Top Gear (2002–…): Season 4, Episode 8 - Clarkson Drives His Dream Car - the Ford GT - full transcript

CLARKSON: On today's show,
Richard says goodbye
to a motoring icon.

The fastest car in the world
comes to our track.

And how good is
the Citroen 2CV
in a crosswind?

Good evening!
Now we've got a lot of
V8s on the show tonight

and even a jet engine.

So, to bring a bit of balance,

we thought we'd start
by looking at

this very eco-friendly,
semi-electric Toyota Prius.

Okay, we've looked
at that now, so...

So, let's move on to James,

who's been hurtling
around the mountain roads
of Sicily



in a thumping grey Maserati.

MAY: This is
the Maserati Quattroporte.

It costs £70,000,

and in a world of
German saloons
shaped like briefcases,

it looks absolutely beautiful.

Quattroporte sounds exotic,

but it simply means
"four doors".

So, is the rest of this car
that simple?

Well, no.

You see, most cars
are fairly happy
to be one thing,

a hatchback or an estate car.

But this Maserati
wants to be two things,

a dignified luxury saloon,

and a high-performance
sports car.



It's Maserati's party piece.

The original
1960s Quattroporte,

inspired by the opening
of Italy's new motorways,

was once the fastest
four-door saloon in the world.

So, let's have a look
at this car of two halves,
beginning with luxury.

On the surface,
it's all there.

Leather from the most
up-market cows,
plenty of space,

stylish Italian detailing.

And the whole thing
smells like an expensive
Florentine handbag.

But once you get on the move,
hmm...

Now, my first beef
about this car concerns
its suspension.

The low-speed ride
is not exactly ministerial.

It's the sort of thing that
big Jags and Mercedes
do much better.

My main complaint, however,
concerns the gearbox.

Now, it's one of these
flappy paddle jobs,

it's a manual gearbox
with an automated clutch.

But when you're
driving around town,
you can press a button

and turn it into
a full automatic,
which sounds great,

but it's just...

I don't know,
sometimes it feels like

Maureen from driving school
is changing gear for you.

And on her first lesson
at that!

It just isn't as good
as a real automatic.

So, it's not brilliant
when it's in executive
wafting mode.

And if I was Don Corleone

and I'd just spent
£70,000 on this,

I think there'd be
a horse's head
in someone's bed by now.

But let's see if you get
your money's worth
when it's a sports car.

There's a place in Sicily
that's just the job.

The Targa Florio,

miles and miles
of bandit-ridden
mountain roads

that, from 1906 to 1973,

made up one of the greatest
racetracks of the world.

Over the years,
the length
of the course shrank

from a staggering 700 miles
to just 40.

But even today,
this route remains
a great test of a car.

The creator of this event
was a man called
Vincenzo Florio,

and in the early days,
he had the only car
on the island.

But that wasn't gonna
stop him.

He organised a race
with a horse and a bicycle.

And the horse won.

So, let's see
if things have moved on.

Right. Once you start driving
like an Italian,

this starts to make
much more sense.

This is a fantastic bit
of road!

I've never been more keen
on these flappy
paddle gearboxes.

But you can learn to use it.

You actually can just
keep your foot planted
in the carpet,

and flick the paddles,

but if you back off a bit,
you can make the changes
much crisper.

You're getting to know it.

You're building up a rapport.

You can tell this is meant
to be a sports car
because of the engine.

Yee-hee!

4.2 V8, 400 horsepower.

Fabulous!

Listen to that!

It's not just
the engine itself,
but where it is.

They've shifted it
well back behind
the front wheels,

and put the gearbox
at the back,
all for better balance.

That's absolute
supercar thinking
and it really shows.

This is so chuckable
for a 15-foot car.

Makes you think
you're in an MX-5
or something.

If I suddenly get spattered
with flecks of vomit,

that's the sound man
in the passenger seat,

he's really not enjoying this!

This is absolutely amazing!

Imagine what this was like
in the 1950s.

In an old car with no ABS,
and no traction control.

Sheer drops
down into that valley.

I'm surprised
anybody got to the end.

In the early days
of this race,

the local bandits
used to hide in the hills

and take pot shots
at the competitors
as they went past.

But they got round
this problem by employing them
as race marshals,

shooting all the drivers.

Not that they'd get me today,
obviously,

'cause I'm outrunning
everything, even bullets!

God, if I lived here,
I'd kill myself!

If you lived here,
someone else probably
kills you first.

But that's another matter.

So, when you're in town
and just wanting
to cruise about,

there are better cars
for the job.

But out here in the mountains,

the big Maserati
is a glorious sports car.

Sure, the Germans
also do a nice line
in fast four-seaters,

but against the charisma
of the Quattroporte,

they look a little more like

just the top rung
of a company car
pecking order.

The Quattroporte has
no diesel or estate version
sullying its bloodline.

It's something very special.

So, would you buy one?

