Top Gear

[Torpedo]

At some spots that's true, whole urbanized areas are almost empty. There're a few airports that are not being used, they weren't even inaugurated. Some people went really nuts thinking they could sell everything they built at crazy prices. More nuts were the banks giving the credits to build them. But the worst offenders are the politicians who got commissions from our taxes money to give the permissions to build all that crap. We have yet to see a huge debacle on politics and politicians here 

[Grahame]

Here's more information on Seseña and the background

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2102074/Spain-haunted-ghost-towns-built-boom-years-unemployment-tops-5million.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/9087498/The-ghost-towns-of-Spain-Images-that-are-desolate-symbols-of-collapsed-property-market.html
A lot of Brit Ex Pats got caught out trying to buy their "Dream Home in the Sun"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7584097.stm
 
From the finalgear.com episode thread
 
I don't have any names, but some background: In order to profit from EU subsidies, local politicians and construction companies created demand for housing by selling appartments as tax-deductable investment oppurtunities. Of course that bubble bust when the investors found out that they have been tricked into investing in houses that could will never find tenants. But by then, most of the Spanish coast was already ruined with low-quality appartment blocks and lots of local businessmen and politicians got rich while everyone else got burned.
 
and the airport
 
About the airport, yes, it's closed, they didn't make anything up. It's the Aeropuerto de Ciudad Real (1.100 million € to the bin). The worse thing is that there are a lot of airports like that in Spain. The Aeropuerto de Castellón cost 150 million € and has never really operated, has never seen a plane. And there are more airports all over Spain without flights, or with only 2 or 3 a week.
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciudad_Real_Central_Airport
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18855961
 
Time to re-read Boomerang I think.

Edited July 17, 2013 by Grahame

[Edwood]

Yikes.

[Iron_Dreamer]

Yeah, and we thought the mortgage-CDO-backed-overbuilding scam here in the US was bad!!

[mikeymad]

Okay... hovervan was funny...

[Grahame]

Jeremy is conflicted by 623 dead dinosaur HP vs 739 electric HP

 

 

[deepak]

Jeremy is conflicted by 623 dead dinosaur HP vs 739 electric HP

vlcsnap-2013-07-21-15h09m54s119.png

You can't be called a petrol head with electric!!

[catscratch]

Ok, I'll be honest... this episode was fucking brilliant. One of the best they've ever done. Normally, I don't like it when they go this far into the ridiculous, but hovervan was hilarious, and the Hugh Jackman interview was quite good too.

[emelius]

sometimes I think they should have a girls of Top Gear audience background shots calendar...I mean, ya...Nice...interview...

as for the hovervan (I prefer Transit Fan!), it all seemed a bit predictable/staged...I know you just have to accept that there's going to be a little of that going on & just enjoy the back & forth between the guys, but the restaurant stuff was stupid...

& the back propeller not spinning when it should've been engaged was annoying to me...

anywho, I enjoyed Spain more...I like the season so far, though...& am glad I skipped their preview sequence...

[mikeymad]

Had a few really good laughs this week... Just throw it away and wash it..

[Grahame]

Beetle derivative pr0n, Supercar pr0n, elderly rocker, and Caravanists!  Oh, and Jeremy and James inadvertently get involved in dogging without using that word, but dropping enough hints...

 

Dogging started in the later part of the 20th century, in the UK, with locations mainly being public car parks and lay-bys (usually on quiet country roads) with activity normally taking place after dark. Doggers would usually leave their interior lights on in their cars so that other doggers would know that they too were doggers. Some flash their headlights at other cars or flick the interior light on briefly.

Edited July 29, 2013 by Grahame

[Grand Enigma]

This was definitely one of the funnier episodes I have seen in a while.

[mikeymad]

Okay  show - liked the very British ending

[mypasswordis]

I found out the Ferrari Chris Harris scandal (http://jalopnik.com/5760248/how-ferrari-spins) awhile back and just found this out about the Huayra on Top Gear:

 

http://jalopnik.com/pagani-admits-they-used-two-sets-of-tires-for-top-gear-450547430

 

There's also Porsche calling out Nissan and the GT-R Nurburgring lap time:

 

http://jalopnik.com/5056908/porsche-smells-rat-claims-nissan-cheating-on-gt+r-nurburgring-lap-times

 

Sucks that car manufacturers feel the need to one-up each other by frauding.

[Grahame]

Jeremy did like the F Type

Initially ...

