Top Gear: Season 4, Episode 8

1. On today's show, Richard says goodbye to a motoring icon.

2. The fastest car in the world comes to our track.

3. And how good is the Citroen 2CV in a crosswind?

4. Good evening! Now we've got a lot of V8s on the show tonight

5. and even a jet engine.

6. So, to bring a bit of balance,

7. we thought we'd start by looking at

8. this very eco-friendly, semi-electric Toyota Prius.

9. Okay, we've looked at that now, so...

10. So, let's move on to James,

11. who's been hurtling around the mountain roads of Sicily

12. in a thumping grey Maserati.

13. This is the Maserati Quattroporte.

14. It costs £70,000,

15. and in a world of German saloons shaped like briefcases,

16. it looks absolutely beautiful.

17. Quattroporte sounds exotic,

18. but it simply means "four doors".

19. So, is the rest of this car that simple?

20. Well, no.

21. You see, most cars are fairly happy to be one thing,

22. a hatchback or an estate car.

23. But this Maserati wants to be two things,

24. a dignified luxury saloon,

25. and a high-performance sports car.

26. It's Maserati's party piece.

27. The original 1960s Quattroporte,

28. inspired by the opening of Italy's new motorways,

29. was once the fastest four-door saloon in the world.

30. So, let's have a look at this car of two halves, beginning with luxury.

31. On the surface, it's all there.

32. Leather from the most up-market cows, plenty of space,

33. stylish Italian detailing.

34. And the whole thing smells like an expensive Florentine handbag.

35. But once you get on the move, hmm...

36. Now, my first beef about this car concerns its suspension.

37. The low-speed ride is not exactly ministerial.

38. It's the sort of thing that big Jags and Mercedes do much better.

39. My main complaint, however, concerns the gearbox.

40. Now, it's one of these flappy paddle jobs,

41. it's a manual gearbox with an automated clutch.

42. But when you're driving around town, you can press a button

43. and turn it into a full automatic, which sounds great,

44. but it's just...

45. I don't know, sometimes it feels like

46. Maureen from driving school is changing gear for you.

47. And on her first lesson at that!

48. It just isn't as good as a real automatic.

49. So, it's not brilliant when it's in executive wafting mode.

50. And if I was Don Corleone

51. and I'd just spent £70,000 on this,

52. I think there'd be a horse's head in someone's bed by now.

53. But let's see if you get your money's worth when it's a sports car.

54. There's a place in Sicily that's just the job.

55. The Targa Florio,

56. miles and miles of bandit-ridden mountain roads

57. that, from 1906 to 1973,

58. made up one of the greatest racetracks of the world.

59. Over the years, the length of the course shrank

60. from a staggering 700 miles to just 40.

61. But even today, this route remains a great test of a car.

62. The creator of this event was a man called Vincenzo Florio,

63. and in the early days, he had the only car on the island.

64. But that wasn't gonna stop him.

65. He organised a race with a horse and a bicycle.

66. And the horse won.

67. So, let's see if things have moved on.

68. Right. Once you start driving like an Italian,

69. this starts to make much more sense.

70. This is a fantastic bit of road!

71. I've never been more keen on these flappy paddle gearboxes.

72. But you can learn to use it.

73. You actually can just keep your foot planted in the carpet,

74. and flick the paddles,

75. but if you back off a bit, you can make the changes much crisper.

76. You're getting to know it.

77. You're building up a rapport.

78. You can tell this is meant to be a sports car because of the engine.

79. Yee-hee!

80. 4.2 V8, 400 horsepower.

81. Fabulous!

82. Listen to that!

83. It's not just the engine itself, but where it is.

84. They've shifted it well back behind the front wheels,

85. and put the gearbox at the back, all for better balance.

86. That's absolute supercar thinking and it really shows.

87. This is so chuckable for a 15-foot car.

88. Makes you think you're in an MX-5 or something.

89. If I suddenly get spattered with flecks of vomit,

90. that's the sound man in the passenger seat,

91. he's really not enjoying this!

92. This is absolutely amazing!

93. Imagine what this was like in the 1950s.

94. In an old car with no ABS, and no traction control.

95. Sheer drops down into that valley.

96. I'm surprised anybody got to the end.

97. In the early days of this race,

98. the local bandits used to hide in the hills

99. and take pot shots at the competitors as they went past.

100. But they got round this problem by employing them as race marshals,

101. shooting all the drivers.

102. Not that they'd get me today, obviously,

103. 'cause I'm outrunning everything, even bullets!

104. God, if I lived here, I'd kill myself!

105. If you lived here, someone else probably kills you first.

106. But that's another matter.

107. So, when you're in town and just wanting to cruise about,

108. there are better cars for the job.

109. But out here in the mountains,

110. the big Maserati is a glorious sports car.

111. Sure, the Germans also do a nice line in fast four-seaters,

112. but against the charisma of the Quattroporte,

113. they look a little more like

114. just the top rung of a company car pecking order.

115. The Quattroporte has no diesel or estate version sullying its bloodline.

116. It's something very special.

117. So, would you buy one?

118. No, I wouldn't. You see,

119. if I was called Flavio

120. and lived in the Sicilian hills, then I would.