No, I wouldn't.
You see,

if I was called Flavio

and lived in
the Sicilian hills,
then I would.

It would be
absolutely fantastic.

But in real life, I just think
a Jaguar XJR would be better.

-Why?
-Because...

Well, this, okay,
is a purebred
Italian supercar.

It's just got two extra doors
and two extra seats.

But the Jaguar,
that's really a conventional
luxury car

that just happens to have
a supercar engine in it.

And the Jaguar just makes
more sense more of the time.
It's that simple.

So, what you're saying
really is that

buying one of these
to use every day would be

as daft as, you know,
say, buying a huge off-roader

in Surrey,
just to do the school run.

Exactly.
That'd be absolutely stupid!

-That would be
a preposterous thing to do.
-Completely!

Okay, so, let's move on
and do the news.

Absolutely!
In the news this week,

the new Porsche 911.
It's out very soon.

There will be with two models,
the Standard and the S.

325 and 355 brake horsepower.

Here it is. Um,
£58,000 or 65,000,

depending upon
which version you buy.

Fantastic!

-You've been suckered!
-Oh, dear.

-That's not a new 911.
-HAMMOND: Yes, it is!

Now, the thing is that,
Porsche say,

every single one
of those panels, except
for the roof, is brand new.

-Absolutely.
-Now, frankly,
I didn't believe them.

So, I rang them up and I said,
"Prove it".

And they sent us a tape
of this car being designed.

We can show that to you now.

-There they are.

Now, we know that German
fashion and hairstyles
haven't moved on much,

but I'm sorry,
that car is just the old one.

That's not new.
There's no new 911,

and there never has been.
The end.

Right. Do you remember
our pickup truck?

Of course you remember
our pickup truck,

it's in the studio,
here somewhere.

It's still running remarkably.
What did we do to that?

-HAMMOND: Everything.
Burned it...
-We set fire to it,

drowned it, blew it up
on the top of a building,

all that sort of stuff.
It still works
at the end of it.

Toyota have launched
a new Toyota pickup truck,

and they've sort of
named it after our experiment.

They've called that
the Toyota Hilux Invincible.

-What, they've really named...
-So, we named a car?

Sort of, yeah.

They acknowledge the role
of our TV programme
in the naming of that car.

-That's brilliant!
-That's fantastic!

Perhaps this would catch on.

Perhaps all cars
could be named after
what we think of them.

Ooh, yes!

The Nissan 350 Noisy,
for instance.

The Porsche KN Minger
would be quite nice.

Yes, that would be
a good name.

-How about
the Rover City Rubbish?
-Yeah.

I like City Rubbish.
The BMW 52 Ugly!

Yeah, I think
this is a good idea.

I think this is
gonna catch on.

Hey, now, last week, um,
you two were talking about
these new tall hatchbacks.

And it was, were they
worth the extra money?

We said, "No"
if they've got five seats.

"Yes" if they've got seven.

Well, Honda has come along
with the news this week

that they've got something
called a FR-V.

There it is.

And they say,
"Now seating five or seven."
Okay?

Actually, Honda had
a better idea, six seats!

Now, you see,
that's not better,
is it, really?

Six is better than five.

But if it was a seven,
it's one worse.

CLARKSON: It's one worse.

And what they actually say is,
"When you think about it,

"six seats are plenty
for most small families."

No, you see,
it still doesn't stand up,

if you've got seven people
to transport.

That's a rubbish idea!

It is a rubbish idea.

That car basically could be
beautifully made,
unbelievably reliable,

have a fantastic engine
and isn't as good as
a Toyota Corolla Verso.

-The end.
-Yeah.

News from Germany,
where they have the autobahns,

you know, unlimited,
no speed limits
on those things,

well, the two main
political parties in Germany

are now backing the scrapping
of the derestricted autobahns.

They're thinking of imposing
a blanket 80 mile an hour
speed limit.

What are they doing?

Well, absolutely!
I mean, what are they doing?

Apart from anything else,
if they do that,

what's the point in
having Germany?

Well, what's it for?

Now, we have a very,
very interesting new car
in the studio this week.

It's over here.
Have a look at this.

This is the new Mercedes CLS.

Now, it's available
with either a 3.5-litre V6
or a 5-litre V8 engine.

It goes on sale next year.

We expect prices will start
from about £45,000.

But, and here's
the really interesting thing,

it comes with
an automatic gearbox

that has seven forward speeds

and, for reasons
we just can't quite fathom,
two reverse speeds.

Yes, that's very interesting,
Hammond,

but this is more interesting,
I think it's the styling
of the thing.

Have a look.
It's been made to look like
a very svelte coupe,

but it is actually
a four-door,

and more to the point,
the doors are...

Pillarless, how cool is that?

For some reason
that's just, I don't know,
fantastic!

I think, if we were doing
the Cool Wall, this week,

we could have our first
cool Mercedes.

Quite possibly.

