Auto Trader

BBC2's Top Gear is off the air for five weeks while the world goes football crazy. But don't fret - we're here to make sure you get your fix of motoring goodness in the form of an exclusive interview with presenter James May.

Auto Trader's Alex Eckford went to meet James and found out about 'man maths', who Top Gear's real petrolhead is, and the road to the best job in TV.

When I ask James what first ignited his love of cars, it turns out it wasn't a what, but a who.

"My dad started it all. When I was three years old I remember waking up to find a beige-coloured Aston Martin DB4 he'd left on my pillow," says James. "It was a very, exciting moment, and the first spark."

May's road to the best job in TV took a few detours, including a degree in music, and a string of low paid menial jobs.

"I was a filing clerk at a hospital, and I worked in a Gillette factory, assembling cardboard boxes," says James. "I broke into journalism after applying for a job at a trade magazine called The Engineer. I think I got the job because the guy hated interviewing people. He thought if he gave me the job he wouldn't have to interview anyone else."

After a few years at The Engineer James moved to Autocar magazine.

"I was still mainly involved in the production side of things, writing occasionally as an indulgence," says James.

Then in September 1992 James found a novel way of getting fired.

"I edited the Road Test Yearbook supplement. There were write-ups of 101 cars, and some of them started with a big red letter. If you put all the letters together it spelled out a message saying I was bored and the whole thing was a pain in the arse," says James. "It took me a month to do, and then they fired me. The funny thing is none of the production staff noticed, but loads of people wrote in thinking they'd won a prize."

James was philosophical about the setback and started freelancing for Complete Car magazine. The money was appalling.

"I starved to death," winces James at the memory.

James had the opportunity to put some food on his table after being approached by Channel 4 to present Driven.

"I'd done a few bits of breakfast TV, and did a couple of screentests for them. I did that for one series," says James. "But I knew they were under pressure from Channel 4 to get a female presenter, and I was the most likely casualty. And that's when I got the call asking me to present Top Gear."

Presenting Top Gear is undoubtedly the best job in motoring TV, if not the best job full stop. But sometimes the action gets a little too exciting.

"The scariest moment was when me and [Richard] Hammond raced [Jeremy] Clarkson to Oslo, and we had to go across the sea on powerboats. One of them started sinking, and the other one punctured. That was one of the low points of my whole existence," says James.

"I thought 'well, at least I'm not being sick' and then Hammond started throwing up all over me."

"Another bad moment was being asked by a security guard at the studio if I was Richard Hammond's driver. He asked me if I'd like to wait for him or come back later."

At the moment James has four cars - a Porsche Boxster, a Series 1 Range Rover, Bentley T2 and a Rolls Royce Corniche fixed head coupé. The purchases of all these cars have been thanks to a particular form of economics named by James himself.

"Man maths. It's more of a philosophy. It's a way of justifying wasting money on toys. Therefore I have four cars but no stair carpet," says James.

Top Gear is experiencing a golden age. These days the show feels more like a lifestyle programme - it's a million miles away from the half-hour review show of the 80s and 90s. The presenters got the job because they live, eat and breath cars - but who does James feel is the real petrolhead on the show?

"Clarkson. Definitely. Hammond and I just like buying crap old cars," says James.

"We both have car fever, as we call it. It's where you get a strange sweaty craving that can only be satisfied by buying a Vauxhall on Auto Trader."

As a parting question I ask James if there's any car he hasn't yet driven that he'd like to.

"To be honest, there's one thing I'd like to get behind the controls of more than any car - I'd love to fly a Spitfire. I'll have my pilot's licence by the summer, and I know a few people, so it's something that could conceivably happen."

So watch the skies - the next time you see a Spitfire sweeping through the skies at an air show or a Royal birthday celebration, it could be James May.

Want more Top Gear? Read our interview with Richard Hammond here.