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Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May travel across the world to meet different automobile manufacturers and drive cars made by them.
Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May travel across the world to meet different automobile manufacturers and drive cars made by them.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Hello and welcome to a Grand Tour special which begins with this, the Volkswagen Beetle.
00:26It's a car we hate very much because it appeals only to Nazis and hippies and we are neither of those things.
00:35However, if you remove the bodywork and replace it with something a bit more fun, something like this, you end up with a beach buggy and that's brilliant.
00:46We love beach buggies. However, Mr Willman disagrees.
00:50He says that if they'd been any good, they would have caught on and he points out that they didn't.
00:56So, he hatched a plan and it's this.
01:00He said all three of us must buy a Volkswagen Beetle, turn it into a beach buggy and then report with it to a wild, rugged and extremely remote place here on the coast of Namibia.
01:14This is what I've built.
01:26This is what I've built.
01:40It's as close as you can possibly get to the original 1964 beach buggy built by Bruce Myers.
01:51Underneath, it is a 1950s Beetle.
01:56Beetle floor pan, Beetle suspension, Beetle engine, Beetle gearbox.
02:00It's got Beetle lights on it. I've even got a Beetle speedometer and Beetle hubcaps.
02:04It's brilliant.
02:11This is a beach buggy very like the one that Steve McQueen drove in the original Thomas Crown Affair.
02:16And if it's good enough for...
02:18Oh, God.
02:20Ha-ha!
02:20I've been joined by the 1970s.
02:29Yes.
02:30James May has built what a beach buggy was.
02:35What I've built is what a beach buggy can be.
02:41If you have a bit of imagination and some purple metal flake paint.
02:46There, I believe, is the start point of our adventure.
03:04What an extraordinary place.
03:06It's amazing, isn't it?
03:08I mean, more seals.
03:10What David Attenborough never told us about those is how bad they smell.
03:16Sadly, before our nature documentary could go any further,
03:20Richard Hammond emerged from the mist.
03:24Oh, hello.
03:25That's not a beach buggy.
03:27Is it?
03:28Well, I wouldn't call that.
03:30Ha-ha!
03:31Oh, jeez.
03:32Ladies and gentlemen, Dick Tari.
03:35Behold!
03:37What are you wearing?
03:39What are you wearing?
03:40I've been in Africa.
03:41These trousers did don't say in the shop, I'm afraid they are yellow, sir.
03:46When he left, they went, yes, 20 years we've had those on the hangar.
03:51Shut up.
03:51And then we must move over to this.
03:53Yeah.
03:53We were told to build beach buggies.
03:57Yes.
03:58Beach buggies.
03:59It's not a beach buggy.
04:00It isn't, Hammond.
04:01It is a beach bug.
04:01It isn't a beach bug.
04:03It's got a roof.
04:03It is.
04:04There's no beetle in here at all.
04:05Yes, there is.
04:06Beetle engine in there.
04:08Hammond, OK, this space frame chassis.
04:11Yeah.
04:11Is it from the beetle?
04:12No.
04:13These enormous suspension components that don't even fit under the bodywork.
04:18Well, you've got two lots of suspension at the back.
04:20Twin shocks.
04:21Twin shocks?
04:22Well, you know, I like an off-road sort of vibe.
04:25To get here, we had to drive on a beach.
04:27Yeah.
04:28Ours have made it.
04:29I didn't need two lots of rear suspension on mine.
04:32Neither did I.
04:32Look, we were told to come to Africa.
04:34Yes.
04:35If we'd been told to get a Santa Monica beach, then this, with its incredibly vivid paint,
04:42that's the most metal flake I've ever seen.
04:44Any beach in the world.
04:47Hang on.
04:48What's that?
04:49That's the engine.
04:50What engine is it?
04:51V8.
04:52I'll put a V8 in a beach buggy.
04:55Well, no, you haven't.
04:55You've parked your beach buggy quite close.
04:57It's not in it.