Okay, now, every week or so,

some manufacturer
somewhere in the world

announces that they're
going to stop making
a particular type of engine.

And to be honest, most times,
well, we don't really care.

But the other week, we heard
about the death of something
really rather special.

So get your Kleenex ready,
because coming up now
is an obituary.

A moment's silence, please,
for the passing of
the Queen Mother of motoring,

the Rover V8 engine.

Now, I know,
we don't normally do engines,

but stick with it,
because this is an icon.

It started out
as an unloved orphan,

but in its 37-year life,
it has been in
quite a few different cars.

It first appeared
in the Rover P5,

then the Rover P6,

and the Range Rover,
and the Land Rover,

the MGB GT, the MGR V8,
the Morgan Plus 8,

the Discovery,
the Triumph TR8,

loads and loads of TVRs,
the S, the Chimaera,
the Griffith,

then the Marcos,
and the Ginetta,

the Brabham
single-seater racer,

the Westfield SE8
and the Sherpa van.

Basically, it has run Britain.

Amazing!

But for us, the best home
that engine ever found
was in this,

the Rover SD1.

HAMMOND: The SD1 and this
engine are one of the great
partnerships of all time.

Think of Lennon and McCartney,

Morecambe and Wise,
Tango and Cash.

And the marriage
very nearly never happened.

The V8 was originally designed
by General Motors in America,

but nobody liked
this radical aluminium bloke.

And after just three years,
GM killed it off.

By happy accident,
Rover's Managing Director
spotted one

lying abandoned in
an American boatyard.

He bought the rights
and here we are today.

It was 1976 when the engine
slotted itself into the SD1.

But not only was it handsome,
it was clever.

Take the dashboard,
for example.

All the dials and stuff
are contained in a single
sort of box unit

that sits on top of the dash.

So, for right-hand
drive versions,

they screwed it down
on this side,

and for left-hand
drive versions,

they just screwed it down
on the other side.

And then they plugged the hole
where the steering column
would have been

with an air vent.

And at the end of it,
it always had that engine.

During its 37-year life,

the V8 popped up
as a 3.9-litre, a 4-litre,
a 4.5 and a 5-litre.

But in the SD1,
it was a 3.5-litre
with a 155 horsepower.

And here today,
the old girl gets to relive
some of her former glories

in classic touring car racing.

This is like old rockers
on a reunion tour,

and is one of the cheapest
motorsports you can do.

Do you know how much it costs
to run a season,

that's the car, tyres, engine,
11 races, the lot?

Ten grand.
Two of that is the car.

And I can't think of
a better way to pay tribute.

Okay, here we are on the grid.

And we're off!

All the cars are pre-1982,

and essentially, the racing
is between big stuff
that roars down the straights,

and small hatches that
catch them in the corners.

There were several SD1s
on the track,

but none,
and here comes the first
of the racing excuses,

were quite as basic as mine,

which had standard suspension
and standard brakes.

I'm driving a shopping car!

Besides me, there was
one other novice SD1 driver
in a white car.

So I made beating him
my goal for the race.

What a manoeuvre!
And he's got away from me!

Right, he's in a Rover
like mine,
this must be possible.

Maybe he had more talent.

But I liked to think
he had more power.

Come on! Give me more power!

I need more power!

Give me more power,
damn it!

There was nothing else for it.

I'd have to drive
right on my limit.

But what a tribute
to the big V8!

And while others were
going off all around me,

I at least managed
to stay on the track
with my comedy suspension.

Let's see if I can
have him through here.
Come on!

Yeah!

Finally,
I got past my nemesis,

but then, on the next corner,

I ran out of talent and track.

Yes! No! No!

Grass!

I need help! Beautiful!

Oh, Rover friend. No!

Oh, bother!

And that was that.

My tribute to
an amazing engine.

I'm sorry,
it was the best I could do,

but thanks anyway,
for the 37 years of service.

-CLARKSON: Great engine.
-Yeah.

And I must say,
I have to say this,

-a great drive from you.
-Thank you.

It really was.
The press were less kind,
I must admit.

I've got a cutting here,
Top Gear presenter
struggles at Snetterton.

That is just so unfair!
That is unfair.

You saw the other cars,
they were cornering level,
and mine was leaning,

because I only had
ordinary suspension
and ordinary brakes

and the engine
wasn't as powerful
as everyone else's.

You want me to
get you out of this hole?

-Yes, please.

-Shall we meet a guest?
-Yes, please.

Okay, our star in
the Reasonably Priced Car
tonight has very big ears.

Uh, so big, in fact,

that if the wheel
comes off again,

he will be able to
use them as air-brakes.

Ladies and gentlemen,
Martin Clunes.

-Hello!
-Thank you very much.

-Thank you. Thank you.
-Have a seat.

Um...

Now, um...

-A rapturous welcome.
-Yeah. Not bad, was it?

Um, now, did you
see the show
last week

when the wheel fell off?

