Just a little reminder

"Anima" (anima) 03/24/2014 at 05:44 • Filed to: top gear

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!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! Of how fun Top Gear was before every challenge was 95% staged.

Edit: F*ck Tiger.. Won't even embed youtube..

marshknute > Anima 03/24/2014 at 06:42

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Wow, it's refreshing to see a real TG challenge. It's so entertaining as a gearhead to see three fellow gearheads have some proper fun with throw away cars.

I think the biggest difference between this clip and current challenges is the fact that the early episodes didn't have challenges, but rather relied on the hosts' comedic intuition and the unpredictability of the second-hand rustbucket cars. The goal wasn't to slalom through a shopping mall, or transform the car into a bowling alley, or race it against a jet-powered camel. It wasn't entertainment for entertainment's sake. The "challenge" was nothing more than an entirely realistic drive from point A to point B. In lieu of entertainment gags, the content of the show was comprised entirely of witty banter between the hosts (making fun of model designations, engine output, build quality, aesthetics, etc), and the comical results of three fools desperately trying to mend their broken cars with no spare parts and with only the tools on hand.

I still think the first American road trip (Miami to New Orleans) was their finest episode. As with the clip you provided, the hosts had so little money to spend that they simply ended up with the first (and only) car they could find for $1000. Once more, they didn't use the internet to find their cars, but rather were forced to run around Miami's ghetto desperately looking for a running vehicle. They ended up capitalized on their own impressions of American culture, with Jeremy buying a muscle car, James buying a landyacht, and Hammond buying a pickup. The funny moments were a combination of the cars breaking down, and the hosts looking hopelessly out of place in the American Bible Belt. Nothing blew up, nothing was staged, nothing was scripted. The producers simply choreographed a roadtrip that was bound to go wrong, and let Murphy's Law write the script.

Mattbob > Anima 03/24/2014 at 08:01

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Classic. I think that volvo won in a big way by the end.

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > marshknute 03/24/2014 at 09:37

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Better evidence of what you say is the "Second-Hand Super-Car For The Price of a Used Mondeo" challenge from series 7.

And, I think they had to resort to staging certain things after their US road-trip in series 9 specifically because they were in very real danger after their confrontation at that gas station.

Everything after that trip feels much less organic, and way more intentional.