04:58It isn't in it.
04:59No.
05:00You've reversed into a V8, but not quite hard enough.
05:02It's only gone in a third of the way.
05:04Do you have any idea how difficult it is to fit a V8 to a beach buggy?
05:08Well, it does.
05:08It's obviously impossible.
05:09It is impossible.
05:11This is no ordinary V8.
05:13Started out in life as a 3.5-metre V8 from a Range Rover, but I've modified it.
05:18So it produces 180 horsepower.
05:21Can I just say, you were doubting the credibility of mine as a beach buggy?
05:25Yeah.
05:25The defining characteristic of a beach buggy is an air-cooled, blackboard, beetle engine.
05:32No, that's not an engine, James.
05:33Because that's just a fan.
05:35How many horsepower does yours have?
05:3694.
05:38So I have twice as many horsepower.
05:40Shall I tell you something?
05:40They're not in the car, though.
05:42They are.
05:42They're near it.
05:43Yes.
05:43It's interesting, isn't it?
05:45I mean, that is interesting.
05:45Nothing about that is interesting.
05:47Well, this is a blank canvas onto which you can paint your personality.
05:49Yes.
05:50Yours has got a prolapsed V8 hanging out of its backside and terrible paint.
05:54Mine is a rather magnificent Daktari-themed off-roader.
05:57That has got nothing on it.
05:59You can express all of your personality and it's standard.
06:03It's not.
06:03What do you mean, standard?
06:04It's a beach buggy.
06:05It's tasteful.
06:06What?
06:09Oh.
06:10The bat sap phone.
06:12We've got a message from Mr. Willman.
06:16Right, go on.
06:16Since you're in beach buggies, well, us two are.
06:20Since you're in beach buggies, you will now drive to the beach.
06:25Er.
06:26Er.
06:27Do you think he's taken leave of his senses?
06:29Well, he was never that good at geography, was he?
06:31No, he wasn't.
06:32You'll now drive to the beach.
06:33Oh, no, there's more.
06:34The beach to which you will drive is located on the crocodile-infested Queen River
06:41at the northernmost point of Namibia, where it meets Angola.
06:45It's 1,000 miles away.
06:491,000 miles?
06:511,000.
06:53What we needed at this point was a map,
06:56so we decided to head north up the coast and find the nearest town.
07:01Let the journey begin!
07:08And what a journey it would be in these cars,
07:11cars that were born in interesting times.
07:15So, it's 1964.
07:19The word teenager has started to appear in the world's dictionaries.
07:24People are listening to new types of music.
07:27They're smoking new types of stuff.
07:29And then, in California, the beach buggy arrived.
07:33The first design criteria was that the front fenders were flat, so you could stand a beer on it.
07:49Well, that's how you design a car.
07:55Jimi Hendrix had a beach buggy, and President Nixon didn't.
07:59Tells you all you need to know.
08:01What I really like about the beach buggy is that it's a testament to the ability of the human spirit to triumph.
08:10Because somebody looked at the beetle and said,
08:13Well, that's the legacy of the world's worst dictator.
08:17Let's turn it into a beach car.
08:19After a lonely hour of driving north through the swirling mist, we still hadn't found a town.
08:30But, we did find something else.
08:32Jesus.
08:35Jesus.
08:56I'll tell you what.
08:58He must have been going at a right old lick when he hit the beach.
09:00He must have been.
09:01Right, the sea is there.
09:04That's half a mile away.
09:05I'd say so.
09:06So, he got it up the beach, and then sort of did a handbrake turn.
09:09How did you do the handbrake?
09:12How did it get here?
09:13Seriously.
09:14Can I just say, my nipples are erect.
09:17Is it his jacket?
09:19No.
09:20It's cold.
09:21It is, isn't it?
09:22It's cold.
09:23That's an unwise wardrobe strategy.
09:26Yeah, well, you know, Africa on a beach, I thought.
09:29So did I.