No, I didn't,
but I've heard about it.

They told me about it
before I got in the car.

-They said the wheel
has come off.
-Did that make you nervous?

No, I was already nervous.

-Would you like to see it?
-Yeah, I'd love to, actually.

This is the one with
Lionel Richie last week.

Here he is, a bit brutal.

-And there goes the wheel.

It's now overtaking him.

And off he goes.

# Hello #

He was so nearly dancing
on the ceiling, there.

Now, your car history,
um, where does that begin?

It started with a Hillman Minx
that would get you
from Wimbledon to Putney.

And it once got stolen
by somebody,

but they only got
as far as Putney,

'cause that was
as far as it would go.

We had to
fill the radiator back.

But I found it
and nicked it back
and got it home.

Technically,
that's not stealing
if it's your own car.

That's true. Yeah.

Then you got
the bit part actor...

You were a bit part actor
in Doctor Who.

I had quite a big part,
actually.

Thank you, yes,
I was guest baddie.

Um, yes I did,
and then I bought
a BMW 3-litre thing.

-Oh, great. Good.
-Before the 7 Series.

Thing is though you needed
to buy a good car,

because we've actually got
a photograph,
I'm afraid to say,

of you in Doctor Who,
there it is.

Mushrooms were mushrooms
in those days.

CLARKSON: Ooh, look at that!

Now, since the days
of Men Behaving Badly,

you've left London
and moved to
the quiet life, really.

Mmm.

Why, I understand
you spend most of your life
doing carpentry.

I do do a fair bit
of carpentry, yeah.
Yeah, I do like it.

Why?

Why?

Because I basically,
dress up and prat around
for a living.

That then gets squirted
through the airwaves
to people's television sets,

and you're sort of
left with very little result
for your labour.

So, it's actually quite good
to go and bang
and hammer something,

and at the end of the day,
have a tiny bit of wood left.

Look at that!

It was this big
when I started!

But life in the country
suits you well?

-Yeah, very much.
-Does that suit your
driving style down there?

It suits...
I'm a land barge
van driver,

so I can see over the hedges
and everything.

You've got an Amazon.

Oh, I've got an Amazon,

yeah, but I've also got
two camper vans,
two Volkswagens.

-Camper vans?
-Well, actually,
that's not strictly true.

One's a 1969 Microbus
with just one set
of backseats.

And the other was
a 1977 delivery van
which I'm slowly doing up.

Where's that thing you've got
of all time greatest cars?

Because there's no
Volkswagen vans on there.

And I...
You ask this audience...

Through a couple of
degrees of separation,

everyone's had some exposure
to these vans in their lives.

Yeah, but they can't be
the greatest car
on the basis that

they're not cars,
they're actually vans.

If we were to do
the greatest vans
of all time...

Oh! Bollocks!

I'll get me coat!

You want to ask the audience
what exactly?

-Whether or not they...
-Hands up,

who's had some experience
of a Volkswagen camper van?

Come on. Oh,
your friends' parents,
you went for a ride...

-First snog?
-I'm quite interested,

what experience did you have
in a Volks... Yeah.

It's just a camping holiday!

It's not exactly
the kind of experience
you were thinking of.

It's time in a vehicle,
isn't it?

Does anybody have
an interesting experience
in a camper van?

Oh, you never said
interesting.

What about the cars
you've got now?

I've got the BMW 6 Series
you slagged off
on your programme.

What was your problem?
It's the first time
I've had sat nav,

and you...
Why didn't you like
the sat nav?

Well, it doesn't work
in a BMW, that's why.

It has no clue, for instance,
about the A40,
doesn't know that exists.

Well, I set off from Oxford
the other day,
Oxford to London,

back to the M40,
not in a BMW,

tries to steer me onto the M1.

Have you switched her on
though, her voice?

Sandy.

-Is that what she's called?
-I call her Sandy.

Oh, she's great.
"Turn left, stroke my back."

-Yeah?
-Yeah.

"Squeeze my leg.
Make a legal U-turn."

"Put these on."

You're having an affair
with a woman

-who lives in your dashboard.
-Yes.

Oh, Lordy, Lord!
It's quite scary.

But don't you find the car
quite uncomfortable?

I don't! No.

I did have a 540 before that,
it had those Recaro seats,
I don't have a Recaro arse.

So that was a little
sort of wedged in,
but this now, I do find it...

But I've never driven
the Jaguar, I'm not interested
in the Porsches really.

I just like to have
a couple of very fast
comfortable chairs,

and a great stereo.

Is it a hard top?

-Yeah.
-You see, that's okay.

'Cause one of the things
that worries me is,

if you have a soft top,
at our age, and I do,

often, in the Mercedes,
it's got a huge readout

of what radio station
you're listening to.

Now, sometimes I listen to
Magic FM.

So, everyone in the van,
look at that,

"Magic"
written right across it,

just going along to
Lionel Richie song.

