Personally I loved their special series episodes, the trips to far away countries with sometimes wild cars were the best episodes! The episode where they all build RVs has to be my favorite.
I think you hit the nail on the head. The chemistry Clarkson, James, and Richard had was truly genuine. It felt like watching life long friends just having fun.
All over the world it made a huge impact lol been a fan forever as well. But alot of the challenges they got recognized everywhere...man i miss the show
I remember the first time I turned on the BBC here in the states and Clarkson was on and the rest was history , so happy UA-cam has so much of its old content .
@@FitmentIndustries the Old Top Gear and TG with the trio will always be eternal, they cant be replaced. Fifth Gear is still the old Top Gear with Tiff and Vicki while The Grand Tour is Top Gear Two with the Trio. the new top gear is worse with American Top gear with Rutledge
u can with the 3 car throttle guys, they will be their follow ups sometime. i really hope they do something together to make em known to the top gear/grand tour publicum
Clarkson finally fought back against the biggest media conglomerate in (arguably) all of Europe, and killed their greatest show of the era after running it for decades. Pretty epic shit
Clarkson punched a producer and justified it by saying there was a "huge pressure" to keep up viewership and ratings. Don't get me wrong, he was a fantastice presenter and the show is not the same without him, but he was absolutely in the wrong for assaulting his coworker.
Top gear is what REALLY got me into cars. Tbh Clarkson, Hammond, and May were the guys that made it good. After they left, I stopped watching. It just wasn't good anymore
@@vitreo1363 Not cancelled, they're just doing specials only, which has been curtailed a bit due to Covid. They're releasing a new Grand Tour special on 18th December.
Everyone looks at it with rose tinted glasses and glosses over the fact that the show wasn't "genuine" at all. There were some genuine moments where they told jokes and laughed and some genuine moments of misfortune, but almost all the gags in the show were scripted. The only difference is that it was entertaining and didn't come across as cheap, fake humour.. even though it was.
I've watched all their seasons with the clarkson, may and Hammond. Tried watching the new one but was interested only in Chris harris' parts. The utube channel he had "CH on cars" was absolute porn for car enthusiasts. He is one of the greatest motoring journalists out there.
Top Gear season 9 and 10 were the absolute peak of the show. My favorite episode is probably the Vietnam special. Top Gear vs the Germans was properly epic too.
Yes the Vietnam episode is really special, it's more than just the any other episodes. I love also the race where Jeremy is driving Mercedes SLR Vs Ship/Boat.
Top gear Africa special is my favorite it really shows how beautiful the place is. I choked up a little bit when Jeremy said they were ending grand tour
Jeremy, James, and Richard, in all their various forms and shows, together, alone, or partnered with a MythBuster, can do no wrong. My wife, my father, and my children all agree.
Top gear was amazing in every sense, it sucked that the trio eventually left, but hey at least they still gave us some content with amazon's the grand tour. I still watch what Clarkson, May, Hammond and what they're up to on DriveTribe, but I feel like they've done their time. I've recently been obsessed with Jason Cammisa's content because the man's just so passionate and funny. That and also, Car Throttle and The Car Trek series really fill the gap that old Top gear left for me.
@@donnycorn3086 Yeah not knocking on the their production value, and the type of cars they review are great. It's really just their forced jokes that come off unnatural. Small nitpicks I know, I know.
Has anyone noticed how cheerful and happy Jeremy is in the first couple of seasons of the show up until his divorce which was around 2008. He became more stressed out after that and things took a serious tone with legal issues soon after. But the first few seasons were an absolute silly joy to watch with some informational episodes especially during the first season on used car purchase prices.
Chris Harris is the only one in all of those names who has the same vibe of Clarkson, Hammond, and May. The way he communicates is just honest, hilarious, and strangely trustworthy. He is a fellow M2 fan/owner as well, which provides me some middle-ground to relate to. This was a great video, thanks guys!
