VIDEO: Simply the Best - Clarkson shows Ferrari 348 much love on Top Gear circa 1991
Grab yourself a Zima and click above to watch the video after the jump
The Sixties came back for a while. Then the Seventies returned for an encore performance. Now, even things from the Eighties are coming back into style. But we're praying to everything holy that the Nineties stay far, far behind us. Especially after taking this trip down memory lane to a 1991 episode of Top Gear.
Yes, in case you were wondering, Jeremy Clarkson was hosting the BBC car show even back then, having started in 1988. And yes, his Brit-fro was even bigger then, even when juxtaposed against his big-shouldered, blinged-out biker jacket and high-top sneakers.
As if to foreshadow how far Top Gear has come over the past couple of decades, Clarkson (Sideshow Bob wig and all) climbs behind the wheel of a Ferrari 348 – widely remembered as a low point in Maranello's history – and loved it. Hindsight being 20/20 and all, we did manage to extract one juicy nugget of Clarkson perspective that stands the test of time: namely, that driving a 160mph sportscar around town at 30 is every bit as justifiable as driving a four-seater by yourself. We'll just edit out the Tina Turner soundtrack the next time we pull that one out of the mental Rolodex. Follow the jump to see what we're prattling on about.
[Source: Top Gear via YouTube]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Kurdaj 12:34PM (10/26/2009)
LOVE THAT HAIR!
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PercyPricksworth 1:57PM (10/26/2009)
To the people/newspapers who nominated "Worst Haircut of the Year" in recent years to J.C.: TAKE THIS!
Tom Winch 6:49PM (10/26/2009)
"LOVE THAT HAIR!"
Especially in the shots where he's driving with the tops off and the fro is sticking up over the windshield. He looks like he could be a roadie for Spinal Tap.
two4zerosx 12:34PM (10/26/2009)
LOOK AT THAT FRO!!!!!!!!!111111111111111!!!111
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
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vespid82 12:34PM (10/26/2009)
HA!
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holytaco_904 12:51PM (10/26/2009)
Is he wearing Reebok Pumps? lol
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I am Rich 12:53PM (10/26/2009)
That is the best.
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homunculus 12:55PM (10/26/2009)
white high tops, check. leather biker jacket, check. the best afro... in the world, check.
long live the 90s!
i think clarkson came out of the womb looking like that.
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Allen 1:53PM (10/26/2009)
Damn, you beat me to an "....in the world" reference regarding his hair.
Dude 12:55PM (10/26/2009)
Sorry, but that hair was not "90's" hair. That was just an old man stuck between Welcome back Carter and Knight Rider trying to fit in and failing big time.
90's hair is long and grungy or short and spikey depending on what part of the decade you want to portray.
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Derek 10:46PM (10/26/2009)
Considering that the 348 GTB was built from 1989 to 1995 I think we'll just have to say that British fashion is different than in the States.
Jakesnake1294 5:22AM (10/27/2009)
The other people in the video look fairly normal. Yes it is an old video, but it is from 1991, not 1971. I would never accuse him of being into fashion, but shame on the BBC for letting him on television looking like that!
Paul 1:03PM (10/26/2009)
It's a shame that the quality of their camera work and production has slipped so much since this...
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Tom Winch 6:46PM (10/26/2009)
Judging by how far down you've been voted, it looks like your sarcasm went over most everyone's head.
Mike7 1:16PM (10/26/2009)
He lied. He hated it.
"I had been brought up on Jody Scheckter and Gilles Villeneuve. I had sat in a Daytona as a small boy. Ferrari was the holy grail. The ultimate. The automotive God. And if I didn't like the experience in the 348, then plainly, there was something wrong with me.
So I talked about the popping, and the snarl and the way it hugged the road. And I came home, and talked a breathless talk about what it had been like to drive a Ferrari. In the same way that someone might talk if they'd scored with Uma Thurman.
I was lying though. And I kept on lying until, a few year later, I drove a 355. I loved that so much, I came home and bought one."
http://www.topgear.com/blogs/planettopgear/057-first-ferrari-jeremy-clarkson/
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lester 1:17PM (10/26/2009)
I wonder if his short and curlies were also in the same shock n' awe state as the fro'agge.
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matthew.ramoth 1:18PM (10/26/2009)
oh my god. seeing him with that hair and that ridiculous leather jacket....i'd love to hear his reaction of his style haha
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StickShift 1:22PM (10/26/2009)
But how fast does it go around the Top Gear test track?
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fizzandpop 2:16PM (10/26/2009)
That was when Clarkson still lived in Clapham. He used to park all the cars he tested outside his house. We used to saunter down his street after the pub to see what would be on Top Gear or in Performance Car next month. There were a few other motoring journos in that corner of SW London at the time and you'd see the same new cars badly parked that would appear in the pages of Car magazine two weeks later. It was a simpler time back then. Jumpers for goalposts....
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Farris 2:13PM (10/26/2009)
Needs more vignetting... and MOOOAAARRRR POWWWAAAHHHH!!!!
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