Sunglasses on...
Hey!

"No, no,
it's Radio One, really!"

I always have to have
the sat nav on.

But, of course,
bigger Mercedes,
it's entirely different.

"Make a U-turn!"

"You will go back
and do it again!"

And lawnmowers, I understand,
you're pretty keen
on those, too.

Yes, I do.

The first week,
I had so many crashes
on that little red tractor,

I whacked it into this,
that and the other.

Now, you see,
I've got a Kubota.

I'm gonna have to
look out for a Kubota.

It's nice,
it's a four-wheel drive,
16 speed.

-It's good.
-What's your garden like?

It's well-mown, is what it is.

And I just love that whole
going up and down thing.

-Oh, the stripes.
-And also, how anal is this,

I've got a garden,
It's got like patches
of trees and things.

And you try to work out
the shortest route
to cut your lawn.

Now, what do you do?
Do you go around
the trees first

and then start striping?

This is what I'm saying.

You know what
I'm talking about.

I know, exactly.
But it always gets you around
every inch of your garden.

-I'm so dull!
-If you insist.

-Look at my engine.
-You said...
"Look at my engine."

But I sit there thinking,
"Now, I've already
cut that bit,

"and I'm gonna
have to go across it
to get to that next",

-and that's the worst thing
in the world.
-Up blades.

Um, now, obviously,
you came here
to try your hand...

-Yes.
-...in the Liana...

-Yes.
-...with its wonky wheel.

-Yes.
-Who is it on here

that you'd like to
try and beat?

Well, obviously, you know,
Neil Morrissey
springs to mind,

but he's right at the top.

And I do happen to know,
from very personal experience,

he's a really good
fast driver.

I sort of... When I got in
with The Stig, I...

I just thought,
"How can I get out of this
with some...

"I'll be funny or sick
or something.

"They'll let me off."

Is he frightening, The Stig,
when you go round with him?

No, very polite, very nice.

I had to ask him
to sort of translate
what he was saying,

he was like,
"Hard on into the corner."

I said, "I've got enough
to think about!"

I shouldn't be holding this!
Um...

Well, The Stig said, actually,
I had a quick word with him,

that you plainly
have had no experience
of track driving.

No.

Which is his polite way
of saying, you know...

-Van driver.
-Van driver, exactly.

But that you were
incredibly brave.

And we've got some footage
of Martin being brave.

Who would you like to see
his practise runs?

-AUDIENCE: Yeah!
-We have a little bit
of a tape here.

Let's run that
and have a look.

CLARKSON: There we go,
in the first...
First corner, that one.

And you never change
your expression!
That's like...

Oh, second to last corner,
that's a tricky one.

And off there.

And here we go again,
on the second to last
corner again.

-Whoo-hoo!
-Look at that!
He's just not bothered!

And here we go again,
same corner, and...

That's...
I just love the whole...

The smiling.
"I'm off the road, I may die."

After you'd calmed down a bit,

we set the stop watches,
and this is
Martin Clunes' lap.

Aggressive start, I thought.

Still... Wheel's spinning.
And still no
facial change there.

That's the way my face rests.

CLARKSON: Yes, we've got that.

-That's quite nicely done,
actually.
-Is it?

Yeah, very good.

CLARKSON: Through Chicago,
little bit wide there,
but again, not bad.

That's it.

CLARKSON: You're certainly
manhandling that thing.

Now here we go.
Did you lift?

Was that flat-out
through there?

You did get through there
without lifting off
your accelerator.

Yeah. He made me do that.
I promised not to do that.

CLARKSON:
Now, here we go. This is
the second to last corner,

this is the trickiest
one we've got.

And, yes, nicely through.
And into Gambon corner.

And there we are,
quite neatly, across the line!

Well, it's still one minute,
that's good.

It's one minute, yeah.
You're not Whiteley and Wogan.

Oh, Harry Enfield! Blimey!

Harry Enfield's the first
person who ever came here.

It was unbelievable
how bad he was.
Jonathan Ross got lost.

You, far from a disgrace.

-Really?
-Yeah.

-I might as well
break it to you now.
-I didn't beat Morrissey?

-You didn't beat Morrissey.
-No, I knew I wouldn't.
I knew I wouldn't.

But you did do it

in, I think, a very
respectable, since
it's the same time as me,

-1:50.
-Yeah!

Fantastic!

Look at that.
I'm right up there!

Ladies and gentlemen,
Martin Clunes.

Thank you.

-I'm up there with you!
-Yeah, and Lionel Richie.

Right, this is Skoda's idea
of a hot hatch.

It's a Fabia, but it's got
sports seats, it's got
very sporty alloy wheels,

and it's even been given
a sporty name.

It's called the Fabia VRS.

Problem is, though,
under the bonnet
it's got a diesel engine.

-Ugh!
-Exactly. Now, Skoda
are adamant about this.

They say that is the future
for hot hatch motoring.

