Jul 6, 2019 10:14:46 AM
Top Gear TV ep4, s27: super-cheap classics in... Borneo
The Borneo Ultimatum
If you want a truly rare car, you don’t need to spend millions on a Ferrari 250 California Spyder or Aston DB4. Because, if you’re prepared to spend a long time trawling the most harrowing corners of the classifieds, you’ll discover cars that are very rare and very cheap.
Cars, in some cases, with just a couple of examples left on the road. The most endangered of species. But are super-rare, super-cheap classics a good idea? To find out, Paddy got himself a Matra Bagheera, France’s forgotten Seventies sports car, while Freddie went truly exotic with… an Austin Allegro estate. Whereupon they were dispatched to Borneo, the vast rainforest island that’s home to many rare beasts of its own.
And, on account of being somewhat jungly, a challenging environment for a pair of knackered old cars. But an even more challenging environment for Paddy, a man who, by his own admission, isn’t a confident traveller. And also isn’t a fan of eating still-squirming sago worms.
Tune in Sunday 8pm, BBC Two and BBC iPlayer. Episode 4’s guest is Bob Mortimer!
Link: https://www.topgear.com/car-news/top-gear-tv/tg-tv-ep4-s27-super-cheap-classics-borneo
JimFlat6:What? No Reliant Scemitar? The least they should have brought was a Jensen FF Interceptor.
Love the Jensen Interceptor! The coolest model name. Ever.
Just listen to this
2017 991.2 Carrera 4 GTS | GT Silver Metallic - The GT3 Killah!
2013 Audi S3 | Glacier White
The Jensen Interceptor is one of my classic cars favorites (and I don't have many)...
So is the Lamborghini Espada, just saw one recently, looked like new.
RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Lamborghini Huracan Performante (2019), Mercedes E63 S AMG Edition 1 (2018), Mercedes C63 S AMG Cab (2019), Range Rover Evoque Si4 Black Edition (2019)
Jul 11, 2019 10:02:29 PM
Top Gear ep5, s27: Paddy vs Toyota Supra, and the Lotus 79
Supra heavyweight
Paddy McGuinness, being a chap of unquestionable taste and judgement, is quite the fan of the old A80 Toyota Supra. So, with a new Supra out, what better excuse to get a nice quiet drive of the Nineties icon? Y’know, one of those nice quiet drives that escalates into a convoy of many, many modified old Supras. And an old 911 Turbo. And a DB7. And a Ferrari 512 TR. One of those nice quiet drives that ends with a thrash around the track in the new Supra, and a good argument with Chris Harris, who is something of a sceptic when it comes to Japan’s newest sports car…
That’s why Freddie goes to Iceland
Freddie Flintoff. Sporting legend, annoyingly competent at everything he turns his hand to, all-round nice bloke. But, on early impressions at least, an all-round nice bloke with literally no sense of fear. Properly, genuinely concerning lack of self-preservation.
Now, obviously there were two possible ways to discover if Freddie had any function left in his fear gland. One, some sort of extensive medical test, probably involving CAT scanners and the like. Two, packing him off to compete in Iceland’s Formula Off Road – the maddest, smashiest motorsport on the planet, in which thousand-horsepower trucks race to the top of vertical cliffs – to see if he’d flinch at any point. Obviously, we went for Option Two.
Chris Harris meets the 79
The Lotus 79. Black Beauty. Unquestionably the most stunning F1 car of all time, and, according to Chris Harris, the most important of the bunch. So Top Gear’s answer to Mary Beard dusted off the racing history books, and headed to Lotus’s Norfolk HQ to discover the incredible history of the 79. A story of genius and innovation, of heroism and subterfuge, of victory and tragedy. A story of true racing legends. A story of the most beautiful racecar of them all. And then Lotus asked if Chris would like to have a little drive of it…
The final episode in this series features guest star Will Young. Catch it on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer
Link: https://www.topgear.com/car-news/top-gear-tv/top-gear-ep5-s27-paddy-vs-toyota-supra-and-lotus-79
Chris Harris on the Lotus 79 (Top Gear video)
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm8EDkaCfH0
Jul 13, 2019 1:20:07 PM
RC:The Jensen Interceptor is one of my classic cars favorites (and I don't have many)...
So is the Lamborghini Espada, just saw one recently, looked like new.
Like the Lamborghini immensely; however, one remains close with a certain Maserati Ghibli SS. It is simply one of the most beautiful automobiles of all times, though it is showing its age. It is amazing that cars from the 1960s, even the late sixties, felt dated twenty years henceforth, while a twenty year old car feels relatively modern, even if its infotainment system is dated, or even non-existent.
Dec 29, 2019 8:51:29 PM
***** Top Gear TV Christmas Special 2019 *****
Paddy, Freddie and Chris head to Nepal to test their future-proofed 'city cars'
(29 December 2019)
Top Gear telly returns tonight with a Christmas special that promises to be ground-breaking in at least two regards. First, because it is actually screened some time around Christmas. Second, because it genuinely, properly tackles a major motoring issue of our time. The issue of urban transportation.