09:30I'm surprised.
09:32The beach has got the sea har on it.
09:35Mist, fog, cold.
09:38If you look over there, sunshine, blue sky, why don't we just go inland?
09:44Coast road.
09:45Find the coast road, which will take us to a town.
09:48And that'll be in the sun.
09:49That's a better idea.
09:51When the plan worked out, it was time to get moving again.
09:59Oh, dear.
10:00Did you modify the battery as well?
10:02It's obviously not charging up.
10:07No.
10:08Because I didn't modify it.
10:10Yeah.
10:11I'll just see if mine works.
10:14Oh, yeah.
10:15Let me just try mine.
10:17Yeah.
10:19Push.
10:20After the film crew had got me going, I used my massive horsepower to catch the others.
10:38But by the time we were back together again, it was going dark.
10:50The sun, as you can see over my shoulder, has set.
10:54And we still haven't found a road.
10:56It's also going to be very, very, very cold.
11:02Lights on.
11:02We have got to find this road.
11:14This is not going to be too clever.
11:17In the dark.
11:24I've rather crudely rigged up my torch, wedged in the windscreen rail,
11:29in the hope that you can see my last pieces to camera.
11:38Oh, bollocks.
11:44Oh, cold.
11:49Finally, though, it looked like our luck had changed.
11:53Oh, hello.
11:54Hello.
11:55What's that?
11:59It's not a hotel.
12:05No.
12:07Smells of excrement.
12:09Oh, wow, look at this.
12:11There's still, like, plates and cups and saucers and things in here.
12:14I'll tell you exactly what this is.
12:16It's an abandoned mine.
12:18They do mine round in Namibia, don't they?
12:21What do they mine for?
12:22Diamonds.
12:23Diamonds?
12:23Yeah, but they wouldn't have left if there were any.
12:26And they obviously left, and not yesterday.
12:31Look.
12:33There's no road here, is there?
12:35No.
12:35No.
12:35Apart from anything else, we can't find our way around in the dark,
12:39because we can't navigate.
12:39Oh, I can't.
12:40You know what you mean?
12:40How?
12:41How?
12:42Stars.
12:43No, you can't.
12:44I can't.
12:44No, you can't.
12:45I can't do very many things, I admit.
12:48Anything.
12:48But I can do that.
12:50Okay, how do you navigate by the stars?
12:52Er, find the Southern Cross.
12:53Yeah, but that's really complicated.
12:55Right, do you want to sleep in the excrement mine?
12:57No.
12:58This is out.
12:59So, we have to keep going, whether we like it or not,
13:02till we find...
13:03We have to.
13:03So, listen.
13:04I shall find the Southern Cross.
13:07You can't find the Southern Cross with a hammer.
13:09I found it! Ha!
13:09Have you?
13:10I found it.
13:11It's there.
13:12It's like a kite.
13:14That one there?
13:15Yeah.
13:15There's a kite shape.
13:16It's sort of...
13:17Now, you take the long axis, yes?
13:21Yes.
13:22And draw an imaginary line through it, down to the horizon.
13:27Yes?
13:28Now, you intersect it from a line drawn between two other stars,
13:32and where those two imaginary lines meet,
13:35directly underneath it, is due south.
13:38So, if it's those two, which it is, I'm sure of it,
13:43you draw a line...
13:44Oh, this is a bad idea.
13:52We are now trusting our lives to an orangutan who thinks he's Patrick Moore.
13:59There it is.
14:01There's the two stars.
14:04Draw a line.
14:05Not getting many directions from you, Jeremy.
14:09Is this right?
14:11You're heading a little bit too much to the right.
14:13You want to go left a bit.
14:15Good, good.
14:17Oh, I'm so confident.
14:18You two are going to be eating humble pie when the sun comes up.
14:23Despite the confidence of Jeremy Columbus, no road appeared.
14:32Oh, this is grim.
14:33Excuse me.
