- 8 hours ago
Clarkson, Hammond, and May buy cheap front-wheel-drive cars to prove they can be turned into rally machines. Meanwhile, Richard reviews the brand-new Fiat Panda 4x4 and Bentley Continental GT Speed, and Mick Fleetwood joins as the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car.
Follow our channel for more car crazed mayhem. Alot more episodes to come that you don't want to miss. Like our videos and share with other car lovers!!
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Top Gear Season 19, Top Gear S19E02, Top Gear rally car challenge, Top Gear budget car challenge, Fiat Panda 4x4 review, Bentley Continental GT Speed, Mick Fleetwood Top Gear, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May, Top Gear 2013
Follow our channel for more car crazed mayhem. Alot more episodes to come that you don't want to miss. Like our videos and share with other car lovers!!
Thank you for supporting our channel
Top Gear Season 19, Top Gear S19E02, Top Gear rally car challenge, Top Gear budget car challenge, Fiat Panda 4x4 review, Bentley Continental GT Speed, Mick Fleetwood Top Gear, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May, Top Gear 2013
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MotorTranscript
00:00:00Tonight, I point at a fig, Richard walks through a shop, and James has some bananas.
00:00:20Now, every so often, we like to remind ourselves that this is a motoring show, so we get three
00:00:41really nice cars and go for a long drive, and what we do is we take it in turns to choose
00:00:47the location. So, if it's my turn, we usually end up in France. If it's James's turn, we
00:00:53usually end up in 1953. Tonight, though, it was Hammond's turn. So, guess what?
00:01:07Our meeting point was the Valley of Fire in Nevada.
00:01:11And what you see here is the car I'll be using.
00:01:18This is a Lexus LFA. It's not the most powerful car in the world, it's not the fastest, it's
00:01:24not the best looking, and it certainly isn't the cheapest. Plus, the Lexus badge does come
00:01:30with a whiff of masonry. But I drove one of these in England last year, and I emerged from
00:01:36the experience thinking that might very well be the best car I've ever driven. And that's
00:01:41why we're here. To find out.
00:01:45At this point, the stillness of the desert was shattered by the sound of an approaching
00:01:51James May, who was at the wheel of the new Aston Martin vanquish.
00:02:06That's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. It's not bad, is it? This is a DBS replacement,
00:02:12but also a bit inspired by the £177 million thing. And look at the upholstery! I know, the
00:02:20upholstery is outrageous! That's the best looking Aston there's ever been, actually.
00:02:26Best one they've done. That, though, because I've never seen one in a good colour like that.
00:02:29That is pretty fantastic. No, but yours is better. And the great thing is, I'm in the
00:02:34better car, and I'm just going to follow you around going, that is beautiful.
00:02:39After a bit more mutual mastication, we started to wonder what Billy Bob Hammond might bring.
00:02:45Will it be something subtle, small, European?
00:02:50Now, my money was on something rather large, brash, and maybe even American.
00:02:56And, blow me down, I was right.
00:03:01So, the new Viper.
00:03:04New?
00:03:05I know it looks exactly like the old one, but that is the new Viper.
00:03:09Ooh.
00:03:10Yay.
00:03:11Subtle.
00:03:12Before you two start, let me just tell you, that 8.4 litre V10, that's the largest engine
00:03:18ever fitted to any production car since the war. And looking around here, let's not forget
00:03:23this car is the fastest with the highest top speed. It's the fastest to 60, the most powerful,
00:03:28640 brake horsepower, it's got the most torque and the biggest engine.
00:03:32I'm sorry, Hammond.
00:03:33Oh, come on.
00:03:34They haven't styled it.
00:03:35They have. This has been in a wind tunnel to look like this.
00:03:37Do they?
00:03:38If that's been in a wind tunnel, they've parked it in there sideways for all the goodness.
00:03:42It's been in a wind tunnel.
00:03:43The panel gap. Look at the panel gap.
00:03:44Where?
00:03:45I'll stand behind you, you can have a look at me.
00:03:46Let me see if I can see how many fingers you can hold it up in that panel gap.
00:03:49Well, there has to be a gap between the panels or there'd be one piece, wouldn't there?
00:03:53Let's have a look at yours anyway. That looks ridiculous.
00:03:55It's a Lexus.
00:03:56It's just a nerd fest.
00:03:57It's a Lexus.
00:03:58It's for rich golfists is what it is.
00:04:00I admit the Lexus...
00:04:01And if you want to talk about panel gap, there's a whopper straight away.
00:04:04It's a cooling system.
00:04:05It's the heck, it doesn't fit.
00:04:06I'm surprised at you because this is a bunch of retro nonsense, really.
00:04:09It's not.
00:04:10I'm sorry.
00:04:11No, I'm sorry.
00:04:12I won't have that.
00:04:13It's very pretty, yes, but it's harking...
00:04:14What, it's harking back to the past and a car with an engine from the 1930s isn't?
00:04:18This is a nerd fest.
00:04:20That's for old fools.
00:04:21That is a proper honest grand tour.
00:04:238.4 litre V10.
00:04:24You don't need it to be that big.
00:04:26Hang on a second.
00:04:27Who owns Chrysler and other people that made this?
00:04:29Theat.
00:04:30What else do they make?
00:04:32Ferrari.
00:04:33There you go.
00:04:34Yes, for Hammond, all brand is made by the same people who make Frosties.
00:04:37Doesn't mean they're comparable, does it?
00:04:39That's a stupid idea.
00:04:40It's not.
00:04:41I knew I was going to get some flashes.
00:04:43Shush.
00:04:44Instead of just standing here arguing...
00:04:46Yes.
00:04:47Why don't we go for a drive?
00:04:50That's a better idea.
00:04:51Open the tent.
00:04:52There you go.
00:04:58Straight away, though, there was a problem.
00:05:02Not again.
00:05:04Hammond, why do you like it in America so much?
00:05:06Every nice piece of road has an eight mile an hour speed limit on it.
00:05:10I don't know.
00:05:11Don't ask me.
00:05:12It's not my fault.
00:05:13Yes, it is.
00:05:16I mean, what are we going to hit?
00:05:18What are we going to hit here?
00:05:19There's nothing.
00:05:21No wildlife, no people.
00:05:24It's stupid.
00:05:25It's stupid.
00:05:28Eventually, though, the 35 mile an hour limit ended.
00:05:31And, thanks to some trickery in the edit, we were able to take our cars up to a dizzying 55 miles an hour.
00:05:38There it goes.
00:05:56This isn't just an engine, it's a force of nature.
00:05:58Let's see what a proper B12 feels like.
00:06:07Dice is the answer.
00:06:14The engine in this is so exquisite that it revs from idle to 9,000 RPM in 0.6 of a second.
00:06:23In fact, it revs so fast that it couldn't fit a conventional rev counter.
00:06:30It had to be electronic, because a normal one simply can't keep up.
00:06:37Right.
00:06:38Let's sort something out right from the start.
00:06:41James' Aston Martin costs £190,000.
00:06:45Jeremy's Celica, £340,000.
00:06:48This, £75,000 or thereabouts.
00:06:51That is a huge difference.
00:06:53And it does all the other fancy stuff, too.
00:06:55It's got all the fancy materials.
00:06:56Carbon fibre, aluminium, magnesium, they're all in here.
00:07:02But when it comes to technology, neither of their cars is a match for the howling LFA.
