On spanking new Top Gear, we gained one presenter, Richard Hammond
was in a V8 tumble drier and we turned up the heat on the world's
dullest car.
But first, we saw Volkswagen's Beetle Cabrio, Ford's new StreetKa and
the new Smart Roadster. Jeremy drove it, and he was impressed. Kind
of...
We introduced the Love/Hate Board. Actually, it was more the 'hate'
stuff we're interested in. Pinned up so far are cyclists (not those who
pedal through necessity, just those who squeak along to prove some
misguided political point), caravans and people who sit too far back in
their driving seats in an effort to look 'cool'.
Talking of caravans, we decided to set fire to one with a jet car,
just to prove how much we hate them. We also fried Britain's dullest
car, a late-1980s Nissan Sunny.
Our first star in a reasonably priced car for series two was Vinnie
Jones - ex-footballing tough chap who's since made it big in Hollywood.
His lap of our circuit was a surprisingly controlled one, which earned
him a respectable laptime result of 1.53.
We also gained a new presenter, James May. He joined us not only to
help with the news and new car tests, but also to bring some hot car
buying tips for those with more sense than money.
The final gem in our Top Gear bunker was a sparkling Ferrari 355 -
not. It may have looked like the real thing, but really it was a dressed
up Toyota MR2.
First shown on: 11/05/2003
