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Top Gear discussions !
Volume 5 is HERE:-
Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 21 Feb 11 at 00:24
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Watched it on I player, thank goodness, skipped most of the Atom bit, some of the Yeti, all of the "star" and most of the Porche/Beetle...
Some say they have changed it this series...
They haven't!
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Seems like you skipped most of it !
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Yes I did... Though to be fair I did keep stopping the FF to see if I was missing anything... all they did with the Atom is get May to review it in a more sedate way than JC, I'm afraid that the continual (and repetitive) reviews of "supercars" for the first 10 minutes of every episode just makes my eyes gloss over with boredom... as does the "star" bit, unless, very ocassionally, they get someone interesting in it... I enjoyed the Fienes (sp?) one for instance...
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>> some of the Yeti
In fact I found only the Skoda Yeti bit worth watching in the whole show.
Glad I only watch in iPlayer now. Stopped watching on TV long time back. Can't waste full 1 hour.
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www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12290015
Top Gear was crowned the winner of best factual show, which presenter Jeremy Clarkson thought was amusing, as "there hasn't been a fact on Top Gear for seven years now", he said.
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One of the few times I agree with him!
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I don't understand the frustration with Top Gear. It's pitched as an entertainment show with a motoring bent. Which is exactly what it is.
Clarkson has stated in numerous interviews that it's "fluff" and "entertainment", and "three blokes cocking about". It is not supposed to be a serious programme.
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Yet it wins a "factual" award... Go figure...
(Perhaps the Beeb and other TV people don't agree with your definition of it - I do btw!)
Last edited by: hobby on Thu 27 Jan 11 at 17:20
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The kind of people who watch Top Gear and complain its not all real and serious are the same kind who would think WWE wrestling is sport and seek to point out its not real.
I guess theres the odd fact in TG somewhere - I must admit, ive not seen a Yeti on the road yet ( or in the wilderness ), so maybe its as elusive as the one in America.
Last edited by: stunorthants29 on Thu 27 Jan 11 at 17:48
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I think the Hairy American one is better looking TBH.
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Bloke round the corner has a new Yeti. Looks quite nice. Not keen on him though. Used to be on the council. Arrogant little gti.
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I think that was a smashing show, one of the best in recent times actually.
The drag race really tickled me, the Ferrari bit actually did address why it wasnt all that, only bit I really wasnt fussed about was the sheep bit - even Boris was an entertaining guest. Really enjoyed it.
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Boris is a genuine enough star - not a book promoting luvvie.
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>> Boris is a genuine enough star - not a book promoting luvvie.
I should be worried, Nicole said she would swap me for three minutes in the cupboard with Boris.
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Quite by chance I ended up sitting next to Boris Becker on a plane about six months or so ago. Struck me as a good guy. Easy to chat to.
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Did you notice JC's shoes during that interview ?
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Sadly yes. Can't help it.
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Some kind of suede loafer. Nothing remarkable about them really from what I could see. Did I miss something?
Last edited by: Humph D'Bout on Sun 30 Jan 11 at 21:37
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Nothing.....thought they weren't quite him somehow.
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I'm wearing something similar at this very. Brown nubuck.
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Ah yes, good idea, never shows the dog poo.
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>> Boris is a genuine enough star - not a book promoting luvvie.
Still all a racket though.
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I really want one of those Holden utes!
www.holden.com.au/vehicles/ute#/overview
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Enjoyable as ever. The GTO piece really showed how much Ferrari have lost the styling plot. Both the older GTOs are achingly beautiful. The new one isn't. Sounds good though.
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I think the rally bit shows that the Stig used for that bit is a rally driver. I wonder if he's the new Stig though?
Also Boris did well in the wet - again I wonder if they have upped the power of the car and are claiming the new Stig is an improvement? i.e. knocking Ben Collins' abilities.
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I think the rally bit shows that the Stig used for that bit is a rally driver. I wonder if he's the new Stig though?