121. It would be absolutely fantastic.

122. But in real life, I just think a Jaguar XJR would be better.

123. - Why? - Because...

124. Well, this, okay, is a purebred Italian supercar.

125. It's just got two extra doors and two extra seats.

126. But the Jaguar, that's really a conventional luxury car

127. that just happens to have a supercar engine in it.

128. And the Jaguar just makes more sense more of the time. It's that simple.

129. So, what you're saying really is that

130. buying one of these to use every day would be

131. as daft as, you know, say, buying a huge off-roader

132. in Surrey, just to do the school run.

133. Exactly. That'd be absolutely stupid!

134. - That would be a preposterous thing to do. - Completely!

135. Okay, so, let's move on and do the news.

136. Absolutely! In the news this week,

137. the new Porsche 911. It's out very soon.

138. There will be with two models, the Standard and the S.

139. 325 and 355 brake horsepower.

140. Here it is. Um, £58,000 or 65,000,

141. depending upon which version you buy.

142. Fantastic!

143. - You've been suckered! - Oh, dear.

144. - That's not a new 911. - Yes, it is!

145. Now, the thing is that, Porsche say,

146. every single one of those panels, except for the roof, is brand new.

147. - Absolutely. - Now, frankly, I didn't believe them.

148. So, I rang them up and I said, "Prove it".

149. And they sent us a tape of this car being designed.

150. We can show that to you now.

151. There they are.

152. Now, we know that German fashion and hairstyles haven't moved on much,

153. but I'm sorry, that car is just the old one.

154. That's not new. There's no new 911,

155. and there never has been. The end.

156. Right. Do you remember our pickup truck?

157. Of course you remember our pickup truck,

158. it's in the studio, here somewhere.

159. It's still running remarkably. What did we do to that?

160. Everything. Burned it... - We set fire to it,

161. drowned it, blew it up on the top of a building,

162. all that sort of stuff. It still works at the end of it.

163. Toyota have launched a new Toyota pickup truck,

164. and they've sort of named it after our experiment.

165. They've called that the Toyota Hilux Invincible.

166. - What, they've really named... - So, we named a car?

167. Sort of, yeah.

168. They acknowledge the role of our TV programme in the naming of that car.

169. - That's brilliant! - That's fantastic!

170. Perhaps this would catch on.

171. Perhaps all cars could be named after what we think of them.

172. Ooh, yes!

173. The Nissan 350 Noisy, for instance.

174. The Porsche KN Minger would be quite nice.

175. Yes, that would be a good name.

176. - How about the Rover City Rubbish? - Yeah.

177. I like City Rubbish. The BMW 52 Ugly!

178. Yeah, I think this is a good idea.

179. I think this is gonna catch on.

180. Hey, now, last week, um, you two were talking about these new tall hatchbacks.

181. And it was, were they worth the extra money?

182. We said, "No" if they've got five seats.

183. "Yes" if they've got seven.

184. Well, Honda has come along with the news this week

185. that they've got something called a FR-V.

186. There it is.

187. And they say, "Now seating five or seven." Okay?

188. Actually, Honda had a better idea, six seats!

189. Now, you see, that's not better, is it, really?

190. Six is better than five.

191. But if it was a seven, it's one worse.

192. It's one worse.

193. And what they actually say is, "When you think about it,

194. "six seats are plenty for most small families."

195. No, you see, it still doesn't stand up,

196. if you've got seven people to transport.

197. That's a rubbish idea!

198. It is a rubbish idea.

199. That car basically could be beautifully made, unbelievably reliable,

200. have a fantastic engine and isn't as good as a Toyota Corolla Verso.

201. - The end. - Yeah.

202. News from Germany, where they have the autobahns,

203. you know, unlimited, no speed limits on those things,

204. well, the two main political parties in Germany

205. are now backing the scrapping of the derestricted autobahns.

206. They're thinking of imposing a blanket 80 mile an hour speed limit.

207. What are they doing?

208. Well, absolutely! I mean, what are they doing?

209. Apart from anything else, if they do that,

210. what's the point in having Germany?

211. Well, what's it for?

212. Now, we have a very, very interesting new car in the studio this week.

213. It's over here. Have a look at this.

214. This is the new Mercedes CLS.

215. Now, it's available with either a 3.5-litre V6 or a 5-litre V8 engine.

216. It goes on sale next year.

217. We expect prices will start from about £45,000.

218. But, and here's the really interesting thing,

219. it comes with an automatic gearbox

220. that has seven forward speeds

221. and, for reasons we just can't quite fathom, two reverse speeds.

222. Yes, that's very interesting, Hammond,

223. but this is more interesting, I think it's the styling of the thing.

224. Have a look. It's been made to look like a very svelte coupe,

225. but it is actually a four-door,

226. and more to the point, the doors are...

227. Pillarless, how cool is that?

228. For some reason that's just, I don't know, fantastic!

229. I think, if we were doing the Cool Wall, this week,

230. we could have our first cool Mercedes.

231. Quite possibly.

232. Okay, now, every week or so,

233. some manufacturer somewhere in the world

234. announces that they're going to stop making a particular type of engine.

