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Series 1 |
| 1 :01x01 - Series 1, Episode 1 (Oct/20/2002) | In our very first programme we looked at the Citroen's Berlingo Multispace - the van-turned-people carrier. It found favour with the TG team for its cheery character, and even Jeremy raved about its all-round ability.
Richard Hammond was impressed by the Mazda 6, and spent some time pouring over the Ford GT40 concept, which wowed our studio audience long after we finished filming.
Apparently, if you pass a speed camera fast enough it can't take your picture - or so we heard in a pub once. So we borrowed a Gatso and set about trying to find out if it's true. We got our tame racing driver, Stig, to test the theory. To our surprise, the camera didn't just not catch the car, it didn't even go off. The bad news was, 170mph is the speed you have to do to avoid the little piggybanks.
Our first guest in our 'Star in a reasonably priced car' feature was Harry Enfield, who tried out our big-value motor, the Suzuki Liana.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/show/episodes/series1episode1.s | | Guest Stars: Harry Enfield as Himself | | | |
| 2 :01x02 - Series 1, Episode 2 (Oct/27/2002) | On a turbocharged Top Gear, we looked at a supercar from a shed in Leicestershire and a pop star drove our reasonably priced Liana.
But first we looked at Ford's Focus RS. How did it compare with its hot hatch rivals - the Honda Civic Type-R and Subaru Impreza WRX? To find out, we fitted each car with the Stig and set them off around our test track.
Jeremy was blown away by the new Noble M12 GTO, a genuine British supercar. It's arguably not perfect on the road, but show it a track and it'll astound you. Even in wet weather conditions, the Stig posted a Zonda-threatening laptime.
Jason looked at buying a used BMW M3 - a proper super saloon bargain. Meanwhile Richard drove Subaru's Forester, an all-rounder that uses so many parts from the Impreza it 'takes years off the family man'.
Our star in a reasonably priced car was Jamiroquai front-man Jay Kay. Jay was determined to beat Jeremy's track time - and he did!
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/show/episodes/series1episode2.s | | Guest Stars: Jay Kay as Himself | | | |
| 3 :01x03 - Series 1, Episode 3 (Nov/03/2002) |
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On an OAP-friendly Top Gear, grannies did doughnuts in a Honda S2000, an ultimate force in a reasonably priced car, and a bed spring with a bike engine took on the Zonda around our track.
The hot debate centred on the best-looking car of all time. We invited two top car designers to help us draw up a shortlist. They picked the Porsche 928, Citroen DS, Lamborghini Miura SV and Aston Martin DB7 (that was, in fact, Jeremy's suggestion).
It's not just the pros who know what a good car looks like - Jason Dawe took a few of the world's finest supercars to a primary school to see what the kids' verdict was. To everyone's surpise, they picked the classic Lamborghini Countach.
Our next contender for the lap record set by the Zonda was a motorcycle-engined track-day car from specialist manufacturer Westfield, called the XTR2. It managed to be a full third of a second faster than the Zonda!
A while back we'd asked grannies to volunteer for our doughnut challenge, and finally chose five hopefuls to test the track. All five managed to perfect the 360-degree spin.
The star in our reasonably priced Liana was ex-EastEnder and star of Ultimate Force, Ross Kemp. He was frustrated by the wet weather, but still posted a respectable time of 1.54.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/show/episodes/series1episode3.s | | Guest Stars: Ross Kemp as Himself | | | |
| 4 :01x04 - Series 1, Episode 4 (Nov/10/2002) |
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On a secret agent-packed Top Gear, Steve Coogan tried out our reasonably priced car, Jason showed you how to buy a used Nissan Skyline, and we celebrated the launch of the latest James Bond film.
We couldn't actually get Bond's real car, but got the next best thing. We pitched a standard Vanquish (that is, no machine guns) against the revised Ferrari 575M, and recruited Damon Hill to help Jeremy decide which was best. They preffered the Ferrari. But it's fair to say people don't hate Aston drivers as much as Ferrari owners.
We'd also noticed that many of the competing manufacturers made a mid-range 2.0-litre-ish four-door family saloon. So we decided to get them all together and see which was fastest around our test track. The answer was the Ford, and it was the most fun too!
Jason investigated the Nissan Skyline. This is a car that dominated its class in motorsport (some countries changed the rules to eliminate it from competition) and, especially in its latest guise, with so many electronic gadgets, it would even have impressed Q!
Steve Coogan took his turn as our star in a reasonably priced car. The weather was predictably rubbish again, but after a couple of spins he really got the hang of it.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/show/episodes/series1episode4.s | | Guest Stars: Steve Coogan as Himself, Damon Hill as Himself | | | |
| 5 :01x05 - Series 1, Episode 5 (Nov/17/2002) |
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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 Spectra!
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/show/episodes/series1episode5.s | | Guest Stars: Jonathan Ross as Himself | | | |
| 6 :01x06 - Series 1, Episode 6 (Nov/24/2002) |
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In Top Girl, sorry, Gear, Tara Palmer-Tomkinson was our star in a reasonably priced car, and the show was given over to image and style as we launched our 'Cool Wall'.
But first - grannies. Our silver-haired superstars were back to take on handbrake parking. Anne was the most accurate with the handbrake on the day - some thought better than instructor Russ Swift himself.