00:07:11It took five years of sweat, toil and cash to design this car.
00:07:17And then just before they put it on sale, someone said,
00:07:22you know, I think it would be better if the body were made from carbon fibre rather than aluminium.
00:07:28And they began all over again.
00:07:31How much would that cost?
00:07:32All I do know is they sell them for £340,000 and they lose money on every single one that leaves the dealership.
00:07:42By the time Jeremy had stopped droning on about his Celica, we were on a motorway and I got the distinct impression I was playing gooseberry.
00:07:55I'd like to say that from the back, particularly in that colour and in fact this light, the LFA looks absolutely epic. I mean, seriously.
00:08:08That makes a lovely sound.
00:08:14It makes a very nice noise, your Aston Martin.
00:08:17Oh, God, why don't you two just get a room?
00:08:20Your car looks nice. Your car sounds lovely.
00:08:25But they didn't get a room. Instead, they stopped to look at a silly airplane.
00:08:31James? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:08:33B-2? Yeah.
00:08:35That's amazing, isn't it?
00:08:37That is a B-2 stealth bomber coming to land at Nellisford. Actually, it's turning to come over us.
00:08:41Yeah. We're not supposed to be able to see it, are we?
00:08:43Is that a good word, sorry? I didn't.
00:08:46As the sun began to set, we were back on the road, heading for the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
00:08:50Here, you can drive a NASCAR round the oval, or you can learn the racetrack on a Ferrari simulator before doing it for real in an actual Ferrari car.
00:09:10But Jeremy decided we should go to the drag strip.
00:09:25God, that's loud!
00:09:28We couldn't understand why, because it just seemed to be a lot of very noisy modified cars, which we all hate.
00:09:35Look, there's another one coming dressed as a policeman.
00:09:39No, they really are police.
00:09:40Well, genuinely.
00:09:41No, they really, I promise they are, they're police, sheriff and the fire department.
00:09:45They invite kids down to race against them, to stop the kids racing on the streets.
00:09:50So they race the actual police?
00:09:52That was a police Mustang.
00:09:55They've modded it, the police have modded it, and then say to kids...
00:09:59What you got?
00:10:00Yeah, can you beat us?
00:10:01They actually call it beat the meat.
00:10:04No, it's probably beat the heat, because heat means...
00:10:06Yeah, I meant that.
00:10:10To prove that modified cars are idiotic, Jeremy decided to take on the local sheriff.
00:10:17Yes, look, I'm up against some crummy pick-up truck.
00:10:21This is going to just be, well, deeply embarrassing for him.
00:10:25F***, F***, F***.
00:10:32What's that?
00:10:40After this humiliation, I took on a state trooper in another pick-up truck.
00:10:46OK, now, come on, Richard, concentrate.
00:10:50F***, F***.
00:10:52F***, F***.
00:10:57Where's he gone?
00:11:03Having watched the fire department's motorcycle demolish a Honda NSX...
00:11:11James wisely decided to take on a youth in a clapped-out Mitsubishi Evo.
00:11:16Oh, yes, for England.
00:11:19There we go.
00:11:22I'm going to do it in D and sport. I'm going to use launch control.
00:11:26Try not to look smug, James. Try not to look smug.
00:11:29Practice your face.
00:11:30F***, F***, F***, F***.
00:11:34F***, F***, F***.
00:11:36Oh, hang on a second.
00:11:40Oh, we'll drive, Peterborough, we'll drive.
00:11:43God, he just sodded off.
00:11:46Oh, now, come on.
00:11:49Having spent the entire evening losing to absolutely everything...
00:11:54Pick on a weak one.
00:11:56Oh, no!
00:11:58We decided we didn't like drag racing.
00:12:01And went into Las Vegas to do strip billiards instead.
00:12:06I can't believe...
00:12:08I still can't believe that I was beaten by some bloke who'd spent 1,500 quid modifying an ancient Mitsubishi.
00:12:26No, but the reason we hate modified cars is because we know if he tried to do it again, his engine would go bang, clatter, clatter, clatter, clatter, and that would be the end of that.
00:12:36That is true, actually.
00:12:37It would.
00:12:38I'll tell you what I think is funny, though.
00:12:39Can you imagine the British police trying to do beat the meat?
00:12:41Oh.
00:12:42Heat.
00:12:43Heat.
00:12:44It is heat.
00:12:45Tuned up yesterdays, all.
00:12:46It's all right.
00:12:47It's all right.
00:12:48It's all right.
00:12:49It's all right.
00:12:50120 out of it down the strike there.
00:12:51Who wants to tighten me up?
00:12:52What a spectacle.
00:12:53But anyway, the most important thing is to reveal now which of the cars, our cars, was the fastest and it was mine.
00:12:58Uh, yours was the most expensive.
00:13:00It was the fastest.
00:13:02Listen, on paper, the Viper is the fastest.
00:13:05Yes, on paper, but, Hammond, on tarmac, mine was the... It was. It just was.
00:13:12User error.
00:13:13Anyway, look, we're going to pick that up again later on, but now we're going to do the news.
00:13:17Yes, we are.
00:13:18I've had another theory.
00:13:19Good.
00:13:20Oh, God.
00:13:21No, you love my theories.
00:13:22No.
00:13:23Okay, this one.
00:13:24You know Jessops and HMV and Woolworths and Comet?
00:13:26They're all closed down recently.
00:13:27Yeah.
00:13:28Jeremy, this is a car show.
00:13:29Yes, yes, yes.
00:13:30Bear with me.
00:13:31Bear with me, okay?
00:13:32And everyone is asking, why are people shopping in retail, out-of-town, you know, centres, and town centres are just becoming boarded-up shops and women in short skirts, vomiting,
00:13:41and catching herpes, right?
00:13:45There's a very good reason for this.
00:13:47It's because when you go to an out-of-town retail centre place, you can park your car.
00:13:52When you go into a town centre, you can't.
00:13:55Right, so what are you suggesting?
00:13:58It's easy to fix Britain's town centres, rip up every double yellow line and sack every single traffic warden.
00:14:04Oh, right.
00:14:05The problem is slow.
00:14:06Why are you not doing that?
00:14:07Everybody's running around going, town centres are dying, what shall we do?
00:14:11It's easy.
00:14:12But if you allow people to park anywhere in the town centre, it'll become impossible to get in or out.
00:14:17No, rubbish.
00:14:18It's true.
00:14:19So you think parking restrictions are just out of spite?
00:14:21Well, what else are they for?
00:14:22They go, hey, we did really well, we got a £12 revenue today from our parking restrictions, meanwhile, every shop's shut.
00:14:35We need to have a more French attitude to parking, because the rule in France is if there is a space that a car will go in, you put your car in it, even if it's on a mini roundabout.
00:14:44Yeah.
00:14:45That is the rule.
00:14:46James, why aren't we running the country?
00:14:48Why are we presenting this programme with Noel Coward?
00:14:51You were Mr Toad last week, you really are moving around.
00:14:56Right, we've sorted parking.
00:14:58Good.
00:14:59Now, the next problem we face, and this is a big one.
00:15:02You know when James is telling you something and you start to feel drowsy?
00:15:06Oh, God.
00:15:07Yes, it's like you've had a whole bottle of red, five portions of shepherd's pie in front of a fire.
00:15:12Yeah, and it's embarrassing.
00:15:14It's always embarrassing, he's in the middle of a story and you nod off.