See, scientist-types predict that, by 2050, 70 per cent of the world’s population – some seven billion people – will live in cities. Which means that, in the future, the world won’t need SUVs or supercars. What the world will need… is city cars. Specifically, city cars that are tough enough to withstand anything the mega-cities of the future can throw at them.
So, as a service to humankind, Paddy, Freddie and Chris were ordered to go out and buy, for less than five grand, their ultimate future-proof city car.
Chris, predictably, went for an old, slow French car: a Renault 4 painted in a shade known as ‘budget toothpaste’.
Paddy, marginally less predictably, went for a classic hot hatch in the shape of a Peugeot 106 Rallye.
And Freddie… well, Freddie didn’t buy anything at all. His logic? These big Top Gear adventures always involve the producers instructing the presenters to buy small, cheap cars in the UK, and then shipping them somewhere far-flung and exotic where they’re completely out of their depth. Flintoff’s strategy? To wait to see where they’d be sent, then buy a local car more appropriate for the job.
This, clearly, was an utterly cynical strategy, unfortunately somewhat vindicated when the producers revealed that the venue for this city car test would be… Nepal. So off they headed to Kathmandu, the three presenters and their two cars, whereupon Freddie bought himself something called a Hulas Mustang, which is apparently Nepal’s first-ever locally built car, not that anyone in Nepal seemed to have much idea what it was.
So how would these city cars – sorry, ‘city cars’ – be put to the test? Well, obviously, with a ‘commute’ from Kathmandu to the Forbidden City of Lo Manthang, a secretive kingdom on the far side of the Himalayas. The Himalayas, it turns out, are (a) really quite large, and (b) not served by a road network you’d describe as ‘well-surfaced’ or, in many parts, ‘existent’.
Cue a week-long expedition through the highest mountains, deepest gorges and toughest terrain on the planet, a mission that would test even the toughest 4x4s to the limit. As for a couple of knackered old French city cars and a lump of Nepalese pig-iron, well, let’s just say the survival rate was less than 100 per cent…
Top Gear’s Christmas special hits UK screens on 29 December at 9pm on BBC Two.
Link: https://www.topgear.com/car-news/top-gear-tv/top-gear-tvs-2019-christmas-special-ps5k-city-car
Dec 29, 2019 11:38:59 PM
Boxster Coupe GTS:***** Top Gear TV Christmas Special 2019 *****
Paddy, Freddie and Chris head to Nepal to test their future-proofed 'city cars'
(29 December 2019)
Top Gear telly returns tonight with a Christmas special that promises to be ground-breaking in at least two regards. First, because it is actually screened some time around Christmas. Second, because it genuinely, properly tackles a major motoring issue of our time. The issue of urban transportation.
See, scientist-types predict that, by 2050, 70 per cent of the world’s population – some seven billion people – will live in cities. Which means that, in the future, the world won’t need SUVs or supercars. What the world will need… is city cars. Specifically, city cars that are tough enough to withstand anything the mega-cities of the future can throw at them.
So, as a service to humankind, Paddy, Freddie and Chris were ordered to go out and buy, for less than five grand, their ultimate future-proof city car.
Chris, predictably, went for an old, slow French car: a Renault 4 painted in a shade known as ‘budget toothpaste’.
Paddy, marginally less predictably, went for a classic hot hatch in the shape of a Peugeot 106 Rallye.
And Freddie… well, Freddie didn’t buy anything at all. His logic? These big Top Gear adventures always involve the producers instructing the presenters to buy small, cheap cars in the UK, and then shipping them somewhere far-flung and exotic where they’re completely out of their depth. Flintoff’s strategy? To wait to see where they’d be sent, then buy a local car more appropriate for the job.
This, clearly, was an utterly cynical strategy, unfortunately somewhat vindicated when the producers revealed that the venue for this city car test would be… Nepal. So off they headed to Kathmandu, the three presenters and their two cars, whereupon Freddie bought himself something called a Hulas Mustang, which is apparently Nepal’s first-ever locally built car, not that anyone in Nepal seemed to have much idea what it was.
So how would these city cars – sorry, ‘city cars’ – be put to the test? Well, obviously, with a ‘commute’ from Kathmandu to the Forbidden City of Lo Manthang, a secretive kingdom on the far side of the Himalayas. The Himalayas, it turns out, are (a) really quite large, and (b) not served by a road network you’d describe as ‘well-surfaced’ or, in many parts, ‘existent’.
Cue a week-long expedition through the highest mountains, deepest gorges and toughest terrain on the planet, a mission that would test even the toughest 4x4s to the limit. As for a couple of knackered old French city cars and a lump of Nepalese pig-iron, well, let’s just say the survival rate was less than 100 per cent…
Top Gear’s Christmas special hits UK screens on 29 December at 9pm on BBC Two.
