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Top Gear TV
Here are 59 of the most iconic moments from Top Gear TV
Enjoy some of the most memorable bits from TG telly history
Since 1977, Top Gear has been pushing the very limits of car-based televisual entertainment. Actually that’s not quite true. For the first couple of decades of its existence, Top Gear was a mostly sensible car show that concerned itself with fuel economy, residual values, bootspace and the price of service station sausages.
But, since its 2002 Clarkson-powered rebirth, Top Gear has prided itself on going faster, further and more explodey than any car show in history, generating some of the most epic automotive-adjacent moments ever committed to celluloid, or whatever it is they use instead of celluloid nowadays.
Here, we round up 59 of Top Gear’s most memorable bits. They’re not ranked in any sort of order. They’re not even necessarily the definitive 59 greatest. We’re not 100 per cent there’s 59 of them. But they are, at the very least, five-dozen or so really quite good moments from the last two-and-a-bit decades of Top Gear. Enjoy the show.
Advertisement - Page continues belowThe Reliant Robin Space Shuttle
A Reliant Robin is exactly the same shape as a space shuttle, provided you’re broadly unfamiliar with space shuttles and also squint a bit. Surely, then, converting an actual Reliant Robin into an actual, functioning space shuttle – admittedly the most complicated of all the space-going vehicles – would be the most straightforward of tasks?
The Convertible People Carrier
Jeremy, James and Richard behead a Renault Espace to create the world’s first convertible people carrier: a machine that would inspire the Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet and Range Rover Evoque Convertible, but also had some good points, too.
Advertisement - Page continues belowThe Race to the North Pole
It’s a question we’ve all asked ourselves. If you need to get to the North Pole, and you need to get there in a hurry, are you faster travelling by dog sled, or heavily modified Toyota Hilux? On behalf of a nation, Top Gear heads north in search of answers.
May’s Caravan Airship
It was the most elegant of creations. A transport solution that made caravanning more exciting (good for caravanners), and removed caravans from the road (good for the rest of us). A solution with literally no downsides. Unless the wind happened to be blowing in the direction of an international airport.
How to Kill a Hilux
The Toyota Hilux is perhaps the most indestructible vehicle on the planet. But is it indestructible enough to survive the demolition of a 23-storey tower block? Or, to put it another, can a 23-storey tower block survive the Toyota Hilux?
Richard vs the Marauder
Hammond heads to Johannesburg to test out South Africa’s sensible, practical city car: the ten-tonne, ten-seater, virtually indestructible Marauder. Some damage occurs. Not to the Marauder, obviously.
Advertisement - Page continues belowKen Block’s Tour of London
With the assistance of his derangedly drifty Ford Mustang, TG’s favourite-ever hoonigan treats Matt LeBlanc to a whistlestop tour of London’s sights and sounds. Well, the sights anyhow. Not much to be heard over that 800 horsepower V8.
A Very Thorough Skoda Yeti Test
Clarkson answers the questions every potential Yeti-buyer was doubtless asking back in 2011: will it keep my ice cream cool while driving through a room of fire? And: how does it function as a tattoo parlour? And: can I land an actual helicopter on its roof?
Advertisement - Page continues belowUp a Dam in a Land Rover
Richard climbs a massive Welsh dam in a 64-year-old Land Rover, in order to… prove something to do with a TV advert, maybe? Cue one of the slowest, clammiest sequences in TG history.
The Big One-Tank Challenge
James and Richard attempt to get from Switzerland to Blackpool on a single tank of fuel. Jeremy, meanwhile, attempts to get from Switzerland to his bed, in Chipping Norton, on a single tank of fuel.
The V8 Blender
Beef. Chillies. Bovril. Tabasco. A house-brick. Oh, and the 6.2-litre V8 from a Chevrolet Corvette. Everything you need to make a smoothie with a real kick.
