Name	Citroën DS
Aka	Citroën ID
Manufacturer	Citroën
Production	1955–1975
Assembly	Paris, FranceMangualde, PortugalSlough, EnglandHeidelberg, Victoria, AustraliaJohannesburg, South AfricaKoper, Yugoslavia
Predecessor	Citroën Traction Avant
Successor	Citroën CX
Class	Mid-size luxury car / Executive car
Body style	4-door sedan5-door Safari station wagon2-door convertible
Engine	I4 I4 I4 I4
Layout	MF layout
Related	Citroën SM
Length	(saloon) (estate)
Width
Height	(saloon) (estate)
Weight	(saloon) (estate)
Wheelbase
Fuel capacity
Designer	Flaminio Bertoni }}

The Citroën DS was an executive car produced by the French manufacturer Citroën between 1955 and 1975. Styled by Italian sculptor and industrial designer Flaminio Bertoni and the French aeronautical engineer André Lefèbvre, the DS was known for its aerodynamic futuristic body design and innovative technology, including a hydropneumatic self-levelling suspension.

The DS advanced achievable standards in automobile ride quality, handling, and braking. Citroën sold nearly 1.5 million D-series during the model's 20-year production run. The DS came in third in the 1999 Car of the Century competition, recognizing the world's most influential auto designs, and was named the most beautiful car of all time by Classic & Sports Car magazine.

Model history

After 18 years of secret development as the successor to the Traction Avant, the DS 19 was introduced on 5 October 1955 at the Paris Motor Show. In the first 15 minutes of the show, 743 orders were taken, and orders for the first day totalled 12,000.

Contemporary journalists said the DS pushed the envelope in the ride vs. handling compromise possible in a motor vehicle.

To a France still deep in reconstruction after the devastation of World War II, and also building its identity in the post-colonial world, the DS motor car was a symbol of French ingenuity. The DS was distributed to many territories throughout the world .

It also posited the nation's relevance in the Space Age, during the global race for technology of the Cold War. Structuralist philosopher Roland Barthes, in an essay about the car, said that it looked as if it had "fallen from the sky". An American advertisement summarised this selling point: "It takes a special person to drive a special car".

The high price tag, however, hurt general sales in a country still recovering from World War II, and a cheaper submodel, the Citroën ID, was introduced in 1957. The ID shared the DS's body but was less powerful. Although it shared the engine capacity of the DS engine (at this stage 1,911 cc), the ID provided a maximum power output of only 69 hp compared to the 75 hp claimed for the DS19. Power outputs were further differentiated in 1961 when the DS19 acquired a Weber-32 twin bodied carburetter, and the increasing availability of higher octane fuel enabled the manufacturer to increase the compression ration from 7.5:1 to 8.5:1. A new DS19 now came with a promised 83 hp of power. The ID19 was also more traditional mechanically: it had no power steering and had conventional transmission and clutch instead of the DS's hydraulically controlled set-up. Initially the basic ID19 was sold on the French market with a price saving of more than 25% against the DS, although the differential was reduced at the end of 1961 when the manufacturer quietly withdrew the entry level ID19 "Normale" from sale. A station wagon variant, the ID Break, was introduced in 1958.

The ID19 followed the DS19's example in using a punning name. While "DS" is pronounced in French as "Déesse" (goddess), "ID" is pronounced as "Idée" (idea).

The DS was the first mass production car with front power disc brakes. It also featured hydropneumatic suspension including an automatic leveling system and variable ground clearance, power steering and a semi-automatic transmission, and a fibreglass roof which reduced weight transfer. Inboard front brakes (as well as independent suspension) reduced unsprung weight. Different front and rear track widths and tyre sizes reduced the understeer typical of front-engined and front-wheel drive cars.

As with all French cars, the DS design was affected by the tax horsepower system, which effectively mandated very small engines. Unlike the Traction Avant predecessor, there was no top-of-range model with a powerful six cylinder engine. Citroën had planned an air-cooled flat-6 engine for the car, but did not have the funds to put the prototype engine into production. Despite the rather leisurely acceleration afforded by its small four-cylinder engine, derived from the Traction Avant, the DS was successful in motorsports like rallying, where sustained speeds on poor surfaces are paramount, and won the Monte Carlo Rally in 1959 and controversially in 1966, after the disqualification of the BMC Mini-Cooper team.

The DS placed fifth on Automobile Magazine's "100 Coolest Cars" listing in 2005. It was also named the most beautiful car of all time by Classic & Sports Car magazine after a poll of 20 world-renowned car designers, including Giorgetto Giugiaro, Ian Callum, Roy Axe, Paul Bracq, and Leonardo Fioravanti.