Jeremy dreamed up the Cool Wall - designed to develop into the definitive guide to what's cool and what isn't. Dividing the nation's cars into different classes of cool, we decided how cool they actually were. Remember, there were no rules to the Cool Wall, as Jeremy explained: "'Cool' has nothing to do with good looks, build quality or driving dynamics - just, well, 'coolness'. Cars can fall into one of four categories: seriously uncool, uncool, cool or sub-zero cool. Take the Fiat Multipla, for example - ugly, but cool. The Mitsubishi Evo VII, however - uncool. Why? Because it's just a bit too nerdy - unless you're a woman driving one, then it'd be cool. So do you see where we're coming from?"
After a few gentle practice laps in the rain, Palmer-Tomkinson fooled us into expecting a very slow lap. We were well and truly hussled as she set a seriously quick time of 1.54.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/show/episodes/series1episode6.s | | Guest Stars: Tara Palmer-Tomkinson as Herself | | | |
| 7 :01x07 - Series 1, Episode 7 (Dec/01/2002) |
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On a caring-and-sharing Top Gear, we tried to become all eco-friendly by showing you how the Government thinks we should behave in our cars. We searched for the fastest faith in the UK, a rocker tried out our reasonably priced car, and we learnt how to drive a Lotus Elise properly.
Diesel cars are a lot better than they used to be, and we looked at a diesel sports car by Peugeot. Other green goodies in the studio included a LPG-powered Bristol and Ford's Th!nk.
Richard road-tested the Saab 9-3, which scored well on eco-friendliness. But, green issues aside, Richard's reception to the 9-3 was fairly lukewarm.
Better news was that you can drive a car the Government approves of and still have a laugh. The Lotus Elise had a few creature comforts (such as carpet and electric windows) and fitted in the same tax bracket as a Ford Fiesta.
Next, we invited various Men of God to lap our circuit. After extensive research using a tuned Subaru Impreza, we officially announced that Britain's fastest faith was the Church of England.
The star guest of the show was Status Quo's Rick Parfitt, who drove our reasonably priced Liana. He took to the track for a surprisingly short while, but that was all he needed to post a seriously competitive time of 1.52.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/show/episodes/series1episode7.s | | Guest Stars: Rick Parfitt as Himself | | | |
| 8 :01x08 - Series 1, Episode 8 (Dec/08/2002) |
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On an action-packed Top Gear, a Knight took to our reasonably priced car, Maserati's coupe tried out our track, white van men battled for supremacy, and we turned a Lada into a Lotus.
As the programme was all about performance, we started to wonder - can any car be a driver's car? Is it something a car is born with, or can it be bolted on? To find out we 'borrowed' an ageing Lada and gave it to Lotus, whch spent 1,000 hours tweaking it in an attempt to turn it into a decent track car. Did we manage it? Of course we did, although the car did still look like a Lada, which ruined the effect slightly.
We also tried to find the fastest white van man. We had over 1,500 applications and picked five to race around our track in a tuned Transit. Predictably, one got lost and two crashed. The winner was a chap called dave, who drives a van for NTL.
Richard lined up five superminis to test as an antidote to all this power: the Ford Fiesta, Citroen C3, Honda Jazz, Nissan Micra and MG ZR. His verdict? If you want practicality, it's got to be the Jazz. But if it's fun you're after, choose the MG.
Sir Michael Gambon, one of Britain's finest actors, was determined to set a fast lap in our reasonably priced car. He managed 1.55, which isn't a bad time. Although it was worrying that he nearly killed both the Liana and himself in the process.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/show/episodes/series1episode8.s | | Guest Stars: Michael Gambon as Himself | | | |
| 9 :01x09 - Series 1, Episode 9 (Dec/22/2002) |
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On a family-friendly Top Gear, we picked the ultimate family car, a celebrity chef was in our reasonably priced car, and the Stig met his match on the Top Gear test track.
As parents buy even more ridiculously large vehicles to chauffeur their tots to playgroup, we decided to find the best one out there. The conclusion was a little confusing, but the Land Cruiser was a favourite, as was the Volvo XC90.
Back in the studio, Jeremy decided to treat Gordon Ramsay to some automotive cookery, namely three dishes: Salmon Liana, Lamb á la Twin Cam, and Turkey Forester. We can't broadcast or publish Gordon's reaction to the taste test. Suffice to say, he didn't really like it much.
We also noticed all the fastest cars around our track had been lightweight. So what if you stripped some of the weight out of a heavy car? How much quicker would it be? We bought an old Jag for £500 to find out. The good news was that we shaved seven seconds of the Jag's laptime. But by that point it wasn't road legal either. Which was a shame.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/show/episodes/series1episode9.s | | Guest Stars: Gordon Ramsay as Himself | | | |
| 10 :01x10 - Series 1, Episode 10 (Dec/29/2002) |
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On a SUV-bashing Top Gear, we looked at the Mick Jagger of supercars, the TVR searched for a new name, and we announced our review of the motoring year.
But first, off roaders. You've heard all the cliches about people who buy these sort of cars - the closest they'll get to bumpy terrain is a slip up the kerb in a supermarket. But what actually happens if you try to go off road? There wasn't really any competition. The best car for going off-road had to be the Range Rover. The Land Cruiser did a credible job, though.
Next, our 2002 review. We took a moment to reflect on the motoring year and hand out a few Top Gear awards. Highlights included the wierdest-looking Renault award, which saw the Megan, Vel Satis and Avantime nominated, but which the Nissan Micra won.
If you're still wondering what the Mick Jagger of supercars is - it's the Lotus Esprit. A car that's been around for 27 years and is still going strong. Jeremy tested it to see if its wrinkles were showing. The answer? No - but the clunky gearbox will be the death of it.
Finally, we formally announced the result of Top Gear's search for the fastest celebrity in a reasonably priced car: Jay Kay!
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/show/episodes/series1episode10. | | | |
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