So we thought,
to prove them wrong,

we'd have a sort of race
between this
and the Mini Cooper,

which is not actually
as daft as it sounds.

They're both around
£12,000, they're both
about 125 miles an hour,

and they're both did 0-60
in about nine seconds.

So, what do we reckon?
On our track,
what do we reckon?

-Which would win?
Mini. Yeah!
-AUDIENCE: Mini.

Well, we can find out.
To see if diesel
has caught up with petrol,

it is Clarkson in the Skoda
and Richard Hammond
in the Mini.

I've got better traction
off the line.

I'm in the lead!

That little Skoda
is pulling away like a train!

Here comes the first corner.
Oh!

I've out-braked him
into the first corner!

The Mini definitely brakes
better and quicker.

Oh, God, this thing
rolls around a lot.

Here we go, here we go,
here we go. Power, power,
power, power, power.

I'm giving it
everything I can.
I'm going to pull out.

Diesely Weasley
has so much power!

-Turn in later. Whoo!
-A little bit of understeer.

Yes, quite a lot of
understeer actually there.

Ooh, it's so close!

The power just comes
in huge lumps.

Sort of, boom! Like being hit
with a wrecking ball.

It's just inching away
on the stripes. That thing
has got that bit more.

Skoda Fabias weren't built
to take the Follow-Through
flat-out, that's for sure.

Ooh, no, they aren't built
to do that one, either.

Still, I'm in the lead!
I cannot believe this thing.

-I'm catching up again.
-Right up my traffic end,
mister.

Ooh!

It might be a diesel,
it might be a Skoda,
it's definitely a hot hatch.

Now, that is a sad day.

Well, doubly so,
I lost another race
in the same programme, and...

We're kinda not talking
about that.

It's a sad day because
diesel, it does seem,
has caught up to petrol.

I know!

Can I talk about
the GT40 now?

-Yes.
-Good. You see,

over the years, a number
of kit-car manufacturers
have made copies of it.

They've been
kind of plastic facsimiles
with that Rover V8 engine

that you were
talking about earlier.

Yeah, absolutely.
Somehow, the Mustang
engine as well.

And to be honest,
some were pretty good.

I mean, these are
very good indeed.

But now, Ford themselves,
has had a go at making a copy.

So think of it, really,
as a GT40
for the 21st century.

CLARKSON: This isn't it.

This is the old GT40,
the one from the '60s.

The 7-litre,
200-mile-an-hour monster

that won Le Mans
four times on the trot.

This is the new version,
which Ford says

merely takes its inspiration
from the old one.

But it has the same
massive haunches,

the same enormous tyres,
the same Emmental front end,
or full of holes.

When you put the two
of them together,

they really do look
exactly the same.

Except for one thing.

The old car was called
the GT40 because
it's 40 inches tall. Look.

It isn't even as high
as my legs.

And as a result of that,
I've never been able
to fit inside.

Let me show you
the extent of the problem.

Okay, you have to kind of
thread your legs between

the steering wheel
and the gear lever.

There we go.

Okay, I've got my knees
under the dash.

My feet are on the pedals,
but technically,

you have to say,
I'm not really in the car.

No.

It's kind of a fat peg
in a small hole, really.

Happily, however,
the new car is 43 inches tall.

Which means I can fit inside,

and that means,
I can take it for a drive.

Bye!

I actually drove
one of these cars
in America last year,

but that was
a pre-production mule.

This, this is the £111,000
finished product

the customers
will actually buy.

So, let's see what it's like.

The acceleration
is astonishing!

It actually hurts
your neck muscles

just trying to hold
your head upright.

But then, it would,
because this car develops
550 brake horsepower

and 500 pounds-feet of torque.

It's not just faster
than the old racer,

it's faster than any car
you can buy today.

Into third, 100, 110,

120, 130, 140.

Into fourth. 150,

160.

And I'm running out of runway.

The top speed
is 212 miles an hour.

So, it's faster than
the Porsche Carrera GT
and the McLaren Mercedes,

both of which are
three times more expensive.

The key to this
ferocious speed
is of course the engine.

It's a 5.4-litre
supercharged V8.

But don't get too excited,
because it says here
it was "Hand-built with pride"

by Ronald...something,
and Ken...

Basically, it was hand-built
by Ron and Ken,

and the block, well,
that comes from one of those.

Yep, the GT has pretty much
exactly the same engine

as a Ford Lightning
pick-up truck.

Just like the old GT40 then,

this is a blue-collar,
working-class hero,

taking the sledgehammer
to the blue-blooded,

automotive aristocracy.

The funny thing is though,
is it's all very civilised.

I was expecting it
to sound like a wolf
stuck in a gin trap.

I'm doing 130 miles an hour
now, and I barely have to
raise my voice.

This is amazing,
when you think
that huge engine

and the whirring
supercharger belt

are just an inch
behind your right ear.

