He usually makes a good case with regard to the cars though.
When a US car is reviewed that they actually like they do say it. Usually it’s about it being fun though and not about the engineering. They tear lots of Euro and Asian cars apart.
He loves Euro supercars. Is there a American car that is as beautiful as a Aston DB9 or made as well as a Enzo? He’s a car snob.
http://www.astonmartin.com/thecars/db9
http://news.caradisiac.com/IMG/jpg/Ferrari-Enzo-7.jpg
BTW the car he lusted after all his life was a Ford GT40 but could never fit in it. The new version is a bit bigger and he bought one. Made a very big deal about it on the show.
It’s true that Clarkson regularly throws out biased comments. He does do it with style though.
However his serious commentary on Isaac Kingdom Brunel as part of ‘The Greatest Living Englisman’ series was superb.
Okay, I’m from Mississippi, so I’ll give a few insights into this. Firstly, Ogre, you gotta admit, that most people indeed don’t get the humor from our neck of the woods. I mean it’s freaking British TV. I’ve tried to get some of my friends onto Top Gear, but they haven’t really responded. It’s not like it’s prejudice against British TV shows, it’s just that it’s so far removed from our sense of life. A bunch of Brits making jokes about things that most Americans haven’t heard of isn’t so interesting. That’s all. Now those of us here on the SMDB are obviously much more interested in all things international.
Now, I was a bit embarrassed about this part too. Look, we want to deny that it happened, or put the blame somewhere else, but I can see this kind of thing happening. On the other hand, how much of it is totally real, that’s up for debate. The earlier Top Gear seasons seemed a bit cheesy with explosions, I will admit. I’m almost positive that some of their cars were rigged to explode. Second, if it is 100% legit, I will admit that it was primarily due to the lack of respect such a display means. People from the south don’t necessarily have an inferiority complex so much as a pride in being different from the rest of the country. Of course we all know that the rest of the world things we’re ignorant, etc. It’s not like we sit around feeling ashamed for ourselves or something, but when someone does come around just to mock us, then we do get defensive. And these rednecks at the gas station didn’t like being made fun of. Had there been no TV crew, then I am not sure it would be the same. The point is a bunch of outsiders came around with TVs to make fun of their way of life (Of which they are proud) and that’s humiliating.
The Top Gear guys aren’t as anti-american as you’d imagine and they do perpetuate a lot of stereotypes about the South, but you gotta remember the show’s audience. It doesn’t even air, in America if I’m correct. It’s not a very sophisticated sense of humor, but neither is France bashing in America either.
And say what you will about Clarkson, but you at least have to admit him being pretty fair with his opinions. He is very opinionated, and when it comes to opinions, you don’t need so much reasoning behind them. He’s aware of this, but he is also very open to change his opinion if what made him judge a car has changed. I’ve seen him on numerous occasions change his mind about a company based on an improved model. He might think that one brand of car is particularly bad, but he seems to be open to individual models being improvements. The show is basically about three guys with completely different tastes giving equally valid opinions. Why else would James May be a part? He’s not a speed freak, like the other guys, and generally prefers style over cutting edge performance.
As far as their opinion of America goes, I think they do have their prejudices, and in this particular episode, they weren’t really out to change them, but they do have a love of American cars that does make a lot of sense. In Europe, there are not so many cars that have the cultural cachet of most American muscle cars. In this episode, it’s great to see the three guys, just after having bought their cars, simply smiling with glee about being in big, ugly American cars with large engines. One can say that they really appreciate the character of American cars despite their technical flaws. This means a lot, to me, because despite their love of high-performance European roadsters, etc, they also can appreciate things with character. They simply love cars and can appreciate any aspect of them that can be seen as positive. Hammond has an American muscle car (an old Mustang, I think) Clarkson really loves his GT40, despite it’s reliability problems, and May…well I don’t think he’s gone one. But As they were driving into New Orleans it’s interesting to note how they said they had grown quite attached to them.
Top Gear has always professed complete honesty, but I think the joke is that most of the public kinda realizes that part of it can be staged. The caravan fire comes to mind. Also, where the hell did Jeremy Clarkson get that cow? And did they actually eat it? I doubt it, but it made for a great show.
In Miami they were talking to the locals, who were more than willing to exaggerate about how dangerous it is. I know there are obviously dangerous neighborhoods, but guaranteeing that you will be shot for entering a neighborhood is a bit too much.
And his co-hosts made an even bigger deal of the fact that it was such a pile of shit that he sent it back, and then repurchased it :smack:. He also gave it a GasGuzzler award, because it uses more gas than the Bugatti Veyron :eek:
Si
From a link sent to me from a workmate who lurks here. Hello Vincent 
Top Gear dead cow stunt garners 91 public complaints
:rolleyes:
When it broadcast, I said to my wife “they will get in SO much trouble for that”. 
I think they do it deliberately. And they don’t really care either.
Si
It does, or I should say it did, on the Discovery Channel. I don’t think there have been any new episodes for over a year; they last aired in the fall of '05, right before the show went on hiatus because of J. Clarkson’s back surgery.
Meself, I can’t wait for it to come back. Anybody here know when that will be?
He also pointed out that this “american” car had:
Wheels by Germans.
Brakes by Italians.
Gearbox by British.
Body by British.
Steering from Aston Martin.
Chassis by Lotus.
snerk
YouTube have pulled the videos for copyright violation, which is a bit of a bugger as it’s perfectly legal for UK citizens to view them.
I doubt it is, to be honest. The uploader has no right to distribute the material.
All of which is owned by Ford.
Italians, British, and Germans are owned by Ford?
I doubt this, too. However, I’ve heard BBC reps state in the past that they’ve got no problem with clips such as this being circulated (they can reap the benefits of viral popularity, without having advertisers to justify it to).
Yep!
I think the BBC have an ambivalent attitude to this sort of thing. Those clips were all over Youtube and Google Video a short time after the show finished, as Top Gear clips always are. If the Beeb, as a major content creator, were serious about copyright infringement I’m sure that they could have been taken down a lot sooner than they were. (After all, how hard are clips to track down on the popular upload sites?). They seem to let them live long enough to propogate through all the boards and blogs, and then get them taken down. Presumably it is important for them to at least make an effort to defend copyright.
A similar situation exists with a very well known torrent site (which shall not be named). The site specialises in new UK TV shows. It takes down stuff on it’s own accord that is available to buy, but has for example every soap, cookery programme, current affairs documentary and whatnot that is never going to be sold commercially. I wonder if the BBC (and the other UK stations) allow it to live because they are interested in using the distribution model in some way?
BTW that site you’re talking about doesn’t accept new members anymore IIRC. I’m a member from well back though 
Ummm. That’s an interesting link I suppose.