Top Gear 13 Years On

[Willy Warpit]

Couple of days ago I found myself watching an old Top Gear episode on Dave.

 

Firstly it was Clarkson trying to get from London to Edinburgh and back in a diesel V8 Audi

on one tank of fuel a distance of 800 miles. Out of interest at the end of this section I thought

I would look up the MoT history of the car involved only to find that there were no records of it at all

from 2004 onwards. At first I assumed it had been written off but then it occurred to me that maybe

a new owner had put it on a personal plate.

 

Then it was James May racing a pigeon (he lost) in a Sport Ka a search on this revealed a modest mileage and

all sorts of rust problems the likes of which have been mentioned on here in other threads regarding the various

versions of the Ka.

 

Then it was onto the Stig in a Mitsubishi EV FQ summat or other that is currently sorn and finally the the trailer

for the next episode featured what I thought was a Rover but turned out to be an MG which currently appears

to be in good fettle and in regular use.

 

Perhaps they (either current Top Gear or the not so Grand Tour) should redo some episodes many years on in a

sort of Autoshite version of the original programme. Anybody agree or is that an utterly daft idea?

 

 

[Tamworthbay]

Sounds a laugh to me, they are rapidly running out of ideas so could well take you up on it.

[rantingYoof]

I think there's massive scope for a 'buy-and-run-three-of-the-cars-we-gave-rave-reviews-to-14-years-ago' story where they can directly compare what they said then to how the car has aged now.

 

I think the segment may need a catchier name than wot I gave it though.

 

One of my favourite segments ever was the MPG-race from Switzerland to Blackpool.

[chodweaver]

^ +1

I've gone from being an avid viewer of TG to ignorance in two series, despite finding the current mix of presenters to be acceptable. They could do with scaling back the budget for hyper cars and getting back to 'how far 400 quid gets you'

 

Sent from my BV6000 using Tapatalk

[Willy Warpit]

^ +1

I've gone from being an avid viewer of TG to ignorance in two series, despite finding the current mix of presenters to be acceptable. They could do with scaling back the budget for hyper cars and getting back to 'how far 400 quid gets you'

 

Sent from my BV6000 using Tapatalk

 

I seem to recall years ago Car Magazine I think it was did an article entitled Edinburgh on a monkey which was basically you have £500 to buy the car and do the trip which was fascinating.

[egg]

They did, and a renault 14 was involved.

 

Two thoughts, you'd have to reduce that to £200-£300 today to introduce any peril, which is remarkable.

 

I have long thought Clarkson nicked some ideas from 90's Car mag.

[Richard]

.

[cpjitservices]

Couple of days ago I found myself watching an old Top Gear episode on Dave.

 

Firstly it was Clarkson trying to get from London to Edinburgh and back in a diesel V8 Audi

on one tank of fuel a distance of 800 miles. Out of interest at the end of this section I thought

I would look up the MoT history of the car involved only to find that there were no records of it at all

from 2004 onwards. At first I assumed it had been written off but then it occurred to me that maybe

a new owner had put it on a personal plate.

 

Then it was James May racing a pigeon (he lost) in a Sport Ka a search on this revealed a modest mileage and

all sorts of rust problems the likes of which have been mentioned on here in other threads regarding the various

versions of the Ka.

 

Then it was onto the Stig in a Mitsubishi EV FQ summat or other that is currently sorn and finally the the trailer

for the next episode featured what I thought was a Rover but turned out to be an MG which currently appears

to be in good fettle and in regular use.

 

Perhaps they (either current Top Gear or the not so Grand Tour) should redo some episodes many years on in a

sort of Autoshite version of the original programme. Anybody agree or is that an utterly daft idea?

That was a nice Audi. I think it was the W12 ? 4.0 diesel. 

 

As Jezza says at the end... 'Thats one astonishing car'

 

I have a soft spot for A8's.

[Willy Warpit]

It was registered as a 4.0litre diesel whereas I think the W12 was a 6litre 12 cylinder petrol engine

 

Clarkson certainly said it was a V8 diesel during the programme.

 

Looking at Richard's remark I have obviously not made myself clear. I am talking about doing the same

things again now with the vehicles as they are now thirteen years on.Existence of the original recordings

would simply serve to show how they had (or had not) deteriorated but it obviously would not be the same

programme.

[gadgetgricey]

Bit of a thread deviation but if you like Top Gear of old, then you should try and watch some of the US Top Gears,

 

Same format as Top Gear in fact they have redone most of the challenges. but I actually find it funnier as they all have a good gel of presenters. Can normally find them on You Tube, but a third of the screen (Still watchable).

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHIFdEUMG0Q

 

There are a loads of really good ones, but the big rig one above is good, but without the "kill a prostitute" line

[overrun]

I seem to recall years ago Car Magazine I think it was did an article entitled Edinburgh on a monkey which was basically you have £500 to buy the car and do the trip which was fascinating.