14:34Been on the go a very, very long time now.
14:45Guys, I'm sorry.
14:47I'm not driving another inch, I can't do this.
14:53It's three o'clock in the morning, I'm exhausted.
14:56He does have a point.
14:59The next morning, we woke, having slept on the sand, huddled round our engines for warmth.
15:12You muppet!
15:42What's that?
15:44Um.
15:45Um, what?
15:48I never knew Namibia had two seas.
15:51It doesn't have two seas.
15:52It has one massive sea in it, one massive stupid sea that's navigated us back to where we started.
15:58Can I just say?
15:59Was it mine?
15:59Yes.
16:00Why did we even believe you can navigate?
16:02You can't even read a compass.
16:03There are two seas.
16:04There's two seas here for believing that that sea could navigate us.
16:08No, you're right.
16:09I couldn't possibly.
16:10Well, that's really, I don't understand that.
16:13Freezing cold, sandpapered on the face.
16:16You've got a coat on.
16:17It's thin.
16:17Have you felt it?
16:18No, I haven't even got a thin coat.
16:20I've only got a T-shirt.
16:21Anyway, I'm not going to get competitive with you about who's the coldest.
16:25Oh, I'm the coldest.
16:25We're all the lostest.
16:27Never mind.
16:28Look, let's not get bogged down with whose fault it was.
16:30There's no big bogged down with it, is there?
16:32It was yours.
16:34We can either go back into the desert to look for a road, or we can just do what we were
16:39doing yesterday and stay on the beach.
16:42At least we know if we keep the sea on our left, we're going north.
16:45That's a fair point.
16:47Let's navigate by the sea.
16:49Yes.
16:51With our new, well, new-ish plan in place, we set off once more.
16:56All right, so here we are.
16:59These are our wheel marks from yesterday.
17:0324 hours of cold, misery to achieve exactly nothing.
17:09I mean, it is exactly nothing.
17:11But, apart from that and the weather and Jeremy Clarkson, it's all going really well.
17:19As we continued north, the misery of the previous day was banished by the sheer bigness.
17:26Of our surroundings.
17:28Oh, this is an astonishing place.
17:33I've got a dune the size of Mount Everest to my right, the Atlantic Ocean to my left.
17:42This is absolutely epic.
17:53This is proper beach buggy driving.
17:55The sun's out, the sea's there with the surf.
17:59It's like being in the beach, boys.
18:06Amidst all this loveliness, though, there was one small elephant edging its way into the room.
18:13Chaps, I don't have to say this, but is the tide coming in or going out?
18:18The tide comes in.
18:19The tide comes in.
18:20Uh, I'm guessing in.
18:25There's no way up the sides of that.
18:27And if the tide comes in that far, which it does, we've had it.
18:33We've got to keep moving here.
18:36We cannot afford to get stuck.
18:37With some generous use of the throttle, we managed to get clear of the sea and sand dune pincer movement.
18:48But then, we had another problem.
18:51I'd say that was the end of the beach.
18:58How does that just end like that?
19:00It does just end.
19:01That's it.
19:01That is the end.
19:02The Namibian government doesn't allow us to drive on the salt pens, and that's what that is.
19:07This meant, according to James, we had only one option.
19:12We've got to go back the way we came.
19:14Yeah, but if the tide's coming in, that narrow bit will have become impassable.
19:19Yeah, exactly.
19:19That's why I think if we see a good opportunity to turn left, like we did last night, we do it.
19:24Are you honestly suggesting we go back in the...
19:26Well, where else can we go?
19:28We'll either drown or starve, otherwise.
19:32Right, we've just got to find a bit where we can get inland before the tide comes in.
19:47That is getting closer to that.
19:50When that happens, we've had it.
19:56But as we thundered along, the dunes refused to open up and let us in.
20:02That's the sea.
20:05It's the sea, then.
20:09Oh, it's coming at me.
20:12I still say we can't get out here, look.
