too critical of the guy's behaviour either when you think about the constant camera in his face and him being conscious that he is going to look like a fool to some people - Must have been pretty stressful!

I suppose you could be cynical on anything on TV, certainly the beeb have come into criticism of late re broadcasters/voting shows etc; and not without reason, for that very same , I have not watched anything of the last series of TG as its obviously designed to be watched by people with half a brain cell! I know they're gunning for ratings and all that, but giving bad advice on safety driving (as of late with the caravan towing issue which caused accidents , as a direct result of their incorrect advice, and setting a bad example by trashing perfectly good cars), I DO NOT CALL GOOD TV VIEWING .PERIOD.

1. As of the Mille Miglia programme, of course, you can question it; Why buy the Maser Agc6 in the first place if it has a reputation for breaking valves, James Martin was obviously ill -advised by his car-spotter, or he should have done more research himself.He COULD have saved himself money and possibly completed the event easily (Alfa Guilietta or Porsche 356).But he's obviously loaded and wanted to be seen "up there" with the heady historic stuff.

2. What I did find amusing, and it confirmed my view, that people in the "big money" bracket lose all sense of practicality, thinking they can buy their way out of situations, as if to "show off" a bit. When the Maser lost its valves, James was contacting people in the UK to find suitable parts to be immediately shipped by special chartered flight to get him up and running again. Had the guy lost his mind! You're in ITALY for christs sake James! It may have escaped your attention but Masers are made there and I,m sure they could have found suitable supplier albeit a historic racer and all. Again, a bit of research / preparation beforehand ?........

When I organised the trip to the Spa Francorchamps Ferrari days in 1997, (you will remember the article in our club mag)
one of the Ferrari 308's we were accompanying, lost its crankshaft seal- a gent sold us one from one of the racing teams and a local Fiat dealer helped us in the fitting!

3. I know the event has become more a competitve "time - trail" than an out and out race but its still a nice one.I have a video of a late 1980's event , yes it has some of the drivers of the time , Stirling Moss etc;,and its all a big jolly with "I've gotta lot of lolly types" but still nice all the same.

4. Would I enter it if I was up there financially? Possibly not.But you don't have to be terribly rich to follow the event around, enjoy the sights and sounds of the cars, the beautiful scenery, as well as the excitment of Italian car culture as it happens.If you don't mind the driving as a touring holiday ,I'm sure it would be very nice. Expensive? Yes. But you would hold the memory of it for the rest of your life even though you did it the once. Likewise , I did from 1997 , at Spa with the Ferraris.

And I would plan it myself, as I did before. Haggle the best deal for ferry crossings, plan the route , night stops etc; these package deals you see adv in the classic car press make a packet out of somethong you can do yourself. Money saved is money earned I say! Whatever, level you're at!

Good luck to James next year, anyway. But more preparation might not go amiss!!

Just as I thought, this programme will be repeated on Sunday,4th.January,2009. At 7pm BBC2

Here's more Mille Miglia, looks like a trailer from a DVD; mixture of new as well as old B&W material, you can also see various Fiats in the clips including Otto Vue V8, a little Topolino being push started, a blue classic 500, plus the 1950's Multiplas, besides various Abarths, nice bit of film;


http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=CGJuYtjp11E

I'm with Jen on this one. I have always liked and admired James Martin until I saw this programme that is. He came across as someone who, although wanting to take part in the MM, he wasn't above thinking how much extra his car would bring at resale after it has taken part in this historic event. When it broke down and he sent to England for the parts, I too like others thought "try the little Fiat garage round the corner" they are enthusiasts and are bound to know where they could get their hands on the required parts. It will be interesting to see if he takes part in next years event.
Jo