Me and My Car: Steve Jones
F1 presenter Steve Jones talks about his dream car, an extraordinary road trip and his eclectic music taste
TV presenter Steve Jones is currently co-presenting all the F1 action on Channel 4. The Welshman and former T4 host talks to Gemma Dunn about why every drive is a dream, the extraordinary road trip he embarked on with his American wife Phylicia and the eclectic choice of music he listens to in the car
What was your first car?
My first car was a Renault Clio 182 sport, a little runabout for the city – and I loved that car, it was a lot of fun.
What’s your current car?
That would be a Range Rover Sport supercharged – the greatest car that was ever created in the history of the world. Let me tell you something, just to be able to drive my current car I would push a Renault Clio off a cliff.
Dream car?
I am driving my dream car – every drive is a dream.
What are your pet peeves about other drivers?
If I let you pull out in front of me, if I stop to let you drive around me, if I do anything nice for you and your car, you better wave to me. It’s just the raising of a hand, I don’t expect a smile, just raise the hand. It’s just frustrating and rude and it’s crappy behaviour not to. Just thank somebody for letting you through. I will say this and maybe I am biased: Welsh drivers, lovely. California drivers, not so much. They’re all over the shop over there. I try not to drive around London, to be honest. I walk everywhere, so I don’t do much driving in London.
Do you consider yourself a good driver?
Oh yeah, very, very good. Just remarkable. I tell you what I will say, I am a very safe driver. I don’t speed, I just want to get from A to B in the safest way possible and I always have very good music playing in my car, so if you’re ever in the car with me, your ears are going to be filled with the best music possible.
What music do you listen to?
A bit of everything at the moment. Be it hip hop, trap, house, Polynesian, French, 20s, 30s, 40s, psychobilly, rockabilly, garage. Christmas music. Can I be honest with you? This is going to sound weird but if I put my iPod on shuffle and it’s July and Jona Lewie’s Stop The Cavalry comes on, I let it play. And so what? What they gon do? Lock me up? Why can’t I listen to Wham!’s Last Christmas in July if it happens to come along?
Do you sing along?
I always sing along. When you’ve got a voice like this, it’s criminal not to sing along.
Have you ever been on a road trip?
I have done a lot of road trips. My dream road trip I did a couple of years back with my wife, who was my girlfriend at the time. I proposed to her halfway through the trip. Basically, we did the coast to coast in America, which was fantastic, really enjoyed that, and then I said, ‘Look, you took me coast to coast in America, let me take you across Europe,’ so we drove from my house in Marylebone to France, Belgium, Luxemburg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, back to Italy where I proposed down in this villa in Puglia, and then I drove all the way back home through the Swiss Alps again. It was just the most extraordinary trip.