Technical innovation – hydraulic systems

In conventional cars, hydraulics are only used in brakes and power steering. In the DS they were also used for the suspension, clutch and transmission, although the later ID19 did have manual steering and a simplified power-braking system.

At a time when few passenger vehicles had independent suspension on all wheels, the application of the hydraulic system to the car's suspension system to provide a self-levelling system was an innovative move. This suspension allowed the car to achieve sharp handling combined with very high ride quality, frequently compared to a "magic carpet". The hydropneumatic suspension used was pioneered the year before, on the rear of another car from Citroën, the top of range Traction Avant 15CV-H.

Impact on Citroën brand development

The 1955 DS cemented the Citroën brand name as an automotive innovator, building on the success of the Traction Avant, which had been the world's first mass-produced monocoque front-wheel-drive car in 1934. In fact, the DS caused such a huge sensation that Citroën was apprehensive that future models would not be of the same bold standard. No clean sheet new models were introduced from 1955 to 1970.

The DS was a large, expensive executive car and a downward brand extension was attempted, but without result. Throughout the late 1950s and 1960s Citroën developed many new vehicles for the very large market segments between the 2CV and the DS, occupied by vehicles like the Peugeot 403, Renault 16 and Ford Cortina, but none made it into production. Either they had uneconomic build costs, or were ordinary "me too" cars, not up to the company's high standard of innovation. As Citroën was owned by Michelin as a sort of research laboratory, and were a powerful advertisement for the capabilities of the radial tyre Michelin had invented, such experimentation was possible.

Other models produced by Citroën were based on the utilitarian 2-cylinder 2CV economy car (that contained some of the most advanced independent suspension chassis engineering in the world). The Ami also designed by Flaminio Bertoni attempted to combine the styling of the DS with the advanced chassis of the 2CV. It was very successful in France in the 1960s, but less so on export markets because of its controversial styling, and by being noisy and underpowered. The Dyane, was a modernised 2CV with a hatchback, to compete with the Renault 4.

Citroën finally did introduce the Citroën GS in 1970, which won "European car of the Year 1970" and sold a spectacular 2.5 million units. But it was still underpowered by a flat-4 air-cooled engine, the intended Wankel rotary-engined version did not reach full production.

Replacing the DS

The DS remained popular and competitive throughout its production run. Its peak production year was 1970. Certain design elements like the somewhat narrow cabin, column mounted gearstick, and separate fenders began to seem a little old-fashioned in the 1970s.

Citroën invested enormous resources to design and launch an entirely new vehicle in 1970, the SM, which was a thoroughly modernized, much wider, faster and more expensive car than the DS. Although the SM construction was conceptually similar to the DS – a platform frame with many pieces spotwelded together, mid-engine, front-wheel drive, detachable front fenders, hydropneumatic suspension, rear fender skirts, and trailing arm rear suspension – it is an entirely different car. On the SM, the roof and rear quarter panels were welded on. Few parts are directly interchangeable between the two cars, but the DS and SM were both assembled on the same production lines at Quai André-Citroën, Paris. Unlike the DS, the factory never authorized a convertible model, as Citroën felt the roof was integral to the structure of the SM.

Despite all this, the SM had to fulfill another purpose beyond just modernizing the DS: it had to launch Citroën into a new grand tourer market segment. This meant that unlike the DS, the SM was not designed to be a practical 4-door saloon suitable as a large family car, the key market for vehicles of this type in Europe. Typically, manufacturers would introduce low-volume coupés based on parts shared with an existing saloon, not as unique models, a contemporary example being the Mercedes-Benz SLC-Class. The SM's high price, driven by its Maserati engine and limited utility of the 2+2 seating configuration, meant the SM as actually produced could not seize the mantle from the DS.

The DS was finally phased out in 1976, by which time 1,455,746 cars had been produced. The DS was replaced as the large family or executive car in the model range by the CX. The development and launch of the CX in the wake of the 1974 oil crisis, bankrupted Citroën and forced them into a merger with Peugeot, to form PSA Peugeot-Citroën.

Manufacture

The DS was primarily manufactured in Paris, with other manufacturing facilities in the United Kingdom, South Africa, the former Yugoslavia (mostly Break Ambulances), and Australia.

Australia constructed their own D variant in the 1960s at Heidelberg, Victoria, identified as the ID 19 "Parisienne." Australian market cars were fitted with options as standard equipment such as the "DSpecial DeLuxe" that were not available on domestic European models.