235. And to be honest, most times, well, we don't really care.

236. But the other week, we heard about the death of something really rather special.

237. So get your Kleenex ready, because coming up now is an obituary.

238. A moment's silence, please, for the passing of the Queen Mother of motoring,

239. the Rover V8 engine.

240. Now, I know, we don't normally do engines,

241. but stick with it, because this is an icon.

242. It started out as an unloved orphan,

243. but in its 37-year life, it has been in quite a few different cars.

244. It first appeared in the Rover P5,

245. then the Rover P6,

246. and the Range Rover, and the Land Rover,

247. the MGB GT, the MGR V8: the Morgan Plus 8,

248. the Discovery, the Triumph TR8,

249. loads and loads of TVRs, the S, the Chimaera, the Griffith,

250. then the Marcos, and the Ginetta,

251. the Brabham single-seater racer,

252. the Westfield SE8 and the Sherpa van.

253. Basically, it has run Britain.

254. Amazing!

255. But for us, the best home that engine ever found was in this,

256. the Rover SD1.

257. The SD1 and this engine are one of the great partnerships of all time.

258. Think of Lennon and McCartney,

259. Morecambe and Wise, Tango and Cash.

260. And the marriage very nearly never happened.

261. The V8 was originally designed by General Motors in America,

262. but nobody liked this radical aluminium bloke.

263. And after just three years, GM killed it off.

264. By happy accident, Rover's Managing Director spotted one

265. lying abandoned in an American boatyard.

266. He bought the rights and here we are today.

267. It was 1976 when the engine slotted itself into the SD1.

268. But not only was it handsome, it was clever.

269. Take the dashboard, for example.

270. All the dials and stuff are contained in a single sort of box unit

271. that sits on top of the dash.

272. So, for right-hand drive versions,

273. they screwed it down on this side,

274. and for left-hand drive versions,

275. they just screwed it down on the other side.

276. And then they plugged the hole where the steering column would have been

277. with an air vent.

278. And at the end of it, it always had that engine.

279. During its 37-year life,

280. the V8 popped up as a 3.9-litre, a 4-litre, a 4.5 and a 5-litre.

281. But in the SD1, it was a 3.5-litre with a 155 horsepower.

282. And here today, the old girl gets to relive some of her former glories

283. in classic touring car racing.

284. This is like old rockers on a reunion tour,

285. and is one of the cheapest motorsports you can do.

286. Do you know how much it costs to run a season,

287. that's the car, tyres, engine, 11 races, the lot?

288. Ten grand. Two of that is the car.

289. And I can't think of a better way to pay tribute.

290. Okay, here we are on the grid.

291. And we're off!

292. All the cars are pre-1982,

293. and essentially, the racing is between big stuff that roars down the straights,

294. and small hatches that catch them in the corners.

295. There were several SD1s on the track,

296. but none, and here comes the first of the racing excuses,

297. were quite as basic as mine,

298. which had standard suspension and standard brakes.

299. I'm driving a shopping car!

300. Besides me, there was one other novice SD1 driver in a white car.

301. So I made beating him my goal for the race.

302. What a manoeuvre! And he's got away from me!

303. Right, he's in a Rover like mine, this must be possible.

304. Maybe he had more talent.

305. But I liked to think he had more power.

306. Come on! Give me more power!

307. I need more power!

308. Give me more power, damn it!

309. There was nothing else for it.

310. I'd have to drive right on my limit.

311. But what a tribute to the big V8!

312. And while others were going off all around me,

313. I at least managed to stay on the track with my comedy suspension.

314. Let's see if I can have him through here. Come on!

315. Yeah!

316. Finally, I got past my nemesis,

317. but then, on the next corner,

318. I ran out of talent and track.

319. Yes! No! No!

320. Grass!

321. I need help! Beautiful!

322. Oh, Rover friend. No!

323. Oh, bother!

324. And that was that.

325. My tribute to an amazing engine.

326. I'm sorry, it was the best I could do,

327. but thanks anyway, for the 37 years of service.

328. - Great engine. - Yeah.

329. And I must say, I have to say this,

330. - a great drive from you. - Thank you.

331. It really was. The press were less kind, I must admit.

332. I've got a cutting here, Top Gear presenter struggles at Snetterton.

333. That is just so unfair! That is unfair.

334. You saw the other cars, they were cornering level, and mine was leaning,

335. because I only had ordinary suspension and ordinary brakes

336. and the engine wasn't as powerful as everyone else's.

337. You want me to get you out of this hole?

338. Yes, please.

339. - Shall we meet a guest? - Yes, please.

340. Okay, our star in the Reasonably Priced Car tonight has very big ears.

341. Uh, so big, in fact,

342. that if the wheel comes off again,

343. he will be able to use them as air-brakes.

344. Ladies and gentlemen, Martin Clunes.

345. - Hello! - Thank you very much.

346. - Thank you. Thank you. - Have a seat.

347. Um...

348. Now, um...

349. - A rapturous welcome. - Yeah. Not bad, was it?

350. Um, now, did you see the show last week

351. when the wheel fell off?