00:15:16It's awkward.
00:15:17OK, it is awkward.
00:15:18However, it's all going to be solved with this.
00:15:20£8.99.
00:15:21You clip it on your ear.
00:15:23OK.
00:15:24Right.
00:15:25Get sitting still.
00:15:27James, explain talk.
00:15:29Talk?
00:15:30Mm-hm.
00:15:31Talk is fantastically simple, Jeremy.
00:15:32It's just a force at a distance.
00:15:33That's why it's in pound feet, for example, or newton metres.
00:15:37So...
00:15:38It's waking me up as well.
00:15:41What's the point of that?
00:15:42I can hear it.
00:15:43It is, actually.
00:15:44I'd rather be asleep with these lectures.
00:15:45No, they also say...
00:15:46They also say it can be used for drivers.
00:15:49So when you're driving, you can have it on your ear, and then if you nod off, it'll wake you up.
00:15:52But, and you'll love this bit, it says in the blurb, it could be used by airline pilots.
00:15:57What?
00:15:58Oh, really?
00:15:59That's some comfort, isn't it?
00:16:00It's reassuring, I think.
00:16:01Yeah, mid-Atlantic thinking, well, it's okay, because the fate of me and all these other souls on board this jumbo jet lie in the hands of a £7.90...
00:16:088.90...
00:16:098.90...
00:16:10I don't actually know how much a Boeing 747 costs, but I'm pretty sure the price isn't something 99.
00:16:17No, it's not.
00:16:18There's a component on it that's something 99.
00:16:20Besides, can you imagine if they said, right, an announcement now from the flight deck.
00:16:24Ah!
00:16:25Wake up!
00:16:26Wake up!
00:16:27That is a stupid idea.
00:16:28It is a stupid idea.
00:16:29It is a stupid idea.
00:16:30Now, while I was driving down here, I saw one of the new Jaguar F-types.
00:16:35Okay, have you heard about this?
00:16:36It's the new Jag small sports car.
00:16:37I've got a picture here.
00:16:38It is a beautiful looking thing.
00:16:40Oh, yes.
00:16:41And actually, it's even better looking from the back.
00:16:43That is, I mean, that is a sensational looking thing.
00:16:45But, I tell you what has surprised me about it, is I thought it was going to cost sort of £40,000, the same as a Porsche Boxster or a Mercedes SLK.
00:16:53Yeah.
00:16:54It's going to cost between £60,000 and £80,000.
00:16:57And even on the top models, you pay extra for heated seats and keyless entry and so on.
00:17:01I'll tell you what worries me about that.
00:17:03I bet they have set that up more for handling and less for comfort, which will be a mistake.
00:17:09God, it's for younger people.
00:17:11That's the...
00:17:12It isn't!
00:17:13It is!
00:17:14It isn't!
00:17:15Younger people spend £150 on their cars, not £80,000.
00:17:18Only person who can spend £80,000 on a car is in their fifties.
00:17:22That car happened.
00:17:23It is, well, yeah, us, but it is made for people exclusively for people who make a noise when they sit down.
00:17:29Eh?
00:17:30Yeah, could you go to a Jag dealership to buy that?
00:17:31And they'll say, oh, Mr. May, come in, take a seat.
00:17:33And you go, oh, thank you.
00:17:34Oh, yes.
00:17:35Sold!
00:17:36Oh, God!
00:17:37That car is for people who watch TV or text.
00:17:41Not both at the same time.
00:17:43You do realise you two are now officially the oldest people in the world.
00:17:48You're aware.
00:17:49Hammond, we can't all be 36 forever, mate.
00:17:52I like it, I'm sticking with it.
00:17:55Er, no, news from Citroen.
00:17:56They've developed a car that runs on compressed air.
00:17:59No, I've been reading about this and I have literally no idea how it works.
00:18:03Yeah, I saw you reading about this earlier on today.
00:18:06And you know when somebody's eyes glaze, his look like they've been painted on.
00:18:11It's so superable.
00:18:13And you can see the words ricocheting off.
00:18:16They wouldn't go in, I can't work it out, I can't work it out.
00:18:20Actually, it's quite simple, it's a bit like a...
00:18:22Explain it to me then, James.
00:18:26Good call.
00:18:27It's like a hybrid, like a Toyota, but instead of generating electricity under braking and going downhill,
00:18:31it compresses air, which then drives the car.
00:18:36How does...
00:18:37No, this is what I don't understand.
00:18:38Why don't they just put, you know there's Donnie the Scuba Divers tanks on the back
00:18:42and then they shoot air out and it'll make it go along?
00:18:44Well...
00:18:45Because that wouldn't work.
00:18:46It would work.
00:18:47What about fire extinguishers?
00:18:48You put two fire extinguishers on the bootlead, when you set them off,
00:18:51it would make the car move forward.
00:18:53Well, yeah, technically it would, but it's extremely wasteful.
00:18:55I mean, to go round our track, you'd need a fire extinguisher about the size of Hazelmere.
00:18:59No, no, no.
00:19:00No, because fire extinguishers are full of carbon dioxide.
00:19:03Yes.
00:19:04Yes.
00:19:05Well, engines produce carbon dioxide, so you'd endlessly refill the fire extinguisher.
00:19:09No, you can't use carbon dioxide from cars to power cars.
00:19:12It's just...
00:19:13Isaac Newton said it would work.
00:19:14He...
00:19:15I'm going to prove it.
00:19:16What...
00:19:17I'm going to prove it.
00:19:18What goes on?
00:19:19Give me this...
00:19:20What goes on in his head?
00:19:23Did he lose back?
00:19:24Move back.
00:19:25Move back.
00:19:26Back.
00:19:27No, because seriously, I'm going to rock it across the studio floor.
00:19:33Are we ready, everybody?
00:19:35Yes.
00:19:36Here we go.
00:19:37Why is it doing this?
00:19:44Why is it doing that?
00:19:47Why is it doing that?
00:19:51Newton said the opposite of any reaction...
00:19:58No.
00:19:59Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, yes.
00:20:01He's rubbish.
00:20:02Every action makes you spin round in a lazy circle.
00:20:06Well, clever or not, you can't expect him to have foreseen a gigantic, idiotic ape in an office chair with a fire extinguisher, can you?
00:20:13Shall we move on?
00:20:14Yes.
00:20:15Because tonight we are involved in an epic drive across the western United States in a Lexus LFA and Aston Martin Vanquish and the mighty Viper.
00:20:23Yes.
00:20:24And when we left the action earlier, we were with the Las Vegas Police Department taking part in some drag racing.
00:20:30The idea being that if you race on the track, you won't feel inclined to race between the traffic lights out on the streets.
00:20:37So, had it worked?
00:20:40For a while?
00:20:42I'm still sorry.
00:20:43You right?
00:20:44Be uh...
00:20:45You mean, what's the difference?
00:20:49Yeah.
00:20:50No.
00:20:51Name for us.
00:20:53Yes, sir.
00:20:54And here we go.
00:21:10Do you know we're supposed to have got this out of our system, mate?
00:21:14We've been on the awareness course.
00:21:18A long journey lay ahead, so we decided to annoy Jeremy.
00:21:23Just to let you know, my iPod's working really well in the car.
00:21:26How about yours?
00:21:28No, I don't have an iPod connector in here.
00:21:32I suppose, yeah, it would be a bit much to ask for that
00:21:34on a £340,000 car, wouldn't it?