Until 1965 cars were assembled at the manufacturer's Slough premises, to the west of London, using a combination of French made semi CKD kits and locally sourced components, some of them machined on site. A French electrical system superseded the British one on the Slough cars in 1962, giving rise to a switch to "continental style" negative earthing. After 1965 cars for the British market were imported fully assembled from the company's French plant. The British-built cars are distinguished by their leather seats, wooden dashboards, and (on pre-1962 cars) Lucas-made electrics.

DS in the United States

While the DS was a hit in Europe, it seemed rather odd in the United States. Ostensibly a luxurious car, it did not have the basic features that buyers of that era expected to find on such a vehicle: fully automatic transmission, air conditioning, power windows, and a reasonably powerful V8 engine instead of a relatively modest 4-cylinder inline engine. The DS's price in 1970 ranged from US$4,066 to US$4,329.

Also, many Americans at the time wanted only the newest models, which changed every year, like fashions, but the DS's appearance did not change significantly in the 16 years it was available in the States.

US legislation also banned one of the car's more advanced features, aerodynamic headlamps, now common in US automobiles of the 21st century, which first re-appeared in the USA on Audi cars of that era, and domestically produced Ford Taurus cars in 1986 as examples. The first year of aerodynamic glass enclosing the DS's headlights, along with driving lights turned by the steering, was also the first year those features were outlawed in the US. The VW Beetle, Kombi (van) and Jaguar XKE had aerodynamic faired glass over their (fixed) headlights until the same time.

The DS was sold in the United States from 1956–1972. Ultimately, 38,000 units were sold.

Design variations

The DS always maintained its size and shape, with easily removable, unstressed body panels, but certain design changes did occur.

A station wagon version was introduced in 1958. It was known by various names in different markets (Break in France, Safari and Familiale in the UK, Wagon in the US, and Citroën Australia used the terms Safari and Station-Wagon). It had a steel roof to support the standard roof rack.

In September 1962, the DS was restyled with a more aerodynamically efficient nose, better ventilation and other improvements. It retained the open two headlamp appearance, but was available with an optional set of driving lights mounted on the front fenders. In 1965 a luxury upgrade kit, the DS Pallas (after Greek goddess Pallas), was introduced. This included comfort features such as better noise insulation, a more luxurious (and optional leather) upholstery and external trim embellishments.

In 1967, the DS and ID was again restyled. This version had a more streamlined headlamp design, giving the car a notably shark-like appearance. This design had four headlights under a smooth glass canopy, and the inner set swivelled with the steering wheel. This allowed the driver to see "around" turns, especially valuable on twisting roads driven at high speed at night.

However, this feature was not allowed in the US at the time (see World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations), so a version with four exposed headlights that did not swivel was made for the US market.

The station wagon edition, the Break (called the ID Safari on the UK market) and "Familiale", was also upgraded. The hydraulic fluid changed to the technically superior LHM (Liquide Hydraulique Minéral) in all markets except the US.

Rarest and most collectable of all DS variants, a convertible was offered from 1958 until 1973. The convertibles were built in small series by French carrossier Henri Chapron, for the Citroën factory. The DS convertibles used the break (station wagon) frame, which was reinforced on the sidemembers and rear suspension swingarm bearing box.

In addition, Chapron also produced a few coupés, non-works convertibles and special sedans (including the 'Prestige,' same wheelbase but with a with a central divider, and the 'Lorraine' notchback).

In 1965, noted American auto customizer Gene Winfield created The Reactor, a two seat Citroen DS with a turbocharged 180 horsepower Corvair engine driving the front wheels, and a streamlined aluminum body. This vehicle was seen in TV programs of the era, such as Batman episodes 110 ("Funny Feline Felonies") and 111 (driven by Catwoman Eartha Kitt), Bewitched, which devoted the episode 3.19 ("Super Car") to the Reactor, and Star Trek episode 54 ("Bread and Circuses").

Technical details

Suspension

In a hydropneumatic suspension system, each wheel is connected, not to a spring, but to a hydraulic suspension unit consisting of a sphere of about 12 cm in diameter containing pressurised nitrogen, a cylinder containing hydraulic fluid screwed to the suspension sphere, a piston inside the cylinder connected by levers to the suspension itself, and a damper valve between the piston and the sphere. A membrane in the sphere prevented the nitrogen from escaping. The motion of the wheels translated to a motion of the piston, which acted on the oil in the nitrogen cushion and provided the spring effect. The damper valve took place of the shock absorber in conventional suspensions. The hydraulic cylinder was fed with hydraulic fluid from the main pressure reservoir via a height corrector, a valve controlled by the mid-position of the anti-roll bar connected to the axle. If the suspension was too low, the height corrector introduced high-pressure fluid; if it was too high, it released fluid back to the fluid reservoir. In this manner, a constant ride height was maintained. A control in the cabin allowed the driver to select one of five heights: normal riding height, two slightly higher riding heights for poor terrain, and two extreme positions for changing wheels. [The correct term oleopneumatic (oil-air) has never gained widespread use. Hydropneumatic (water-air) continues to be preferred overwhelmingly.]