352. No, I didn't, but I've heard about it.

353. They told me about it before I got in the car.

354. - They said the wheel has come off. - Did that make you nervous?

355. No, I was already nervous.

356. - Would you like to see it? - Yeah, I'd love to, actually.

357. This is the one with Lionel Richie last week.

358. Here he is, a bit brutal.

359. And there goes the wheel.

360. It's now overtaking him.

361. And off he goes.

362. He was so nearly dancing on the ceiling, there.

363. Now, your car history, um, where does that begin?

364. It started with a Hillman Minx that would get you from Wimbledon to Putney.

365. And it once got stolen by somebody,

366. but they only got as far as Putney,

367. 'cause that was as far as it would go.

368. We had to fill the radiator back.

369. But I found it and nicked it back and got it home.

370. Technically, that's not stealing if it's your own car.

371. That's true. Yeah.

372. Then you got the bit part actor...

373. You were a bit part actor in Doctor Who.

374. I had quite a big part, actually.

375. Thank you, yes, I was guest baddie.

376. Um, yes I did, and then I bought a BMW 3-litre thing.

377. - Oh, great. Good. - Before the 7 Series.

378. Thing is though you needed to buy a good car,

379. because we've actually got a photograph, I'm afraid to say,

380. of you in Doctor Who, there it is.

381. Mushrooms were mushrooms in those days.

382. Ooh, look at that!

383. Now, since the days of Men Behaving Badly,

384. you've left London and moved to the quiet life, really.

385. Mmm.

386. Why, I understand you spend most of your life doing carpentry.

387. I do do a fair bit of carpentry, yeah. Yeah, I do like it.

388. Why?

389. Why?

390. Because I basically, dress up and prat around for a living.

391. That then gets squirted through the airwaves to people's television sets,

392. and you're sort of left with very little result for your labour.

393. So, it's actually quite good to go and bang and hammer something,

394. and at the end of the day, have a tiny bit of wood left.

395. Look at that!

396. It was this big when I started!

397. But life in the country suits you well?

398. - Yeah, very much. - Does that suit your driving style down there?

399. It suits... I'm a land barge van driver,

400. so I can see over the hedges and everything.

401. You've got an Amazon.

402. Oh, I've got an Amazon,

403. yeah, but I've also got two camper vans, two Volkswagens.

404. - Camper vans? - Well, actually, that's not strictly true.

405. One's a 1969 Microbus with just one set of backseats.

406. And the other was a 1977 delivery van which I'm slowly doing up.

407. Where's that thing you've got of all time greatest cars?

408. Because there's no Volkswagen vans on there.

409. And I... You ask this audience...

410. Through a couple of degrees of separation,

411. everyone's had some exposure to these vans in their lives.

412. Yeah, but they can't be the greatest car on the basis that

413. they're not cars, they're actually vans.

414. If we were to do the greatest vans of all time...

415. Oh! Bollocks!

416. I'll get me coat!

417. You want to ask the audience what exactly?

418. - Whether or not they... - Hands up,

419. who's had some experience of a Volkswagen camper van?

420. Come on. Oh, your friends' parents, you went for a ride...

421. - First snog? - I'm quite interested,

422. what experience did you have in a Volks... Yeah.

423. It's just a camping holiday!

424. It's not exactly the kind of experience you were thinking of.

425. It's time in a vehicle, isn't it?

426. Does anybody have an interesting experience in a camper van?

427. Oh, you never said interesting.

428. What about the cars you've got now?

429. I've got the BMW 6 Series you slagged off on your programme.

430. What was your problem? It's the first time I've had sat nav,

431. and you... Why didn't you like the sat nav?

432. Well, it doesn't work in a BMW, that's why.

433. It has no clue, for instance, about the A40, doesn't know that exists.

434. Well, I set off from Oxford the other day, Oxford to London,

435. back to the M40, not in a BMW,

436. tries to steer me onto the M1.

437. Have you switched her on though, her voice?

438. Sandy.

439. - Is that what she's called? - I call her Sandy.

440. Oh, she's great. "Turn left, stroke my back."

441. - Yeah? - Yeah.

442. "Squeeze my leg. Make a legal U-turn."

443. "Put these on."

444. You're having an affair with a woman

445. - who lives in your dashboard. - Yes.

446. Oh, Lordy, Lord! It's quite scary.

447. But don't you find the car quite uncomfortable?

448. I don't! No.

449. I did have a 540 before that, it had those Recaro seats, I don't have a Recaro arse.

450. So that was a little sort of wedged in, but this now, I do find it...

451. But I've never driven the Jaguar, I'm not interested in the Porsches really.

452. I just like to have a couple of very fast comfortable chairs,

453. and a great stereo.

454. Is it a hard top?

455. - Yeah. - You see, that's okay.

456. 'Cause one of the things that worries me is,

457. if you have a soft top, at our age, and I do,

458. often, in the Mercedes, it's got a huge readout

459. of what radio station you're listening to.

460. Now, sometimes I listen to Magic FM.

461. So, everyone in the van, look at that,

462. "Magic" written right across it,

463. just going along to Lionel Richie song.

