Top gear plumbs new depths...

[Ross_K]

This has got me thinking that there may be room for a "proper" car review show. Obviously it wouldn't make BBC bosses the millions that Top Gear has over recent years but perhaps a smaller channel would be interested? I'm talking a mish mash of Top Gear, Fifth Gear and Wheeler Dealers. There could be features such as buyer guides for popular used cars, and of course the weekly Autoshite car.

 

Like that show Penny Mallory and the fat bloke used to do?

[Spiny Norman]

 

Mat LeBlanc was in Friends for 10 years. I'd actually be very impressed if you'd never heard of that show or never seen an episode.

It was wall to wall on c4/e4/more4 at one point.

I'm not having a go at you, I am genuinely curious as to whether you've never heard of it.

 

Oh yeah, I know who Matt le Blanc is, although I can count the number of episodes of Friends I've seen on the fingers of one hand.

Agreed there have been a few duds on in the past but there seem to be more nowadays I've never heard of, and have obviously got something to plug. I think TG is in many ways a victim of its own success and with the demise of Wossy on the Beeb it seems to get used for whatever big name Hollywood/music star has a film/book/album to plug, and that annoys me.

 

I thought Jordan was quite funny though. Wasn't looking at her tits at all...

Or Billie Piper's.

[trigger]

Not you as well, My wife was swooning over him too,

 

The red headed fitty behind him looked like she wanted to start licking him too, (I quite fancied licking her personally).

[Vinylseats]

I thought last night's Top Gear was the best episode for AGES. For once all the cars they used throughout the hour were proper road cars! Nice to see the new Fiat Panda get some praise too.

[Spiny Norman]

Is it just me or are the lap times becoming a result, not of any stopwatch but of judicious arse kissing and negotiation?

Watching that guy tonight and it was clear he hadn't a clue how to drive a manual, he made a total dog's dinner of it yet we're asked to believe he beat Tom Cruise, who we know can actually drive a bit and looked fast when he went round.

 

I know the whole show's a set up and scripted but I'd always thought that the SIARPC lap time was real, now I'm not so sure.

[barefoot]

 

Like that show Penny Mallory and the fat bloke used to do?

 

Jason Plato?

 

Driven?

[Ross_K]

No. Although I forgot about that one with Plato.

 

Jason Dawes or something like that??

[Wilko220]

Didn't see it - but I'd much rather they destroyed a Focus than something old and rare, as they have so many times in the past.

[Cavcraft]

Vote with your remote!

[retrogeezer]

Plato is still on Fifth Gear but yes, there was Driven a few years back (which was o.k IMHO)

 

Jason Dawe was on the 1st series of 'new' Top Gear but dropped for James May and has since been on the Used Car Roadshow with Penny Mallory (who was also on Driven)

[ashmicro]

Anyone remember Vroom Vroom on Sky 1? Now that WAS shit. Such ground-breaking tests like how far away you could hear a particular car's horn.

[retrogeezer]

with Brendan (has a famous brother) Coogan?

[ashmicro]

Is he Alan Partridge's brother?

[retrogeezer]

Yes!

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Mods! Can we have a separate section for the weekly pro/anti ‘top gear’ thread? Could even maybe launch a 4-pager automatically every Sunday and just let everyone fill in their bit.

[Formula Autos]

Is the Jason Dawe/ Penny Mallory programme people are mentioning maybe "Classic Gear", which used to be on ITV4 about three or four years ago?

 

It was unbelievably shit.

 

They used to have a feature where they supposedly visited a classic car dealers every week to test an all time classic, but after a couple of weeks it became clear that it was all filmed on the same day, in the same dealers. The "all time classics" were whatever happened to be in stock that day.

[chaseracer]

For anyone who hated the Focus being destroyed, I guess you don't watch any films out of principle. Production companies tend to wreck a fair few motors, and I bet Ford and Jag donated them for free. Appearing in a film like that will be worth its weight in gold for advertising

As dedicated Autoshiters, we should be more concerned for the Ducato van that got thumped at the end...