The DS did not have a jack for lifting the car off the ground. Instead, the hydraulic system enabled wheel changes with the aid of a simple adjustable stand. To change a flat tyre, one would adjust the suspension to its topmost setting, insert the stand into a special peg near the flat tyre, then readjust the suspension to its lowermost setting. The flat tyre would then retract upwards and hover above ground, ready to be changed. This system, used on the SM also, was superseded on the CX by a screw jack that, after the suspension was raised to the high position, lifted the tire a fraction of an inch off the ground. The DS system, while impressive to use, sometimes dropped the car quite suddenly, especially if the stand was not placed precisely or the ground was soft or unlevel.

Source and reserve of pressure

The central part of the hydraulic system was the high pressure pump, which maintained a pressure of between 130 and 150 bar in two accumulators. These accumulators were very similar in construction to the suspension spheres. One was dedicated to the front brakes, and the other ran the other hydraulic systems. (On the simpler ID models, the front brakes operated from the main accumulator.) Thus in case of a hydraulic failure, the first indication would be that the steering became heavy, followed by the gearbox not working; only later would the brakes fail.

Hydraulic fluid

The original hydropneumatic system used a vegetable oil liquide hydraulique végétal (LHV), similar to that used in other cars at the time. Later, Citroën changed to using a synthetic fluid liquide hydraulique synthétique (LHS). Both of these had the disadvantage that they are hygroscopic, as is the case with most brake fluids. Disuse allows water to enter the hydraulic components causing deterioration and expensive maintenance work. The difficulty with hygroscopic hydraulic fluid was exacerbated in the DS/ID due to the extreme rise and fall in the fluid level in the reservoir, which went from nearly full to nearly empty when the suspension extended to maximum height and the six accumulators in the system filled with fluid. With every "inhalation" of fresh moisture- (and dust-) laden air, the fluid absorbed more water. In August 1967, Citroën introduced a new mineral oil-based fluid liquide hydraulique minéral (LHM). This fluid was much less harsh on the system. LHM remained in use within Citroën until the Xantia was discontinued in 2001.

Briefly illegal in the U.S., LHM has since been adopted by manufacturers like Rolls-Royce, Jaguar, BMW, and Audi under various labels, like "Total," "Pentosin," and others.

LHM required completely different materials for the seals. Using either fluid in the incorrect system would completely destroy the hydraulic seals very quickly. To help avoid this problem, Citroën added a bright green dye to the LHM fluid and also painted all hydraulic elements bright green. The former LHS parts were painted black.

Two different hydraulic pumps were used. The DS used a seven-cylinder axial piston pump driven off two belts and delivering 175 bar (2,540 psi) of pressure. The ID19, with its simpler hydraulic system, had a single-cylinder pump driven by an eccentric on the camshaft.

Gearbox and clutch

The mechanical aspects of the gearbox and clutch were completely conventional and the same elements were used in the ID 19. The gear change control though, consisted of a hydraulic gear selector, and clutch control. The speed of engagement of the clutch was controlled by a centrifugal regulator sensing engine rpm and driven off the camshaft by a belt, the position of the butterfly valve in the carburettor (i.e., the position of the accelerator), and the brake circuit. When the brake was pressed, the engine idle speed dropped to an rpm below the clutch engagement speed, thus preventing friction while stopped in gear at traffic lights. When the brake was released, the idle speed increased to the clutch dragging speed. The car would then creep forward much like automatic transmission cars. This drop in idle throttle position also caused the car to have more engine drag when the brakes were applied even before the car slowed to the idle speed in gear, preventing the engine from pulling against the brakes.

Engines

The DS was originally designed around an air-cooled flat-six based on the design of the 2-cylinder engine of the 2CV, similar to the motor in the Porsche 911. Technical and monetary issues forced this idea to be scrapped.

Thus, for such a modern car, the engine of the original DS 19 was also old-fashioned. It was derived from the engine of the 11CV Traction Avant (models 11B and 11C). It was an OHV four-cylinder engine with three main bearings and dry liners, and a bore of and a stroke of , giving a volumetric displacement of 1911 cc. The cylinder head had been reworked; the 11C had a reverse-flow cast iron cylinder head and generated at 3800 rpm; by contrast, the DS 19 had an aluminium cross-flow head with hemispherical combustion chambers and generated at 4500 rpm. Apart from these details, there was very little difference between the engines: even the locations of the cylinder head studs were the same, so that it was possible to put the cylinder head of a DS on a Traction Avant engine and run it.