00:21:38You would imagine it would be there.
00:21:39My simple hick car has got, you can Bluetooth your iPhone to it.
00:21:42Jeremy, is there anything else you haven't got
00:21:44that any reasonable modern car should have?
00:21:47Not really.
00:21:50Don't say cup holders.
00:21:52Have you got a cup holder?
00:21:54No, I haven't got a cup holder.
00:21:57What a tragic oversight.
00:22:00I think Lexus were concentrating so hard on building the perfect car,
00:22:05they forgot that occasionally you might need to go somewhere
00:22:08and it need a cup holder and an iPod connector
00:22:10and a seatbelt that does that more easily than this one,
00:22:13which doesn't do up easily at all if you're a bit...
00:22:16...that.
00:22:18I've got a meter that tells me how much torque my engine is producing
00:22:21at any given moment.
00:22:22Have you got one of those?
00:22:24I absolutely haven't got one of those
00:22:26and I'm very, very pleased about that.
00:22:27Oh, God, Hammond, the back of your car lights up
00:22:29with a stupid Viper when you brake.
00:22:32Oh!
00:22:34That's the stupidest thing I've ever seen.
00:22:37That isn't just a Viper, that is a striker.
00:22:40It's the emblem of this car.
00:22:41I'm going to crash into you trying to get a closer look
00:22:44at your novelty item.
00:22:49As we cruised at a steady 55 towards California,
00:22:53Jeremy discovered yet another problem with the Lexus.
00:22:58Would you mind all of me if you stop for petrol,
00:23:00cos I'd need some?
00:23:02I've got more than half a tank.
00:23:05So have I.
00:23:07This is quite a small tank.
00:23:08In a town famous for having
00:23:12the tallest thermometer in the world,
00:23:15I spent £3 filling the Zippo in the Lexus
00:23:18and then bought Hammond some fuel for his car.
00:23:21Oh.
00:23:23May, this is the right fuel for a Viper, isn't it?
00:23:27Looks like it.
00:23:28Funny.
00:23:29Well, how do you...
00:23:30We can't get it in the tank.
00:23:31Funny.
00:23:32No, you know what you've done?
00:23:33You haven't got unleaded wood.
00:23:35That's why it won't go in the slot.
00:23:36Is it charcoal we need?
00:23:38Yeah.
00:23:38I'm sorry, mate.
00:23:39Never mind.
00:23:40I'll go and change it for some charcoal.
00:23:41Thank you. Yes.
00:23:43While I did that,
00:23:44Hammond kindly solved the LFA's cup holder problem.
00:24:00They haven't put sugar in it.
00:24:02After the pit stopped,
00:24:06the producers told us to report to a racetrack
00:24:08called Willow Springs.
00:24:11Right, let's try a sat-nav test.
00:24:14Here we go.
00:24:14Use my mouse.
00:24:16You actually get a mouse in one of these.
00:24:19Destination.
00:24:19Click.
00:24:22Apparently, it's calling someone.
00:24:25Lexus Inform.
00:24:26It is.
00:24:26This is Anita.
00:24:27Where would you like to go today?
00:24:30Willow Springs Raceway.
00:24:32Just a moment,
00:24:33and I can definitely help you with that.
00:24:37Let me just get that plugged in for you.
00:24:39And then can you make that come onto my screen in the car?
00:24:43Absolutely.
00:24:43I'm going to download it to your navigation for you
00:24:46instead of you putting it in yourself.
00:24:48Is there anything else I can help with?
00:24:50Uh, no.
00:24:52That's just...
00:24:52I'm so staggered.
00:24:54That's amazing.
00:24:54Thank you very much.
00:24:56You're welcome.
00:24:58Definitely call us 24-7 as many times as you need,
00:25:00and we will help you out, okay?
00:25:06In fact, I called her back immediately,
00:25:09and she suggested we stop off at a nearby tourist attraction.
00:25:13What they've done here, as you will note,
00:25:18is fitted grooves at intervals along the road.
00:25:21Right.
00:25:22So, as you drive over them,
00:25:24your tyres make a noise.
00:25:26They play a note.
00:25:28Really?
00:25:29This road is musical.
00:25:32Is it?
00:25:33It's musical.
00:25:34Really?
00:25:35It plays a tune as you drive...
00:25:37As James has a music degree,
00:25:40we sent him out to test it.
00:25:42Here we go.
00:25:43Is that a tune?
00:25:58I think that was supposed to be the William Tell overture.
00:26:02Jeremy then had another idea.
00:26:05Richard Hammond and I will now perform a duet.
00:26:08If I reverse, will it play a message from the devil?
00:26:19This often happens in rock and roll.
00:26:21What a numb team.
00:26:26To make the tune go backwards,
00:26:27you can still drive the car forwards.
00:26:29Yeah.
00:26:30Never mind.
00:26:32Yes.
00:26:33It's telling me Paul McCartney's dead
00:26:35because he wasn't wearing any shoes or socks.
00:26:51Having decided the musical road might be a bit annoying if you lived near it,
00:26:55we continued onward and eventually arrived at Willow Springs.
00:27:05We were keen to take on this amazing race complex in a high desert of California,
00:27:11but the producers had other ideas.
00:27:20You will be familiar with a game called Laser Quest.
00:27:23That's that one.
00:27:24That's like paintballing but with lasers.
00:27:26So you have a jacket that's got laser receptors on it
00:27:28and it registers when you've been hit.
00:27:30Yes, yes, yes, yes.
00:27:30Yes, I know that.
00:27:31What?
00:27:31You will now play Aerial Laser Quest.
00:27:35How does that?
00:27:36Well, hang on.
00:27:36Your cars have been fitted with laser receptors.
00:27:40You will drive five laps of the track
00:27:41while two fighter planes fitted with laser guns shoot at you.
00:27:46The winner will be the one who is least shot.
00:27:49Fighter planes with laser guns?
00:27:51What planes?
00:27:51Are they model planes?
00:27:53Are they remote control?
00:27:56They weren't.
00:28:01In fact, they were Italian Marchettis.
00:28:04Fast, agile, armed, and flown today by two hotshot dogfighters.
00:28:11With our laser sensors activated, we set off at 30-second intervals.
00:28:26Tally-ho, tally-ho, chaps.
00:28:31It's hand clear.
00:28:32I'm going to go for the Aston on the street.
00:28:34They're after him already.
00:28:36Kill him!
00:28:37Kill him!
00:28:41I missed.
00:28:42Let's just try sheer speed for a bit.
00:28:52Bit of braking, my Foxham there.
00:28:56Oh, no!
00:28:58Oh, Captain Sloan.
00:29:00You're going to need to do better than that, my friend.
00:29:02Big speed coming up.
00:29:04140.
00:29:05That's nothing to those planes.
00:29:07I could just reel me.
00:29:08Okay.
00:29:10Okay.
00:29:13Okay.
00:29:13We're going to go up through the Lexus.
00:29:15Trying to shoot this car from a plane like that, I'm sorry.
00:29:20It's like trying to swat a fly with a drinking straw.
00:29:23What's going to happen?
00:29:32Oh, no!
00:29:34There you go.
00:29:34Lexus dead.
00:29:35I'm hit again!
00:29:42They're just shooting at me because my car's Japanese.
00:29:47It's racism.
00:29:49Sorry, Jeremy.
00:29:51There was only one thing for it.