>
> i thought it was a female
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> > i thought it was a female
>>
I wondered that as well...and...on another site I've just visited, (not the one this one morphed from) someone stated that Chris Evans mentioned on his show that Sabine Schmitz (spelling?) might be The Stig
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If the stig is now female, there are some bits missing.
However rally stig was not track stig, rally stig was a bit of a porker.
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yes i mean for the rally bit
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>> If the stig is now female, there are some bits missing.
>>
Rhymes with bits?..:-)
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>> Rhymes with bits?..:-)
Zits?
Na, although s/he was only born in December, they showed how quickly s/he grew up. Would be past the teenager stage by now.
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Are we at war with Mexico yet?
John
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had to laugh when they read the blurb that it had rack and pinion steering
i had visions of bits of washing line attached to the track rod ends and an old scammel steering wheel nailed to the dash like a trolley i once built
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www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12338053
He was slow off the mark wasn't he? Oh yes, he's Mexican :-)
John
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They've insulted just about everyone else, so I hope he's joined the queue... He might have a long wait for the apology though...
Wonder who's next...
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>> Wonder who's next...
>>
Us lot!
the season preview showed a lot of stuff set in Johannesburg - muders, dead bodies, armoured cars smashing things!
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Here's me thinking that was true as well...
Last edited by: hobby on Wed 2 Feb 11 at 08:39
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>> Here's me thinking that was true as well...
>>
Probably is!
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All just run-of-the-mill fun including the Mexican Ambassador joining in. The only really good bit was the Transit used to massacre the Holden V8 in a drag race. I've always had a soft spot for heavily tweaked vans, although I imagine they would be a bit coarse to live with every day.
There was a Vauxhall one with a European Touring Car Championship engine and brakes and suspension to match. Really fancied one of those, but it wouldn't have been cheap.
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So the BBC have apologised:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12361790
"
In a statement, the BBC said the comments may have been "rude" and "mischievous," but there was no "vindictiveness" behind them.
"Our own comedians make jokes about the British being terrible cooks and terrible romantics, and we in turn make jokes about the Italians being disorganised and over dramatic, the French being arrogant and the Germans being over-organised," the BBC said.
"
That's right, lets upset the Italians, French and Germans while we are at it!
EDIT: Spellin'
Last edited by: Cheddar on Fri 4 Feb 11 at 14:48
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Curious split here. We'd happily make jokes about Mexicans (or the French) being unwashed, lazy etc. But any comment about indolent Nigerians would be immediately canned as unnacceptable.
Probably time we grew out of this sort of humour altogether???
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>> But any comment about indolent Nigerians would be immediately canned as unnacceptable.
Having lived and worked in lagos, there's enough material there for a whole series of TG!
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>> lagos, there's enough material there for a whole series of TG!
Heh heh... Ikorodu Road just after sundown on a weekday... creaking jalopies climbing in and out of bus-sized potholes amid clouds of dust, horns and shouts, vehicles going in all directions, Danfo bus conductors swinging on the semi-detached sliding doors of VW Microbuses containing 25 people, what on earth is going on? Ah yes, rush hour...
Bromptonaut thinks it's time we grew out of racially or nationally disparaging humour. How are we supposed to manage that? We are about the thickest and most unwashed nation there is. How else do we make ourselves feel OK?
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>> >> lagos, there's enough material there for a whole series of TG!
Heh heh... Ikorodu Road just after sundown on a weekday... creaking jalopies climbing in and out of bus-sized potholes amid clouds of dust, horns and shouts, vehicles going in all directions, Danfo bus conductors swinging on the semi-detached sliding doors of VW Microbuses containing 25 people, what on earth is going on? Ah yes, rush hour...
>>
>> Bromptonaut thinks it's time we grew out of racially or nationally disparaging humour. How are we supposed to manage that? We are about the thickest and most unwashed nation there is. How else do we make ourselves feel OK?
>>
>>
Polio victims, with legs withered like sticks, sitting on skateboards made of a planks and furniture castors whizzing down the road at 60km/h hanging on to the bumpers of taxis... 17 vehicles trying to merge into 4 lanes of traffic on the bridge out of Vic Island... Vic island residents, flush with ill-gotten-cash, racing their F40s and Astons down the 2kms of servicable road... okadas slamming into our 4x4, and the driver shrugging it off... the bentley at the high commision under a tarp, with the front fender stoved in, awaiting spares...
