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Steane’s friends will testify that cars are undoubtedly his first passion. They will also confirm that while he was investing in an ever-changing array of interesting cars, they were mostly investing in the companies that made them—an approach that ensured decidedly more robust returns.

So instead of living on an estate in Malvern, he pores over his laptop from the confines of a dingy renter. Well accustomed to eating cold baked beans and drinking cask wine, he displays more than a little excitement at the prospect of a trip to Maccas for some real food.

Ever the first to admit that he sold his soul and his financial well-being to the god of horsepower a long time ago, Steane believes that while others would describe that as selling out, he’ll happily point out that baked beans are high in fibre.

Steane has always believed that the best cars are the ones with seriously stupid amounts of horsepower, and that it’s possible for torque to compensate for almost any flaw in a given car’s design. He insists that one of Newton’s Laws covers this in some detail.

He doesn’t understand the current fascination with hybrids and thinks it’s still too cold in Melbourne to talk about Global Warming.

He believes that our governments put a higher priority on revenue-raising than they do on saving lives on our roads.  He is confounded by Victoria’s fascination with an inefficient tram-based public transport system that takes up two lanes of our roads and feeds on electricity generated in coal-fired power stations.

But he does like black jelly beans.

Steane founded TMR in November 2007, and when he’s not writing about, driving or talking cars, he spends his time pondering the one serious issue that vexes him most: male cycling fashion. When exactly did it become acceptable for men to wear tight shirts and hot pants?

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