00:29:54Lexus N4, this is your own.
00:29:56What would you like to go to?
00:29:57I'm being attacked by fighter planes.
00:30:01I'm sorry, can you repeat that?
00:30:02Yes, I'm being attacked.
00:30:04There are fighter planes and I'm trying to get away from them.
00:30:06Do you have any suggestions?
00:30:08Yes.
00:30:10She didn't.
00:30:11And as a result, the game became a turkey shoot.
00:30:22Lexus dead.
00:30:24Yes, he's dead.
00:30:25You know, my first hit.
00:30:26No, no, no, another hit for me.
00:30:35My God, they got ginger.
00:30:38Smoke.
00:30:40Smoke.
00:30:42Oh, they're going in for the kill.
00:30:49Oh, I can see him zooming down.
00:31:09To be honest, we weren't enjoying the relentless slaughter.
00:31:14Under attack.
00:31:15Under attack.
00:31:16But we were at least loving our cars.
00:31:20The guts of this car are what make it unbelievable on track.
00:31:26Just hauls ass.
00:31:30Jinking, jinking, and brake.
00:31:36Oh, that just feels tremendous.
00:31:38The word immediate was invented for the throttle response on this car.
00:31:51And the steering.
00:31:53And the gearbox.
00:31:54And every single thing about it.
00:31:56Oh, look at that.
00:31:57Ha, ha, look at that.
00:31:59But though our cars were good, the planes were better.
00:32:04Oh, God, how did you get me there?
00:32:06So 26 laps into the five-lap event, we decided to get cunning.
00:32:11You see?
00:32:18Ha, ha, ha, where am I now then, Clay?
00:32:20You can't see me.
00:32:22Ha, ha, ha, ha.
00:32:24Invisible.
00:32:25It's got me.
00:32:25Bugger.
00:32:26What I've done is I've hidden near the hills, behind a bucket.
00:32:34See, this is the ingenuity that marks me aside.
00:32:42Oh, what?
00:32:44Punning wasn't working, so we did what we do best.
00:32:50Panic.
00:32:54How are you going the wrong way?
00:32:55Jimmy, you're going the wrong way.
00:33:00No, jeez.
00:33:01Let's go in the wrong way.
00:33:02Oh, I'm going the wrong way.
00:33:04Ah!
00:33:05Oh!
00:33:08What?
00:33:11Oh, I'm on it.
00:33:13No!
00:33:14Fading light eventually brought the massacre to an end.
00:33:20There's a lot of bullet holes on those cars down there.
00:33:30That's good.
00:33:31I like that, Dave.
00:33:34I really do.
00:33:35Can I just say, have you ever, in your entire life, seen aircraft flying lower or faster than that?
00:33:42No, to be honest, no.
00:33:43I haven't.
00:33:44No, never.
00:33:44They were just six feet off the deck.
00:33:46Can I just bring us towards a sort of me to the thing here, which is, I can now reveal, I was hit 23 times.
00:33:52Ah-ha!
00:33:5317 times.
00:33:54Come on, man.
00:33:55What?
00:33:56How many times were you hit?
00:33:57I can't remember.
00:33:58Yes, you can.
00:33:59Come on.
00:34:00Come on.
00:34:01How many times were you?
00:34:0248.
00:34:03I can't remember.
00:34:04I can't remember.
00:34:05I can't remember.
00:34:06I can't remember.
00:34:07I can't remember.
00:34:08How many?
00:34:0948.
00:34:1048.
00:34:1148.
00:34:1248.
00:34:1348.
00:34:1448.
00:34:1549.
00:34:1649.
00:34:1749.
00:34:1849.
00:34:1949.
00:34:2050.
00:34:2150.
00:34:2250.
00:34:2350.
00:34:2450.
00:34:2550.
00:34:2650.
00:34:2750.
00:34:2850.
00:34:2950.
00:34:3050.
00:34:3150.
00:34:3250.
00:34:3350.
00:34:3450.
00:34:3550.
00:34:3650.
00:34:3750.
00:34:3850.
00:34:3950.
00:34:4050.
00:34:4150.
00:34:4250.
00:34:4350.
00:34:4450.
00:34:4550.
00:34:4650.
00:34:4750.
00:34:4850.
00:34:4950.
00:34:5050.
00:34:5150.
00:34:52find each other very irritating.
00:34:54Oh, imagine that.
00:34:55Quite.
00:34:56Ladies and gentlemen, from Fleetwood Mac,
00:34:58it is the man himself, Mick Fleetwood!
00:35:04Holy moly!
00:35:07You're here!
00:35:09How are you?
00:35:10Mick Fleetwood has come to top here.
00:35:16You're set?
00:35:17Yes, have a seat, please.
00:35:19Thanks.
00:35:21Lord have mercy.
00:35:22I've gone nervous.
00:35:24Oh, my gosh.
00:35:25Only Roger Daltrey sat on that side of the sofa.
00:35:27It's obviously a rock thing.
00:35:29No, that's lovely, too.
00:35:30You choose.
00:35:31Well, I can be just big.
00:35:32It's nice to have someone who's the right height.
00:35:35There you go.
00:35:36We're going to get on to your amazing car history in a minute,
00:35:39but if I may, I want to talk about rumours,
00:35:41because this is one of my absolute all-time favourite albums.
00:35:44And how many have been sold over the years?
00:35:47Billions.
00:35:48No.
00:35:49I mean, a lot.
00:35:51Getting on for 50 million copies or so, yeah.
00:35:5450 million copies.
00:35:55I think, for me, the most amazing thing, really, about rumours
00:35:58is that it got made at all.
00:36:01Because, I think I'm right in saying,
00:36:03I mean, people think of The Who and Keith Moon in particular
00:36:05and Led Zeppelin and what have you.
00:36:07There was some excess there.
00:36:09But when it came to excess, Fleetwood Mac were really,
00:36:12as far as I can work out, in a class of their own.
00:36:15Don't get me wrong, we were definitely in the top ten, I would say.
00:36:20If not more, but I think the romance of that and the drama of that became out of control,
00:36:26mainly because we were stupid enough to somewhat irresponsibly be too open about our dirty laundry.
00:36:33Yeah, so you were talking in public.
00:36:35Yeah.
00:36:35And it wasn't just the drugs either.
00:36:38I mean, it was, as far as I can work out, the band was just made up of people who were fighting at that time.
00:36:44Yes.
00:36:44I mean, we've got a photograph here of the band.
00:36:46So there's you in the middle, okay, the drummer.
00:36:49And then you've got an American couple who really didn't get on.
00:36:53They were falling out during the recording.
00:36:54And a British couple who were going through the same problems.
00:36:58Now, the songs that they were writing about each other were genuinely about each other.
00:37:04So Stevie wrote Dreams, didn't she, which was about her boyfriend, Lindsay.
00:37:08Yeah.
00:37:09And then he wrote, you can go your own way.
00:37:12Yes.
00:37:12Then I know where you're going with this.
00:37:15But I think it's phenomenal.
00:37:16But the worst one is, was it Christine wrote the song of John, her husband?
00:37:21Uh, yes.
00:37:21She did, you make loving fun.
00:37:23And he must have thought, what a lovely song.
00:37:24But she was writing actually about the lighting engineer she was having an affair.
00:37:27This is true.
00:37:30Are you starting to feel even vaguely sorry for me?
