Autoblog

Top Gear is widely regarded as the best television show ever produced about cars. The production values are outstanding, the hosts are amusing and their tamed racing driver, "the Stig", is amazing to watch as he improves his mind while hustling cars around the test track. A few months back we all got wind that Jeremy, Richard and James had returned to the U.S. for another road trip. This time around they headed to the West Coast to drive a new Corvette ZR1, Cadillac CTS-V and Dodge Challenger SRT-8 from San Francisco to the Bonneville Salt Flats. Along the way, Jezza decided to stop at some desolate spot somewhere in Nevada or Utah to lay down some black lines on the pavement. Now while we generally love to watch Mr. Clarkson playing with fast cars, he doesn't quite seem to have mastered the art of the burnout. If you start about 9 minutes into the first clip after the jump and continue to the second and third videos, you'll see our favorite limey trio attempting to shred their tires during last night's second episode of Series 12 (Download via bittorrent here). Compared to Clarkson in the ZR1, Hammond and May were utterly hopeless in their Challenger SRT-8 and Cadillac CTS-V, respectively. After that, watch the last video with GM's Chris Berube showing us all how it's done properly in both the ZR1 Vette and Caddy CTS-V.

[Source: YouTube]

Top Gear's grand plan to help Britain rebuild its empire has taken another baby step today with the launch of the combined U.S./Canadian portal of TopGear.com. The curious thing is that this new Yank-ified version of TopGear.com has absolutely nothing to do with the upcoming Top Gear USA show on NBC. Rather, it's just a U.S. version of the Brit-based website that promotes the original show with airings on BBC America here in the States, as well as the dead-tree edition available on newsstands. Instead of info on where Adam Corolla and his new crew stand, you get a smorgasbord of greatest hits clips from the original show, as well as some new content that's specific to the U.S./Canadian site. Case in point is a feature on demolition derbies produced in the U.S. with a teaser vid done up Top Gear-style (i.e. fast cuts with vignetting around the edges). We'd rather peruse archived clips of the original show, like this 11-minute video of Jezza's review of the original Cadillac CTS-V. We already know he likes the new one, but are waiting patiently for it to be properly flogged on the show this coming season.

[Source: TopGear.com/us via FinalGear.com]

We've had a flood of tip emails that Jeremy Clarkson's been seen on a Vespa, so you know he's been up to something. That something is a hilarious invective against motorbiking, with a short bit about the Vespa at the very end. The verdict: you will be killed. The main message is that riding a motorbike as a financial decision is dubious at best, as a bike and all its required equipment will run you more than a new VW Golf; oh, and you'll be killed. If you still want to try and cheat death, your cost of operation will be extremely low, as bikes are more fuel efficient than said Golf, and the first time you turn left, you'll fall off and dash your brains out, rendering yourself dead, which will make biking even more inexpensive for you. It's safe to say that the esteemed Mr. Clarkson prefers automobiles. Thanks for the tip, Kris!

[Source: TimesOnline, photo: Paul Hennessy/Gorilla Pictures]

Jeremy Clarkson's latest DVD is titled "Thriller," but it's not a Michael Jackson cover album. As Jezza explains, the title refers to thrills behind the wheel of which the Top Gear host has had plenty. In this year's motoring annual, Jeremy pilots a dream garage that includes the Aston Martin DBS, Lamborghini Superleggera, Ferrari 430 Scuderia, Porsche 911 Turbo, Alfa Romeo 8C, Mercedes CLK Black Series, and Pagani Zonda Roadster F. The video also features the usual mix of comic setups, with Clarkson finding himself in the drivers seat of everything from a Marine all-terrain Viking to a double-decker bus. Expect stunning visuals to go along with the symphonic soundtrack, and the de rigeur twists and challenges that make Jeremy and Top Gear such a delight. We would so buy these if they were released on high-definition blu-ray. C'mon Clarkson, let's get with the 21st century program here. You can pre-order a copy now for £12.98, but "Thriller" doesn't officially go on sale until November 3. A high-quality trailer is embedded after the break for you to check out. Thanks for the tip, everyone!