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I'd forgotten the syncopated horn-beeping of taxis as they passed Bobby Benson's hotel in Ikorodu Road, to warn the peanut and cigarette vendors clustered outside its front door of their approach: BEEbebbeBEE beebee BEE BEE BEEP... one after another, all through every hour in the 24. So tired and emotional with the constant clamour one night that I fell asleep and dreamed some heavyweight nightclub music, blending perfectly with the taxi beeping. Woke up and realised it was all real, Benson's nightclub in full swing downstairs and the taxis at it as usual. They didn't blend so perfectly when I had woken up though. Disappointing, that.
In a rough little Japanese cab one day that got a puncture. The (bald, lumpy, wrong size) spare was tied to the side of the boot, whose floor at some time had been cut out and used for body repairs I suppose. You looked in the boot and saw the road. Driver about 22, and pretty desperate poor fellow.
One thing Lagosians can't be called is indolent. Their manic energy is a source of wonder to me as the climate, booze and perpetual clamour used to make me feel practically dead after a few days once the mosquitoes and their little passengers had half-pierced the malaria pills and given me a temperature and sweats.
But the 'white man's grave' is endlessly entertaining and full of bizarre but genuine human warmth. I have quite fond memories.
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Will be interesting to see what you all make of this:
tinyurl.com/6enca8v
Personally, I think he's got it pretty much spot-on...
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too many words
my boredom threshold kicked in
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Spot on as you say - balanced, intelligent and insightful. Especially his comments about Alan Partridge right on the nose.
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Awful lot of words to say: "I don't think Top Gear is funny."
Nor do I, but that's not to say we have to live in the world according to Steve Coogan.
I've never quite got on with his stuff, either.
But I wouldn't criticise him for that.
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Ahh so Steve Coogan thinks... If I say anything remotely racist or sexist as Alan Partridge, for example, the joke is abundantly clear. We are laughing at a lack of judgment and ignorance.
Ok to be offensive if you wear a funny persona then?
Does he not realise that the Top Gear team are characters just as much as Partridge... and often more funny??
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You may have a point there !
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not realise that the Top Gear team are characters just as much as
>> Partridge...
Are they?
I think they are being themselves, not some characterisation like partridge... At least they'd have an excuse if they were a characterisation...
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...At least they'd have an excuse if they were a characterisation...
Yes, convenient for Coogan to hide behind Partridge.
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Hmm, I don't particularly like Coronation St or East Enders but others do. I don't especially like drama programmes based on pathology either but others do. I utterly loath the plethora of dancing strictly on ice while in the big jungle brother's house stuff but others seem to enjoy it. I find not bothering to watch those programmes suits me well enough and adequately addresses my viewing preferences.
By and large I and my family enjoy Top Gear so we tend to watch that. Occasionally there will be a comment made which I could decide to find offensive but if I were to be really bothered about the prospect of that I could choose to watch something else couldn't I?
Doesn't seem too complicated a concept really.
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I'm sure the rest of the world have their own amusing comments to say about the British on air, and we take it on the nose as always, don't see why no one else can. Too sensitive by half. But, I must admit, describing the Mexicans as lazy is a bit rich after all the unemployed, lazy, (and British) kids here who won't take a job because they think it's beneath them...
Leaning against a shop window, staring at their iphones, with a hoody as a coat.
Last edited by: corax on Sun 6 Feb 11 at 18:08
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if you didnt like the car chase at the end of tonights programme then you aint got any chesticulls
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I know - funny how a 17000 matt black Fiat 500 looks sexier than a 35k matt black Focus though. Mr Ross is a prannock. How old is he, he was dressed as a 14 year old.
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The astonishing thing was how poor the Yugo was at anything near a corner, despite almost no power. Being based upon the Fiat 128 obviously hasn't helped it. Good fun though and a great dig at Bentley. Chav's cars now they are.
