James May

If a pint of real ale was a person, and that person happened to be obsessed with second-hand cars, then that pint/person would be James May. But, while he's the first to admit his tastes would be dismissed as a bit ancient by a dinosaur with a bus pass, he's also got a rebellious spirit. After all, there was that time he got fired from a magazine for being a very naughty boy.

The son of a priest, James May was born in Bristol and - true to fogeyish form - developed an interest in classical music at an early age. In fact he was a bit of a dab hand himself when it came to instruments, learning the flute, saxophone and piano, although nowadays he's a bit rubbish with the first two.

After university James embarked on an array of exciting jobs, including filing clerk and bloke who assembles cardboard boxes in a factory. Finally realising he needed a proper job, he applied to a magazine for the position of sub-editor, despite not actually knowing what a sub-editor was. The magazine in question was The Engineer, a trade journal which was perfect for James as it was founded in 1856.

James's interest in motoring led to him hopping over to a car magazine, but his time there was cut short in 1992 when he was fired for a little joke he played while very, very bored.

He was editing a special supplement on cars which consisted of several entries each beginning with a big red capital letter. Striking a noble blow against the Establishment, James carefully edited the magazine so that, when the red letters were read in order, they spelt out a message saying that the magazine in question was boring and 'a pain in the arse'. Not one of his editors actually noticed this, but they found out when several readers - thinking they'd win a prize - wrote in saying they'd spotted the message.

Fortunately, James bounced back from getting the boot and became a freelancer, then turned up on breakfast telly some time later and was subsequently asked to present a Channel 4 motoring series. Then he hopped over to the Beeb for Top Gear.

James has a special fondness for classic, fat cat cars like Rolls Royces and Bentleys, but he also loves average, run-of-the-mill motors (he admits to suffering from a special fever that can only be satisfied by buying a second-hand Vauxhall). And if you're a girl with a crush on James, then it's worth knowing he likes "a dishevelled arty bird driving something like a knackered convertible. A nice girl in a crap car - it's the motoring equivalent of erotic naked mud-wrestling."