00:37:34It was unbelievably awkward in the studio.
00:37:38Because Lindsay would save the vocals until all the recording was done.
00:37:42Because he knew damn well.
00:37:43If I start singing all the lines you're talking about, was Stevie standing over, that she'd walk out.
00:37:49But the worst thing is, it is quite clever for getting the album down.
00:37:52But then if you have to take it on tour, poor old Stevie, all poor, all of them,
00:37:56have to perform these songs about, you know, I've got a small penis and I'm better off with a lot.
00:38:02Because I'm just thinking, if we ever put a band together on Top Gear,
00:38:05I could write a song called, I Am A Crashing Bore, and then get James May to perform it.
00:38:09Ah!
00:38:11And then James could write one, I'm an irritating little grummie.
00:38:14And for 40 years, Hammond would have gone, I don't know, I really don't want to do this.
00:38:18Because that's what Rumours is.
00:38:20No doubt.
00:38:21But that experience in the studio was so horrendous, emotionally.
00:38:26I mean, the music was great.
00:38:28And we all aspired to, we didn't ever think of walking out because we were so into what we were doing.
00:38:34Became the glue that if we got through that, we can get through 12 years of high, high-powered,
00:38:41which is probably 12, 15 years.
00:38:43We didn't stop doing anything, literally, on the road, in the studio.
00:38:46Because you are still all together.
00:38:48We are, yeah.
00:38:49We must get on to cars.
00:38:51We must get on to cars.
00:38:52Ah.
00:38:53You live on the Pacific Island of Maui.
00:38:55I do, yeah.
00:38:56Okay.
00:38:57You are a rock god, an incredibly successful musician.
00:39:00And you drive a...
00:39:03My most cherished car is an Austin 7.
00:39:07And this is a picture of you winning, that we have here.
00:39:10Ah, yeah.
00:39:12How did you come by that?
00:39:13Many, many, many, many years ago, I probably was like 19, a friend of mine had a flat in
00:39:19Oscourt.
00:39:21I get off the tube, and there, this little car, I kept walking by it, month after month
00:39:26after month, and I fell in love with the car.
00:39:29And one time I left a note on the car, said, if ever you fancy selling this, I would love
00:39:37to give this car a home.
00:39:38And then about 18 months later, we happened to be starting to do fairly well, my mum,
00:39:44which was the phone number I'd left, got a phone call from the guy.
00:39:48Oh, really?
00:39:48She said, I'm moving, and I want a home for my little car.
00:39:52And I bought it.
00:39:53And you've still got it now?
00:39:55Yeah.
00:39:55But I presume, now all the way through the late 70s and 80s, obviously you were in limos,
00:40:00so where was that?
00:40:01Well, that was part of those years where you go, like, you're not quite sure what happened.
00:40:10And I went to, with the band, to the United States, which was probably 15 or 16 years.
00:40:16Eric Clapton, who was then my brother-in-law, I said, would you look after, it was called
00:40:21Lettuce Leaf, because I'd, and Lettuce.
00:40:24The car was?
00:40:24Yeah, well, by my children, it was, it was Lettuce Leaf, so it was always Lettuce Leaf.
00:40:29He said, sure, we'll put it in the barn, and that was it.
00:40:32And years later, I got a call from Eric's manager saying, can we get rid of it?
00:40:37And then I didn't realise it had been in his orchard for 15 years, and it was full of birds' nests,
00:40:43it had been out in the open, it survived, and they had it rebuilt, and the next time I saw
00:40:48it was in Maui, where I live, and us car people, stupid, sort of sloppy dates that we tend to be,
00:40:57I sort of broke down when I, when I met her at the dock.
00:41:01She was just there, in Maui, and I went, how cool is that?
00:41:05I love all that.
00:41:05You see, that's, that's exactly what cars are, to me, how fast they go, sort of not relevant.
00:41:11It's how you interact.
00:41:11Oh, absolutely.
00:41:12Yeah, absolutely.
00:41:13I got married to my first wife in that car, and that was my only car.
00:41:16Now, presumably, you can't drive Lettuce Leaf all the time, so what's...
00:41:20No, I have a 2004 twin-turbo Porsche I like a lot, and I had it all tarted up, and that's
00:41:29my main car.
00:41:31Can you get it, can you get it going in Maui?
00:41:33It's only an island, so there's only about three roads, really, but there is one.
00:41:37It goes right through sugarcane fields, and you can get up to about 130, 40 miles an hour
00:41:43in certain places, which I'm, I confess that I do quite regularly.
00:41:47You just have, actually.
00:41:49You just did do that.
00:41:51And that's in the Porsche.
00:41:52Have you actually ever done any racing?
00:41:54Only in the old days, the wicked 80s and early 90s.
00:41:58Anybody and everybody was doing it.
00:42:01It was an excuse for another party or something, and we were all, half of us were stoned most
00:42:06of the time.
00:42:06So, what was it like out there today, better than last week when it was snowing?
00:42:12Well, I wasn't stoned, so that's good.
00:42:16Who would like to see Mick's lap?
00:42:18Ah!
00:42:21Come on, Mick.
00:42:21Oh, Lord.
00:42:22Let's have a look.
00:42:23Come on.
00:42:23Oh, God.
00:42:25Right.
00:42:27Now, you're a drummer, and I always associate drummers with being co-ordinated.
00:42:30Don't stop.
00:42:31Come on, come on.
00:42:32Remember the damn song.
00:42:34You played it for 40 years.
00:42:35Thinking about tomorrow, first corner.
00:42:38But I do, you think drummers are going to be able to get their hands on their feet?
00:42:41Oh.
00:42:42This was not me, right?
00:42:44Yeah.
00:42:45Into the mud.
00:42:46That's pretty tidy.
00:42:48Come on, don't pussyfoot it.
00:42:52Yeah, but Chicago, you don't want to go too far through there.
00:42:55You'll just spin wide.
00:42:56No, that looks quite tidy as well.
00:42:59Glad I had those brown underpants on, I can tell you that much.
00:43:03I've got a hammerhead with a beautiful-looking day out there it is today.
00:43:08It's going to go wrong any second, right?
00:43:10No.
00:43:11Look at that.
00:43:11Bang on.
00:43:15And up now toward the follow-through.
00:43:17Full power.
00:43:20Full power, yes, yes, yes, yes.
00:43:23Power it.
00:43:23Power.
00:43:25Come on, man.
00:43:27Cut it, cut it.
00:43:29Yes.
00:43:30This is the tricky one.
00:43:31Oh.
00:43:32And that is nicely cut.
00:43:35And into Gambon.
00:43:38And no big dramas there across the line.
00:43:44Now, that looked tidy.
00:43:47But was it fast?
00:43:50Whereabouts do you think you've come?
00:43:54Oh, I dread to think.
00:43:56No idea?
00:43:58I hope I'm not in the last ten.
00:44:02You're not.
00:44:03Because, Mick Fleetwood, you did it in one...
00:44:0745.4.
00:44:11Oh.
00:44:12Oh, and that puts you between a wizard and a bay system blur.
00:44:23Oh, OK.
00:44:25Now, wait a minute.
00:44:26Wait a minute.
00:44:27I always try to look for some good news there.
00:44:29How old are you if that's not...
00:44:31I'm 65, yeah, 16, June...
00:44:34So you are, without any question or shadow of doubt,
00:44:37the fastest pensioner we've ever had.
00:44:39That's right.