So just a few things. The original Top Gear wasn't really about safety etc it was a consumer program talking about cars... but in a really dull "lets look at the figures" kind of a way. They held a competition for a new presenter and Jeremey Clarkson (who was a reporter for a local paper in Yorkshire at the time) got the job. Then he brought in his own style, which was about how a car feels in terms of being exciting, attractive, interesting... it had barely any facts and figures and was very personal.... people loved it. In fact it was such a change that he became the focus of the show, which became a problem for the executives at the BBC. His reviews for GM's UK products were merciless about how bland they were and they refused to let him review their cars... which made it even worse for them because it kind of pointed to them being ALL boring. The limitations of the budget and format and his own desire to do other programs led to him leaving and being replaced by a succession of similar people all of which brought their own issues :-D. In the meantime Jeremy Clarkson did shows like "Jeremy Clarkson's Motorworld" and so forth. By 2000 Top Gear was on it's last legs and the executives at the BBC were dead against cars and anything they perceived as being not progressive but the lack of decent Top Gear was a hole in their scheduling. So much show that Top Gear Magazine (that barely sold anyway) died. After his Clarkson's highly successful other shows he and a producer called Andy Wilman pitched the BBC a new Top Gear, that they would entirely produce and that BBC Studios would essentially commission and pay for. The BBC would have limited editorial control but to be honest I think they expected it to fail and as they were not required to pay up front... the BBC thought they had a no lose situation. It was an immediate success. By season two the very last of the "old style" content was gone when Jason Dawe, who most people suspected the BBC insisted on, was replaced by James May and every season had bigger audiences and in more countries. But like many things in the BBC, success breads jealousy and as an organisation it's populated by a lot of very far left leaning people who believe THEIR version of the world is correct and everyone should comply to it. So in a number of instances otherwise easily ignored or accidental gaffs were blown up because success is something some people can't stand. By the mid 2010's the BBC executives were suffering from two shows essentially banking the channel. They were Top Gear and Doctor Who, both of which brought in around £250 MILLION in revenue. For an example of the jealousy, the Guardian published this - www.theguardian.com/media/2012/sep/27/top-gear-jeremy-clarkson There were a number of events that led to the end but the fact is that what the BBC did during the Argentina escapade just drew a line in the same. Local politicians in Argentina, looking to boost their profile, used a number plate on the Porsche Jeremy Clarkson was driving "referred to the UK Argentina war". The only problem being that it was the original number plate for the car and the BBC new this. In fact Classic and Sportscar came out and stated as fact it was the number plate because they used it as a perfect example of a 928 GTS for a profile they did. But the BBC remained silent and if anything stoked the flames and put the BBC presenters and crew in danger by covering the story but NOT covering the fact it was false. This put a very bitter taste in the presenters minds. So they were already looking to go elsewhere. When Jeremy Clarkson did have a scuffle with Oisin Tymon. It should be noted that Oisin Tymon wasn't going to report the incident and it was Jeremy Clarkson who reported the incident. There's a lot of speculation that this was down to him feeling deeply responsible but also he new his contract was up for renewal so... if you wanted to leave and wanted an excuse, why not use your own mistake. He was correct in that the BBC failed to renew his contract, he was NEVER fired, that's just what dumb news outlets said. The BBC totally expected Producer Wilman, May and Hammond to remain. So when they left, that put the BBC in quite the situation. The fact that Amazon announced the Grand Tour so quickly after that, kind of tells you that Wilman and Clarkson were already in talks with the streaming giant probably after the Argentina incident. There, that's my two 'penneth for what it's worth.
I STILL love watching them. It's not just their personalities but their love for cars. It's genuine & doesn't feel scripted. Their new shows & individual ones are awesome 💕 2010-2021 still watching them !!!
Too Gear was so good, I watched it near religiously before I was even into cars. Like yeah cars were cool but I didn’t really care, and yet Top Gear was entertaining anyway. Chris Harris is so good love his reviews and hostings. Kinda unrelated to above but it often must be mentioned
I have it on good authority that Jeff Bezos personally drove a dump-truck full of money up to Jeremy's house during negotiations for 'The Grand Tour'. On second thought... the amount they got probably required several trucks.
It actually started in late 60s/early 70s as a 25min on BBC4. The gal would review cars while going to get tea or coffee. The format we grown to know started on the BBC in 77.
I loved those seasons 12 to like 22 or so. Fantastic content. My problem now is that we dont do cable and hence very hard to watch something thats not online. UA-cam is pretty much all i watch anymore. Kudos to chris harris though....spot on with his reviews and loves cars just as much as we all do.
I agree. It was a beautiful, enthusiastic era of automotive content for us that got to experience it in our time. It is what it is until it is what it was. That’s Top Gear as we knew it at the time, perfected. Everything before or after is not bad, it’s just different. Now I am thankful for FI, Throtl and Donut for my auto content.
It's also worth mentioning the huge contribution of Richard Porter aka Sniff Petrol the script writer of Top Gear and the Gran Tour, he's like the fifth Beatle of TG and has had a massive influence on the shows essence and sensibilities. He's got a great book which gives a behind the scenes account of what happen on Top Gear. Proper petrolhead and very funny man. P. S. I'm not his publisher.
Top Gear was NEVER about Cars and the Nerd/Tech of Fifth Gear. It's why Fifth Gear was always in second place to Top Gear. Top Gear was about the antics of 3 middle aged muppets bouncing around with a budget and beers. It became the number 1 BBC highest grossing export. But the BBC forgot what made Top Gear "Top Gear". The dismissal of Clarkson over a punch was a foregone conclusion, but Hammond and May went with their mate. They went from £300k per year to £12M per year salary. And they still did the same nonsense which is why Top Gear plummeted in ratings. It's was about 3 old farts having a laugh.
I said it once and ill say it again. Those three had the best job of all time and the fact tbey were just 3 friends having a laugh made it seem that much more fun.