Across Vietnam on Motorbikes
As a rule, Top Gear has tended to steer clear of two-wheeled transportation, preferring instead to stick to the relative secureness and non-falling-over-ness of four wheels. Jeremy, James and Richard’s epic biking adventure across Vietnam proved exactly why.
Jag XJ versus God
A showdown of the big hitters, as JC and a big Jagggg take on the Almighty himself, racing from west to east across England in a bid to outrun the sun. Planetary rotation has never been so exciting.
Bentley Continental vs WRC stage
Can a regular Bentley Conti survive a full-blown stage of the World Rally Championship? And can co-driver James survive being shouted at quite a lot by a surprisingly intense man from Northern Ireland?
Landing in Iraq
Kicking off their big Middle East road trip, Jeremy, James and Richard touch down in Iraq. Which, back in 2010, was – to use the technical geopolitical term – quite a spicy corner of the world. Don the bulletproof jackets…
Race across London
A question many, many Londoners have asked: if I want to get from one side of the capital to the other, am I fastest doing so by car, bike, or public transport? A question rather fewer have asked: or what if I used a speedboat?
Race to the Alps: 612 Scaglietti vs plane
From the Top Gear test track to the ski resort of Verbier. Clarkson in the Ferrari 612 Scaglietti. James and Richard on public transport. And a plane. The result? At least one speeding ticket, the sight of James May running on television, and an impossibly close finish. What a race.
The Problem with Amphibious Cars
What could be better than a car capable of driving on road and water? Apart from, y’know, world peace. Or Bluetooth that actually connects to the thing you want to connect to. But amphibious cars, yeah, they’d be good too. Turns out, however, the water-car is a surprisingly tough nut to crack.
Crossing the channel in amphibious cars
Having failed to cross a small lake in Staffordshire in their amphibious cars, for Jeremy, James and Richard, the next step was obvious. No, not ‘move swiftly on and forget this whole waterbound vehicles nonsense’, but ‘attempt to cross the English Channel’.
Veyron vs Captain Slow Airways
The Bugatti Veyron is faster than many, many things. But as a method of getting from Northern Italy to London, can it possibly be faster than a light aircraft? In normal circumstances, no, probably not. If that light aircraft happens to be piloted by Captain James May, however…
The Bolivian Death Road
The most hair-raising moment of Top Gear’s most hair-raising big adventure of all. Pretty much the entire thousand-mile journey from the depths of the Amazon to the Chilean coast was brutal. But the Yungas Road to La Paz – with its terrifying thousand-foot drops and equally terrifying truck drivers – hit new levels of palm-sweatification.
Up the Andes
More madness from Top Gear’s epic South American adventure, as three very cheap 4x4s and three middle-aged men crest 5,000 metres of altitude on an Andean volcano. The Viagra! It does nothing!
Campervan Challenge
The team set out to build stylish campervans fit for Europe, including a three-storey modernist Citroen motorhome. The laws of aerodynamics rudely intervene with a reality check.
Bugatti Veyron vs Eurofighter Typhoon
Cars: fast on the ground. Especially if they’re Bugatti Veyrons. Planes: fast in the air. Especially if they’re Eurofighter Typhoons. So how do you level the playing field? With a horizontal-vs-vertical drag race, naturally…
McLaren Speedtail vs F-35
After Veyron vs Typhoon, it’s fast car vs fighter jet, round two. Chris Harris and the McLaren Speedtail attempt to level up the scores by dishing out a kicking to the RAF’s latest toy, the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II.
A Very Sensible Reliant Robin Test
Jeremy Clarkson sets out on his most perilous mission of all: piloting a fearsome three-wheeler 14 miles from Sheffield to Rotherham. Things go unexpectedly smoothly. For the first four and a half seconds, at least.
The World’s Worst Electric Car
Back in 2009, the electric car scene was in its infancy. Enter Jeremy, James and Richard to kick-start the EV revolution with the help of Geoff: a ruggedly styled SUV with TVR Chimaera underpinnings and the batteries from a milk float. Would we be where we are today, EV-wise, without this trailblazing creation? Tough to say. (Yes.)