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...at Bentley. Chav's cars now they are...
Agreed, but I'd still buy a convertible tomorrow if I had the dough.
Not so common up here as they are in the Cheshire footballers' belt.
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I think I would choose the S class out of that lot. It is simply the best car and it is not quite as in your face as the Bentley or Rolls.
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...I think I would choose the S class out of that lot....
Small and medium-sized Mercs seem to be no better made or designed than a Ford or a Kia.
I like to think the big Mercs are still proper Mercs, but I've got no evidence of that.
A BMW 7 series might be a better choice - the long wheelbase version has some presence.
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Common as, well you know.....round here. One parked next door as I type and one across the road.
Edit - Bentleys that is, not Yugos...
Last edited by: Humph D'Bout on Sun 6 Feb 11 at 21:20
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One of the best episodes for some time in my view, apart from the often foul mouthed idiot who thinks he's the bee's knees. The Yugo would be ideal transport for him...:-)
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Like the Lada (based on a 124) the eastern bloc weapons companies which made them tended to rip out any decent suspension FIAT gave them and they fitted a cruder one more suitable for the rough roads.
I would suspect the Yugo was fitted with cheap and nasty tyres too. Apparantly the Yugos which ended up in the UK were built to a higher standard than the Zatistvas which were sold in Eastern bloc countries.
I remember you could buy them for £3300 when the cheapest Lada was £3800. Great value when a Fiesta popular would set you back more than £5k.
Used to see many Yugos when I was a kid and I remember people seem to have great problems getting them into any gear. Great days when the average car had charector and most cars had different coloured wings, especialy if it was made by Ford or BL.
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roads were covered in slimy mud ]
the merc and the bentley had the power to push through this eventually to tarmac
the police skodas too struggled
the yugo just had no power to do anything
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Weren't they chevy's and not Skodas? I couldn't quite tell.
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I think you're right Rattle
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>> I think you're right Rattle>>
Might be worth asking the car hire company:
tinyurl.com/39b3rb7
www.gtspirit.com/2011/01/26/top-gear-crew-spotted-in-albania/
Someone gets hold of the tapes early...:-)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgIMTgpu1lo
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Then Skodas was some sort oof Chevvy
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Gotta love that Volvo. If they made it you'd sort of have to buy a beige one for the devilment...
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Oh but think about it. A beige one with National Trust stickers. Pull up alongside a Saxo with wings....
:-)
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They've already got your interior sorted Humph !
www.europeancarweb.com/features/0303ec_volvo_s60_v70_r/photo_04.html
Taken from the previous quick Volvo S60 and V70 R.
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Ideal for families with new babies.
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Who in their right mond has spent £50,000 on the 75 Subaru Cosworths? - sounds like they should have test drove them first.
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Finally it deserved the title "entertainment show" tonight.
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The Cosworth name on a Subaru just seems wrong, somehow. The car doesn't seem much cop either, especially given its ludicrous price tag.
That Mercedes S65 AMG is gorgeous though. It's just made my lotto win garage :-)
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>> if you didnt like the car chase at the end of tonights programme then you
>> aint got any chesticulls
>>
Come on, BB, it was several minutes too long and it was so, so obviously staged... I much rather have watched the chase in Bullit (sp?)... Much more entertaining... The "staging" of all these "races" and "challenges" is becoming the most boring part of the programme now... In my view! ;-)
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>> The
>> "staging" of all these "races" and "challenges" is becoming the most boring part of the
>> programme now... In my view! ;-)
>>
I agree, I can't understand how people can think there is any reality in these entertainment shows. I think of the backup required for the "Get an idiot out of here" ones which must have catering trucks, mobile homes, and all manner of kit behind the cameras.
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It was clearly a real chase - the HD camera set up in one of the Police cars was there by chance. Seems that that going to a dirt poor country and rubbing the noses of the poverty stricken proletariat in bling encrusted western cars is considered as jolly.
The MiG farm was genuinely interesting.
