James May is a nerd, but more importantly, he’s a car nerd. Given his history with all things automobiles, does it come as a surprise the former presenter of Top Gear and current presenter of The Grand Tour intends to buy a Model 3?
It’s the must-have EV since the Tesla Model S started to show its age, but don’t forget that Rivian is gaining traction in this industry by cozying up to Detroit instead of Silicon Valley. Turning our attention back to Captain Slow, the Model 3 would be purchased after James reviews it for The Sunday Times.
“How do you know that,” you’re wondering? He’s a contributor to the largest-selling British national newspaper, and if you take a look at his archive, the latest piece James published is the review for the 2019 Alpine A110. Also worthy of mention, The Grand Tour is on break as Andy Wilman and the gang work out what to do for the fourth season of the show.
“A Ferrari is more exciting, but the Alpine excited more often” is how James wraps it up, confirming once again he’s in love with the mid-engine sports car from Dieppe. At the beginning of the year, the 56-year-old journalist from Bristol confessed to having purchased the A110 because the French berlinette is his favorite vehicle of 2018 despite a handful of obvious inconveniences.
The most obvious source of annoyance is the engine in the Alpine, the 1.8 TCe Energy that develops more sucks-squeeze-bang-blow in the A110S and even more in the Renault Megane RS. It’s a bit hard to accept that Alpine has the resources to dial up the engine but didn’t do it on purpose, wouldn’t you agree?
Where were we? Ah, the Model 3! While sitting on a bench, James admitted to being excited about driving the most affordable Tesla out there. “I’d actually quite like to have a Model 3, so that’s sort of exciting on a personal level,” he told DriveTribe. Next up, James is looking forward to the McLaren 600LT but only as a journalist with a passion for cars, not a passionate journalist with the intention of buying a limited-edition supercar.
The big question is, will James choose the Long Range with dual-motor AWD or the Performance? Tesla launched the UK configurator for the Model 3 in May, and deliveries of the Model 3 in RHD are underway.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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