***TOP GEAR***

[NORTY]

Tonight on "Top Gear" the ZR1 will makes it's debut on Bonneville. Ferrari: "Take note." Check you local BBC listings.

 

[Patrick]

Tonight on "Top Gear" the ZR1 will makes it's debut on Bonneville. Ferrari: "Take note." Check you local BBC listings.

I saw a pirated version of this a few months ago on YouTube until the BBC had it yanked. It's an excellent episode. Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May arrive in San Francisco, and take delivery of (respectively) a ZR-1, a Dodge Charger and a Cadillac CTS-V. They then drive them through the California Sierras, the Nevada Desert, and then onto the Bonneville Salt Flats, stopping to engage in pranks played on each other in the process.

Oh, and there's one little caveat they had to observe. After their last visit to the states in 2006, where they were each given a $1000 to buy a used car and drive it from Miami to New Orleans, and conducting 'challenges' along the way, the State Department decided that Top Gear is, in fact, not a 'documentary' but an 'entertainment' show. Entertainment shows require a different kind of Visa to enter the US, so they had to promise not to be 'entertaining.'

Tonight, on BBC-America. I believe it airs at 8:00 PM Eastern, 7:00 PM Central, 6:00 PM Mountain and 5:00 PM Pacific, with repeats later in the evening. This is definately one not to miss!


-Patrick

 

[Patrick]

Oh, and by the way, there's some stills from this episode in an article Jeremy Clarkson wrote about the ZR-1 in December. He declared it his Car of the Year.

I posted it in the ZR-1 Forum. You can read it, and see the snapshots, HERE.


-Patrick

 

[Patrick]

Unfortunately, they cut two scenes that were rather 'entertaining.' The first occurred on that loneliest highway in America, where Clarkson, May and Hammond each attempted to lay down tred marks on the road- May ended up off the side of the road.

The second occurred at breakfast at a diner in a small Nevada town, where Hammond had parked his car too close to where he was sitting in the restaurant, allowing Clarkson to start it up due to the proximity to the key fob. He then moved Hammond's Challenger into the middle of the street, blocking a lane of traffic. Hammond was a bit shocked to see that his car had apparently moved itself while he was eating.

Still, it was a good episode. Nice to hear Clarkson saying nice things about the Corvette.

 

[NORTY]

The second occurred at breakfast at a diner in a small Nevada town, where Hammond had parked his car too close to where he was sitting in the restaurant, allowing Clarkson to start it up due to the proximity to the key fob. He then moved Hammond's Challenger into the middle of the street, blocking a lane of traffic. Hammond was a bit shocked to see that his car had apparently moved itself while he was eating.

I can see where they would want to cut this segment. Liability and all that...hnoes

 

[Ugolino]

LOL, does the Corvette really need the stamp of approval from a man who lives in a country that represents an insignificantly tiny market share for the car? I'm always at a loss to understand why people think the opinion of Top Gear matters in the slightest.

 

[Patrick]

LOL, does the Corvette really need the stamp of approval from a man who lives in a country that represents an insignificantly tiny market share for the car? I'm always at a loss to understand why people think the opinion of Top Gear matters in the slightest.

I don't think it's a question of how large the UK market share for Corvette is. The simple fact is that Top Gear has established itself as one of the biggest automobile-themed shows on television in the world. Even when Jeremy Clarkson is taking his shots (I mean that figuratively and literally) at the Corvette, the fact is, he's talking about it.