Amy, star in an unfeasibly priced car!
Pop queen with a love for speed tells how Top Gear revved up her singing career
AS A WOMAN who loves to live in the fast lane, singer and songwriter Amy Macdonald is not slow to recall her most exhilarating drive.
She took the controls of the £2million Bugatti Veyron in France – but a comical language problem, and the difficulty of navigating local roads and roundabouts, meant it was a white-knuckle ride.
Amy, who is Scottish, said: ‘I was invited over by the chief executive. He spoke English very well but he had trouble understanding my accent, so when I was trying to explain to him that I had never driven on the other side of the road, he just laughed.
‘We were in Molsheim, where they build the Bugattis, and it seemed to have the highest concentration of roundabouts I have ever come across. When it is your first time navigating on the other side of the road and you are in a car worth £2million, it is quite a daunting experience.
‘The chief executive kept reassuring me that it drove like a Golf, although it does 0 to 60 in 2.5 seconds and has a top speed of more than 250mph.’
Amy, 29, says she cannot afford to run a Bugatti supercar herself, although the pop superstar is a multi-millionaire.
She released her debut album This Is The Life in 2007, and since then her relentless work ethic has seen her spend most of her time on tour. The title track of her debut album topped singles charts across Europe and, to date, Amy, from Bishopbriggs on the fringes of Glasgow, has sold more than nine million records. Her success has allowed her to indulge her weakness for fine cars. Having clinched her first recording contract, she splashed out on a new Mini Cooper, followed quickly by an Audi TT.
She said: ‘I fell in love with cars from the moment I got into my first one. I have been in the fortunate position that my career has allowed me to develop this passion.’
Her collection soon expanded to include an Audi R8. She said: ‘I remember seeing the R8 in 2006 and I was blown away by how incredible it looked. That started me on the road of having a real love for beautifully made vehicles.’
Amy’s garage currently houses a Range Rover Vogue and a £300,000 Ferrari 458 Speciale, as well as a Ferrari 488 GTB, which will leave you with little change from £200,000.
For the musician, it is the Speciale that strikes the right note. She said: ‘The 458 definitely gives the most pleasure to drive. It is the last naturally aspirated V8 engine Ferrari have made and it is a bit of a collector’s item. It is just an incredible car. It is known to be one of Ferrari’s best. It is just so engaging. You have to have such a respect for it when you drive it.’
Amy’s competitive streak is never far from the surface. A committed Top Gear fan, she points to her record when she took to the wheel for the show’s iconic Star In A Reasonably Priced Car feature. She said: ‘I still hold the record for the fastest female in the history [of the programme]. That’s not too shabby.’
Amy admits to withdrawal symptoms now that Top Gear has run out of gas – but is grateful for the platform it gave her to reach a new army of fans. She said: ‘From doing Top Gear the response has been overwhelmingly positive. I now have fans all over the world who had never heard my music before but saw me on Top Gear and then discovered my work.’