464. Sunglasses on... Hey!

465. "No, no, it's Radio One, really!"

466. I always have to have the sat nav on.

467. But, of course, bigger Mercedes, it's entirely different.

468. "Make a U-turn!"

469. "You will go back and do it again!"

470. And lawnmowers, I understand, you're pretty keen on those, too.

471. Yes, I do.

472. The first week, I had so many crashes on that little red tractor,

473. I whacked it into this, that and the other.

474. Now, you see, I've got a Kubota.

475. I'm gonna have to look out for a Kubota.

476. It's nice, it's a four-wheel drive, 16 speed.

477. - It's good. - What's your garden like?

478. It's well-mown, is what it is.

479. And I just love that whole going up and down thing.

480. - Oh, the stripes. - And also, how anal is this,

481. I've got a garden, It's got like patches of trees and things.

482. And you try to work out the shortest route to cut your lawn.

483. Now, what do you do? Do you go around the trees first

484. and then start striping?

485. This is what I'm saying.

486. You know what I'm talking about.

487. I know, exactly. But it always gets you around every inch of your garden.

488. - I'm so dull! - If you insist.

489. - Look at my engine. - You said... "Look at my engine."

490. But I sit there thinking, "Now, I've already cut that bit,

491. "and I'm gonna have to go across it to get to that next",

492. - and that's the worst thing in the world. - Up blades.

493. Um, now, obviously, you came here to try your hand...

494. - Yes. - ... in the Liana...

495. - Yes. - ... with its wonky wheel.

496. - Yes. - Who is it on here

497. that you'd like to try and beat?

498. Well, obviously, you know, Neil Morrissey springs to mind,

499. but he's right at the top.

500. And I do happen to know, from very personal experience,

501. he's a really good fast driver.

502. I sort of... When I got in with The Stig, I...

503. I just thought, "How can I get out of this with some...

504. "I'll be funny or sick or something.

505. "They'll let me off."

506. Is he frightening, The Stig, when you go round with him?

507. No, very polite, very nice.

508. I had to ask him to sort of translate what he was saying,

509. he was like, "Hard on into the corner."

510. I said, "I've got enough to think about!"

511. I shouldn't be holding this! Um...

512. Well, The Stig said, actually, I had a quick word with him,

513. that you plainly have had no experience of track driving.

514. No.

515. Which is his polite way of saying, you know...

516. - Van driver. - Van driver, exactly.

517. But that you were incredibly brave.

518. And we've got some footage of Martin being brave.

519. Who would you like to see his practise runs?

520. - Yeah! - We have a little bit of a tape here.

521. Let's run that and have a look.

522. There we go, in the first... First corner, that one.

523. And you never change your expression! That's like...

524. Oh, second to last corner, that's a tricky one.

525. And off there.

526. And here we go again, on the second to last corner again.

527. - Whoo-hoo! - Look at that! He's just not bothered!

528. And here we go again, same corner, and...

529. That's... I just love the whole...

530. The smiling. "I'm off the road, I may die."

531. After you'd calmed down a bit,

532. we set the stop watches, and this is Martin Clunes' lap.

533. Aggressive start, I thought.

534. Still... Wheel's spinning. And still no facial change there.

535. That's the way my face rests.

536. Yes, we've got that.

537. - That's quite nicely done, actually. - Is it?

538. Yeah, very good.

539. Through Chicago, little bit wide there, but again, not bad.

540. That's it.

541. You're certainly manhandling that thing.

542. Now here we go. Did you lift?

543. Was that flat-out through there?

544. You did get through there without lifting off your accelerator.

545. Yeah. He made me do that. I promised not to do that.

546. Now, here we go. This is the second to last corner,

547. this is the trickiest one we've got.

548. And, yes, nicely through. And into Gambon corner.

549. And there we are, quite neatly, across the line!

550. Well, it's still one minute, that's good.

551. It's one minute, yeah. You're not Whiteley and Wogan.

552. Oh, Harry Enfield! Blimey!

553. Harry Enfield's the first person who ever came here.

554. It was unbelievable how bad he was. Jonathan Ross got lost.

555. You, far from a disgrace.

556. - Really? - Yeah.

557. - I might as well break it to you now. - I didn't beat Morrissey?

558. - You didn't beat Morrissey. - No, I knew I wouldn't. I knew I wouldn't.

559. But you did do it

560. in, I think, a very respectable, since it's the same time as me,

561. - 1:50. - Yeah!

562. Fantastic!

563. Look at that. I'm right up there!

564. Ladies and gentlemen, Martin Clunes.

565. Thank you.

566. - I'm up there with you! - Yeah, and Lionel Richie.

567. Right, this is Skoda's idea of a hot hatch.

568. It's a Fabia, but it's got sports seats, it's got very sporty alloy wheels,

569. and it's even been given a sporty name.

570. It's called the Fabia VRS.

571. Problem is, though, under the bonnet it's got a diesel engine.

572. - Ugh! - Exactly. Now, Skoda are adamant about this.

573. They say that is the future for hot hatch motoring.

574. So we thought, to prove them wrong,

575. we'd have a sort of race between this and the Mini Cooper,

576. which is not actually as daft as it sounds.