20:16No left turn at the moment.
20:21This is where you need a V8.
20:23Oh, shit.
20:30Oh, Jeremy's in trouble.
20:32That is not looking good.
20:35Come on, come on.
20:37Whoa.
20:39Oh, no.
20:43Oh, no.
20:44No, no, no, no, no.
20:45Not a good place.
20:47Oh, God.
20:48I'm in the sea.
20:51Because it was a bit of an emergency, my colleagues decided to help for once.
20:56Go.
20:59No.
21:01Is that just spinning?
21:02It's beached under there.
21:04I don't see why I can't push him with that.
21:05All right, then, try.
21:07Right.
21:08James, count us in.
21:10Three, two, one, away.
21:12Me getting beached cost us time we never had in the first place.
21:27And we were still trapped.
21:33Jesus Christ.
21:36It's coming in.
21:37Come on, come on, come on.
21:45Come on.
21:48Oh!
21:54Oh!
21:57Oh, it's bad!
22:02Shit!
22:06Oh!
22:06Oh!
22:07Come on, baby, come on.
22:13Mercifully, the dunes finally started to fall away, and we were saved.
22:22And we're through!
22:24We are.
22:24We are.
22:25That's a relief.
22:29So nearly got stuck, then.
22:31We'd now been on the go for 36 hours, and we were pretty much back where we started from, again.
22:42We were also soaked, frozen, worn out, and because we had no food with us, we were also hungry.
22:50But then, Bear Clarkson came to the rescue.
22:54Could you go and get some driftwood for a fire, and could you fashion a rudimentary barbecue grill of some sort?
23:01Okay, can I just...
23:02Where did you get the fishing rod from?
23:04This is my whip aerial.
23:05It's a beach buggy.
23:06I thought of that.
23:07And the fishing rods.
23:07This is going to make a perfect little fish grill thing, look.
23:23You've got a fire lit, yeah?
23:25I thought you were fishing.
23:26I am fishing.
23:27My car's fishing.
23:29Look.
23:30Will.
23:30Is it?
23:31Yeah, look.
23:31I've got the rods attached.
23:32It's tarred.
23:33What's that?
23:34That's the grill.
23:35So we hold that with the pliers from my multi-tool, cut the fish up, fillet it.
23:40Can you do that?
23:41There's no point asking here.
23:42We can open the tin.
23:44Can you fillet a fish?
23:45Well, is it only fish?
23:46Well, it's the sea.
23:48Well, what did you think I was going to catch a chicken?
23:50Oh, my God!
23:56Oh, no, wait!
23:59Yes!
24:00Ha, ha, ha, ha!
24:01While Hammond went off to get more driftwood, James and I set about gutting the catch.
24:07Use his car as the table.
24:10There we go.
24:12But that's his gut, look.
24:13Yeah, yeah, look.
24:14Oh, God, shit.
24:16Look, it's all gone literally onto his exhaust.
24:18Oh, no.
24:19Never mind.
24:19Look, I need your help.
24:20Right, saw his head off.
24:24Ah, there we go.
24:24Excellent.
24:27I think, but I'm not sure if he's doing this.
24:28He's gone under his seat.
24:29Oh, no, is it?
24:30It's all right, I'll get it out later.
24:36Oh, he's done a treat, this.
24:39Look at this Hammond.
24:44Oh, that's all right, isn't it?
24:48Oh, there we go.
24:54Tastes like fish, doesn't it?
24:58Okay, does anybody want a beer?
25:01Have you got some?
25:02No.
25:02Oh, you've...
25:03That deserves a stabbing.
25:07That is a proper stabbing.
25:09That's properly out of order.
25:10After lunch, we set off once more into the dunes.
25:20Right, so let's keep heading east, and we must come to a road.
25:26That has to be a road.
25:29But for mile after mile, there wasn't.
25:33It's the Namib Desert.
25:46Namib in the local dialect means big nothing.
