When it comes to Top Gear UK, expect the most outrageous and most ambitious bollocks from the three presenters. And this latest stunt is just as crazy as invading France in a car-boat (Remember their challenge of crossing the channel in a pickup with a boat motor?)
At least they’ve decided to stick to British soil but it’s still crazy nonetheless. Forget about swanky cars this time, Jeremy, May, and Hammond paraded around London promoting the upcoming Top Gear Live show in a black tank!
Top Gear Live will be a live stage show that will start in the UK this October as part of the MPH Motor Show. It’s supposed to be a show “incorporating the drama of film and theatre with the thrills and spills of stunts and special effects.” Yup, and after that, it will be a global tour for the boys. Oh, I can’t wait for the fall run of Top Gear.
Source: Top Gear
Sep 01
Huzzah! Now you can’t blame anyone for not getting Top Gear in the US anymore. Again, we get to have the intarwebs helping us out for this one. And now, US fans don’t have to rely on some “creative” ways to watch the three stooges and the Stig as the show now has their own YouTube channel accessible via: http://www.youtube.com/topgear.
BBC might just have had enough of YouTube users posting clips of the show which would usually surface even a few hours of airing in the UK. Too bad, no full reruns of past episodes yet, but we could still wish, people. And what’s this? No embedding? Come on, BBC!
Aside from the YouTube channel, BBC America will now also get to see “new episodes” every Mondays at 8:00 p.m. ET.
Source: BBC
Aug 18
Those who are still trying to uncover The Stig’s true identity should give it a rest. There’s a great degree of magic surrounding that and every Top Gear fan should just take whatever which way Jeremy or Hammond introduces The Stig as the truth. Blame grown-ups for destroying our faith in the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus. But come on, let’s be responsible for keeping the Stig mystery alive.
And here’s probably one of the rare times (if not the only time) communicates to the public at large with his review of the Nissan GT-R. And here’s an excerpt from his take:
……………………………………….. ……………………………………….. ……………………………………….. ………………………..
Now, whether this is some alien language, Morse code, or Stig-lish, remains to be known. This not being ones and zeroes might hint that Stig is not a machine. We know that the Stig refuses to speak even one word out loud even when the police nabbed his ass. Though I still wonder how it teaches stars to go around the test track in the reasonably priced car.
Source: Top Gear
Aug 14
Alas, folks. It’s the last Top Gear episode of the season (until Autumn, strikes, that is). It’s pretty heartbreaking (at least for me) since it was a long wait and it seems that the series was only heating up. Anyway, here’s what happened.
Still more footage of what the lads did in Japan. Last week was JC’s take on the neck-breaking (quite literally) Nissan GT-R. Now it’s Captain Slow’s take on Mitsuoka cars. Probably not as popular elsewhere but Mitsuoka’s an established name in Japan.
First up - the Mistuoka Orochi - the supercar that boasts of a 3.3L Toyota V6 dishing out 230 hp. May’s verdict: “It’s not very fast. It doesn’t make much noise.” But the “ride is quite excellent for a supercar.”
Jul 28
If trying to get into the studio to be with Jeremy, James and Richard would take two decades, you might just want to try to get into the studio with the guys of Top Gear US. While it might not be the same thing (with a chance of Clarkson dishing out some of his proverbial [un]political correctness), the pilot’s always a landmark for every show. Might as well be part of it if you can.
The pilot will be taped this Saturday, July 26, so in case you’re in the Los Angeles area, you might want to try your luck. A sign-up form is available over at OCATV.
I just hope that Top Gear US gets a life of its own. Top Gear’s new format under Clarkson will be a very tough act to match. The Brits certainly have their own flair that helped them achieve that perfect Top Gear recipe. Adam Corolla will never be a Jeremy Clarkson though I’m interested in how drifter/stunt driver Tanner Foust would fare. I could hardly imagine how Eric Stromer would fit in there.
Via Autoblog
Jul 21
If in last Sunday’s Top Gear episode, the Nissan GT-R damn (near?) broke Jeremy Clarkson’s head, TG’s print counterpart were gracious enough to return the GT-R the favor - by crashing one. And we thought only our friends in Asia were gracious enough to share with us some pictures of their wrecked brand-spanking new GT-Rs.
This here’s the same GT-R that the The Stig took around their test track and since the whole TG organization shares resources, the Magazine team took it out to the Isle of Man. Unfortunately for them, an Audi R8 failed to stop in time to avoid rear-ending the black GT-R.
The GT-R’s rear looks like it was plowed real good. Too bad no pictures of the R8. R8 plus a GT-R. Whanging either car is a mortal sin. So the guy responsible should at least be cast to hellfire or something. I wonder from whose paycheck that would come out of.
