I’m a woman who likes Top Gear. It’s funny. They make fun of things in a very witty manner, they go around messing up cars or having accidents, they make asses of themselves in foreign locales, they have ludicrous contests, etc. I don’t care so much about the fancy cars, particularly since they usually review ones that I either can’t afford or couldn’t get in the US anyway, but it’s still a great show. I especially like the news segments and the challenges. I can’t wait for the upcoming season.
Sex symbols? Well, speaking as a 25-year-old, um, no. Hammond isn’t bad-looking, but the other two. . .let’s just say it’s all about the personality.
Don’t tell my coworkers, 90% of their complaints about the automatic Citroën rentals we’ve gotten lately were along the lines of “it just doesn’t fucking! Sound! Right, damnit!” Offending their collective Machus Hispanicus pride is dangerous, you’ve been warned.
Both Dad and my driving teacher emphashized the importance of listening to the motor in order to know when to switch gears or tell if you were choking it. I’m reasonably sure both were males (that moustache on the teacher is a good hint).
gee whiz…so many posts, everybody talking about cars stuff. But nobody has yet spoken the truth about Top Gear: It is NOT a show about cars.
It’s a show about 3 adult guys acting like children, and getting away with it every time. It’s fun.
It’s silly. But it’s got nothing to do with the cars.
It would be just as entertaining if those three hosts did something else together. Maybe a cooking show, or a travelogue. Or one of those “do-over” shows (re-do your house, re-do your wardrobe, etc).
They’ve all done other shows - May doesMan Lab;Hammond did Braniac and Clarkson had Speed. Just to name the three shows me and the kid watched over the last few years. All good fun, none of them as good as Top Gear. Whether it’s the Stig getting another decimal point off the supercar lap time or a star in a reasonably priced car. The races between the lads in different forms of transport are both fun and informative. Some of the roads they travel are just freaking gorgeous (The Golan Heights - who knew?)
I don’t know why it’s so hard to accept that women might also like the cars. I’ve been driving cars for 30+ years, I’m interested in them.
Part of it for me is that I don’t particularly like the cars, the new, unaffordable ones, at least, and expect guys to be dumb enough to like them but in my old-fashioned, gallant manner, I assume women are smarter than that. This thread has shown me otherwise. The old shitboxes are more my speed; I coulda told May and Clarkson that any (non-Italian) econocar from the Sixties would win in that race across the Botswana salt flat because they don’t weigh anything and that the Bug would win overall because driving through deserts and jungles is just what they do. It’s in their nature. Hell, t’was a time when people (mostly men) would compete for the dumbest thing they could make their Bugs do and still survive.
Sure, I started out 45 years ago with Road & Track and Car and Driver, but my current favorite is Practical Classics, a magazine with an oxymoronic name because British saloons of the 50s, 60s, and 70s are, uniformly, utter shite and any magazine with a multi-part series following the restoration of an (IIRC) Austin A40 is naturally hilarious.
Ah, so what color is your Buick? Might want to take another look at some recent developments in the tuner market. The Scion FRS and it’s first cousin the Subaru BRZ have a curb weight of 2700 and 200 horse. Subaru’s WRX STI rounded 300. The SRT might have been fugly, but 230 hp made it respectable. The Nissan 350 and up have serious ROWR factor, and 300+hp. (Have you seen the 370? It’s humpable.) Hyundai’s Genesis Coupe is a sexy little beastat 350 horse. They are lightweight. They handle. They are quick.
Not even going to mention the new gen Charger, Mustang, Challenger, and Camaro. Surely you’ve heard them rumble past you in the left lane?
My first Buick was a white '61 Special with a 364 Nailhead V8. Weighing nothing, as cars of that era did, it was quick. The next was an puke beige '88 wagon with a 305. It weighed more than the Titanic and was not quick, but it was free. I would like to someday get my hands of my MIL’s gold '94 Roadmonster wagon with a slightly detuned Corvette 350. It scares my wife. I like that in a car.
Current daily driver is a bright yellow '07 Focus 3-door with a stick. It can get out of its own way, but I have to be careful around cops. Never thought I’d be able to afford a car with DOHC, but here we are in the 21st and they’re commonplace.
Current ponycars are caricatures of the originals, except for the Mustang. The Charger is uncool, the Challenger looks too heavy compared with the (heavy) original, and the Camaro is downright stupid looking from every angle. The Mustang, though…I always was a Ford man.
See now, I don’t even pretend to be able to own anything other than a couple of Hondas (for the steering and reliability), Daihatsu (economy and reliable Toyota engine) and aMini ('cause, YAY!) over the years, but I do enjoy watching the expensive supercars. Like I enjoy gadget porn for computer periherals I have no intention of buyng (Steampunk … drool).
We had the ‘3 wise men’ episode last night and it was great seeing the Fiat go so well, if nothing else because my boss has a Fiat and one of my cousins had a restored Bambina.
And I took that Mini places cars just shouldn’t go. It’s amazing how much can fall off those cars before they stop running, and how much fun that seems when you’re 25 and stupid.
Whaaa? Cars on the whole were quite a bit heavier then than they are now.
I agree with you about the Mustang and the Camaro, though (2008 Mustang GT owner).
My girlfriend sums up the show for me quite nicely. She says “I love little Richard Hammond. I’d like to put him in my pocket and carry him around with me.”
I enjoy looking at fast, shiny things that I will never own, drive or see in person.
Cars were one of my family’s favorite pastimes while I was growing up and my parents had an awesome rotation of vehicles. We went to car shows and drag strips regularly as a family. I grew up appreciating and loving autos in general.
I’m a 31 year old lady.
I also love football.