577. They're both around £12,000, they're both about 125 miles an hour,

578. and they're both did 0-60 in about nine seconds.

579. So, what do we reckon? On our track, what do we reckon?

580. - Which would win? - Mini. Yeah! Mini.

581. Well, we can find out. To see if diesel has caught up with petrol,

582. it is Clarkson in the Skoda and Richard Hammond in the Mini.

583. I've got better traction off the line.

584. I'm in the lead!

585. That little Skoda is pulling away like a train!

586. Here comes the first corner. Oh!

587. I've out-braked him into the first corner!

588. The Mini definitely brakes better and quicker.

589. Oh, God, this thing rolls around a lot.

590. Here we go, here we go, here we go. Power, power, power, power, power.

591. I'm giving it everything I can. I'm going to pull out.

592. Diesely Weasley has so much power!

593. - Turn in later. Whoo! - A little bit of understeer.

594. Yes, quite a lot of understeer actually there.

595. Ooh, it's so close!

596. The power just comes in huge lumps.

597. Sort of, boom! Like being hit with a wrecking ball.

598. It's just inching away on the stripes. That thing has got that bit more.

599. Skoda Fabias weren't built to take the Follow-Through flat-out, that's for sure.

600. Ooh, no, they aren't built to do that one, either.

601. Still, I'm in the lead! I cannot believe this thing.

602. - I'm catching up again. - Right up my traffic end, mister.

603. Ooh!

604. It might be a diesel, it might be a Skoda, it's definitely a hot hatch.

605. Now, that is a sad day.

606. Well, doubly so, I lost another race in the same programme, and...

607. We're kinda not talking about that.

608. It's a sad day because diesel, it does seem, has caught up to petrol.

609. I know!

610. Can I talk about the GT40 now?

611. - Yes. - Good. You see,

612. over the years, a number of kit-car manufacturers have made copies of it.

613. They've been kind of plastic facsimiles with that Rover V8 engine

614. that you were talking about earlier.

615. Yeah, absolutely. Somehow, the Mustang engine as well.

616. And to be honest, some were pretty good.

617. I mean, these are very good indeed.

618. But now, Ford themselves, has had a go at making a copy.

619. So think of it, really, as a GT40 for the 21st century.

620. This isn't it.

621. This is the old GT40, the one from the '60s.

622. The 7-litre, 200-mile-an-hour monster

623. that won Le Mans four times on the trot.

624. This is the new version, which Ford says

625. merely takes its inspiration from the old one.

626. But it has the same massive haunches,

627. the same enormous tyres, the same Emmental front end, or full of holes.

628. When you put the two of them together,

629. they really do look exactly the same.

630. Except for one thing.

631. The old car was called the GT40 because it's 40 inches tall. Look.

632. It isn't even as high as my legs.

633. And as a result of that, I've never been able to fit inside.

634. Let me show you the extent of the problem.

635. Okay, you have to kind of thread your legs between

636. the steering wheel and the gear lever.

637. There we go.

638. Okay, I've got my knees under the dash.

639. My feet are on the pedals, but technically,

640. you have to say, I'm not really in the car.

641. No.

642. It's kind of a fat peg in a small hole, really.

643. Happily, however, the new car is 43 inches tall.

644. Which means I can fit inside,

645. and that means, I can take it for a drive.

646. Bye!

647. I actually drove one of these cars in America last year,

648. but that was a pre-production mule.

649. This, this is the £111,000 finished product

650. the customers will actually buy.

651. So, let's see what it's like.

652. The acceleration is astonishing!

653. It actually hurts your neck muscles

654. just trying to hold your head upright.

655. But then, it would, because this car develops 550 brake horsepower

656. and 500 pounds-feet of torque.

657. It's not just faster than the old racer,

658. it's faster than any car you can buy today.

659. Into third, 100, 110,

660. 120, 130, 140.

661. Into fourth. 150,

662. 160.

663. And I'm running out of runway.

664. The top speed is 212 miles an hour.

665. So, it's faster than the Porsche Carrera GT and the McLaren Mercedes,

666. both of which are three times more expensive.

667. The key to this ferocious speed is of course the engine.

668. It's a 5.4-litre supercharged V8.

669. But don't get too excited, because it says here it was "Hand-built with pride"

670. by Ronald... something, and Ken...

671. Basically, it was hand-built by Ron and Ken,

672. and the block, well, that comes from one of those.

673. Yep, the GT has pretty much exactly the same engine

674. as a Ford Lightning pick-up truck.

675. Just like the old GT40 then,

676. this is a blue-collar, working-class hero,

677. taking the sledgehammer to the blue-blooded,

678. automotive aristocracy.

679. The funny thing is though, is it's all very civilised.

680. I was expecting it to sound like a wolf stuck in a gin trap.

681. I'm doing 130 miles an hour now, and I barely have to raise my voice.

682. This is amazing, when you think that huge engine

683. and the whirring supercharger belt

684. are just an inch behind your right ear.

685. And even more amazing is the suspension

686. which cushions you from all the bumps and the ridges in the road.