Top Gear played a massive part in who I am now. Ever since I was young I was obsessed with wheels and cars, but a lot of my knowledge when I was young came from Top Gear
And in case if you miss the action, Clarkson, Hammond, and May are still here in the Grand Tour Sure it may not be the same as the old Top Gear we all watched but it’s still very entertaining and still has that charm
Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond, were definitely the best presenters. However Chris, Harris Matt LeBlanc, And Rory Reid, did a pretty good job. The presenters they brought in to replace Rory Reid, and Matt Leblanc, seam less interested in the cars and more interested in acting in a TV show.
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I’m a fan of the trio through and through, including any and all of James May’s spin-offs and UA-cam shows. Top gear is still one of my favorite shows to watch and rewatch. Favorite episodes include the budget supercars, the race to the alps in the F12, and any of the specials. Not a fan of the original Top Gear USA, but I did enjoy the most recent Motortrend version with Dax Shepard. Top Gear will go down as one of the greatest shows ever(IMO) and I’m lucky to have grown up during that era. Great video
Let's be real here. Most people watch the show not because it's a car show with lots of cool cars. It's because of the trio doing things they absolutely love and enjoy to do. I don't only watch old Top Gear and The Grand Tour but also their other shows like James May Our Man in Japan, Clarkson's Farm, The Great Escapist, and Oh Cook as well. It's the bois that made the shows great. And their crews perfecting the shows making it one of the best shows ever aired in television.
I just finished watching every episode of the 3 guys on Top Gear via Amazon Prime... after I just finished watching every episode just before that. I am now watching The Grand Tour again and will probably watch Top Gear again, it is pretty much all I have watched on my Amazon account lol
Top Gear Sweden is even more tragic, well the first season sucked and was too heavily scripted and produced with Danish top gear (basically the exact same program, same cars, same script but in danish with other hosts). In case you don’t know Sweds and the Danish and even Norwegian can all understand each other to a varying degree, despite speaking different languages, Sweds usually ether find Norwegian easier to understand over Danish or Danish over Norwegian (largely depending on which part of Sweden you are from, Stockholmare usually don’t even understand Sweds from the southern part of Sweden so don’t bother talking to them). I personally think (spoken) Norwegian (Ny Norsk) is easier to understand than Danish (can’t really comment on Norsk Bokmål since I haven’t attempted to read Norwegian and yes Norway has one spoken version of their language and one written), but I’m working on the Danish. Markolio can’t drive for sh*t, yet was the one who was tasked with driving the cars on track and he was so awfully heavily scripted with words he clearly never use when talking normally, he was so awful in-fact that he made Adam Alsing look bad. Adam Alsing unfortunately passed away due to the pandemic after filming the first season and before it aired, which is easily the most tragic thing about the whole program. The only good thing about the season was Tony Rickardsson a retired Speedway rider who did a great job as a host or precentor and the man can drive too.
Absolute favorite TV series EVER! I'm a 60 YO motorhead whose first car was a '68 Charger. (but I identify as a 12 YO) I still go back and rewatch the old episodes. Their irreverent, juvenile antics keep me young.
Agreed. Chris Harris deserves his place on top gear. I never liked matt le-blonc initially. But after a few episodes and some freedom. He was a true petrol head and could pedal 2 or 4 wheels.
While the trio was absolutely great, TG since they left has still been enjoyable. As expected it took them a while to get the cast right but the product is still good if you take the nostalgia out. And GT wasn't as great as Jeremy and the gang at TG either. Especially Season 1. Honestly I'm just glad we have TG and GT(or whatever it is now) :)
Hi I put bilstein coilovers on my Audi A7 and I hear a clunking when turning the steering wheel at low speed and when slowing down. I’ve changed everything except steering rack No one knows what the problem is. Please help.
I teach high school auto mechanics. Have used the the trios segments in class for years. Refer to them as automotive journalist gods. Explain to my students that you can vicariously learn what it’s like to experience a super car because let’s face it , one will be lucky to ever sit in one never mind drive one … you are spot on about chris Harris and there is no Top Gear America I tell students when asked 😂. Keep up the good work !
Apart from the iconic trio, my favorite set was Harris, LeBlanc and Reid. The current lineup comes in third and I would happily watch 70s eps before watching ones with Evans. Grand tour is fun, but still not quite the same as the height of top gear with the trio. Favorite ep would be South America in the clapped out 4x4s and from the set with Harris, Leblanc and Reid I'd say Kazakhstan.
Going with a hypothetical of LeBlanc, Flintoff and Harris - it didn't and won't happen but I find the three of those the most watchable. Reid was a little corny and Evans as you point out, was a disaster.
@@GeorgeLupica I think it was what he did with the Rolls Royce for the track day that ruined it for me haha. Chris and Matt did their cars up quite nicely - Rory went all Pimp My Ride, yuck lol.
I've grown up in a city without BBC other than news so the only TopGear I watched was the USA version and while it's not better than the UK I think it's still fun to watch.
Africa special is my fav Top gear episode, where Jermy makes a makeshift handbreak and says "sometimes my genius is almost frightening" the new top gear just can't match that, neither the lines nor the ingenuity.
James, Richard, and Jeremy will always be my favorite. But honestly, the current lineup is pretty good. The overall show is still not as good, but I think they finally have another 3 hosts with good chemistry.