Building Homemade Stretch Limos
Top Gear sets out to bring the world of stretch limousines into the 21st century, with the help of several angle grinders and many metres of sheet metal. The 21st century politely declines the offer.
Chauffeuring the Stars in Homemade Limos
If you’re a big-name celeb, could there be any better way to arrive at a glamorous awards ceremony than in a truly bespoke stretch limousine, one loving crafted from an MG F, a Fiat Panda, or indeed an Alfa 164 but also a Saab 900? Yes, yes there could.
The World’s Smallest Car
Clarkson embarks on a sensible urban commute in the world’s smallest car: 1963’s magnificently microscopic Peel P50. Newsreader John Humphreys is very impressed. Newsreader Fiona Bruce is somewhat less impressed.
The World’s Smallerest Car
For many decades, the Peel P50 stood alone as the smallest car in the world. Until, in 2007, Clarkson rocked up with his own micro-creation: a tiny, quad-bike based urban runabout he called the P45, and everyone else called things that cannot be committed to print.
That Alabama Incident
On their first big US road trip, Jeremy, James and Richard scrawl inflammatory slogans on each other’s cars. Perhaps underestimate the combustibility of the good folk of rural Alabama. Things go south. Deep South.
James May, Fastest Man on Earth
With a small amount of help from the 1,200-horsepower Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, Captain Slow smashes the production car speed record. And, shortly thereafter, smashes another record for ‘shortest amount of time holding the production car speed record’.
A Sensible White Van Challenge
Jeremy, James and Richard embark on a rigorous, technical analysis of the economics of commercial vehicles… by tailgating, smashing off doors and inviting along an actual car thief.
Jaguar XJ vs the Nurburgring
Memorable as the film in which Jeremy attempted to get a diesel-drinking Jag limo round the world’s scariest race track in under ten minutes. Yet more memorable as the film that introduced the wider world to the Queen of the Ring: incomparable, much-missed Sabine Schmitz.
The Big Bullet Train Race
Nissan’s game-changing R35 GT-R battles the most efficient public transport network in the world. Jeremy, James and Richard battle Japanese train timetables, vending machines and sat navs. First to reach the massive Buddha, wins.
The Sports Train
New train locomotives are expensive. Old Jag XJSs and Audi S8s are cheap (or at least they were 15 years ago: both are doubtless regarded as bona fide classic nowadays). Cue a cost-saving railway revolution, featuring a surprising amount of actual fire.
The World’s Greatest Road
In a trio of lightweight sports cars, Jeremy, James and Richard discover Italy’s incredible Stelvio Pass, a road totally unknown (apart from to all the Italian and Swiss people who’d been driving it for decades).
The World’s Greatest Road (Again)
In a trio of not-lightweight sports cars, Jeremy, James and Richard discover Romania’s incredible Transfagarasan highway, a road totally unknown (apart from to all the Romanian people who’d been driving it for decades).
Renault F1 car vs Top Gear test track
Stig fires Renault’s 2004 F1 car round Dunsfold in under a minute, a record that would stand for two decades until beaten by the McMurtry Spéirling. But with all due respect for the Spéirling, it can’t hold a handle to the RS24 in the noise department.
A Very Thorough British Leyland Test
In which Jeremy, James and Richard attempt to test the build quality of their old BL snotters by brimming them with water and driving a lap, and also attempt not to drown.
McLaren F1 vs Bugatti Veyron
The world’s fastest production car (1992 to 2005) against the world’s fastest production car (2005 to some point thereafter, depending exactly how you’re defining ‘production’, but let’s not open that can of worms here). A one-mile drag race. The result? A whole lot closer than you might expect.