Like the Traction Avant, the DS had the gearbox mounted in front of the engine, with the differential in between. Thus some consider the DS to be a mid engine front-wheel drive car. It initially had a four-speed gearbox and clutch, operated by a hydraulic controller. To change gears, the driver flicked a lever behind the steering wheel to the next position and eased-up on the accelerator pedal. The hydraulic controller disengaged the clutch, engaged the nominated gear, and re-engaged the clutch.

The DS and ID powerplants evolved throughout its 20-year production life. The car was underpowered and faced constant mechanical changes to boost the performance of the four-cylinder engine. The initial 1911 cc 3 main bearing engine (carried forward from the Traction Avant) of the DS 19 was replaced in 1965 with the 1985 cc 5-bearing motor of the DS 19a (called DS 20 from September 1969).

The DS 21 was also introduced for model year 1965. This was a 2175 cc, 5 main bearing engine. This engine received a substantial increase in power with the introduction of Bosch electronic fuel injection for 1970, making the DS one of the first mass-market cars to use electronic fuel injection.

Lastly, 1973 saw the introduction of the 2347 cc engine of the DS 23 in both carbureted and fuel injected forms. The DS 23 with electronic fuel injection was the most powerful production model, producing .

IDs and their variants went through a similar evolution, generally lagging the DS by about one year. ID models never received the DS 23 engine or fuel injection.

The DS was initially offered only with the "hydraulique" 4-speed semi-automatic (bvh-"boîte de vitesses hydraulique") gearbox. The later and simpler ID19 had the same gearbox and clutch, manually operated. This configuration was offered as a cheaper option for the DS in the mid-1960s. In September 1970 Citroën introduced a 3-speed fully automatic Borg-Warner and a five-speed manual gearbox, in addition to the original four-speed unit. The full-automatic transmissions were intended for the US market, but as Citroën withdrew from the US in 1972, the year of highest US sales, due to constrictive road rules, most automatic DSs, fuel-injected DS 23 sedans with air conditioning, were sold in Australia.

Directional headlights

Directional headlights were introduced as an option on the DS in September 1967 (standard on the Pallas model) for the first time on a Citroën. Behind each glass cowl, the innermost headlight swiveled by up to 80° as the driver steered, lighting the inside of a bend. This allowed the driver to see where his eyes were looking – instead of just straight ahead.

The outermost headlights were self-leveling and reacted to pitching caused by acceleration and braking.

DS in popular culture

The DS has been used in many film and television productions, has inspired artists, and was associated with the French state and French society for many years. The movie The Goddess of 1967 has been named after the DS. The movie is about a 1967 DS or goddess (déesse in French).

In the post-World War II environment of the 1950s, the DS was a significant advertisement for French manufacturing and ingenuity. President Charles de Gaulle praised the unusual abilities of his unarmoured DS with saving his life during the assassination attempt at Petit-Clamart on 22 August 1962 planned by Jean-Marie Bastien-Thiry — the shots had blown two of the tyres, but the car could still escape at full speed. This event was accurately recreated for The Day of the Jackal.

DS today

Citroën DS values have been rising – a 1973 DS 23 Injection Electronique 'Decapotable' (Chapron Convertible) sold for EUR €176,250 (USD $209,738) at Christie's Retromobile in February 2006. and a similar car sold by Bonhams in February 2009 brought EUR €343,497 (USD $440,436). On 18 September 2009 a 1966 DS21 Decapotable Usine was sold by Bonhams for a hammer price of UK £131,300. Bonhams sold another DS21 Decapotable (1973) on 23 January 2010 for EUR €189,000

The DS's beloved place in French society was demonstrated in Paris on 9 October 2005 with a celebration of the 50th anniversary of its launch. 1,600 DS cars drove in procession past the Arc de Triomphe.

Le Monde reported on February 2, 2009 that Peugeot Citroën would re-introduce the DS to the car market in 2010. It has since been revealed that the DS will in fact be a range of, to begin with, three cars, headed by the small 'DS3'. These cars will be high quality, high specifications variations on existing models, but with differing mechanics and bodywork. The DS3, launched in March 2010, is based on Citroen's new C3, but is more customisable and unique, bearing resemblances to the original DS, with its 'Shark Fin' side pillar. In 2010 and 2011, Citroen will launch the DS4 and DS5, models to sit above the C4 and C5 ranges respectively. Both are expected to be more innovative than the DS3, which received mixed feelings from critics and fans at its launch, and are expected to feature hybrid-diesel engines to maximise efficiency, as well as other things that have been seen on Citroen's most recent concept cars.