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I think it's a blessing in disguise that the BBC sacked Clarkson. Because of that, they managed to produce the Grand Tour which enables them to go all out at producing entertaining contents. And I think that Harris-LeBlanc-Reid trio was also great, the chemistry were there but axed too early by the BBC. The current lineup is chaoticly good, though
Loosing the three kings from Top Gear is like loosing a loved one. Someone you'd look forward to enjoy spending time with after a long days work only to come home to an empty house.
Top Gear USA is kinda slept on. It's no Top Gear UK but over time the US hosts developed their own chemistry and style. You guys should do a what happened to about that show.
I liked certain episodes of Top Gear USA (the one with Tanner Foust) but really only because their challenges used cars that weren't available or popular enough in the UK to warrant being compared in a set of head-to-head challenges
Favorite episode: Jeremy Clarkson's crazy tall Citroen on their caravanning challenge. I love laughing along with James when Clarkson hit the highway and it began to sway in the wind.
Watching this while seated in my 94 Hilux with over a million km on the clock with an engine that's never been opened and sometimes decides it just wants to run on 3 cylinders for the day lol. The Botswana special will always be my favorite though
My favorite episode of top gear was the British leyland challenge, every cheap car challenge was my favorite, even though the cars were crap, they didn’t care, they had more fun in them than when they drove expensive cars 🥲, true friendship and genuine laughs
What is YOUR favorite episode of Top Gear? Drop a comment below!
Wheels/Tires/Suspension 👇
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Personally I loved their special series episodes, the trips to far away countries with sometimes wild cars were the best episodes! The episode where they all build RVs has to be my favorite.
My favorite is season 15 episode 1
Episode where they bash the hilux then starts it up after allllll the smashing
The three wheeled Sparrow that kept turning over 😆
vietnam special
I think you hit the nail on the head. The chemistry Clarkson, James, and Richard had was truly genuine. It felt like watching life long friends just having fun.
It’s basically what they are, lifelong friends having fun 🤣🥲
And now they moved backwards and Top Gear is just educational, again.
Its probably the reason why Amazon throwed in Grand Tour really fast.
thats why top gear will never be the same again. those legends made the show we grew to love
@@MuhLodic Top Gear isn't even half as good now.
Top Gear: *gets cancelled*
Jeremy Clarkson: "And on that terrible disappointment, it's time to start the Grand Tour"
#FreeTheStig
*Contract not renewed
Clarkson: "Oh no!"
Clarkson: "Anyway."
Grand Tour is pretty much over now too though, it's just specials.
One of my favorite series ever, crazy how much impact a British show made in the US
All over the world it made a huge impact lol been a fan forever as well. But alot of the challenges they got recognized everywhere...man i miss the show
I remember the first time I turned on the BBC here in the states and Clarkson was on and the rest was history , so happy UA-cam has so much of its old content .
You cant replace Hammond, May and Clarkson in Top Gear. They are the best
The Trio is ELITE
@@FitmentIndustries the Old Top Gear and TG with the trio will always be eternal, they cant be replaced.
Fifth Gear is still the old Top Gear with Tiff and Vicki while The Grand Tour is Top Gear Two with the Trio.
the new top gear is worse with American Top gear with Rutledge
They are the greatest...
...in the world
u can with the 3 car throttle guys, they will be their follow ups sometime.
i really hope they do something together to make em known to the top gear/grand tour publicum
*It’s crazy how Top Gear is still relevant in modern meme culture after nearly a decade.*
Ik aye, i guess it was part of most peoples childhood and first experience with car culture
also a lot of memes are coming from the grand tour, like Jeremy's remarks about his exceptional genius
tonight on medium gear, what happen when you taste exhoost fum
Oh no!
Anyway . . .
TONIGHT ON BOTTOM GEAR
Clarkson finally fought back against the biggest media conglomerate in (arguably) all of Europe, and killed their greatest show of the era after running it for decades. Pretty epic shit
Thats one way to recontextualize it
The show is nothing without the cast
Clarkson punched a producer and justified it by saying there was a "huge pressure" to keep up viewership and ratings. Don't get me wrong, he was a fantastice presenter and the show is not the same without him, but he was absolutely in the wrong for assaulting his coworker.
@@boofmac6978 Well of course he was by law, but that doesn't mean that the producers didn't deserve it lmao
Chad Clarkson
Top gear is what REALLY got me into cars.
Tbh Clarkson, Hammond, and May were the guys that made it good.
After they left, I stopped watching.
It just wasn't good anymore
Chris harris is a great reviewer but the other 2 are very average
@@aadi8568 Worse than average. The are actually cringeworthy.
Top Gear: Get's cancelled
The Grand Tour: Oh no!..... Anyways...
I see what you did there 😏🤣
Wasn't it the Grand Tour that got cancelled?
@@vitreo1363 no it was top gear
@@legocommandercody800 Not really; they're releasing a new season this next week.
@@vitreo1363 Not cancelled, they're just doing specials only, which has been curtailed a bit due to Covid. They're releasing a new Grand Tour special on 18th December.