Source: GT-R UK Forums
Jul 21
Hi again! Fresh off the weekend and hot off another Top Gear episode. Top Gear season’s heating up and it’s episode 5 for all of us petrolheads. You got to love the Brits for creating this show, folks. You just got to love them. Anyway, on to the weekly bollocks.
First up, they finally take a closer look on the Nissan GT-R. After having it win versus the bullet train in last’s episode, they now take the unrestrained car out on to the track (not the Top Gear track though, it was done on the Fuji racing circuit). Remember that the car automatically detects if you’re on a track via satnav and that disables the speed limiter off. Clarkson’s take? On the cornering: “It feels fan-bleeding-tastic.” On standards: “They haven’t built a car here, they built a new yardstick.” Oh and before Jeremy finished his review, he damn well hurt his neck.
Jul 20
If there’s a show that every automaker wants to be a part of and every gearhead wants to see, it’s Top Gear. Hands down. No contest. I even assured that unless the US Top Gear team creates a totally different look and feel to their show, all they ever will be would be is a second-rate copycat.
If you’re a fan and would want to see Top Gear live in the studio, hang out with Jeremy, Hamster, and Captain Slow, then you have to wait for 21 years before you could get on. Or if it were a queue, you have to be willing to endure 127 miles of it. 336,000 is how many people have applied to see the show.
I wonder if, after 21 years, Clarkson will still be screaming power. Just watching him run and catch his breath last episode convinced me that he’s not getting any younger. Hammond’s 39 too, so in 21 years…
Heck, it’s hopeless, people. (If you want to watch them live, that is.)
Source: Auto Trader UK
Jul 17
Hello and welcome to our weekly Top Gear recap.
First up, answering the question, “Can a car ever be art?” And to answer that, they seamlessly tie-in their take on Alfa Romeos from last week’s show to this review of the Alfa Romeo 8c. I wonder how many times Clarkson has ever dubbed a car, “the best looking ever made.” But he does it here (again?). Typical Clarkson nitpicking for this one and yes, he concludes that this one is “fourteen feet of art.” And The Stig takes it around the track posting a 1:38.2 (very wet). Quite very slow.
For the news, there’s the typical skinny on Internet photos, the Fiat Panda Mamy, the now-lame Dacia Sandero quip. Oh and a guy complained that Jeremy clipped a double-white road line in last week’s episode. Geek! And a continuation of their war against signs.
Oh, and next up is the buck that stops all. Introducing it as the successor to the Datsun 120Y, Top Gear’s take on the Nissan GT-R! And not just a simple take - an epic race. Nissan GT-R versus Japan’s bullet train from Japan’s west coast to the east coast! As always the race is not without its twists and turns with a supposed intense finish with the GT-R weaving through a mountain pass. Very nice. But it was a drag that it ended up as a foot race.
Oh, I totally skipped the Stars in a Reasonably Priced car but they had Fiona Bruce and Kate Silverton (newscasters). Again, if you’re stateside and don’t get BBC 2, have the Intarwebs help you out.
Jul 13
And we’re here with everyone’s daily dose of British motoring journalism with the boys from Top Gear. I really have to admit that Sundays have now become a day to wait. I guess die hard gearheads really do need that weekly fix.
First up, Jeremy goes at length to review the Bentley Brooklands super coupe, which, in so many words, he labels as the super coupe for the old fogies… That is until, he nitpicks it (smoke and tire screams). Quite interesting take too, if you want to be nitty gritty with the details. Where else would you get interesting trivia that it takes 16 cowhides to cover the Brooklands’ interior with all the leather?
The news had a little bit about women racing drivers (A bit sexist for feminists, but hey, when would you expect political correctness from Clarkson?) and they also continued that ongoing series on stupid roadsigns.
Third section is a comeback of the Top Gear challenges. No epic races this time but more bollocks was definitely welcome. Producers gave the three a thousand pounds to spend on Alfa Romeos with which they have to accomplish several challenges: a trackday pitted against Porsches and Lambos, a photo calendar featuring their Alfas, Concourse competition (obsessive detailing) . Pointless to summarize the results here. This is Top Gear, so all the ambition end up as rubbish. Classic.
In the Stars in a Reasonably Priced Car segment, they featured BBC 3’s Gavin and Stacey’s Rob Bryden and James Corden. Not really well-known stateside and the laps were a bit shabby even made horrible by a wet track.
All in all, a fulfilling episode to quench that Top Gear thirst but an episode without The Stig? Boo…
And since most of the US population wouldn’t be able to get BBC Two, there’s always the intarwebs to help you out.
Jul 07