[trigger]

*Cough... Dispatch...

[RedSparrow]

Mods! Can we have a separate section for the weekly pro/anti ‘top gear’ thread? Could even maybe launch a 4-pager automatically every Sunday and just let everyone fill in their bit.

 

I did start one ages ago and some people still use it as the regular one. But yeah, some like to start a new one every week.

 

But whatevs, you know.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

I thought TG was pretty good last night - I enjoyed it. And the one last week. The Christmas special was terrible.

 

Fifth Gear is just painful to watch - the wankers on there trying so hard to be Clarkson/May/Hammond and failing utterly.

 

 

So a Focus got flattened last night. And?

[AnthonyG]

If its a brand new Focus that got wrecked you're all on about, it will be one of those manufacturer-owned ones that have to be destroyed and can't be sold for various reasons including product liability and taxes. Probably the same as that Twingo Sport that ended up in the Irish sea.

 

Anybody remember the late 1990s copy of CAR where they drove a pre production Jag XK8 for the last time and saw it being crushed?

[oldford]

I quite enjoyed it, likely that the cars were destined for the crusher anyhow. They looked to be factory registered and could well have been development cars, which the manufacturers end up destroying. Might as well go out with a bang.

[John F]

Fifth Gear is just painful to watch - the wankers on there trying so hard to be Clarkson/May/Hammond and failing utterly.

 

Which is ironic, really, since Clarkson/May/Hammond ARE wankers.

[Negative Creep]

Fifth Gear is just painful to watch - the wankers on there trying so hard to be Clarkson/May/Hammond and failing utterly.

 

Which is ironic, really, since Clarkson/May/Hammond ARE wankers.

 

 

Ok people don't like Clarkson and Hammond, but May? Seems like a top bloke, and he likes his shite

[In The Pit]

If people wanted to watch a serious car review show there would be one.

 

 

 

There used to be a serious car show IIRC. It was called "Top Gear" and it did deal with ordinary cars like Datsun Cherries and things like checking your tyre pressures regularly.

No bugger watched it.....

 

Yes they did! Top Gear in its original format ran from 1977 - 2001 and was often number one in BBC 2's ratings. The last series saw a drop in ratings mainly because the BBC replaced the presenters with new younger ones (something the BBC likes to do see Countryfile/BBC news etc) so Jeremy Clarkson, Quentin Willson, Tony Mason, Steve Berry, Chris Goffey, Tiff Needell, Jon Bentley, Andy Wilman, Michelle Newman etc all gone and were replaced with Jason Barlow, Adrian Simpson, Brenden Coogan, James May and Julia Bradbury.

 

I'd be suprised if the current format lasts as long as the original did. I don't watch it but from many comments ive read it looks like its now very tired and dated, maybe a new format with new presenters is whats needed here.

[richardthestag]

entertaining! enjoyed it tbh.

 

I loved the long good friday reference, director beating hammond up and when the wrong caravan blew a little bit of poo might have come out.

[flat4alfa]

It did make me laugh

 

So did Hammond's new haircut

[chaseracer]

*Cough... Dispatch...

Good eyes there, Trigsworth!

[myglaren]

Also, past Top Gear guests have included, Jordan, Peta (pg3 girl), Louie Spence, Rupert Grint, Louie Walsh, Amber Heard and Rupert Penry Jones.

 

Only heard of one of those and wish I hadn't herd of her either.

[morris_ital_lover]

Keep up with the times man, that's the uselss cum stain on british society, a girl with class knockers from essex, the annoying one from dancing on ice (please note, my housemate watches that not me ), Ron Weasley, a builder, a monstrously fit bi-sexual car loving blonde who no-ones heard of and the bloke from Spooks/Whitechapel.

 

Actually feck it, they are all now has been's bar two of them who never really had it in the first place.