Three of them will always be remembered as Legends in history Automotive Journalism
You meant to say 4,right? Chris Harris is a legend as well!
Respect for Richard Hammond who isn’t one of the tags on the video whilst may and clarkson are
what happened to him?
@@nazmisyazwan2156 crashed
@@makurei6888 i thought he was too short for a tag
Mr. Hammond is undoubtedly my most favorite presenter. However Mr. May enjoys reviewing the same type of vehicles I am also interested in.
The last bit was spot on. Top Gear was what youtube car channels are now. How genuine the show was still is something you don't find often now.
Everyone looks at it with rose tinted glasses and glosses over the fact that the show wasn't "genuine" at all. There were some genuine moments where they told jokes and laughed and some genuine moments of misfortune, but almost all the gags in the show were scripted. The only difference is that it was entertaining and didn't come across as cheap, fake humour.. even though it was.
You on about? The whole show was scripted. They were able to disguise it better at first but rewatch some of the final series and TGT, awful
@@exiledone69 still worked though, still had the chemistry
I've watched all their seasons with the clarkson, may and Hammond. Tried watching the new one but was interested only in Chris harris' parts. The utube channel he had "CH on cars" was absolute porn for car enthusiasts. He is one of the greatest motoring journalists out there.
Top Gear season 9 and 10 were the absolute peak of the show. My favorite episode is probably the Vietnam special. Top Gear vs the Germans was properly epic too.
Yes the Vietnam episode is really special, it's more than just the any other episodes. I love also the race where Jeremy is driving Mercedes SLR Vs Ship/Boat.
to me the peak was from season 10 to 18
I loved the Vietnam Special but my second favorite is The Three Wise Men Christmas Special.
Top gear Africa special is my favorite it really shows how beautiful the place is. I choked up a little bit when Jeremy said they were ending grand tour
Don't worry, the specials are still around
New Grand Tour special on French cars out on Dec. 17th
Carnage A Trois
Jeremy, James, and Richard, in all their various forms and shows, together, alone, or partnered with a MythBuster, can do no wrong. My wife, my father, and my children all agree.
I'll never get tired of top gear or the Grand Tour! Such well put together shows with the greatest hosts!
Top gear was amazing in every sense, it sucked that the trio eventually left, but hey at least they still gave us some content with amazon's the grand tour. I still watch what Clarkson, May, Hammond and what they're up to on DriveTribe, but I feel like they've done their time. I've recently been obsessed with Jason Cammisa's content because the man's just so passionate and funny. That and also, Car Throttle and The Car Trek series really fill the gap that old Top gear left for me.
Hagerty's ICONS Series, too. Jason done an epic job highlighting the cars at best.
Those are all great, Car Throttle kinda tries way too hard to be Top Gear though and comes off a little too scripted IMO
@@soapa4279 but at times, i thought they kinda worked out the stuffs to deliver the content.
@@donnycorn3086 Yeah not knocking on the their production value, and the type of cars they review are great. It's really just their forced jokes that come off unnatural. Small nitpicks I know, I know.
Veryyyyy true
Has anyone noticed how cheerful and happy Jeremy is in the first couple of seasons of the show up until his divorce which was around 2008. He became more stressed out after that and things took a serious tone with legal issues soon after. But the first few seasons were an absolute silly joy to watch with some informational episodes especially during the first season on used car purchase prices.
Throttle House is a really good alternatif, if you want to watch this kinda stuff.
I loved trying to figure out who the Stig was.
Some say he’s the fifth member of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 🤨
It was former f1 driver named Perry Mccarthy for most of the series but there were others
Top Gear & Gran Turismo 4 pretty much shaped my interest of cars during the high school years.
Chris Harris is the only one in all of those names who has the same vibe of Clarkson, Hammond, and May. The way he communicates is just honest, hilarious, and strangely trustworthy. He is a fellow M2 fan/owner as well, which provides me some middle-ground to relate to. This was a great video, thanks guys!
So just a few things. The original Top Gear wasn't really about safety etc it was a consumer program talking about cars... but in a really dull "lets look at the figures" kind of a way. They held a competition for a new presenter and Jeremey Clarkson (who was a reporter for a local paper in Yorkshire at the time) got the job. Then he brought in his own style, which was about how a car feels in terms of being exciting, attractive, interesting... it had barely any facts and figures and was very personal.... people loved it. In fact it was such a change that he became the focus of the show, which became a problem for the executives at the BBC. His reviews for GM's UK products were merciless about how bland they were and they refused to let him review their cars... which made it even worse for them because it kind of pointed to them being ALL boring.
The limitations of the budget and format and his own desire to do other programs led to him leaving and being replaced by a succession of similar people all of which brought their own issues :-D. In the meantime Jeremy Clarkson did shows like "Jeremy Clarkson's Motorworld" and so forth.
By 2000 Top Gear was on it's last legs and the executives at the BBC were dead against cars and anything they perceived as being not progressive but the lack of decent Top Gear was a hole in their scheduling. So much show that Top Gear Magazine (that barely sold anyway) died.