00:44:40I've been looking forward to you coming down
00:44:48ever since we knew this series was coming back.
00:44:50And it's just for me been an enormous pleasure.
00:44:52Ladies and gentlemen, Mick Fleetwood.
00:45:03Now, tonight we are driving across America
00:45:08in three GT cars.
00:45:09The Lexus LFA,
00:45:11the Aston Martin Vanquish,
00:45:13and the SRT Viper.
00:45:15So far, we have established that none of them is a match
00:45:18for a cheaply modified Mitsubishi,
00:45:19and that all three have been beaten by fighter planes.
00:45:23So, nothing of any practical value whatsoever.
00:45:26But maybe that will change in Los Angeles.
00:45:28For a genuine real-world test,
00:45:43Hammond decided we should head for one of the city's famous storm drains.
00:45:47Tell you what, I bet I can leave longer 11s in this than you can in yours.
00:45:54What, you mean black marks on the road from wheel spinning starts?
00:45:57Yeah, well, you know, wheel spinning starts,
00:45:58I can do a longer 11s than you.
00:46:01No, you can't.
00:46:02I'll be the adjudicator.
00:46:03You can be the adjudicator,
00:46:04because I'm going to demonstrate something to you now.
00:46:09In three,
00:46:10two,
00:46:11one,
00:46:11go.
00:46:12I'd say that was a dead heat.
00:46:24Yeah.
00:46:25So, Hammond suggested we should see who could do the best donuts.
00:46:34I'm going a skid.
00:46:36I'm going a big skid now.
00:46:38Many Hollywood scenes have been filmed here over the years,
00:46:42but none has ever looked or sounded quite as bovine as this.
00:46:46And none has ever caused quite so much damage.
00:46:56Suggestions?
00:46:57I mean, running away, obviously.
00:46:58That's where I was going with it.
00:47:00I was going running away, really.
00:47:02How far should we run away?
00:47:04Quite a long way.
00:47:05And how soon?
00:47:08Now.
00:47:09Now?
00:47:09Yeah.
00:47:15Can't get my seatbelt on.
00:47:18Get in!
00:47:23Running!
00:47:25Running away.
00:47:28Desperate times call for desperate measures.
00:47:31Lexus Prime, this is Sonia.
00:47:33Where would you like to go today?
00:47:34Yes, hello.
00:47:35I've accidentally painted a gentleman's sausage on a storm drain.
00:47:40Oh, my.
00:47:41Yeah, I need to run away.
00:47:45The lovely lady suggested Palm Springs,
00:47:48which was 110 miles away.
00:47:51So, we settled down and thought a little bit about our cars.
00:47:55Let's have a quick recap.
00:47:59This Aston has the most charismatic engine.
00:48:04It's the most tasteful.
00:48:06And it was the least shot.
00:48:08Ask yourself, honestly, from watching this programme,
00:48:11which of these cars you'd take if you were going to drive across America,
00:48:15across Europe, across Siberia.
00:48:18It doesn't matter.
00:48:19It's this one.
00:48:21I said at the beginning of this trip that I had a feeling I might fall for the Viper.
00:48:28And I have.
00:48:29It's won me over completely.
00:48:31It doesn't have the aluminium accents inside of the Aston
00:48:34or the banks of computers of the Lexus.
00:48:37But it's done everything we've asked of it on this journey.
00:48:39And it's done everything with its own particular style, its own attitude.
00:48:45And let's not forget, at a fraction of the price of the other two,
00:48:48this is the plucky underdog here.
00:48:51If somebody were to offer me a choice of any car that had ever been made, ever,
00:48:57I would take a dark blue LFA.
00:49:00That's how much I love this thing.
00:49:02I mean, yes, there are faults.
00:49:04The petrol tank is too small.
00:49:06The seatbelt is idiotic.
00:49:08And joking aside, I would like a cup holder.
00:49:11But the rest of it is so exquisite.
00:49:15I'm going to say it.
00:49:17It's the best car I've ever driven.
00:49:20It really is.
00:49:25With all that sorted out, we opened the taps
00:49:28and headed into Palm Springs.
00:49:38All right, man, bouncing a ball like a netball played by small girls.
00:49:55And then throw it.
00:49:56And they score so many goals.
00:49:58You've noticed nobody reacts when they get a goal.
00:50:00Because it happens every 35 seconds.
00:50:04You can't really tackle something, can you?
00:50:06Can they not take the ball off?
00:50:08Gentlemen.
00:50:08Ahem.
00:50:12Haven't we finished?
00:50:15Eh?
00:50:18We think you should run away more.
00:50:21Tomorrow morning, at precisely 8 o'clock, you will race to the border.
00:50:25What border?
00:50:26What border?
00:50:27You're not going to like this.
00:50:29The last to arrive will cross into Mexico
00:50:33and spend a few days road testing the Mastretta sports car
00:50:37for a forthcoming item on the show.
00:50:40The Mastretta is the one that started a bit of trouble for us.
00:50:47We spoke about it on the news, on the show.
00:50:49It was.
00:50:50And the Mexicans took exception to some of the things we've said.
00:50:52They hate us in Mexico.
00:50:53They don't want to go to Mexico.
00:50:54No, they hate us.
00:50:56Yeah.
00:50:57We told Hammond we'd get an early night.
00:51:01But we didn't.
00:51:03Right.
00:51:04James and I have had a bit of a discussion.
00:51:07And we've decided that since it was Hammond that caused all the problems,
00:51:10Hammond should lose this.
00:51:11So what have you got in mind, James?
00:51:13Well, what I've got in mind, Jeremy, or rather in my pockets,
00:51:15is a couple of bananas.
00:51:18Because I've seen this in a film,
00:51:19I thought we could put banana in the tailpipe.
00:51:21Oh, banana in the tailpipe.
00:51:22OK, let's do it.
00:51:23Because what this does is prevent the car from exhausting
00:51:25and the back pressure builds up in the engine,
00:51:27and then it stops.
00:51:30Annoyingly, the Viper's exhaust was so big,
00:51:32we had to substitute the bananas with a selection of other fruits.
00:51:36And then Clarkson had another idea.
00:51:37If we pop his seat all the way back.
00:51:41Yes?
00:51:42Yeah.
00:51:42It also has electric pedals, this thing, yes?
00:51:45So if we make the pedals go all the way forwards,
00:51:48seat all the way back,
00:51:50and then take the fuse out.
00:51:54Yes.
00:51:55Having stolen the fuses for the seat and the pedals,
00:51:58we then disconnected two of the V10's HT leads.
00:52:02He's got a V8 motor.
00:52:05He's got...
00:52:06No pedal movement.
00:52:07No pedal movement.
00:52:08No seat movement.
00:52:08Seat's fully back.
00:52:09That'll do.
00:52:14At precisely seven minutes past eight the following morning,
00:52:18the race began.
00:52:19Get back at you and the door.
00:52:23The Lexus.
00:52:24Get out of the bike back now.
00:52:25The Lexus.
00:52:26The Lexus.
00:52:27It's there.
00:52:28It's there.
00:52:28That's mine.
00:52:32Oh, funny.
00:52:33I can't...
00:52:34What are you...
00:52:35Oh, no.
00:52:39Oh, this seatbelt is going to beat the death of me.
00:52:43Oh, this is nice.
00:52:46Nice.