Production figures for all DS models

1955 – 69

1956 – 9,868

1957 – 28,593

1958 – 52,416

1959 – 66,931

1960 – 83,205

1961 – 77,597

1962 – 83,035

1963 – 93,476

1964 – 85,379

1965 – 89,314

1966 – 99,561

1967 – 101,904

1968 – 81,860

1969 – 82,218

1970 – 103,633

1971 – 84,328

1972 – 92,483

1973 – 96,990

1974 – 40,039

1975 – 847

References

Further reading

Road & Track magazine, USA. June, 1958

External links

Citroën D Series at Citroënët

P CITROËN DS

DS district CitCity

La D.S. by Orozco

Informative fan-site detailing the history and model evolution of the DS/ID

1964/2006 ID 19 Hotrod

The DS Spécial

DS Category:Front wheel drive vehicles Category:Industrial designs Category:Executive cars Category:Convertibles Category:Sedans Category:Station wagons Category:Vehicles introduced in 1955 Category:1950s automobiles Category:1960s automobiles Category:1970s automobiles

cs:Citroën DS da:Citroën DS de:Citroën DS el:Citroën DS es:Citroën DS eo:Citroën DS fr:Citroën DS io:Citroën DS it:Citroën DS he:סיטרואן DS lt:Citroën DS nl:Citroën ID/DS ja:シトロエン・DS pl:Citroën DS pt:Citroën DS ru:Citroën DS sco:Citroën DS sl:Citroën DS fi:Citroën DS sv:Citroën DS tr:Citroën DS

Name	James May
Birth name	James Daniel May
Birth date	January 16, 1963
Birth place	Bristol, England
Residence	Hammersmith, West London, England
Nationality	British
Other names	Captain Slow, Captain sense of direction
Ethnicity	White British
Known for	Presenting:
Education
Years active	–
Alma mater	Lancaster University
Employer	BBC, The Daily Telegraph,
Occupation	Author, writer, journalist,television presenter, pianist, media personality
Home town	Bristol, England
Height
Partner	Sarah Frater (–present)
Website	}}

James Daniel May (born 16 January 1963) is an English television presenter, journalist and writer.

May is best known as co-presenter of the motoring programme Top Gear alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond. May has presented a variety of other programmes on themes including science and technology, childhood toys, cars, food and drink, and the plight of manliness in modern times. In addition he has released a variety of DVDs and books with similar themes, and writes a weekly column for The Daily Telegraph's motoring section.

On Top Gear, May has the nickname "Captain Slow", for his careful driving style, a love of small, underpowered cars and habit of getting lost and distracted while driving. However, in a July 2010 episode of Top Gear he drove a Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, reaching a speed of .

Early life

James May was born in Bristol, one of four children; he has two sisters and a brother. In his early years, May attended Caerleon Endowed Junior School in Newport, Monmouthshire. He spent his teenage years in South Yorkshire where he attended Oakwood Comprehensive School in Rotherham and was a choirboy at Whiston Parish Church. He was also at school with Life On Mars and Ashes to Ashes star Dean Andrews. A keen flautist and pianist, he later studied music at Lancaster University, where he was a member of Pendle College. After graduating, May briefly worked at a hospital in Chelsea as a records officer, and had a short stint in Her Majesty's Civil Service.

Personal life

May currently lives in Hammersmith, London with dance critic Sarah Frater, whom he has dated since 2000.

May has owned a number of cars: Bentley T2, Triumph 2000, Rover P6, Alfa Romeo 164, 1971 Rolls-Royce Corniche, Jaguar XJS, Range Rover, Fiat Panda, Datsun 120Y, Vauxhall Cavalier Mk1, Ferrari F430, 1984 Porsche 911, 2005 Porsche Boxster S (which he claims is the first car he has ever purchased new), Mini Cooper, Citroën Ami, Mazda MX-5 and several classic motorcycles including a Yamaha XJR1300, Moto Guzzi V11 Sport, a Triumph Daytona 675R and a 1978 Guzzi California. He has a penchant for prestige cars like Rolls-Royces and Bentleys, simple and basic cars such as the Fiat Panda, and motorcycles. He often uses a Brompton folding bicycle for commuting. He passed his driving test on his second attempt, and justified this by saying "All the best people pass the second time".

May obtained a light aircraft pilot's licence in October 2006 having trained at White Waltham Airfield. He has owned a Luscombe 8A 'Silvaire' and an American Champion 8KCAB Super Decathlon.

May received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Lancaster University on 15 July 2010.

