James Martin - Driven

COOKING IN THE FAST LANE – MY STORY

This book is dedicated to all the people I’ve met, loved, lost, punched, argued with, kicked, sworn at, bought from, sold to, hired , sacked, spoken about, written about, fallen out with, hated, worked with and had a drink with.You have shaped my life and this book.

Cover Page

Title Page Driven James Martin COOKING IN THE FAST LANE – MY STORY

Dedication This book is dedicated to all the people I’ve met, loved , lost, punched , argued with, kicked, sworn at, bought from, sold to, hired , sacked, spoken about , written about, fallen out with, hated, worked with and had a drink with. You have shaped my life and this book.

Introduction

1 Skateboarding Around the Kitchen Table

2 Arcade Games and Aston Martins: The V8 Vantage

3 Boys’ Toys

4 The Castle Howard Rubbish Run: The Ferrari 308

5 Les Voitures (Merde) De Mon Pere

6 Bmxs, Bunny-Hops and Brownies

7 Bikes and Trikes

8 Philip Schofield is Definitely Not a Chicken: The Fiat 126

9 France in an Hgv

10 ‘Extra-Curricular’: The White Vauxhall Nova

11 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

12 A New Start in the New Forest

13 The Car-Fanatic Father I Never Had

14 How a Kit Car Saved My Life: The Westfield, Part I

15 Screen Tests: The Westfield, Part II

16 Track Days

17 Ready, Steady…Now Don’t Do it Again: The Lotus Elise, Part I

18 The Perils of Public Transport

19 A Very Royal Scandal: The Lotus Elise, Part II

20 The Audi Convert

21 A Considered Buy: The Ferrari 360, Part I

22 My Other Car’s a Ferrari: The Vauxhall Corsa

23 It’s Only Metal: The Ferrari 360, Part II

24 A Kick in the Nuts: The Ferrari 360, Part III

25 Cars and Bond Girls

26 Jags, Ranges, Bikes and Boats

27 My First Oldie: The Gullwing

28 Follow that Car! The Ferrari 355 Again

29 The Time of My Life: The Dbs 007

30 Strictly Knackered

31 Miss England and the Saturday Kitchen Cars

32 Campervans

33 A Leap of Faith: The Maserati A6Gcs

34 The Finish Line

Index

Photo

Acknowledgments

Copyright

About the Publisher

Most people probably don’t know about my car obsession, but it’s quite serious, and I’ve had it a long time. From my earliest memory, my life has been dedicated to the pursuit of two passions – cooking and motors. To be honest, I can’t remember which came first; the two have always gone hand in hand. As a kid, I was either helping out in the kitchens of Castle Howard, where my father was catering manager, or driving a tractor around the fields of our farm. If I wasn’t flambéing chicken livers at catering college, I was circling Golf GTis in AutoTrader and dreaming of Ferraris. And if I wasn’t working 18-hour shifts in some of the most punishing kitchens in London, I was spending what little I’d earned on some ridiculous kit car with no roof and big shiny exhaust pipes. Every job I’ve ever had has been to finance wheels of some description. I know that most people associate me with cooking, but for people who really know me, cars are probably the first thing that spring to mind. Put it this way: I’ve got a beautiful big kitchen at home, but my garages, all three of them, are more impressive. My whole life has been wrapped up with cars in some way. Knowing that, it’s easier to understand why this has been one of the most monumental years of my life. This year has seen the realisation of one of my dreams. This year I took part in the world’s ultimate road race.

I was just 22 when I first heard of the Mille Miglia road race, a 1,000 mile rally through the medieval streets and squares of Italy, from Brescia to Rome and back again. At the time, I was head chef at the Hotel Du Vin in Winchester and was constantly surrounded by mega-rich people with mega-money cars. I’d just acquired a fantastic little two-seater kit car of my own, so when I overheard talk about a world-famous classic car race, my ears pricked up. Not long after, I came across an article about it and from there I was hooked.

Enzo Ferrari called it ‘the world’s greatest road race’. Only in Italy would they allow three hundred vintage sports cars to drive at breakneck speeds on public roads, competing against one another and against the clock, cheered on by women, children, young men, old men, local mayors and the police. It’s fast, loud and dangerous, and utterly intoxicating. I read about the Mille Miglia’s glory days when Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss battled it out, Moss ultimately claiming triumph in 1955 in his legendary Mercedes-Benz 300slr, completing the race in a staggering 10 hours 7 minutes and 48 seconds. I read about the horrific accidents, including the one that killed twelve spectators in 1957 and led to the annual event being scrapped on grounds of safety. Then I read about the race’s 1982 revival as an historic rally for vintage cars, a time trial rather than an out-and-out race. I wanted to go and see all the incredible machines, to hear the noise and feel the excitement. Right then and there I promised myself that one day, if it was the last thing I did, I would go and watch the Mille Miglia.

I never in my wildest dreams thought I’d actually get to drive in the thing. That seemed such an impossibility that it wasn’t even an ambition. Back in its heyday, if you were able to get hold of a car and some petrol, you could be out there going wheel to wheel with Moss and Fangio. Technically, it’s still open to anyone. Every year roughly two thousand people apply to take part in the race. Only around 350 are chosen, and it’s all based on the eligibility of the car. You can’t buy or muscle your way into the Mille Miglia, you have to be invited once you’ve applied. On the upside, that means it’s not full of rich brats and yuppies with too much money and no idea of style and sophistication. On the downside you need bags of money, because eligible cars don’t come cheap, and neither does getting them to the start ramp.

Fast-forward to 2005 and I was at the BBC to talk about a new cooking series. We were trying to brainstorm ideas but not coming up with anything. As an aside I mentioned the forthcoming Mille Miglia and how I would love to go to watch it because I was nuts about cars. Suddenly everyone in the room perked up and wanted to know more about the race and my car collection. They asked me to write a proposal for a programme based around my actually doing the race.

I had no idea what the proposal should look like, so I got in touch with a producer I knew. He said that the best thing to do wasn’t to try to put the race on paper, but to put it on film, to make a mini pilot so the BBC could get a feel for the cars, the places, the event. So two weeks later, there I was, standing next to the start ramp in Brescia, a camera in my face, shouting above the roar of an Alfa Romeo revving up behind me, ‘Forget Monaco, forget Formula One, this is the most amazing race in the world, the Mille Miglia, and next year I’m going to do it.’

A week after they got the pilot, the BBC came back with a yes. And that was it. I was doing the Mille Miglia. Not that any of us – me, the production company, the BBC – had even the first clue how to go about it. Production hired someone to sort out the logistics of the race, the application process, and everything related to the organisation of the race itself. The BBC set a budget but it was barely enough to cover the camera crew and the editing, so the car and a co-driver were most definitely going to have to come out of my own pocket. In fact, money got so tight so quickly that when it became clear I was going to have to hire support mechanics too and pay for their transport, food and accommodation I struck a deal with the producer. I said, ‘I’ll waive my fee if you pay for the support team.’ He agreed, no doubt thinking he was getting the better deal, but for once being paid nothing really did make sound financial sense. Not that earning nothing and borrowing vast sums of money to pay for cars I really can’t afford was anything new to me. Throughout my life I’ve seemed to make a habit of it, though I’ve never once had any regrets.