On fun-filled Top Gear, Richard and James enjoyed life under canvas,
an Alfa Romeo waved its arms about a lot, and Darth Vader took on the
fiercest evil in the known universe.
Did you know that the British buy more convertibles than the French,
the Spanish and the Italians combined? Well, we were a bit surprised as
well. Richard and James took them on a typical British summer holiday to
decide if we really are all mad.
Our star in the reasonably priced Liana was supermodel Jodie Kidd,
who, apart from being impossibly tall and rather pleasing to the eye,
has taken part in the odd motorsport event. She managed a fantastic,
Jay-Kay-beating time of 1.48.
Now, have you ever wondered who's the fastest Master of the Universe?
We did, and thankfully BBC Health and Safety let us invite, among
others, Darth Vader and Ming The Merciless to our test track to find
out. Luck was on our side, and the evil masters didn't destroy our
feeble universe (or Liana), although the DALEKS had a go. It was the
Cyberman who got the top laptime.
Finally, Alfa Romeo joined the hot hatch race, and totally blew away
the opposition. The 250bhp 147 GTA easily dealt with the VW Golf R32 and
Ford Focus RS in our straight-line burn-out, but, as Jeremy discovered,
that doesn't necessarily make it the best car. The main problem with
these cars has to be the depreciation.
First shown on: 13/07/2003