25:56It must be the prettiest desert in the world.
26:00It's just a sea of dunes.
26:02Dunes, which were getting bigger.
26:11Bloody Nora, look at the size of that.
26:16Engaging 180 horsepower.
26:20Climbing them in our two-wheel-drive beach buggies
26:23was becoming tricky.
26:27Come on, you can do this.
26:29You can do this.
26:32But by deploying the V8, I was sort of all right.
26:37Yes!
26:41Hammond had grippy tires, so he was all right too.
26:45Please, please make it.
26:47Please.
26:49Please.
26:54There you go.
26:55However, back in the 1960s...
26:59Come on, little car.
27:04Oh, no, no, no.
27:06No, no.
27:19Stuck?
27:20Yes.
27:20Two problems.
27:21Number one, he's put a 90 horsepower engine in it,
27:25which actually is probably only 40.
27:26Yeah.
27:27And number two, he will not use full power ever.
27:31Well, he's got a 90 horsepower engine,
27:32but a five horsepower foot.
27:34And they bet you any money, he said,
27:38well, I had a misfire.
27:47You've got to push the accelerator all the way.
27:49I know, but it...
27:49I know that.
27:50It just...
27:51It's...
27:51Occasionally, it has a little misfire moment,
27:53and then I lose it.
27:54And so the afternoon continued.
28:01The grunt machine and the grip machine would forge ahead.
28:04There is no way in hell I'm doing this.
28:08Yes!
28:13You star!
28:15And then there'd be the inevitable radio exchange.
28:19We're prepared to be a man down, Jeremy.
28:21James May, where are you?
28:29Because we spent so much time waiting for Captain Misfire,
28:34we were still in the desert as dusk fell,
28:37and failing light meant it was hard to spot obstacles.
28:42Right, sit there.
28:45Jesus Christ!
28:50Holy...
28:51Oh, my God!
28:56Oh, shit!
28:59Oh, fuck!
29:00Look at it!
29:00Oh, fuck!
29:01I've got to have a look.
29:05Oh!
29:07City death in the...
29:08Oh, my God!
29:09Look, I locked up.
29:11That was just...
29:12He buried!
29:13You buried the front where you were locked up.
29:15I was completely locked up,
29:17because I would have gone down that.
29:18Look at it!
29:20Oh!
29:21My close shave was a reminder that after dark,
29:25these dunes would become very, very dangerous.
29:29It's getting harder and harder to read the terrain now.
29:38Is that a drop?
29:38Is that a hill?
29:39Is that going up?
29:40Is that a cliff?
29:41What is it?
29:44Peril.
29:45Peril.
29:46Oh, shit!
29:49Oh, I think there's a drop-off there.
29:52This is black.
29:53Abyss.
29:54That could be a huge cliff again.
30:00Eventually, we could take no more,
30:02and we had to settle down for a second night
30:05around our engines.
30:07Oh!
30:31We will find a road.
30:32Well, the most...
30:34I mean, it can't go on forever, can it?
30:36It has to...
30:37There will be a town, a road, something.
30:43Unfortunately, to find salvation,
30:46we still had to climb more dunes.
30:50Climb them, and then get down the other side.
30:54Oh, my God!
30:57Well, that's just a cliff!
31:01Oh!
31:01Whoa!
31:10Whoa, this is a monster.
31:13Oh, fuck!
31:14I think I could do!
31:17Oh!
31:17Oh!
31:24Whoa!
31:31Here we go. All three of us simultaneously.
31:38Holy shit!
31:40Oh, shit!
31:47Oh!
31:50I wasn't scared.
31:56Oh, my God.
31:58Guys, this is the biggest yet by a country mile.
32:07Is that the size of the drop or what's happened to his penis?
32:12Right, then, let's see what all the fuss is about.
32:16Holy shit!
32:21Oh!
32:29Oh.
32:30And now straighten those wheels, Richard.
32:32Straighten them.
32:33Because you've got to go down straight.