687. Because it's so quiet and comfortable,

688. you sometimes think, "Ah, it's a normal car."

689. But, of course, it isn't.

690. The steering, for instance, is incredibly direct and incredibly precise.

691. I just have to run over the white lines

692. and I can tell whether they used gloss or emulsion paint.

693. Gloss.

694. Ooh, then there's the brakes. The deceleration is so ferocious,

695. it kind of pulls your head forwards.

696. I'll end up looking like a giraffe at this rate, with my neck muscles!

697. A little bit more understeer than I was expecting here

698. but there's so much power, we can cure it with a dab of throttle.

699. And here we go.

700. This car is a sensation!

701. Price-wise, it's about the same as a Ferrari 360 or a Lamborghini Gallardo.

702. But they're like fine wines, delicate and crisp and subtle.

703. This is more like one of those cocktails

704. that tastes like orange juice, but blows your head off after two sips.

705. And if you add water, you're gonna wind up with some serious room spin.

706. The sad this is that only 28 GTs are coming to the UK,

707. and most will never see the rain.

708. They'll be locked away with the family silver

709. and only brought out for special occasions.

710. I really can't see why. I mean, I am one of the lucky ones.

711. I'm getting one of the 28.

712. And I'm gonna use it every day. I mean, why not?

713. I've got loads of space, the visibility is very good,

714. I've got air-conditioning, the clutch is light,

715. I can move the gear lever with one hand.

716. It's great.

717. I don't think I'll ever, ever want to get out of it.

718. Um... I've run it out of petrol.

719. That's how much I love it.

720. I'm still not gonna get out of it, though.

721. So, has it not got a very big tank, then?

722. No. 17.5-gallon fuel tank.

723. And you used all of that going round our track?

724. - Yeah. - So, what does it do to the gallon then, Jeremy?

725. - Four. - Sorry?

726. - Four. - Four miles to the gallon?

727. Seriously, four miles to the gallon?

728. Ford say, though, that if I'd been a bit more careful, I might have got it up to 12.

729. Ooh, 12! You're not gonna be careful!

730. Anyway, look at it, that's the whole point of the car.

731. And actually, 17.5-gallon tank, four, four miles to the gallon.

732. - Hmm. - How far does that mean you'll be able to go with your car

733. before you run out of petrol?

734. 75 miles.

735. - 75 miles? - Yeah.

736. Well, how far then do you live,

737. for instance, from the Top Gear office?

738. 76 miles.

739. Actually, it gets worse than that,

740. because, you know how he said, "Oh, I never want to get out of it."

741. James and I have had a think about this.

742. We don't think he'll be able to get into it.

743. Let me demonstrate. James, come on in.

744. Okay. Now, let's assume this is Jeremy's GT,

745. parked in an ordinary multistorey car park,

746. anywhere you might see, on an ordinary day.

747. And James has parked up perfectly sensibly next to it.

748. - That's perfectly acceptable. - That is a very considerate piece of parking.

749. I've left plenty of space.

750. I haven't bashed this bloke's posh sports car as I've got out.

751. No. Not in any way. So, James got out of there, no problem.

752. How are you gonna get in there?

753. First off, you'll have to leave your shopping behind

754. because there's no room in there at all.

755. - You just open the door... - And get in your car.

756. And then you go...

757. You can't possibly get in.

758. I mean, I'm sorry. The door has got a roof.

759. Yeah, you know, you gotta go...

760. No. It's just... What has he bought?

761. Right. I think, what's happened here is Jeremy's bought a car

762. - he can't get into. - Yeah.

763. If he could get into it, he couldn't go anywhere because he'd run out of fuel.

764. And even if he could get there, he couldn't take his briefcase,

765. 'cause it hasn't got a boot. He really hasn't thought it through.

766. No, let's just talk about this four miles...

767. No, you see, Jeremy, that doesn't count.

768. No, you're not in the car.

769. It's not really a driving car, all right?

770. Because you can't drive it with your buttocks.

771. I just want to get back to this fuel consumption.

772. Four miles to the gallon.

773. I mean, what does that work out to, like, in time?

774. Let me just get my head around this.

775. Fuel cost, that means it's a pound a mile in fuel, doesn't it?

776. That's just in fuel.

777. You know, I was really, really...

778. I thought it was hilarious when that man said it was gonna be delayed

779. and he'd have to wait for his GT.

780. I thought that was great news.

781. Actually, it can't arrive quick enough and start ruining his life.

782. I can't wait!

783. I've got some old jerry cans on my Land Rover,

784. you could strap those to it, maybe with fuel in?

785. Jealousy is a cruel mistress.

786. Well, it's not as cruel as OPEC:

787. I think it's probably time to find out how fast it goes around our track.

788. Yeah, if you can get enough fuel in it, to do a lap, obviously.

789. If we can do that, because

790. the original GT40 was built to beat Ferrari at Le Mans.

791. Now, this one has been built to beat that,

792. Ferrari 360 CS.

793. That's the Challenge Stradale, that's the one that's basically built for the track.

794. So, we handed the Ford over to something else that drinks a lot of petrol.

795. The Stig.

796. Away he goes. Lots of wheel spin there.

797. Now, of course, 212 miles an hour,

798. this is much faster than the Ferrari.

