As the black cloud of the Second World War descended, three grand prix drivers came together to fight the Nazis. Only one would live to return to the race track. Adam Hay-Nicholls recounts the thrilling and tragic tale of the Bugatti spies.
Continue readingAuthor Archives: adamski007
PMC Journal: Just Eddie
It might not surprise you to know that Eddie Irvine, the former Formula One driver, international tycoon and unreconstructed playboy from Northern Ireland, owns a few motors. It may surprise you, though, that his favourites are a brace of Aston Martin Cygnets which he acquired second-hand.
Continue readingBoisdale Life: Feel My Power
Adam Hay-Nicholls drives the McLaren Senna to East Anglia in search of something else very light and expensive.
Continue readingPMC Journal: Peter Sellers’ metal underwear
Peter Sellers had the most envied car history in celebritydom. Such was his propensity for constantly upgrading his motors, fellow Goon comic Spike Milligan referred to them as Peter’s “metal underwear” because he changed them with such frequency.
Continue readingEchelon: Full speed ahead
For Lewis Hamilton, breaking the mould is just part of the game. As he overtakes Michael Schumacher’s all-time win records, we look at how the world’s most successful race driver is carving out a legacy unlike any other – on and off the track.
By Adam Hay-Nicholls
Continue readingFrance Magazine: Racing a toast
Adam Hay-Nicholls borrows a fast car and joins The Beaujolais Run – the longest-running pan-European rally – to grab the titular wine’s latest release and bring it back to Blighty in style.
Continue readingThe Sunday Times Magazine: Me & My Motor
The 2nd Earl of Snowdon, born David Armstrong-Jones and known professionally as David Linley, loves Aston Martins, but he’s also rather partial to fast Fords and tiny continental run-arounds.
Continue readingPell Mell & Woodcote: When the Twenties Roared
As we start the 2020s, Adam Hay-Nicholls steps back in time to sample life at Pall Mall a century ago.
PMC Journal: Lost on the Dakar
The year was 1982. The British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, rerouted an RAF Hercules over foreign territory and requested the scrambling of jets and choppers and ground troops. The diplomatic cables burned back-and-forth. President Reagan expressed concern. The situation was desperate.
The Rake: The proud father
David Gandy grew up in what he calls a ‘Jag family’. Now he has a baby of his own: an XK120 Lightweight roadster, remade into the car of his dreams. Adam Hay-Nicholls joined him for a test-drive on the French Riviera.
City A.M. Magazine: Dive and conquer
In 2011, the US Navy sunk its own vessel off the coast of Grand Cayman to form an artificial reef. Adam Hay-Nicholls grabs his camera and descends into the depths in search of it.
GQ: We drove a Superformance GT40 replica… and it was even better than the real thing
Ahead of the release of Le Mans ’66, the tale of Ford versus Ferrari, GQ takes Christian Bale’s place aboard a ‘continuation’ GT40.
Country Life: Flirting with danger
Jumping off a bridge attached to untested elastic, riding down a mountain on a grand piano and crossing the English Channel suspended from a helium-filled kangaroo all sound like insane pastimes, but they’re all in a day’s work for the Dangerous Sports Club, reports Adam Hay-Nicholls Continue reading
Boisdale Life: The continuing classics
At its old workshops in Newport Pagnell, Aston Martin has begun building new versions of a 1960s legend. Lucky blighter Adam Hay-Nicholls pays a visit, while taking a trio of vintage Aston beauties for a spin. Continue reading
Tempus: Racing Red
As Ferrari continues to dominate the luxury sports car arena, head of design Flavio Manzoni opens the doors to its spectacular dream factory in northern Italy. Words: Adam Hay-Nicholls Continue reading
GQ: McLaren GT review – ‘We tried to imagine a McLaren for James Bond’
McLaren’s GT is unique: a mid-engined supercar with space for skis, a set of golf clubs and a tuxedo. By Adam Hay-Nicholls
City A.M. Magazine: By land and sea
How a Lexus mid-life crises led to a £3m yacht and a car that outshines both Jaguar and Porsche. Words: Adam Hay-Nicholls. Continue reading
City A.M. Magazine: Fill your Phukets
It’s increasingly fashionable to hunt down your own ingredients, but as Adam Hay-Nicholls discovers in Thailand, foraging needed come at the expense of comfort. Continue reading
City A.M. Magazine: Living La Dolce Vita
Beachcombing Puglia in a retro-mod rental car, Adam Hay-Nicholls discovers La Dolce Vita for 300 Euros a day.
City A.M. Magazine: German design, meets French roads
From Calais to Paris to Provence, Adam Hay-Nicholls puts the new Audi R8 through its paces on some hair-raising ribbons of tarmac.
City A.M.: Safari in Style
Adam Hay-Nicholls takes a tour of South Africa’s finest luxury nature reserves. Continue reading
The Official Ferrari Magazine: Speeding London
From the early 1960s through to the mid-’70s a style revolution swept London. It was not restricted to fashion and the boutiques of the King’s Road – places like Mary Quant’s seminal shop ‘Bazaar’ – but also the tarmac itself. The automobile became a talisman of freedom, style and rebellion. And it was not limited to British cars – Ferrari also played a key role. Words: Adam Hay-Nicholls
Boisdale Life: Over Hill, Overfinch
In darkest Exmoor, Adam Hay-Nicholls finds a pimped, £210,000 SUV to be the perfect ice-breaker with a publican yet to embrace electricity.
Adam Hay-Nicholls 