32:35Holy shit!
32:36Oh, shit!
32:39That is frightening.
32:46Love this desert.
32:48I'm never, ever, ever happier than I am when I'm in the desert.
32:52And this...
32:55This is the best desert I've ever been to.
33:00You can never really lose sight of the fact, though, that what it actually is, is a big orange killing engine.
33:06Now, big crest coming up.
33:09No idea.
33:11Gentle rolling hill or massive cliff.
33:15I don't know!
33:16Hammond!
33:17Hammond, seriously?
33:19Shit, he's gone.
33:21Hammond's gone, everyone.
33:22Hammond's gone.
33:23Big one.
33:24Oh, f*** me.
33:25How the f*** did you get down that?
33:41With my eyes shut!
33:44That was terrifying!
33:47Ha, ha, ha, ha!
33:49Jesus!
33:59As we continued to head east, the terrain eventually levelled out.
34:07Which meant we swapped terror for extreme discomfort.
34:11Ah!
34:15Oh, God almighty!
34:17I don't think these cars were actually designed to take this much punishment.
34:23And I know we weren't.
34:26The only thing is, James' car rides lower than this and will be worse.
34:31Ah!
34:32Ow!
34:34Ow!
34:35Ow, ow!
34:38Ah!
34:40Soon, the relentless battering started to cause breakdowns.
34:46Sand. Sand in gear shift.
34:49My throttle is jammed wide open, people.
34:52The problem is that every time the air filter here turns as I'm driving along, which it does, it's jamming the throttle.
35:10The throttle?
35:14What's going on here?
35:17What's up?
35:19The throttle is now jamming fully open all the time.
35:22Oh.
35:23The problem.
35:41Oh, God.
35:45It's still moving.
35:49Many miles ahead, we'd pulled over for a break from the endless bumps, and James was being very interesting.
35:57The thing about this hat is you can angle it at like a heliostat to where the sun's coming from.
36:05Yes, that's true.
36:07You still look a tit.
36:09Luckily for Hammond, who could do with the company, I was back on the move.
36:15Right, a new style of driving is now required.
36:20This arm for steering, this arm for changing gear, and then another arm for decelerating, like so.
36:29Yes!
36:31Accelerate.
36:34Decelerate.
36:36Sometimes if you listen very carefully, you can hear my genius.
36:43Back as a threesome, we continued with our seemingly endless journey to the east.
36:49We just need to find a road now. This is not funny anymore.
36:53Enough desert.
36:55I don't want another night in the desert.
36:58I smell pretty bad.
37:02I suspect that if we manage to find somewhere tonight, near civilisation, we should probably have a ceremonial bonfire at the underpants.
37:11In truth, though, I thought we'd be in the desert forever.
37:15But then, late in the afternoon...
37:20I'm looking ahead and I'm not seeing an endless sea of sand.
37:25I'm seeing green.
37:30Trees! Those are trees and shrubs!
37:37Pylons! Pylons! That means electricity!
37:40Electricity!
37:45Oh, yes! Civilisation!
37:51And then, best of all...
37:53Oh, my God!
37:54I honestly thought we had another night of sleeping in the sand, but no! Look at it!
38:10Nicest thing I've ever seen!
38:12I could go east, I could go west, it's all...
38:14Whichever way you go, it goes somewhere. That's the point. It's a road, it goes somewhere.
38:16You know what we've just done, don't you?
38:18We've just crossed the Namib Desert in three beach buggies.
38:20We have, we have. We did. We did.
38:21We did.
38:23There is literally nothing that can stop us now.
38:27Admittedly, our crossing had not exactly been as the crow flies, but we had found our road, and that's all that mattered.
38:35Oh, yes! That's the best thing I've ever seen!
38:36Yes, it is the road to freedom!
38:38What the hell was that?
38:39THE CROW FLIES
38:43Admittedly, our crossing had not exactly been as the crow flies,
38:47but we had found our road, and that's all that mattered.