And even more amazing
is the suspension

which cushions you
from all the bumps
and the ridges in the road.

Because it's so quiet
and comfortable,

you sometimes think,
"Ah, it's a normal car."

But, of course, it isn't.

The steering, for instance,
is incredibly direct
and incredibly precise.

I just have to run over
the white lines

and I can tell whether
they used gloss
or emulsion paint.

Gloss.

Ooh, then there's the brakes.
The deceleration
is so ferocious,

it kind of pulls
your head forwards.

I'll end up looking like
a giraffe at this rate,
with my neck muscles!

A little bit more understeer
than I was expecting here

but there's so much power,
we can cure it
with a dab of throttle.

And here we go.

This car is a sensation!

Price-wise, it's about
the same as a Ferrari 360
or a Lamborghini Gallardo.

But they're like fine wines,
delicate and crisp and subtle.

This is more like
one of those cocktails

that tastes like orange juice,
but blows your head off
after two sips.

And if you add water,
you're gonna wind up
with some serious room spin.

The sad this is
that only 28 GTs
are coming to the UK,

and most will
never see the rain.

They'll be locked away
with the family silver

and only brought out
for special occasions.

I really can't see why.
I mean, I am one
of the lucky ones.

I'm getting one of the 28.

And I'm gonna
use it every day.
I mean, why not?

I've got loads of space,
the visibility is very good,

I've got air-conditioning,
the clutch is light,

I can move the gear lever
with one hand.

It's great.

I don't think I'll ever, ever
want to get out of it.

Um... I've run it
out of petrol.

That's how much I love it.

I'm still not gonna
get out of it, though.

So, has it not got
a very big tank, then?

No. 17.5-gallon fuel tank.

And you used all of that
going round our track?

-Yeah.
-So, what does it do
to the gallon then, Jeremy?

-Four.
-Sorry?

-Four.
-Four miles to the gallon?

Seriously, four miles
to the gallon?

Ford say, though, that if
I'd been a bit more careful,
I might have got it up to 12.

Ooh, 12!
You're not gonna be careful!

Anyway, look at it,
that's the whole point
of the car.

And actually,
17.5-gallon tank, four,
four miles to the gallon.

-Hmm.
-How far does that mean you'll
be able to go with your car

before you run out of petrol?

75 miles.

-75 miles?
-Yeah.

Well, how far then
do you live,

for instance,
from the Top Gear office?

-76 miles.

Actually, it gets
worse than that,

because, you know how he said,
"Oh, I never want to
get out of it."

James and I have had
a think about this.

We don't think
he'll be able to get into it.

Let me demonstrate.
James, come on in.

Okay. Now, let's assume
this is Jeremy's GT,

parked in an ordinary
multistorey car park,

anywhere you might see,
on an ordinary day.

And James has parked up
perfectly sensibly next to it.

-That's perfectly acceptable.
-That is a very considerate
piece of parking.

I've left plenty of space.

I haven't bashed
this bloke's posh sports car
as I've got out.

No. Not in any way.
So, James got out
of there, no problem.

How are you gonna
get in there?

First off, you'll have to
leave your shopping behind

because there's
no room in there at all.

-You just open the door...
-And get in your car.

And then you go...

You can't possibly get in.

I mean, I'm sorry.
The door has got a roof.

MAY: Yeah, you know,
you gotta go...

No. It's just...
What has he bought?

Right. I think,
what's happened here is
Jeremy's bought a car

-he can't get into.
-HAMMOND: Yeah.

If he could get into it,
he couldn't go anywhere
because he'd run out of fuel.

And even if he could
get there, he couldn't
take his briefcase,

'cause it hasn't got a boot.
He really hasn't
thought it through.

No, let's just talk about
this four miles...

No, you see, Jeremy,
that doesn't count.

No, you're not in the car.

It's not really a driving car,
all right?

Because you can't drive it
with your buttocks.

I just want to get back
to this fuel consumption.

Four miles to the gallon.

I mean,
what does that work out to,
like, in time?

Let me just get
my head around this.

Fuel cost, that means
it's a pound a mile in fuel,
doesn't it?

That's just in fuel.

You know,
I was really, really...

I thought it was hilarious
when that man said
it was gonna be delayed

and he'd have to wait
for his GT.

I thought that was great news.

Actually, it can't arrive
quick enough
and start ruining his life.

I can't wait!

I've got some old jerry cans
on my Land Rover,

you could strap those to it,
maybe with fuel in?

Jealousy is a cruel mistress.

Well, it's not as cruel
as OPEC.

I think it's probably time
to find out how fast it goes
around our track.

Yeah, if you can
get enough fuel in it,
to do a lap, obviously.

If we can do that, because

the original GT40
was built to beat Ferrari
at Le Mans.

Now, this one
has been built to beat that,

Ferrari 360 CS.

That's the Challenge Stradale,
that's the one that's
basically built for the track.

So, we handed the Ford
over to something else
that drinks a lot of petrol.

