Top Gear Series 14 starts in less than 24 hours

The Caveman said:
Nonsense, of that list there is not ONE great car in the true sense of the word. All of them very good but none of them great,

Ford is up there for sure, just for the Model T, Mustang and GT40 as mentioned in the show. Citroen is in with a shout with Traction Avant, DS, 2CV, SM among others. My brain is throwing a blank on me. Ferrari with the 250 GTO, 250 GT California, F40 to name a few. Alfa Romeo: 33 Stradale, 8C Competizzione, both great if only for design. Bugatti: 57, EB110, Veyron. Mercedes-Benz: A host of good candidates. Please fill in my list, I can't be bothered anymore.
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Ford's made a lot of shit as well, to be fair.
 
R_Nick said:
The NSX is a great car, you seriously cannot deny that. The chassis was designed by Senna ffs.
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nsx, a legendary car.

however, it definitely won't be one of the japanese manufacturers.

bmw, possibly: 507, m1, m3, m5.

with the germans, it depends if various chassis iterations count as separte models or not.
 
R_Nick said:
The NSX is a great car, you seriously cannot deny that. The chassis was designed by Senna ffs.
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Well, by great cars in this aspect I think iconic, innovating, ahead of it's time etc. etc. I don't think the NSX is a great car by that definition.

It's an excellent car by all accounts but an iconic all time great?
 
The Caveman said:
Well, by great cars in this aspect I think iconic, innovating, ahead of it's time etc. etc. I don't think the NSX is a great car by that definition.

It's an excellent car by all accounts but an iconic all time great?
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The Testarossa is iconic, surely?
 
I've always thought of the Testarossa as more of a run of the mill Ferrari (if there is such a thing) but it was my first favourite car and I think it looks fantastic even today. I had a white Testarossa model decorated with Italia '90 stickers. My first love.
 
The Caveman said:
Is it? Not sure about that. Pretty much all Ferrari's are special but do the Testarossa stand out in any way?

PS: Check my thread in the general. News news news.
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Well, you said iconic. In the 80s, that car really stood out in terms of aesthetics.
 
its primarily the looks and how it hasn't aged that make it so iconic, i mean just look at it

sprintage20ferrari20tes.jpg


:drool:
 
lambo's

they are all as mad as a bag of frogs on acid plus the muira is quite possibly the coolest car ever plus they are al fast as feck...

didnt they make some 150mph 4x4 back in the 80's as well...

plus the muira, countach, diablo, gallardo, murchilago, that new one they are doing...

in fact for a company that has only ever made 15 cars i think maybee half could be called great List of Lamborghini automobiles - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
from them lambo's i would only count the muira and the countach, as such great iconic cars, the others are just too loud and shouty, not sophisticated enough.

maybe the alfa's are in for a shout
 
phelans shorts said:
from them lambo's i would only count the muira and the countach, as such great iconic cars, the others are just too loud and shouty, not sophisticated enough.

maybe the alfa's are in for a shout
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The Countach wasn't the most sophisticated, though, was it? But yeah, a proper iconic car.
 
Considering they ruled out the Aston DB5 on the basis that although it was iconic it wasn't actually that good of a car the Countach can't possibly be considered great seeing as everything I've ever read about it say that its a complete dog to drive.

Bloody wonderful looking thing though!
 
What determines greatness is pretty subjective so each to their own I guess. For me the Countach might not be a great car due to it's handling or innovation but you'd be hard pressed to find a more iconic car of the 80's. Maybe that's enough?
 
Is Top Gear losing its drive?
Show's producer admits 'this incarnation of Top Gear is nearer the end than the beginning'

Top Gear producer Andy Wilman has admitted the popular BBC2 show is in danger of running out of road.

Wilman, who is credited with turning the show into a global powerhouse since relaunching it with presenter Jeremy Clarkson seven years ago, warned "this incarnation of Top Gear is nearer the end than the beginning".

In a blog addressing criticism about the latest series, shown at 9pm on Sundays on BBC2, Wilman said he was looking forward to the end of the current run.

"Personally I'll be glad to see the back of it," he wrote. "We've done some good stuff this series, but we were too rushed and too knackered to get everything right."

Top Gear's ratings have been down this series – although at more than 5 million they are very high for BBC2 – partly because the show was moved to the highly competitive 9pm slot to avoid clashing with ITV1's The X Factor.

However, viewers have complained about the editorial direction it has taken – in Wilman's words, that "we've lost the plot, we've disappeared up our arses, we're scripting everything, we're predictable etc etc".

Wilman said the the presenters – Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May – were starting to become caricatures of themselves.

"I do believe we've now got the presenters playing to their TV cartoon characters a bit too much – Jezza the walking nuclear bomb, Richard the daft Norman Wisdom, and James the bumbling professor," he wrote.

He missed "the three mates who mooch along", pointing to a recent film about Lancias as an example where they recaptured some of the old spirit.

"I know James definitely feels that way, and Jeremy and I were saying the other morning how the Lancia film was a bit of a wake-up reminder that we can actually make good films just enthusing about cars."

He defended the show against complaints that it was becoming too scripted, instead arguing that "you're watching a show that's lost its innocence".

He said the show's success after relaunching in 2002 had not been expected, resulting in "surprise and delight on the presenters' faces".

"That innocence has gone now, as always happens, because that's the nature of TV," he said.

"You all know the main pillars of our editorial, and we do our best to entertain, but none of us are going back to that first flush of discovery. But although that's sad, this is not time for glumness because there's still so much to do."

He admitted that the show could not go on indefinitely.

"It's fair to say this incarnation of Top Gear is nearer the end than the beginning, and our job is to land this plane with its dignity still intact," he said.

"But ironically, that does mean trying new things to the last, even if they screw up, because, well, it means you never stopped trying."
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...
 
In other words, less of the stupid as feck challenges, and more, get on your bike and take a couple of cars pissing around the track. Everything post probably season 10 has been a bit on the downer.

Their best recent one was probably the race to the snow fields in France.
 
It's all just to predictable now. Even the jokes are the same every episode. Best thing for them to do would be to either completly change the format or just do the odd TV special a few times a year.
 
Just watched episode 5 from this series, and within 5 minutes of the setup for the main film, you knew exactly what was going to happen. I'm a big fan of the show, but agree it's become a bit stale and predictable.
 
I watched the one where he drove the little Citreon through the tunnels to flip it over and then raced to and off the dock, think that was 2 weeks ago and I've not even thought about it since to be honest.
 
James Parkin said:
To be fair, flipping it in the tunnel and landing it was the bollocks
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Yes it was. I do still get some entertainment from the show, but nowhere near what it used to be like. That 'road test' was the highlight of that particular show.
 
The thing is, they could do this without the bs. Look at the long way round/down doco's. Heaps of entertainment/Drame and they're riding good bikes that shouldn't break down.

Just wish they'd stop trying to be funny and just be themselves.
 
I haven't watched for a while as I got bored with all their obviously set-up twatting about. The real low point was that rally they did with the midget and the model etc.

I hope they sort it out now that they have realised the problem. Perhaps I'll watch the next series and see.
 
I know this series hasn't been great but one of those Botswana/Vietnam/Arctic specials is on tonight Bolivia Special.
 
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