The Caterham Speed-Building Challenge
Is it possible to build a Caterham 7 from scratch, quicker than the Stig can drive an already-built 7 from one end of Britain to the other? And, more importantly, is it possible to not kill a James May while doing so?
The HoverVan
Cars. Excellent on dry land, not so excellent when it floods. So if you find yourself living in an area that’s frequently underwater, you’ll be wanting Top Gear’s Transit-based aquatic runabout? And when we say ‘you’ll be wanting’, we of course mean ‘under no circumstance should you consider’.
Airport Vehicle Racing
Airports are slow. Not the planes, they’ve got a fair turn of pace, but all the other land-bound bits: the luggage carriers, the fuel tankers, the catering trucks. All too slow. In a bid to speed up airporting, Richard Hammond enters the crucible of motorsport.
Racing the Germans in Double-Deckers
Steering on top, brakes and throttle down below. Several racing incidents. A man with only one arm. What finer way to settle the old Britain-vs-Germany rivalry?
Supercars vs Fighter Jets: Laser Quest Edition
You know, laser quest: that game where one team of kids runs round a slightly fetid warehouse, shooting another team of kids with guns. That, only with the fetid warehouse replaced by an epic Californian race track, the team of kids replaced by supercars, and the other team of kids replaced by warplanes. But apart from that, exactly the same.
Electrocuting Richard Hammond
Send Richard Hammond to Germany. Place Richard Hammond in a VW Golf. Blast Golf with 800,000 volts of lightning. Discover whether Richard Hammond has become a crispy piece of bacon. Science!
Maxing Muscle Cars at Bonneville
Jeremy, James and Richard head to the legendary salt flats in a Dodge Challenger, Chevy Corvette and Cadillac CTS-V in pursuit of ultimate speed, and with a very rudimentary understanding of tyre pressures.
James versus the Volcano
James May drives to the rim of an active Icelandic volcano in his bespoke volcano-proof car. A bespoke, volcano-proof car cunningly disguised as ‘a Toyota Hilux with a sheet of corrugated iron strapped to the roof’.
The Inevitable Meeting of Rolls-Royce and Swimming Pool
Clarkson and a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow open the refurbished Chipping Norton lido in traditional fashion. Keith Moon would be proud.
A Very Thorough Ford Fiesta Road Test
Answering those frequently-asked consumer questions including: is it green? And: what happens if I go to a shopping centre and get chased by baddies in a Corvette? And: what if I’m asked to take part in a beach assault with the Royal Marines?
Mercedes McLaren SLR vs the Sea
Clarkson and the brutish V8 McMerc race to reach Oslo quicker than Hammond and May in a boat. And another boat. And another boat. Sickbags at the ready.
Improving the Ambulance
In their revolutionary next-generation ambulances, Jeremy, James and Richard respond to a catastrophic meteor strike on the town of Theale. Consumer journalism!
Mustang GT500 vs High-Speed Train
One ticket to a Champions League game at Milan’s San Siro stadium. A significant chunk of western Europe to cross. A Shelby GT500. A small folding bike. Every man for himself in another epic car-versus-public transport race.
The Original Botswana Adventure
Jeremy, James and Richard tackle Botswana’s monstrous Makgadikgadi salt pan in three cars that definitely aren’t SUVs. Top Gear’s era of grand international adventure officially begins.
Hammond vs Renault F1 car
Driving an F1 car. If you’re used to very fast road cars, it can’t be that different, right? Turns out it really, really can.
Stuck in the Mud in Africa
In three second-hand estate cars, Clarkson, Hammond and May hunt to discover the source of the Nile. Instead find an enormous amount of mud.
Stig Bins a Koenigsegg
A rare moment of near-human fallibility from our tame racing driver, as he fails to tame the 800bhp CCX. Koenigsegg would later concede the issue was theirs, not Stig’s, fitting the CCX with a rear wing for extra downforce. The result? A lap time three seconds quicker. Whoever said Top Gear never did anything useful?
