James is best known for his dry witted sense of humour, for being a typical English gent and for being a third of one of BBC2’s most successful presenting teams on the ever popular Top Gear.
He graduated from Lancaster University in 1985 and after a successful visit to our Engineering Department, James became our Formula Student Team patron!
James took time to look over the student race car, a design project led by Dr Chris Lingwood at the time, which sees a Lancaster team competing at Silverstone in the annual Formula Student championship. He complimented the team on the look and feel of their car and even offered to help make some of the components for the 2016 version.
James’ other accolades include James May On The Moon, James May at The Edge of Space, James May’s 20th Century, James May’s Big Ideas, James May’s Top Toys and My Sister’s Top Toys.
A freelance writer for many years, James had a regular column in The Daily Telegraph and contributed to Car Magazine, The Scotsman, Country Life, One, the Daily Express and various technology and travel titles, today James is a regular contributor and columnist for Top Gear Magazine. His first book May on Motors (a collection of his most humorous writing) was published in 2006 with a sequel Notes from the Hard Shoulder published in 2007.
James has a keen interest in cars that are either very high spec or very basic with an added passion for motorbikes. He is a very relaxed and professional presenter with a sharp dry wit and an exuberant personality, making him the ideal choice for after dinner speeches and corporate events, past clients have included the Royal Bank of Scotland, JP Morgan, Sun Chemicals, The Carphone Warehouse, Rabobank International & Rolls Royce PLC.