- 4 months ago
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!