799. But that doesn't matter here. It's all about front-end grip.

800. Going in nicely into the first corner.

801. Whoa! A bit of slide, there.

802. Okay, into Chicago once again. Oh, no, no.

803. That nose is running wide.

804. GT40 has 150 more brake horsepower than the Ferrari

805. and twice as much torque, but it's American, so of course...

806. it won't be as good through the corners.

807. Right, here we go into the Follow-Through. Is he lifting?

808. Yeah, saw the nose dip there as he lifted.

809. And coming up... Ooh, that is very fast!

810. You have to say, it does look absolutely fabulous out there

811. as he comes out now to the second to last corner.

812. First half of the lap, it was neck and neck with the Ferrari.

813. Can he pull it out here? Now going through Gambon!

814. Ooh, plenty of sliding there, and across the line!

815. Now look, it was never going to beat these two, was it?

816. - The hyper cars. - No, I mean, they cost three times more.

817. They're like £320,000, but this is the big one.

818. Now, the producer of the show

819. has actually bet me £5 that the Ford cannot beat that Ferrari.

820. He says that it weighs a lot more,

821. and that because it's American,

822. it doesn't do handling as well as a Ferrari.

823. I argue that the sheer power of that is going to pay dividends.

824. - I'm genuinely excited about this. - You don't know, do you?

825. - I have no idea. - So, we had 1:22.3 to beat.

826. 1:21.9!

827. Whoa! Yes!

828. I'm £5 richer!

829. You'll need it.

830. £5 richer. I shall put the first gallon of fuel.

831. Now, earlier on, James drove this 400-horsepower Maserati.

832. Then Jeremy trumped that with a 550-horsepower Ford we've just seen.

833. But now, I'm gonna play the power joker with a jet engine.

834. Let me show you how much power one of those has got.

835. Well, to find out how powerful a jet engine is, first you need a jet!

836. Well, we've got one.

837. A Boeing 747. And it's ours for the day.

838. And just in case you think we're on a film set,

839. have a look out the window, that's real sky.

840. The 747 is one of the great machines of our time, an icon.

841. It's been around for 35 years and has carried 3.6 billion people.

842. Half the world's population across the globe, and it's big, too.

843. The tail is six storeys high and you could park 45 cars on the wings.

844. And even though it weighs almost 400 tonnes fully laden,

845. and carries Miss Masseuse and 386 passengers,

846. it can still travel at 575 miles an hour.

847. Which brings us neatly to the engines.

848. They're big!

849. These are General Electric CF6s.

850. They're 23 feet long and they weigh six tonnes.

851. One engine produces 58,000 pounds of thrust,

852. and this has got four of them.

853. But 58,000 pounds of thrust, that's kind of meaningless.

854. How do you get your head around that sort of power?

855. Our plan is to drive a car behind this 747

856. when the engines are at full power.

857. The question is, how far can the engines blow the car off course?

858. It's not as easy as you might think.

859. It's too dangerous to drive them under here, behind the engines.

860. They have to be well clear.

861. In fact, they have to be way back here,

862. past the tail, and then a bit more!

863. That's a good 50 yards behind the engines!

864. The first car we'll be subjecting to a good stiff breeze

865. is this Ford Mondeo.

866. Modern, aerodynamic, good at coping with motorway crosswinds.

867. Right, here we go.

868. The pilot is easing up the throttle,

869. building up the power.

870. Now, it's crucial that we release the car at exactly the right time,

871. because if these engines run at full thrust for more than 20 seconds,

872. they'll start to rip up the runway.

873. And then we'll be in trouble.

874. Okay, the engines are at full power, and here comes the Mondeo.

875. Now, can they blow this 1.5-tonne car off course from 50 yards away?

876. Three, two... Whoa, blimey! There it goes!

877. The Mondeo must have been blasted a good 50 feet.

878. But we haven't finished yet.

879. Well, that was a modern streamlined, aerodynamic car.

880. So, let's have another go now, and see what happens

881. when we let loose the Top Gear crosswind

882. on something a little more, well, slab-sided.

883. A Citroen 2CV.

884. Big engine. Lightweight hippy car.

885. This should be fun.

886. Okay, here we go again. The engines are up to 58,000 pounds of thrust.

887. The car is released.

888. And three, two... Whoa! Crikey!

889. Yes, the 2CV really doesn't like crosswinds.

890. Well, there you go, you see.

891. Next time you're out, you think you might encounter crosswinds

892. or have to drive behind a 747 at take-off thrust,

893. you're better off with a Mondeo than a 2CV.

894. It's a service we provide, this stuff, you know.

895. Yeah.

896. - We're getting very good at these public service films. - I think so.

897. Last week, we did how much it cost to run a moustache...

898. - Yeah. - ... in extra fuel.

899. Uh, then there was that. And next week,

900. we're actually going to answer the question

901. that really is on the lips of the nation this summer.

902. Can you ski on a public road behind the new Jaguar estate?

903. Important question.

904. So, see you then. Good night.