[Grahame]

More web video's of the filming of the Very British Ending. Damp Overcast  of course.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjZ8rdUfhs4

 

Spot Jeremy having a crafty fag ..

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOaYgVNesvs

[catscratch]

Good episode and overall very good season. Even the nationalistic circle-jerk at the end wasn't too bad either.

 

Also, Chris Harris is a legend and his videos are epic.

 

As far as Top Gear faking stuff, it's pretty well known that even its lap times are often outright fabrications. Look up the whole Hawk Stratos debacle where the Stig was instructed to spin the car and recover on the test to make sure it finished last, and where the car was portrayed as breaking down all the time whereas in fact it was quite reliable.

 

Top Gear has a very clear bias and an equally clear agenda. They're so popular that they haven't even bothered hiding it in years. I've said this before - I treat Top Gear like I would an old dog. It shits on your carpet and doesn't even remember its own name anymore, but somehow you've been with it so long that you can't quite bring yourself to kick it.

Edited August 6, 2013 by catscratch

[Leonardo Drummond]

Also, Chris Harris is a legend and his videos are epic.

 

This.

 

I think Drive channel is incredible and nowadays it stands for what Top Gear used to before. A program by true car lovers for true car lovers. The episodes where they go inside factories, such as the ones in which they've been to Morgan and Aston Martin (have you seen those?) are just unbelieavable.

[mypasswordis]

Good episode and overall very good season. Even the nationalistic circle-jerk at the end wasn't too bad either.

 

Also, Chris Harris is a legend and his videos are epic.

 

As far as Top Gear faking stuff, it's pretty well known that even its lap times are often outright fabrications. Look up the whole Hawk Stratos debacle where the Stig was instructed to spin the car and recover on the test to make sure it finished last, and where the car was portrayed as breaking down all the time whereas in fact it was quite reliable.

 

Top Gear has a very clear bias and an equally clear agenda. They're so popular that they haven't even bothered hiding it in years. I've said this before - I treat Top Gear like I would an old dog. It shits on your carpet and doesn't even remember its own name anymore, but somehow you've been with it so long that you can't quite bring yourself to kick it.

 

Makes sense, thanks. I didn't realize Top Gear had gone quite *that* far. Their bias toward British cars is pretty much a given but apparently there's a lot more going down. Of course agreed all around on Chris Harris and some of the other Drive stuff.

[catscratch]

Motor Trend also puts out some pretty good videos these days. Not everything they have is good, and I don't entirely trust their reviews - or their numbers - but Ignition is a pretty good review series and, of course, you also have Roadkill. That's a show with two super charismatic hosts and is basically what US Top Gear should have been. It's probably the best Top Gear-ish car show on the internet for car related around-dickery.

 

Then you have Jay Leno's Garage. If you want to see a true temple to automotive worship, Leno's the man. Whatever you may think about his comedy, his car videos are a totally different animal. Leno has an incredible collection, is a knowledgeable automotive historian, and really lets his passion show forth. Again, it's mostly vintage cars and grey-haired old-guy stuff, and, well, I love all that.

 

There are definitely quality car shows on the internet these days. And if you know any more, I'm all ears.

[deepak]

A solid season, but let down by the finale. Mark Weber is no Kimi when it comes to the humor...

 

Any veteran viewers care to explain Jeremy's dislike of the 911, does it have to do with Hammond and May owning them? Besides this silly unfounded hate of the electric steering with the 991, IMO it is one of those near perfect cars.

[catscratch]

Dunno, but in his more recent solo shows he rather likes some of the 911s. Like anything Top Gear it's probably faked for laughs.

 

Electric steering is awful in new BMWs, and if the 911 is anything like that, I can totally understand the hate. Driving the E90 335 back to back with the X3 is a pretty good demonstration on how to go nearly perfect steering - and then how to totally fuck it up. But then BMW has kinda been losing its marbles lately.

[Grahame]

As you may know, I have always loved the Porsche 911 ...
Clarkson on the 911

Edited August 8, 2013 by Grahame

[Edwood]

Booo.  No Holiday this season.  Maybe there will be a winter special.

 

And WTF, one episode less.  I guess they'll be down to one per year soon.

[n_maher]

I think there have been series in the past that have only had 6. Overall I thought it was a step back in the right direction and thoroughly enjoyable. I'm also fine with no epic special if they can't come up with something better than the last two.