Ferrari F40 vs Porsche 959

In the last episode of the current Topgear series Hamster had the pleasure to drive both the Ferrari F40 and the Porsche 959, the mid 80ies super cars. What a wonderful movie! As usual the pictures were marvelous, but the sound track was even more exciting. Amd Richard got it right by summarizing the characteristics of the two cars. And of once he and Jeremy even agreed on what the better car was, both voted for the F40. But Richard made a good point, that the Porsche 959 actually was the car to show where the future would be, not the Ferrari. Funny, that at the end both cars apparently collapsed on the fast lap with Stig, but anyway the track was damp and ....

Very rare British classic cars in TopGear

So, here's my last blog entry about the episode 6 of TopGear. When Jeremy was talking about the good old times of British motoring a number of classic cars were shown sitting in a large hall. Have a look, you can spot a Ginetta G4 and a mid engine Ginetta G12, a Lotus Elan, an Ace, and .... Great classics, would be interesting to take a closer look ...

British classic sportscars in TopGear

Last Sunday's TopGear episode showed Jeremy, James and Richard buying three British classic sportscars and prove that they are better than the hot hatchbacks that basically replaced them on British roads. With £5'000 each they bought a Jensen-Healey with the Lotus Twincam engine, a TVR S with a Ford V6 2.8 liter engine and the front wheel driven Lotus Elan (M100) from the 90ies with the Isuzu 1.6 l engine. As usual nothing can be taken too serious and the "challenges" presented rather proved the contrary of what the three chaps said. But of course it was highly entertaining and the three cars, often neglected by collectors and mainstream fans, were mostly shown in the best light. None of the cars severely broke down and all of them were able to get from London to Blackpool. Which brings us to another interesting element of the film. The three TopGear presenters visited both the former Jensen factory as well as the Blackpool TVR factory. Both seem to be unused today and around the TVR factory you can even still find body parts from a 3000M and other models. It's so sad! But anyway, if you have access to TopGear 6/15 then it's a must for fans of British classic sportscars.
Now, here's a question: Which one of the three cars would you take? For me, this is not 100% clear. I love the twin cam Lotus engine of the Jensen and I like the fact that it's already 30+ years old. But I am also a TVR fan, so the S might be the car to pick for me. Clearly the Lotus Elan isn't my preferred choice. But, again, what's yours?

What is better? BMW M3, Ford Sierra Cosworth or Mercedes 190 2.3 16?

Yes, the boys are back. TopGear is on air again. Last Sunday they were given the challenge to buy a family track day car on a budget of GBP 5'000.-. Well the boys arrived with a E36 M3, a Mercedes 190E 2.3 16 valve (homologation car) and a Ford Sierra Cosworth. I wonder whether you could find the Merc at apparently 3'000 GBP here as it already follows the famous E30 M3 as a collector's item. And even the E36 M3 fetches better prices than what Hamster was able to buy it for (though apparently an accident car). Anyway the challenge was fun and the winner accidental (Merc). I wonder which of the three cars you would prefer. For me it's the Mercedes 16 valve Cosworth car for it's pure racing pedigree (highly successful in touring car championship). But if they had added an E30 BMW M3 then the choice would have been more clear.

Top Gear on the car maker that made the highest number of great cars

Last Sunday night Top Gear presented the top 10 car makers coming from votes of their viewers (or so). Anyway the question was: What car makers made the highest number of great cars. Great cars means not just good cars, but cars to remember, cars that are exceptional. Well, the top ten Richard and Jeremy showed (see picture) were not what you would expect. Ferrari was on the tenth place, Ford on first. But Richard and Jeremy didn't agree neither. They themselves named Lancia (they were not able to pronounce it correctly of course) as being the car maker with the most great cars.
And they presented quite some evidence. You may not agree with all the (seven) cars they called great, i.e. the Monte-Carlo or so. But clearly they got some cars right, i.e. the all time icon Lancia Stratos, the Lancia Fulvia, the 037 and the Delta Integrale. They missed some of the others (i.e. Aurelia, etc). But they also showed some great rallye pictures and made the point that there's no other car maker winning the Rallye World Championship more often than Lancia. Also Lancia is responsible for many engineering's first in the car industry. Not all of them really made sense, but there was certainly a lot of creativity! Today Lancias are not what they were. Today Lancias are basically rebodied Fiats and some of them are pretty ugly on top of that. It's a sad story. But, hey, there are still Fulvias available at acceptable prices, and even good Betas are rarely beyond 20k. And for the same money you can also get a Delta Integrale with true rallye pedigree. So, get them, as long as they are affordable!

The new TopGear series has arrived

Yesterday BBC broadcasted the first episode of the new TopGear series. Thanks! Funny as always, illogical in the conclusions as expected. But certainly worth watching. And a good laugh! The Dacia Sandero is the new Morris Marina ...

Is TopGear the best TV car show on earth?

I am a real fan of Top Gear, I adore it. I really suffer in the long pauses between the series. Luckily series 13 is now running, makes me smile.
Now, what is so good about TopGear on BBC?
First, it's not really a car show. It's more a comedy show with three really funny guys talking about cars, driving cars and being the contrary of neutral. The pictures are phenomenal, highest quality. And the ideas these guys have are breathtaking. Like finding the best driving road in Europe, as shown in the YouTube footage below.
TopGear is so far ahead from anything else that I actually do know quite a lot of people watching it, who don't have a specific interest in cars.
Jeremy, Richard, James - if you ever read my blog - thank you, guys. Great TV. It's maybe not really a car show, but it's the best on earth.