After his Clarkson's highly successful other shows he and a producer called Andy Wilman pitched the BBC a new Top Gear, that they would entirely produce and that BBC Studios would essentially commission and pay for. The BBC would have limited editorial control but to be honest I think they expected it to fail and as they were not required to pay up front... the BBC thought they had a no lose situation. It was an immediate success. By season two the very last of the "old style" content was gone when Jason Dawe, who most people suspected the BBC insisted on, was replaced by James May and every season had bigger audiences and in more countries.
But like many things in the BBC, success breads jealousy and as an organisation it's populated by a lot of very far left leaning people who believe THEIR version of the world is correct and everyone should comply to it. So in a number of instances otherwise easily ignored or accidental gaffs were blown up because success is something some people can't stand. By the mid 2010's the BBC executives were suffering from two shows essentially banking the channel. They were Top Gear and Doctor Who, both of which brought in around £250 MILLION in revenue.
For an example of the jealousy, the Guardian published this - www.theguardian.com/media/2012/sep/27/top-gear-jeremy-clarkson
There were a number of events that led to the end but the fact is that what the BBC did during the Argentina escapade just drew a line in the same. Local politicians in Argentina, looking to boost their profile, used a number plate on the Porsche Jeremy Clarkson was driving "referred to the UK Argentina war". The only problem being that it was the original number plate for the car and the BBC new this. In fact Classic and Sportscar came out and stated as fact it was the number plate because they used it as a perfect example of a 928 GTS for a profile they did. But the BBC remained silent and if anything stoked the flames and put the BBC presenters and crew in danger by covering the story but NOT covering the fact it was false.
This put a very bitter taste in the presenters minds. So they were already looking to go elsewhere. When Jeremy Clarkson did have a scuffle with Oisin Tymon. It should be noted that Oisin Tymon wasn't going to report the incident and it was Jeremy Clarkson who reported the incident. There's a lot of speculation that this was down to him feeling deeply responsible but also he new his contract was up for renewal so... if you wanted to leave and wanted an excuse, why not use your own mistake. He was correct in that the BBC failed to renew his contract, he was NEVER fired, that's just what dumb news outlets said.
The BBC totally expected Producer Wilman, May and Hammond to remain. So when they left, that put the BBC in quite the situation. The fact that Amazon announced the Grand Tour so quickly after that, kind of tells you that Wilman and Clarkson were already in talks with the streaming giant probably after the Argentina incident.
There, that's my two 'penneth for what it's worth.
I STILL love watching them. It's not just their personalities but their love for cars. It's genuine & doesn't feel scripted. Their new shows & individual ones are awesome 💕 2010-2021 still watching them !!!
Whoever was running the music department for Top Gear catapulted the show to being one of the best . . .
In the wooooorlllldd.
TG is one of _very_ few shows that I can watch repeatedly with no loss in enjoyment.
Too Gear was so good, I watched it near religiously before I was even into cars. Like yeah cars were cool but I didn’t really care, and yet Top Gear was entertaining anyway.
Chris Harris is so good love his reviews and hostings. Kinda unrelated to above but it often must be mentioned
Yeah chris harris is amazing but the others are a bit ehhh
The best Top Gear trio that is irreplaceable ❤️
My favourite top gear episode is the one where they go camping and Clarkson had the leaning tower of citron
GOAT episode for sure
Perfectly explained the soul of top gear while our favorite 3 were hosts, thank you for the great video!
Lol I remember I watched the old U.S version with tanner foust Rutledge wood and Adam not Ferrari and as a kid I loved both
Top Gear played a massive role in my car life
Old top gear was a show where friends tried to do car reviews
New top gear is a show where car reviewers pretend to be friends
I have it on good authority that Jeff Bezos personally drove a dump-truck full of money up to Jeremy's house during negotiations for 'The Grand Tour'. On second thought... the amount they got probably required several trucks.
Top gear was my childhood starting watching when I was 6
It actually started in late 60s/early 70s as a 25min on BBC4. The gal would review cars while going to get tea or coffee. The format we grown to know started on the BBC in 77.
There was no BBC4 in the 70s.
I loved those seasons 12 to like 22 or so. Fantastic content. My problem now is that we dont do cable and hence very hard to watch something thats not online. UA-cam is pretty much all i watch anymore.
Kudos to chris harris though....spot on with his reviews and loves cars just as much as we all do.
Tiff is an absolute legend btw
I agree. It was a beautiful, enthusiastic era of automotive content for us that got to experience it in our time. It is what it is until it is what it was. That’s Top Gear as we knew it at the time, perfected. Everything before or after is not bad, it’s just different. Now I am thankful for FI, Throtl and Donut for my auto content.
It's also worth mentioning the huge contribution of Richard Porter aka Sniff Petrol the script writer of Top Gear and the Gran Tour, he's like the fifth Beatle of TG and has had a massive influence on the shows essence and sensibilities. He's got a great book which gives a behind the scenes account of what happen on Top Gear. Proper petrolhead and very funny man. P. S. I'm not his publisher.