Journalism

During the early 1980s, May worked as a writer for The Engineer and later Autocar magazine, from which he was dismissed. He has since written for several publications, including a regular column called England Made Me in Car Magazine, articles for Top Gear magazine, and a weekly column in The Daily Telegraph.

He has written a book titled May On Motors, which is a collection of his published articles, and co-authored Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure, based on the TV series of the same name.

He has also written the afterword to Long Lane with Turnings, published in September 2006, the final book by motoring writer L. J. K. Setright. In the same month he co-presented a tribute to Raymond Baxter. His book, Notes From The Hard Shoulder, was published on 26 April 2007. James May's 20th Century, a book to accompany the television series of the same name, was published on 6 September 2007.

Dismissal from Autocar

In an interview with Richard Allinson on BBC Radio 2, May confessed that he was fired in 1992 from Autocar magazine after putting together a hidden message or acrostic in one issue. At the end of the year, the magazine's "Road Test Year Book" supplement was published. Each spread featured four reviews and each review started with a large red letter (known in typography as an initial). May's role was to put the entire supplement together, which "was extremely boring and took several months". He went on to say:

So I had this idea that if I re-edited the beginnings of all the little texts, I could make these red letters spell out a message through the magazine, which I thought was brilliant. I can't remember exactly what it said, but it was to the effect that "You might think this is a really great thing, but if you were sitting here making it up you'd realise it's a real pain in the arse". It took me about two months to do it and on the day that it came out I'd actually forgotten that I'd done it because there's a bit of a gap between it being "put to bed" and coming out on the shelves. When I arrived at work that morning everybody was looking at their shoes and I was summoned to the managing director of the company's office. The thing had come out and nobody at work had spotted what I'd done because I'd made the words work around the pages so you never saw a whole word. But all the readers had seen it and they'd written in thinking they'd won a prize or a car or something.

May's original message, punctuated appropriately, reads: "So you think it's really good, yeah? You should try making the bloody thing up; it's a real pain in the arse."

This was referenced by Jeremy Clarkson during episode 2 of series 17 (in the course of the "hot hatch"-challenge in Italy) when May was noting Autocar's opinion on the car he had purchased, and Clarkson replied "Autocar.... The magazine that sacked you...?"

Radio and television

His past television credits include presenting Driven on Channel 4 in 1998-99, narrating an eight-part BBC One series called Road Rage School, and co-hosting the ITV1 coverage of the 2006 London Boat Show. He also wrote and presented a Christmas special called James May's Top Toys (for BBC One) exploring the toys of his childhood. This list was followed up the next year by a sequel of sorts, broadcast on BBC Two, entitled James May: My Sister's Top Toys, this time attempting to investigate the gender divide of toy appeal. In series 3, episode 3 of Gordon Ramsay's The F Word, May managed to beat Ramsay in eating animal penises and with his fish pie recipe.

Top Gear

May first co-presented Top Gear in 1999, before it was axed by the BBC because of poor viewing figures. He rejoined the show in the second series of the present Top Gear format in 2003, where he earned the nickname "Captain Slow" owing to his careful driving style. Despite this sobriquet, he has done some especially high-speed driving, including in Top Gear Series 9, taking a Bugatti Veyron to its top speed of 253 mph (407 km/h) which is nearly one-third of the speed of sound at sea level and later on taking a Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport edition to 259 mph (417 km/h). In an earlier episode he also tested the original version of the Bugatti Veyron against the new Pagani Zonda F. On the show he claimed that it was 'a piece of cake' driving those cars, but seconds later Jeremy Clarkson played a tape showing him spinning wildly over the test track in the Zonda. Originally he did not want to do this test, but Clarkson had hurt his neck in the previous episode while driving a truck through a brick wall and Richard Hammond claimed that he was busy selling fish at Morrisons. He is often mocked for a poor sense of direction, shown getting lost many times throughout the course of the series, including race tracks and even being mocked once by Jeremy and Hammond for mistaking a normal Range Rover as the camera crew. He also flew in a Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon at a speed of around 1320 mph for his television programme, James May's 20th Century. He also became one of the first people – with co-presenter Jeremy Clarkson and an Icelandic support crew – to travel by car to the magnetic North Pole, using a modified Toyota Hilux. He claims to be the first person on the north pole who didn't want to go there. He was also one of the first people to drive across the Makgadikgadi salt plains in Botswana. He has driven a 1.3 litre Suzuki SJ413 through the Bolivian jungle and along Death Road and over the Andes to the Pacific Ocean in Chile. He also drove a modified Toyota Hilux (also used as a crew car during the North Pole expedition) up the side of the erupting volcano Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland.

