On a DIY-themed Top Gear, Richard built a Bond car for £300, and the
Stig man-handled a palace around our test track.
But first, Maybach. It was around £280,000-worth of the best that
Mercedes-Benz engineers could offer. Richard tried it on the show and,
what a surprise, he liked it very much.
On the next branch down the Mercedes tree was the dictator's car of
choice, the S-Class. Brimming with new technology, this car demonstrated
gadgets that would probably trickle down into the family hatchback in
the coming years.
The star in a reasonably priced car was Jonathan Ross, who strapped
himself into our Liana, complete with his own specially made purple
driving gloves. He did well, but he also cheated.
In our previous episode we'd asked for gadget ideas to bolt to our
£300 budget Bond car. The best ideas were passed over to our cut-price Q
and the finished Rover 820 was armed with paintball machine guns and
firework rocket launchers, which we tested in the studio. It was also
fitted with an ejector seat using scrap springs, an oil slick
(dispensing children's play balls) and a tea tray bullet deflector -
ready to tackle the mighty Spectre!
First shown on: 17/11/2002