Link: https://www.topgear.com/car-news/top-gear-tv/top-gear-tvs-2019-christmas-special-ps5k-city-car
So sad that they are resorting to copying Clarkson's complete format, 3 presenters and doing road trips. They could have broken away from that and say use 1 or 2 or 4 or 10 presenters and skip these road trips.
Jan 18, 2020 3:05:23 PM
Top Gear - New Series Preview with Chris Harris...
Turn up the volume...
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILxXn6AWqO4
...how do you like them apples?
Jan 31, 2020 8:57:57 AM
***** BBC Top Gear with Chris Harris driving McLaren Speedtail ***** (series 28, episode 2, Sunday 2nd January 2020)
You might be interested to know that McLaren has a new hypercar called the Speedtail. It costs two million quid, will do 250mph and looks like a spaceship. In other news, the RAF has a new fighter jet. It’s called the F-35B Lightning II, it costs £100m, will do 1,200mph, can land vertically, and has guns. It is, in short, the sort of machine that only the lightly daft would challenge to a race.
So Chris and Paddy grabbed a McLaren Speedtail and headed to RAF Marham to do exactly that. Time for a rematch.
The new Land Rover Defender will be immense off-road, sure, but it’s expensive. And thus, Paddy takes it upon himself to cook up a budget off-roader; something that blends the no-nonsense practicality of a Bedford Rascal van with the off-road smarts of a Daihatsu FourTrak. And a dash of ‘provincial town day spa’ for good measure. Introducing, for your viewing pleasure, the Dirty Rascal.
This week’s guest is Romesh Ranganathan. Watch the new episode this Sunday 2 February, 8pm, BBC Two or catch up on BBC iPlayer…
Link: https://www.topgear.com/car-news/top-gear-tv/gallery-top-gear-series-28-episode-2
Feb 15, 2020 4:58:59 PM
BBC Top Gear series 28, episode 4
A date with the Baja 1000, and Renault's Megane Trophy-R takes on a few... rivals
(14 Feb 2020)
Buoyed by their unexpected success in Formula Off Road last series (sixth and seventh best in country, though admittedly the country in question was Iceland), Chris Harris and Freddie head to Mexico to compete in the most gruelling off-road race on the planet: the Baja 1000. A 24-hour, 800-mile non-stop charge over brutal desert terrain. An endurance marathon that tests machine and human to destruction. And beyond. Way beyond.
Elsewhere, there’s a showdown between Renault’s hot Megane Trophy-R, a Porsche Cayman GT4… and an old Lamborghini. Tune in Sunday night, BBC Two at 8pm, or catch up on BBC iPlayer.
Link: https://www.topgear.com/car-news/top-gear-tv/gallery-top-gear-series-28-episode-4
Sep 23, 2020 1:06:30 PM
Sep 25, 2020 12:17:48 AM
Oct 10, 2020 8:26:58 AM
bluelines:RC:Influencer...how I really hate this word.
You should change your title from Rennteam Administrator to Rennteam Influencer
throt
"I Have Done It!".
991 GT3 pick up in October 2014.
991 GT3.2 pick up April/May 2018. ( Hairy Chest Spec ).
Vauxhall Zafira 1.6 Exclusive pick up June 2013. ( Shit Box )
Rennteam Hairy Chest Advisor.
bluelines:RC:Influencer...how I really hate this word.
You should change your title from Rennteam Administrator to Rennteam Influencer
Should I set up a GoFundMe account then?
RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Lamborghini Huracan Performante (2019), Mercedes GLC63 S AMG (2020), Mercedes C63 S AMG Cab (2019), Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk (2019 EU)
BjoernB:paid content kills the honest opinion - which I never had a feeling with Mr. Jww anyway......- I hope Michelin is cutting him off as well....
None of the influencers really share an honest opinion with the outside world, unless it serves a purpose.
Also, let's be real here: None of the car companies, etc. want honest opinions to be made public.
At some point of my early social media "career", I was offered a unique possibility to talk to the head of quality control at Weissach (Porsche). It was mainly related to my Cayenne Turbo (I complaint about the delayed throttle response) but also related to my social media posts I made around that time. This guy was so annoyed that he had to talk to me, I realized pretty fast that this meeting was pointless, he was probably forced to meet because the meet was arranged by Wiedeking's office. After the meet, I wrote an angry letter to Wiedeking because nothing came out of this.
Take a guess what happened next? Nothing. Zilch. I kept my personal contacts to Porsche individuals but the official door was closed. Car manufacturers do not like their products to be badmouthed or even criticized.
One reason I didn't pursue this "career" any further, I didn't need the attention (nor the money...if there was any to be made at that time) and I prefer to be independent enough to say what I truly think than having to pretend or shut up.
There are a few car journalists who open their mouth but they are very very rare and when they do, they often say it through the flower or just in a very very subtle way. They know that if they piss of the companies, they will not be invitied anymore. This is a fact.
RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Lamborghini Huracan Performante (2019), Mercedes GLC63 S AMG (2020), Mercedes C63 S AMG Cab (2019), Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk (2019 EU)