Mike Brewer and Rich Sutton did similar on Deals on Wheels, in the 90s. Mike bought the motor, some old Volvo 740, then sold it when he arrived.

Rich flew.

[burraston2006]

Didn't they do a show where they bought a couple of cheapies ( merc cl 500 and BMW 850? Rings a bell) and they said that they would run them for a year and update? I never remembered seeing they update. Does anyone else remember this one?

[overrun]

Didn't they do a show where they bought a couple of cheapies ( merc cl 500 and BMW 850? Rings a bell) and they said that they would run them for a year and update? I never remembered seeing they update. Does anyone else remember this one?

I member. Cos May was reviewing the new Nissan Pixo for the same money.

I believe he said something along the lines of "Anyone who tries to run an ancient V12 supercar will end up broke and living in a skip."

 

It would have been nice to have an update, agreed!

[NorfolkNWeigh]

It's just occoured to me that a couple of years ago we- that is The Country and AS had nothing more important to worry or argue about than Clarksongate.

Also I saw a bit of League of their own US Roadtrip and realised Flintoff. Redknapp and that annoying posh one are the new Clarkson, Hammond and May.

[I_am_Diesel]

I watched the self same episode last week at break time at work and was able to boast that I had patched a sill on one of those Sport Ka thingys.

[Willy Warpit]

I watched the self same episode last week at break time at work and was able to boast that I had patched a sill on one of those Sport Ka thingys.

 

Judging by how badly they seem to rust and then rot if you only did one sill you still had plenty left to do (!)

[Negative Creep]

That A8 segment was 13 years ago!? 

[JayW]

This reminds of the poor Lacetti (reasonably priced car) they "had" to scrap. They actually MOT'd it purely to drive it to the scrappy that crushed it.

 

Incidentally, it failed on a bulb.

[robinmasters]

It's just occoured to me that a couple of years ago we- that is The Country and AS had nothing more important to worry or argue about than Clarksongate.

Also I saw a bit of League of their own US Roadtrip and realised Flintoff. Redknapp and that annoying posh one are the new Clarkson, Hammond and May.

 

I've never wanted to smash the television with a baseball bat then shoot myself in the face when watching Clarkson, Hammond & May. 

[hairnet]

I seem to recall years ago Car Magazine I think it was did an article entitled Edinburgh on a monkey which was basically you have £500 to buy the car and do the trip which was fascinating.

even longer than that

 

they got a brand new metro and did 15k in a very short time in it

 

one of my favourite mags - have the f40 road test with the 959 from 87 (first mag i ever bought)

[Willy Warpit]

That A8 segment was 13 years ago!? 

 

The car was an 03 registration so approximately 13 years as it stopped being taxed in 2004

[flat4alfa]

I seem to recall years ago Car Magazine I think it was did an article entitled Edinburgh on a monkey which was basically you have £500 to buy the car and do the trip which was fascinating.

 

Edinburgh on a monkey 

 

Courtesy of dockertriggernet

 

http://autoshite.com/topic/8174-edinburgh-on-a-monkey-the-story-of-buying-a-shite-car/

[flat4alfa]

diesel V8 Audi on one tank of fuel a distance of 800 miles. Out of interest at the end of this section I thought I would look up the MoT history of the car involved only to find that there were no records of it at all from 2004 onwards. At first I assumed it had been written off but then it occurred to me that maybe a new owner had put it on a personal plate.

 

 

It was exported - it says so on the record:

 

The vehicle details for OU03 FYY are:

 

Date of Liability: 15 12 2004

Date of First Registration: 26 06 2003

 

Export Marker: Export

 

 

The model was:

 

2003 Audi  A8 4.0 TDI Quattro D3 [Typ 4E] 

[Bobthebeard]

Didn't like it then and I still don't like it TBH.

[Zantimisfit]

even longer than that

 

they got a brand new metro and did 15k in a very short time in it

 

one of my favourite mags - have the f40 road test with the 959 from 87 (first mag i ever bought)

Ha. Remember that Metro article. They took it to the dealer for an 18000 mile service about two days after the launch - it was a pre production model they had been driving around in for a two or three months. They were full of praise for it I seem to remember...shame it looked well out of date already

[beko1987]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who watches old top gears with the mot checker open...

[Felly Magic]

I saw the Kia in the ebay thread, that car must be fooked. I bet the gearbox is well rooted by now

[cpjitservices]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who watches old top gears with the mot checker open...

I do the same, and do it whilst watching Car SOS too. 

[Felly Magic]

I used to do that with Weehwah Deewahs and it was amazing how many had an 'export' marker on, and how the Landy 90 was still showing as a blue diesel!

[egg]

Seeing that scanned 1990 article, I'm regretting dumping most of my 89-94 Car mags