Top Gear was NEVER about Cars and the Nerd/Tech of Fifth Gear. It's why Fifth Gear was always in second place to Top Gear. Top Gear was about the antics of 3 middle aged muppets bouncing around with a budget and beers. It became the number 1 BBC highest grossing export. But the BBC forgot what made Top Gear "Top Gear". The dismissal of Clarkson over a punch was a foregone conclusion, but Hammond and May went with their mate. They went from £300k per year to £12M per year salary. And they still did the same nonsense which is why Top Gear plummeted in ratings. It's was about 3 old farts having a laugh.
Burma Special all the way.
you can never replace the iconic duo. they are the best
I said it once and ill say it again. Those three had the best job of all time and the fact tbey were just 3 friends having a laugh made it seem that much more fun.
It became Grand Tour, now they have Amazon money to have fun with
Epic video!! Bolivia episode was my fave. Who's with me? 💪🔥
Top Gear played a massive part in who I am now. Ever since I was young I was obsessed with wheels and cars, but a lot of my knowledge when I was young came from Top Gear
And in case if you miss the action, Clarkson, Hammond, and May are still here in the Grand Tour
Sure it may not be the same as the old Top Gear we all watched but it’s still very entertaining and still has that charm
They still have the same chemistry, but without the Stig and the age-old format it doesn't quite feel the same. It's still great tho
@@NSEBMB that’s true and at least when nostalgia hits they have the entire old Top Gear series on Prime
Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond, were definitely the best presenters. However Chris, Harris Matt LeBlanc, And Rory Reid, did a pretty good job.
The presenters they brought in to replace Rory Reid, and Matt Leblanc, seam less interested in the cars and more interested in acting in a TV show.
From what little I've seen of the new top gear, it's a decent show. TGT is a good show, and the old Top Gear was a great show.
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I’m a fan of the trio through and through, including any and all of James May’s spin-offs and UA-cam shows. Top gear is still one of my favorite shows to watch and rewatch. Favorite episodes include the budget supercars, the race to the alps in the F12, and any of the specials. Not a fan of the original Top Gear USA, but I did enjoy the most recent Motortrend version with Dax Shepard. Top Gear will go down as one of the greatest shows ever(IMO) and I’m lucky to have grown up during that era. Great video
Top gear and the epic trio taught me whatever i know about cars and geography. Life lessons !
I remember the days I used to wait for Sunday for next episode and when new season is about to come.
What a time it was!!!
Let's be real here. Most people watch the show not because it's a car show with lots of cool cars. It's because of the trio doing things they absolutely love and enjoy to do. I don't only watch old Top Gear and The Grand Tour but also their other shows like James May Our Man in Japan, Clarkson's Farm, The Great Escapist, and Oh Cook as well. It's the bois that made the shows great. And their crews perfecting the shows making it one of the best shows ever aired in television.
BBC started to get woke and were terrified of even slightly offending anybody so like everything that starts to go woke they destroyed the show
I just finished watching every episode of the 3 guys on Top Gear via Amazon Prime... after I just finished watching every episode just before that. I am now watching The Grand Tour again and will probably watch Top Gear again, it is pretty much all I have watched on my Amazon account lol
Top Gear Sweden is even more tragic, well the first season sucked and was too heavily scripted and produced with Danish top gear (basically the exact same program, same cars, same script but in danish with other hosts).
In case you don’t know Sweds and the Danish and even Norwegian can all understand each other to a varying degree, despite speaking different languages, Sweds usually ether find Norwegian easier to understand over Danish or Danish over Norwegian (largely depending on which part of Sweden you are from, Stockholmare usually don’t even understand Sweds from the southern part of Sweden so don’t bother talking to them).
I personally think (spoken) Norwegian (Ny Norsk) is easier to understand than Danish (can’t really comment on Norsk Bokmål since I haven’t attempted to read Norwegian and yes Norway has one spoken version of their language and one written), but I’m working on the Danish.
Markolio can’t drive for sh*t, yet was the one who was tasked with driving the cars on track and he was so awfully heavily scripted with words he clearly never use when talking normally, he was so awful in-fact that he made Adam Alsing look bad.
Adam Alsing unfortunately passed away due to the pandemic after filming the first season and before it aired, which is easily the most tragic thing about the whole program.
The only good thing about the season was Tony Rickardsson a retired Speedway rider who did a great job as a host or precentor and the man can drive too.
Absolute favorite TV series EVER! I'm a 60 YO motorhead whose first car was a '68 Charger. (but I identify as a 12 YO)
I still go back and rewatch the old episodes. Their irreverent, juvenile antics keep me young.
there was nothing better than watching top gear every sunday night
Agreed. Chris Harris deserves his place on top gear.
I never liked matt le-blonc initially. But after a few episodes and some freedom. He was a true petrol head and could pedal 2 or 4 wheels.
Shoutout Blugolds of UWEC...I’m from EC and do to UW Stout down the road! Love the videos man!!