Science

May has also presented a documentary for Sky about sharks called Inside Killer Sharks and a series looking at inventions and discoveries during the twentieth century, entitled James May's 20th Century. In late 2008, the BBC broadcast James May's Big Ideas, a three-part series in which May travelled around the globe in search of implementations for concepts widely considered science fiction.

James May on the Moon

In June 2009 May presented a documentary on BBC Two called James May on the Moon commemorating 40 years since man first landed on the moon. This was followed by another documentary on BBC Four called James May at the Edge of Space, where May was flown to the edge of space (70,000 ft) in a U.S. Air Force Lockheed U-2 spy plane. Highlights of the footage from the training for the flight, and the flight itself was used in James May on the Moon, but was shown fully in this programme. This made him one of the highest flying persons, along with the pilot, at that time, after the crew of the International Space Station.

James May's Toy Stories

Beginning in October 2009, May presented a 6-part TV series showing favourite toys of the past era and whether they can be applied in the modern day. The toys featured were Airfix, Plasticine, Meccano, Scalextric, Lego and Hornby. In each show, May attempts to take each toy to its limits, also fulfilling several of his boyhood dreams in the process. For example, in August 2009, May built a full-sized house out of Lego at Denbies Wine Estate in Surrey. Plans for Legoland to move it to their theme park fell through in September 2009 because costs to deconstruct, move and then rebuild were too high and despite a final Facebook appeal for someone to take it, it was demolished on 22 September, with the plastic bricks planned to be donated to charity. Also for the series, he recreated the banked track at Brooklands using Scalextric track, and an attempt at the world's longest working model railway along the Tarka Trail between Barnstaple and Bideford in North Devon, although the attempt was foiled due to vandals placing coins on the track, causing a short circuit. The running order was:

Episode number !! Featured toy !! Feat accomplished
One	Airfix	Building a 1:1 scale Spitfire model in the plastic injection moulding style of Airfix
Two	Plasticine
Three	Meccano
Four	Scalextric
Five	Lego
Six	Hornby Railways>Hornby
2011 Special	Great Train Race

Drink

In late 2006, the BBC broadcast Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure, a series in which May, a committed bitter drinker, travelled around France with wine expert Oz Clarke. A second series was broadcast in late 2007, this time with May and Clarke in the Californian wine country, and was followed by a third series in 2009 called Oz and James Drink to Britain.

Programme !! Notes
Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure	Book released (October 2006), DVD released (2007)
Oz and James Drink to Britain	Book released (January 2009), DVD released (2009)

Television

Year !! Title !! Role
1999	Top Gear (1977 TV series)>Top Gear (Original Format)	Presenter
2003	Top Gear (current format)>Top Gear (Current Format)
2005	James May's Top Toys
2006	Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure
2006	Inside Killer Sharks
2006	Petrolheads
2007	Top Gear of the Pops
2007	James May's 20th Century
2007	James May: My Sisters' Top Toys
2008	Top Ground Gear Force
2008	James May's Big Ideas
2009	Oz and James Drink to Britain
2009	James May on the Moon
2009	James May at the Edge of Space
2009	James May's Toy Stories
2010	James May's Man Lab
2011	James May's Things You Need To Know

DVD

Title !! Label !! Year
James May's Motormania Car Quiz	DMD	2006
James May's 20th Century	ITV
James May's Big Ideas	DMD
James May's Moon Adventures	BBC
James May's Amazing Brain Trainer	DMD
James May's Toy Stories	BBC
Oz and James Big Wine Adventure: Series One	BBC
Oz and James Big Wine Adventure: Series Two	BBC
Oz and James Drink to Britain: Series Three	BBC
Top Gear Apocalypse	BBC

As The DVD Contains Both "On The Moon" and "The Edge Of Space", The Classification Name Is "Moon Adventures" or "James May On The Moon".

Books

Title !! Publisher !! Year
May on Motors: On the Road with James May	Virgin Books	2006
Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure	BBC Books
May on Motors	Virgin Books
Notes from the Hard Shoulder	Virgin Books
James May's 20th Century	Hodder & Stoughton
James May's Magnificent Machines	Hodder & Stoughton
Oz and James Drink to Britain	Pavilion (Anova)
James May's Car Fever (H/B)	Hodder & Stoughton
James May's Car Fever (P/B)	Hodder & Stoughton
James May's Toy Stories	Conway (Anova)
James May's Car Fever: Volume 2	Hodder & Stoughton
How to Land an A330 Airbus	Hodder & Stoughton

References

External links

Telegraph Motoring - James May's weekly column

James May on Top Gear

Daily Mail article on May

Category:1963 births Category:Living people Category:British television presenters Category:People from Bristol Category:Top Gear Category:English writers Category:Alumni of Lancaster University Category:Motoring journalists

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