Introduction

I know you’ll find this hard to believe but I’ve been involved in motorsport for over 50 years. Mind you, I was still wearing short trousers when I did my first rally.

I’ve had an interesting and varied life but it never occurred to me to write about it until now. Being a jack of all trades (and master of none, of course!), I thought of my life as a bit of a hotch-potch of various activities.

I suppose I’ve had two or three careers running simultaneously at times, ranging from stand-up comedy to world rallying, which has led to a busy life. I’ve created a motor accessory business and taken to the road as a salesman, but I suspect I’m best known for waddling about on TV screens for twenty years and, as Terry Wogan said, making a career out of falling about in the mud! Mind you, Jeremy Clarkson said I had made a career out of winning one little rally!

However, I’ve certainly met a great number of interesting and highly successful people from all walks of life. I’ve enjoyed some success in motorsport, despite a few thrills and spills along the way, and I’ve experienced a lot of amusing incidents during my rallying and television careers.

I’ve travelled to some far-flung and very odd places around the world, visiting almost one hundred countries, and enjoyed some strange experiences in most of them, but I’ve always been pleased to return home to a happy family life which has kept my feet firmly on the ground.

I know one thing: I’ve certainly had a lot of laughs and excitement along my tortuous route through life.

Do you still want to read this book?

All right then, here goes!