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The MiG farm was genuinely interesting.
the best bit of the show. but does anyone really think that james knows anything about his subject of the week
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Why not? I think I could have been just as boring (ahem) just as informing when I was 16. But I lost interest and now I can recognise them as MiGs and that's it.
John
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I'm quite surprised that Rolls Royce and Mercedes were prepared to let their cars be treated like that. Surely they must have come back with a few undertray scuffs and stone-chips at the very least, which would knock thousands off their value.
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as i live locally to rolls-royce and have a friend that works there i was told that they have 2 cars per year that get used as press taxis etc.
at the end of that yr they are refurbished and sold on usually abroad somewhere.
having driven a ghost i can say its nothing like a 7sereis in fit/finish or ride. i think it's worth the 200k and so do many others as i see 6ish cars a day leave the factory for their last test drive before being sent to dealers
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>> having driven a ghost i can say its nothing like a 7sereis in fit/finish or
>> ride. i think it's worth the 200k and so do many others as i see
>> 6ish cars a day leave the factory for their last test drive before being sent
>> to dealers
I am the first to admit that, while respecting Rolls Royce immensely, they are not 'my kind of car', but how anyone can think the front end of the Ghost is anything other than offensively ugly is beyond me. In fact, I find the nose treatment of all the post-BMW takeover models hideous to look at. They look like a half joking caricature of a 'classic' Rolls.
The 7-series underpinnings wouldn't bother me in the slightest, but the styling certainly would.
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when you see many of the ghosts and phantoms the styling sort of grows on you.
close up there are some great styling touches. the technical side of the range is also 1st class and i think way beyend a maybach or similar
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>> Surely they must have come back with a few undertray scuffs and stone-chips at the very least, which would knock thousands off their value.
Small price to pay for the free advertising they got.
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Syndicated to half the countries in the world and repeated endlessly.
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>> I think of the backup required for the "Get an idiot out of
>> here" ones which must have catering trucks, mobile homes, and all manner of kit behind
>> the cameras.
True, but that's for the crew. The celebrities in the camp really are in a camp, and it's not very civilised. And apart from the odd bit of playing to camera they're not acting or saying lines like the TG boys, so closer to 'reality' IMO.
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>> not acting or saying lines like the TG boys, so closer to 'reality' IMO.
But by the same token, about a million times more dreary and pointless...
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>> >> not acting or saying lines like the TG boys, so closer to 'reality' IMO.
>>
>> But by the same token, about a million times more dreary and pointless...
Not sure about a million AC - while I probably would on the whole enjoy TG more than IACGMOOH, watching how people behave in adverse conditions does have a certain appeal, don't you think?
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>>Come on, BB, it was several minutes too long and it was so, so obviously staged...>>
How else could it be done?
The logistics in setting up such a comparatively short "adventure", after conceiving the idea and venue in the first place, must be quite extraordinary.
The running joke was wonderful - something that's been missing from a lot of comedy in recent years.
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Will next week's episode open a la black & white thriller serial with our hero magically seen to escape just before the car goes over the cliff?
John
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I really don't think I could buy a badge-engineered Phaeton or 850 Bimmer masquerading as a Bentley or Rolls-Royce. I know Bentleys were badge-engineered Rollses from 1931 onward, but that was a bit different.
I have no doubt these are capable vehicles, luxurious too and perhaps long-lasting. But they just aren't real Bentleys and Rollses. It's a step too far.
Personally I think the current Phantom (the Queen's got one) looks like a giant brick on wheels. Of course some Rollses were always ugly, but not all. There's a photo of a very handsome Phantom II (I think) tourer in today's Telegraph.
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tried and tested platform on a new jelly mould AC
they all do it
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I was surprised to see a Yugo in Albania, they're enerally not too keen on things from Serbia - then I realised it was on Kosovo plates and had a Kosovo version of the "GB" sticker for crossing borders, whatever they're called.
I expect the locals were delighted to see it demolished, but it quite saddened me. I've an enormous soft spot for Yugos.
Albania has fabulous countryside and a stunning coast and climate, they really should be building up their tourist industry there.
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Top Gear discussion thread Volume 6. - hobby
