Ollie Marriage
Journalist
Much to the concern of his parents, Ollie failed to pursue a career in law and instead toddled off to the Alps post-uni, only coming back when the heat had died down. Having worked out cars > law and lucked into work experience at WhatCar?, he went one better and secured a job at Autocar. With such Ti luminaries as Steve Sutcliffe and Colin Goodwin as his mentors, it’s a wonder he survived the induction.
Since then he has become a veteran road tester, having done stints with Auto Express, Evo and, for the last 15 years, Top Gear. There he squirmed his way into unquestionably the greatest job in the car industry: Head of Car Testing. Ollie has dabbled in racing and rallying (winning his class at Wales Rally GB), but is happiest either skidding around Dunsfold or chasing a palaeontologist across Mongolia (this did actually happen).
A Gordon Murray disciple, the garage at home consists of a Lotus Elise S1 (736kg), Peugeot 306 Rallye (1151kg) and BMW i8 (1565kg). Only none of these is in the garage. Because that is full of bikes and skis. He still heads to the mountains at every possible opportunity (his specialist subject on Mastermind would be the Autoroutes and Aires of Northern France). His parents are now very proud of him.
First Car:
VW Scirocco GLI inherited from my grandfather. You don’t know what you had until it’s gone – and it went when the first insurance bill landed. Replaced by a succession of 205s bought during winter in the north at uni, sold next summer in the south at home. An early, catastrophically unsuccessful, attempt at free motoring. Motoring journalism proved better at that.
Dream Car:
I always struggled with this. Then I drove the GMA T.50.
Fondest driving memory:
Being entrusted with Alain Prost’s daily driver from 1983, Renault’s RE40 F1 car. At Dijon-Prenois. It was the second gear uphill-over-crest exit from Parabolique, nose pointed at the sky and turbos boosting as 750bhp worked on 620kg that did it for me. The sense the car was shooting for the stars. Like being strapped to the nose of a Saturn V.