The Stig.

CLARKSON: Away he goes.
Lots of wheel spin there.

Now, of course,
212 miles an hour,

this is much faster
than the Ferrari.

But that doesn't matter here.
It's all about front-end grip.

Going in nicely
into the first corner.

Whoa! A bit of slide, there.

Okay, into Chicago once again.
Oh, no, no.

That nose is running wide.

GT40 has 150 more
brake horsepower
than the Ferrari

and twice as much torque,
but it's American,
so of course...

...it won't be as good
through the corners.

Right, here we go
into the Follow-Through.
Is he lifting?

Yeah, saw the nose dip there
as he lifted.

And coming up...
Ooh, that is very fast!

You have to say,
it does look absolutely
fabulous out there

as he comes out now
to the second to last corner.

First half of the lap,
it was neck and neck
with the Ferrari.

Can he pull it out here?
Now going through Gambon!

Ooh, plenty of sliding there,
and across the line!

Now look, it was never going
to beat these two, was it?

-The hyper cars.
-No, I mean,
they cost three times more.

They're like £320,000,
but this is the big one.

Now, the producer of the show

has actually bet me £5
that the Ford cannot
beat that Ferrari.

He says that it weighs
a lot more,

and that because
it's American,

it doesn't do handling
as well as a Ferrari.

I argue that
the sheer power of that
is going to pay dividends.

-I'm genuinely
excited about this.
-You don't know, do you?

-I have no idea.
-So, we had 1:22.3 to beat.

1:21.9!

Whoa! Yes!

I'm £5 richer!

You'll need it.

£5 richer. I shall put
the first gallon of fuel.

Now, earlier on, James drove
this 400-horsepower Maserati.

Then Jeremy trumped that
with a 550-horsepower Ford
we've just seen.

But now, I'm gonna play
the power joker
with a jet engine.

Let me show you how much power
one of those has got.

Well, to find out
how powerful a jet engine is,
first you need a jet!

Well, we've got one.

A Boeing 747.
And it's ours for the day.

And just in case you think
we're on a film set,

have a look out the window,
that's real sky.

HAMMOND: The 747 is
one of the great machines
of our time, an icon.

It's been around for 35 years
and has carried
3.6 billion people.

Half the world's population
across the globe,
and it's big, too.

The tail is six storeys high
and you could park
45 cars on the wings.

And even though it weighs
almost 400 tonnes fully laden,

and carries Miss Masseuse
and 386 passengers,

it can still travel
at 575 miles an hour.

Which brings us neatly
to the engines.

They're big!

These are
General Electric CF6s.

They're 23 feet long
and they weigh six tonnes.

One engine produces
58,000 pounds of thrust,

and this has got four of them.

But 58,000 pounds of thrust,
that's kind of meaningless.

How do you get your head
around that sort of power?

Our plan is to drive a car
behind this 747

when the engines
are at full power.

The question is,
how far can the engines
blow the car off course?

It's not as easy
as you might think.

It's too dangerous
to drive them under here,
behind the engines.

They have to be well clear.

In fact, they have to be
way back here,

past the tail,
and then a bit more!

That's a good 50 yards
behind the engines!

The first car
we'll be subjecting
to a good stiff breeze

is this Ford Mondeo.

Modern, aerodynamic,
good at coping
with motorway crosswinds.

Right, here we go.

The pilot is easing up
the throttle,

building up the power.

Now, it's crucial
that we release the car
at exactly the right time,

because if these engines
run at full thrust
for more than 20 seconds,

they'll start to
rip up the runway.

And then we'll be in trouble.

Okay, the engines
are at full power,
and here comes the Mondeo.

Now, can they blow
this 1.5-tonne car off course
from 50 yards away?

Three, two...
Whoa, blimey! There it goes!

The Mondeo must have been
blasted a good 50 feet.

But we haven't finished yet.

Well, that was a modern
streamlined, aerodynamic car.

So, let's have another go now,
and see what happens

when we let loose
the Top Gear crosswind

on something a little more,
well, slab-sided.

A Citroen 2CV.

Big engine.
Lightweight hippy car.

This should be fun.

Okay, here we go again.
The engines are up to
58,000 pounds of thrust.

The car is released.

And three, two...
Whoa! Crikey!

Yes, the 2CV really
doesn't like crosswinds.

Well, there you go, you see.

Next time you're out,
you think you might
encounter crosswinds

or have to drive behind a 747
at take-off thrust,

you're better off
with a Mondeo than a 2CV.

It's a service we provide,
this stuff, you know.

Yeah.

-We're getting very good
at these public service films.
-I think so.

Last week, we did
how much it cost
to run a moustache...

-Yeah.
-...in extra fuel.

Uh, then there was that.
And next week,

we're actually going to
answer the question

that really is on the lips
of the nation this summer.

Can you ski on a public road
behind the new Jaguar estate?

Important question.

So, see you then. Good night.