General Top Gear

[Benny 1992]

I know what you mean Steve, I winced at the thought of the sump and the concrete.

lol it dnt sound good

 

[DraigFlag87]

Hey it's only one car out of millions, and to be fair, TG always destroy oldish cars with little value. They bought these cars from Georgia where they were probably destined to rot away in the dessert anyway, TG made them famous and gave them one last run! It makes good TV when they break things, if they went around fixing things i would fall asleep

 

[firstcar-Y10]

When I heard Clarkson say he preferred the Fiat over the Mazda I must admit I looked to the east to see if there was a star up there. This man hates Fiats with a vengeance whereas The Hamster had an early barchetta and spoke highly of it and May has had a Panda for a few years.

Not entirely fair, seem to remember a pretty enthusiastic review of the 500 Abarth from the big fella recently.
chuffed to see the fiat winning though, german, italian and japanese motors go on an adventure and one of the three suffers head gasket trouble and some annoying electrical gremlins. which one could it be.....:chin:.. errr, the german one in the eye for the doubters there then.

 

[mrcinquecento]

not so sure JC is a fiat hater, he certainly likes the cinquecento

 

[MattB2k]

Thoroughly enjoyed that episode, the B did very well. Wonder how many people went online after that an typed "Fiat Barchetta" into eBay!

Always been a Fiat fan (got an Abarth 500 myself) pleased it came out top trumps!

I checked - loads. One Barchetta ad on ebay in the UK was getting a hit every 3 seconds or so.

 

[Percyhahn]

Hey it's only one car out of millions, and to be fair, TG always destroy oldish cars with little value. They bought these cars from Georgia where they were probably destined to rot away in the dessert anyway, TG made them famous and gave them one last run! It makes good TV when they break things, if they went around fixing things i would fall asleep

what about when they blew up the astra gte, and flooded the escort xr3 in the car wash? they might not be the most valuable cars in the world, but they are definately getting rarer and an enthusiasts/collectors car, especially the escort. i dont think they should completely wreck cars like that. maybe a new car yeah, as theres loads about as still in production lol

 

[desert rat]

Finally got to see the episode the other day. my girlfriend was in the UK when it was shown and brought it back for me :worship:

They sure did abuse the poor thing. I'm surprised that it survived the exit ramp. (and all the other abuse)!! But so sad to see that done to a car... (any car, even the MX5)!!

Good to see at the end it had good reviews all round. I hope it helps the UK sales

Don't think it will ever do anything for the sales here as I have never seen another 1 on the island... and mine is not currently for sale !!

 

[a73uk]

what about when they blew up the astra gte, and flooded the escort xr3 in the car wash? they might not be the most valuable cars in the world, but they are definately getting rarer and an enthusiasts/collectors car, especially the escort. i dont think they should completely wreck cars like that. maybe a new car yeah, as theres loads about as still in production lol

I agree, I hate seeing waste too, I`m not a fan of them, but it even pissed me off when they were wrecking Marina`s, but at least the 3 they damaged this time are fairly current, arent written off terminally & are repairable with easily available parts.

I`d rather they did it like that than do it to cars you cant get parts for any more, or wreck them terminally, like they did to the Marina`s, the Panda limo, the BL special when they wrecked the Princess, the SD1 & the Dolomite & the Lada Riva & Niva they wrecked with one of the Marina`s.

Its just drunken chav behavior you see on every high street every weekend, but for the masses.

I hate banger racing as well...

 

[larkim]

JC also loved the new Panda when it came out (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/jeremy_clarkson/article824036.ece)

Now its the new year I have been told by SWMBO that I must get my B sold, so hopefully this programme will have increased its market value temporarily - "As seen on BBC Top Gear......"

Matt

 

[Jonnio]

Yes chassis is a slightly shortened Punto Mk1 chassis.
Engine is shared by the later Mk2 Sporting Puntos I believe, but the barchetta had this engine (and the associated Variator problems) first along with an Alfa

The engines in the HGT, looks pretty much identical to the Sporting though unless its an Abarth.

Not entirely fair, seem to remember a pretty enthusiastic review of the 500 Abarth from the big fella recently.

Aye, I remember reading in one of his articles that he would like to test the Grande Abarth. Was before the 500 film so I guess that was chosen over the Grande.