The most disappointing thing about the latest Top Gear fiasco

"PanchoVilleneuve ST" (PanchoVilleneuve) 10/03/2014 at 11:12 • Filed to: None

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There really wasn't a lazier joke Clarkson could have gone with. "Oh, Argentina, better talk about the Falklands".

CalzoneGolem > PanchoVilleneuve ST 10/03/2014 at 11:14

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I think he might have going for "most offensive"

The man in the iron mask > PanchoVilleneuve ST 10/03/2014 at 11:15

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What is this new TG thing? Is The season already out there in internet?

djmt1 > PanchoVilleneuve ST 10/03/2014 at 11:15

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This was a perfect opportunity for an Olive branch moment. They could have taken 3 British cars and made zero reference to the Falklands but nope.

That said I have a theory that this was deliberate so they wouldn't show the 918 vs P1 episode since he would be fired and the show cancelled therefore allowing Clarkson to avoid changing his name to Jennifer.

CalzoneGolem > The man in the iron mask 10/03/2014 at 11:19

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No, they're still making it.

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > PanchoVilleneuve ST 10/03/2014 at 11:21

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We may never know the whole story, but it would appear that some Argentinians made a big deal out of absolutely nothing and succeeded in getting an angry mob to instigate an attack.

Clarkson is always trying to get a rise out of people, but he's not an idiot. Pissing off an entire country of gun owners is a dumb idea and not something he would do until he was back home in England.

Crest > PanchoVilleneuve ST 10/03/2014 at 11:21

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The problem is they took the joke too far this time. Someone pointed out that Hammond and May's license plate numbers had the number of casualties on both sides. Coincidence? Nope. They keep doing this shit and expecting everybody to take it as a joke but it isn't to some people. They should know better than to cross that line

Trevor Slattery, ACTOR > PanchoVilleneuve ST 10/03/2014 at 11:38

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They certainly went for low hanging fruit, didn't they? And Agentina is going through some serious economic issues right now...screwing with them was NOT a good idea. It is tense down there.

TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut > Crest 10/03/2014 at 11:43

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I don't think that claim of May and Hammond's plates are true - according to Wikipedia (most reliable source of all time) , casualties on the British side were 258, on the Argentinian side, 649. The Mustang's plate has 646 on it, the Esprit's is 269. Close, but no cigar. To have the actual possibility of finding those exact numbers I found on Wikipedia on the numberplate of some relatively rare cars in the United Kingdom seems like a dim possibility.

nermal > PanchoVilleneuve ST 10/03/2014 at 11:47

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Selfishly, I'm concerned with the impact of this on my ability to watch new TG episodes.

ACESandEIGHTS > PanchoVilleneuve ST 10/03/2014 at 11:55

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Didn't see this coming though? Come on, they love schoolboy humor. Top Gear wit is one step removed from fart jokes.

Does their nationalist streak still get all riled over a failed land grab by a failed military junta trying to divert attention from a failing economy and a failing state?

I really hope the managed to mix in some footage of the Dassault Super Etendard and its fabulous Exocet missiles which were to be the bane of the British navy. They werked rill good.

Crest > TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut 10/03/2014 at 12:15

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Dim possibility therefore they had to go with the closest. I would love to argue for their innocence but if Jeremy was in on it, then so were Hammond and May

TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut > Crest 10/03/2014 at 12:33

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Well, when I say dim, I mean very small possibility. At the very least, those numbers can't have been entirely intentional. Both the Lotus and Porsche were first registered in the 90s and only the Mustang was registered this year, presumably because it was imported. I'd go with the assumption that it's a coincidence, purely because of the amount of work it would take to get all the required 'plates along with the required vehicles.

haveacarortwoorthree > Crest 10/03/2014 at 13:40

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Please explain how H982 FKL is a reference to the Falklands skirmish. You have to jump through some serious hoops to get there. And that plate just happened to have been issued years ago to that vehicle as well. And the piling on with the Hammond and May plates that are "close but no cigar" to the actual number of casualties is even more ridiculous.

Tohru > Crest 10/03/2014 at 15:46

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No no no no no. An Argentinian counsellor said that Hammond and May's plates *could* be references to the causalities on both sides. He's the only person. The plates are still a few numbers off.

user314 > Crest 10/03/2014 at 16:22

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Someone being one batshit insane councilor in Argentina:

Local councillor Juan Manuel Romano claimed the digits 269 on the number plate of the Ford Mustang Mustang Richard Hammond was driving were close to the 255 Britons killed during the 1982 war.

He also said the numbers 646 on James May's Lotus could be taken as a reference to the 649 Argentinian casualties.