00:52:47Just for the record,
00:52:50and in case this goes terribly wrong,
00:52:51I said I didn't like Mexican food,
00:52:54and what I meant was
00:52:55I don't like refried beans and cheese.
00:52:57That's all.
00:52:58It's all Hammond's fault.
00:53:01Oh, funny.
00:53:02Funny.
00:53:03Also funny.
00:53:04Yeah, right.
00:53:05We're leaving a cartoon.
00:53:06Really.
00:53:10That's not right.
00:53:11The problem is that Richard Hammond may be stupid and a rampant racist,
00:53:18but he is quite practical.
00:53:21He'll probably have that car put back together again in about five minutes.
00:53:24It'll take me a year.
00:53:26It's an HT lead-off.
00:53:28One.
00:53:30Two.
00:53:31Right.
00:53:32I will kill them.
00:53:33I'm going to kill them.
00:53:34If the Mexicans don't, I shall.
00:53:36As Hammond began his hate-fueled charge,
00:53:44Jeremy and I were bogged down in downtown Palm Springs.
00:53:49So we've got a retirement community.
00:53:52The Rosser's up ahead.
00:53:53There's nothing I can do.
00:53:5540 miles an hour.
00:53:56I lost, I don't know, 10 minutes.
00:54:01Maybe more.
00:54:03But Jeremy's got to stop for fuel.
00:54:05Right, you'll never get that done in under five, 10 minutes.
00:54:08I have to hope James gets lost or dawdles.
00:54:14What's really unfair about this race is that I wasn't particularly rude about the Mexicans.
00:54:20It's just a small joke and it's about the Mexican ambassador in London.
00:54:24And I've been to see him, I've apologised, drunk quite a lot of his tequila, and all is well.
00:54:32But the Mexicans don't know that.
00:54:36Once clear of Palm Springs, we faced a choice.
00:54:39Take the road to the east of the Salton Sea, which was longer but should be quiet,
00:54:44or go on the freeway and pray it wasn't too busy.
00:54:48I went for the freeway.
00:54:51Take me to victory, Aston Martin.
00:54:54While stupidly, Jeremy went for the longer route.
00:55:02106 miles to the border and my range is...
00:55:08104.
00:55:12Oh, so now I've got a choice.
00:55:15Do I drive slowly and increase the range, or drive fast and fill up?
00:55:25That one.
00:55:29I'm having it.
00:55:32Jeremy can't be going this fast on that mountain road, surely.
00:55:36Sorry, James, it wasn't a mountain road, which meant that, once more, thanks to editing trickery,
00:55:43I could get up to 55 miles an hour.
00:55:50I'm in an American road movie now.
00:55:54Feeling pleased with my choice of route, I called Mr. Angry.
00:55:58Hammond!
00:56:01You utter, utter bastard!
00:56:04Where are you?
00:56:05I'm on the east side, on the most amazing road I've ever found.
00:56:11Oh, God.
00:56:12Have you seen James?
00:56:14No, I'm on the other road.
00:56:16I went the other side of the water.
00:56:18So, he should be ahead of me if he's gone this way, or...
00:56:21James is on your side of the lake.
00:56:23So, he must be on this road, then.
00:56:26Right, I'm going to reel him in.
00:56:27In fact, at this point, we all have the hammer down.
00:56:45Sifra, 51 miles to go.
00:56:49About 30 miles of range.
00:56:53Come on, Aster.
00:56:54And where the hell is Hammond?
00:56:57Is he catching me?
00:57:00Right, 60 miles.
00:57:02And no sign of James.
00:57:04I'm just praying to see there's a speck of blue up ahead.
00:57:07I'm going to be in front of Jeremy.
00:57:09There's no way can he do it.
00:57:10He's got to stop for fuel.
00:57:11I don't know what that is, but that's all it's having.
00:57:23To find out what damage the fuel stop had done, I called May.
00:57:28Clark, sir.
00:57:30May, where are you?
00:57:31I have got to the bottom of the lake, and I'm just coming into the small town.
00:57:36No, I think you're ahead of me.
00:57:38Has Hammond caught you up?
00:57:40Hammond is behind me, but only by a few miles.
00:57:44Ah, he's probably ahead of me.
00:57:47But the race wasn't done yet, because at the bottom of the lake, there were three routes
00:57:53to the finish line in the border town of Calexico, and none of us had any idea which
00:57:59would be the fastest.
00:58:02Jeremy will go on the 1.11.
00:58:05He has to, because he's come from that side.
00:58:08He will get to that one first.
00:58:09I'll get to the 1.86 first.
00:58:10But is it quicker?
00:58:11I just don't know.
00:58:13Oh, God.
00:58:14What would Hammond do?
00:58:18Right.
00:58:19This road now takes me straight through Calexico to the border.
00:58:24I think this is the quickest.
00:58:26I think James has got a different route, and I'll see where I'm going to take him.
00:58:32Please, God, don't let me be lost.
00:58:36Big drive-through dentist there.
00:58:38Hopefully, Hammond will stop at that.
00:58:39Four miles.
00:58:44Come on, come on, come on, come on.
00:58:48Coming into town now.
00:58:51Yeah, this all looks decidedly Mexican now, which is to say brilliant.
00:58:55Very nice.
00:58:57Oh, God.
00:58:59Traffic lights.
00:59:00Oh, God, and the Rossers are behind me.
00:59:06Fifth Street.
00:59:07Yes, does it go to Mexico?
00:59:09Where's the border?
00:59:09Where is the Lord of Crossing?
00:59:12I want to get lost right now.
00:59:14Mess it all up at the end.
00:59:17Border, border, border.
00:59:18Border.
00:59:18You beauty!
00:59:41May or Hammond, which one is going to be eaten?
00:59:46The answer came seconds later.
00:59:51Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
00:59:59I don't care if you won.
01:00:00Is it just you here?
01:00:02Yep.
01:00:02Oh, ha, ha, ha, ha.
01:00:05Oh, God, no.
01:00:06No.
01:00:07No.
01:00:12Buenos dias.
01:00:13Is that Mexico there?
01:00:17That's the border there.
01:00:18But look, it's very simple.
01:00:19Goodbye.
01:00:20Bye.
01:00:21Thank you so much.
01:00:21You're in the United States of America, land of the free.
01:00:24There's a big fence.
01:00:24The other side of it, everybody hates you.
01:00:27Bye.
01:00:28Bye.
01:00:30It's a bit like sending Paddington Bear into a mincing machine.
01:00:34There is an element of...
01:00:35Yeah.
01:00:35Because he looks quite tragic.
01:00:38With that, back to the studio.
01:00:39I think we can probably handle a conclusion on our own.
01:00:46Because the Aston Martin and the Lexus were...
01:00:51Tremendous.
01:00:52They really were, weren't they?
01:00:53And the Viper was...
01:00:54It was awful.
01:00:55Awful, absolutely.
01:00:56So there we are.
01:00:57Now, we will be bringing you a review of the Mexican Mastretta sports car in a couple of weeks.
01:01:03Unless, of course, in the meantime, somebody finds a suspiciously white tooth in their taco.
01:01:08In which case, we will be showing you a touching tribute to the late broadcaster, Richard Hammond.
01:01:16So on that potential bombshell, it's now time to end.
01:01:19Thank you so much for watching.
01:01:21Good night.
01:01:21Thank you so much for watching.
01:01:22Thank you so much for watching.
01:01:26Thank you so much for watching.
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