38:52Oh, yes! That's the best thing I've ever seen!
38:56Yes, it is the road to freedom!
39:00What the hell was that?
39:03Something has just exploded at the back of my car.
39:08Oh, dear!
39:10By the time my colleagues had got back to me,
39:13I'd worked out what the problem was.
39:16It's really straightforward, OK?
39:18The top bolt has come out of the shock absorber.
39:21Right.
39:22It's shot up, buoyed into the coolant pipe,
39:25and three gallons of water have simply burst out going everywhere,
39:29except into the engine.
39:31So all I've got to do is reattach the top bolt,
39:35mend the pipe and find three gallons of water,
39:40which I shall get from a passing motorist.
39:43Of course.
39:44And I'll be on my way.
39:45Right.
39:46All I could do with a hand with is just lifting the car up
39:48so I can reattach the...
39:50Yeah. Well, I don't know. Is there anybody here?
39:53There's...
39:54I suppose a motorist will pass it.
39:55The one that gives you water...
39:56Yeah.
39:57...will also lift it up for you.
39:58You could just lift it up a little bit.
40:00Or we could go and have a beer.
40:02I hear traffic.
40:03Yes.
40:04We'd better not be here. We don't interfere when you're trying to talk,
40:06cos we might put them off.
40:12Right.
40:14Somewhere along here, there will be a place,
40:29and that place will have a bar in it that will contain beer.
40:38Do you have any water?
40:40What?
40:41Water.
40:42Because the radiator has blown, so I need just three gallons.
40:46No, you've got some water there. Just a bucket.
40:52It's an actual water lorry.
40:55Leaking water, and you won't give me any.
41:03Eventually, I flagged down a local who had water to spare.
41:09And then, I got on with the repairs.
41:12That is one reassembled shock absorber.
41:16That's reattached.
41:18So that's the cooling system back in one piece.
41:25After an exhausting five-hour drive, Richard and I finally reached a town,
41:31which turned out to be Namibia's capital city, Windhoek.
41:35And we, too, were taking on liquids.
41:38Back out on the highway, though, things weren't so good.
41:42What I'm driving here, or attempting to drive is a part of the highway.
41:43What I'm driving here, or attempting to drive is a part of the highway.
41:44What I'm driving here, or attempting to drive is Apollo 13.
41:48There's some air trapped in the system.
41:49And I've had to make a small hole in the front.
41:50What I'm driving here, or attempting to drive is Apollo 13.
41:54There's some air trapped in the system.
41:55And I've had to make a small hole in the front to get at the radiator.
42:00Bled that. Bled all the stuff going into the engine.
42:01This is the head of pipe. Everything is bled.
42:02And yet, you do a mile, it overheats. Another mile, overheats.
42:04Back out on the highway, though, things weren't so good.
42:07What I'm driving here, or attempting to drive is Apollo 13.
42:13There's some air trapped in the system.
42:15And I've had to make a small hole in the front to get at the radiator.
42:20Bled that. Bled all the stuff going into the engine.
42:23This is the head of pipe.
42:24Everything is bled.
42:25And yet, you do a mile, it overheats.
42:28Another mile, overheats.
42:29Well, we've covered 20 miles in four hours.
42:59This is the sixth time in 30 miles that's happened.
43:06Whilst my colleagues embraced beer and bed, I steeled myself for the longest, coldest, most frustrating night of my life.
43:16The roads are getting worse.
43:18Honestly, my bones are going to shatter.
43:19Oh, my God!
43:20Well, they've had a great idea.
43:21Oh, no.
43:22Oh, shit, it's really high!
43:23Oh, shit, it's really high!
43:24Oh, shit, it's really high!
43:25are going to shatter.
43:27Oh, my God!
43:35Well, they've had a great idea.
43:37Oh, no.
43:39Oh, shit, it's really high!
43:55Oh, shit!
44:25Oh, shit!