[Source: Amazon UK]

According to a report by the UK's Mirror, Jeremy Clarkson has been injured during filming of the BBC version of Top Gear. The story doesn't divulge the circumstances of the crash or what the presenter was driving during the incident, but according to Clarkson, the head-on collision was his first serious crash in 31 years. Top Gear's front-man described his injuries in typical Clarksonian style thusly: "My right index finger looked like a burst sausage, my left shin was fatter than my thigh and my back felt like someone had driven over it with a pile-driver." Clarkson's wife took a call from the Mirror on Saturday and told the tabloid that her husband was fine. We wish him a speedy recovery and look forward to the Top Gear team's triumphant return on November 2nd. Top tip Lee!

[Source: Mirror.co.uk]

I feel so affirmed right now after reading Jeremy Clarkson's latest car review in the Times of London. After the rightfully-deserved savaging Clarkson gave the Chrysler Sebring last week in addition to some of the things he 's saidover the years on Top Gear, you might have the impression that the man hates American cars. Apparently, nothing could be further from the truth. He just hates bad American cars. Put the guy behind the wheel of a truly great car built here and he might just fall in love. So when the time came for Jezza to recommend a new car for the tamed racing driver known as the Stig, the obvious first choice was the vaunted BMW M5.

Well, it's obvious until you start considering gas costs nearly $10 a gallon in Britain now. Since any suitable car would not get significantly better fuel economy, the other option was to go with a less expensive machine, in this case the Cadillac CTS-V. While the first-generation CTS-V was not as sophisticated as one might have expected, the new model can reasonably be said to be better than the M5 in almost every respect. Equally important in this context is the £19,000 savings compared to the M5. The slightly light steering is easily overlooked given everything else it does so well and so quickly that Clarkson affirms our first driving impressions of the CTS-V. Thanks to Mike for the tip!


[Source: Times of London]

Photos Copyright ©2008 Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc.

Yep, that's Jeremy Clarkson talking up the Chrysler Sebring convertible in his column for The Sunday Times today. What, you expected anything less than a wholesale evisceration? Clarkson weighing in on the astoundlingly sub-par Sebring is pretty much the motor-journalistic equivalent of using a Stinger missile to take out your kid's SpongeBob birthday piñata. It didn't stand a chance.

The laughs come early and often as the Chrysler gets mercilessly worked over like one of Mike Tyson's sparring partners in the '80s, but be forewarned: by the time Jezza puts down his pen, America's Number One Fan has managed to work in AIG, Lehman Brothers and the Iraq war as he slips in his obligatory jabs at the country, which the Chrysler becomes symbolic of.

The way Clarkson sees it, quality sucks in the Sebring and other American cars because we Americans have no sense of history and are thus incapable of planning for the future (by making something built to last). Whatever -- he's entitled to his opinion. Speaking for myself, I can deal with the crappy Sebring in the grand scheme of things; that's a miniscule tradeoff for having something to celebrate on July 4th. Besides, it's not all tea and cookies in the former motherland, anyway...


[Source: TimesOnline | Tip: Kris]

Click above to watch the video after the jump

Jeremy Clarkson is a lot of things to a lot of people. He's unique and iconic. Entertaining and informative. But what he's not is inimitable. That's what British sketch comedy duo Harry and Paul discovered when they stumbled upon Clarkson Island. The magical isle off the southern coast of England (and not to be confused with the Isle of Man) is inhabited exclusively by clones of the celebrity automotive journalist, who all... talk the same. We won't ruin the rest of the four-minute skit for you, except to note that the roast has to have come from a place of love, especially for co-host Harry Enfield who was the first guest on Top Gear when the BBC re-launched the show in 2001. Thanks to everyone who sent in the tip; follow the jump to watch the video.

[Source: YouTube]

Not long after we learned that the famous Top Gear trio was in the U.S., a fan managed to snap some shots of Clarkson, Hammond and Mays testing their favorite examples of American muscle at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. The hosts made their way to salt flats by way of Reno, Nevada where they had a few modifications done to each vehicle in the name of high speed safety, namely driveshaft loops and fire extinguishers. If you saw our previous post on the subject, you already know that Clarkson is driving a Corvette ZR1, Hamster a Challenger SRT8 and May the super-fast but still luxurious Cadillac CTS-V, a car that shares much of its supercharged V8 architecture with the new force-fed mill in the 'Vette. We can already surmise that the ZR1 easily took top honors at Bonneville thanks to its slippery shape and abundance of power. Now, which car wins the comparison test? We look forward to next season to find out. Check out the gallery below for more pics of the action going down, or click here and follow the photostream. Thanks for the tips, AkulaX1 and Andi!


[Sources: Flickr, Digital Corvettes]