New top gear America with Dax Shepard is phenomenal and captures some of that old energy in a new American way.
While the trio was absolutely great, TG since they left has still been enjoyable. As expected it took them a while to get the cast right but the product is still good if you take the nostalgia out.
And GT wasn't as great as Jeremy and the gang at TG either. Especially Season 1. Honestly I'm just glad we have TG and GT(or whatever it is now) :)
Continued Grand Tour is amazing and so is Car Trek both having multi episode specials in the next few weeks.
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I teach high school auto mechanics. Have used the the trios segments in class for years. Refer to them as automotive journalist gods. Explain to my students that you can vicariously learn what it’s like to experience a super car because let’s face it , one will be lucky to ever sit in one never mind drive one … you are spot on about chris Harris and there is no Top Gear America I tell students when asked 😂. Keep up the good work !
Apart from the iconic trio, my favorite set was Harris, LeBlanc and Reid. The current lineup comes in third and I would happily watch 70s eps before watching ones with Evans. Grand tour is fun, but still not quite the same as the height of top gear with the trio. Favorite ep would be South America in the clapped out 4x4s and from the set with Harris, Leblanc and Reid I'd say Kazakhstan.
Going with a hypothetical of LeBlanc, Flintoff and Harris - it didn't and won't happen but I find the three of those the most watchable. Reid was a little corny and Evans as you point out, was a disaster.
@@stevieboymkii Bit of corny works sometimes :D
@@GeorgeLupica I think it was what he did with the Rolls Royce for the track day that ruined it for me haha. Chris and Matt did their cars up quite nicely - Rory went all Pimp My Ride, yuck lol.
Just three friends getting together over cars and having a laugh, it's a recipe that will always work.
Every episode of old top gear was favorite
I've grown up in a city without BBC other than news so the only TopGear I watched was the USA version and while it's not better than the UK I think it's still fun to watch.
What's the car at 8:33 anyone knows? I dont think i've watched that episode
I love Top Gear USA. I also miss the Top Gear UK with Jeremy, James, and Richard; TGUK will never be as good as when they were hosting it.
I want a set of those blacks wheels (10 total spokes in clusters of 2) in the bottom right of my screen to hosts left.
What are they called please?
R.I.P. Top Gear! Loved all the car challenges!
About time someone revisited this topic
Africa special is my fav Top gear episode, where Jermy makes a makeshift handbreak and says "sometimes my genius is almost frightening" the new top gear just can't match that, neither the lines nor the ingenuity.
James, Richard, and Jeremy will always be my favorite. But honestly, the current lineup is pretty good. The overall show is still not as good, but I think they finally have another 3 hosts with good chemistry.
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Another great video
Glad you enjoyed it!
Chris Harris is the single reason one would watch current top gear.
I think it's a blessing in disguise that the BBC sacked Clarkson. Because of that, they managed to produce the Grand Tour which enables them to go all out at producing entertaining contents.
And I think that Harris-LeBlanc-Reid trio was also great, the chemistry were there but axed too early by the BBC. The current lineup is chaoticly good, though
Hehe the trio killing it on grand tour. The French tour had me laughing to the doctor with stomach ache
Loosing the three kings from Top Gear is like loosing a loved one. Someone you'd look forward to enjoy spending time with after a long days work only to come home to an empty house.
It's basically shit now. I seen a season after the original trio left and oh man the decline in quality and entertainment value was mad noticeable.
Love from South Africa
Love your content 💪
I agree with the Chris Harris comment 100%
He is literally the best new presenter
Clarkson: fired from TG.
Also Clarkson: Oh no! Anyway.
Top Gear USA is kinda slept on. It's no Top Gear UK but over time the US hosts developed their own chemistry and style. You guys should do a what happened to about that show.
You got to give Clarkson, hammond and Mei the credit they urn.
Top Gare will never be the same without that trio.
It’s the 100% natural chemistry between Clarkson, Hammond and May that made the show. I have to also say that individually they are still amazing.
I liked certain episodes of Top Gear USA (the one with Tanner Foust) but really only because their challenges used cars that weren't available or popular enough in the UK to warrant being compared in a set of head-to-head challenges
The og stig was the best part of top gear
Favorite episode: Jeremy Clarkson's crazy tall Citroen on their caravanning challenge. I love laughing along with James when Clarkson hit the highway and it began to sway in the wind.
Top Gear is the only show that will make me stop everything I am doing for 2 hours at a time to watch
The episode with the Ariel Atom and the Africa special were my favorites
Watching this while seated in my 94 Hilux with over a million km on the clock with an engine that's never been opened and sometimes decides it just wants to run on 3 cylinders for the day lol. The Botswana special will always be my favorite though
Iconic duo left after that nobody cared about Top Gear anymore all went to The Grand Tour
BTW you guys are aware that you misspelled tyres on the hoody right?
My favorite episode of top gear was the British leyland challenge, every cheap car challenge was my favorite, even though the cars were crap, they didn’t care, they had more fun in them than when they drove expensive cars 🥲, true friendship and genuine laughs