Clarkson, Hammond and May: What were your favorite moments?

Old Top Gear, the "first cars for teen drivers" challenge involving a Hyundai Scoupe, VW Golf, and a Volvo wagon with an anarchy flag through the back window.

That was a good one.

I want to go to Vietnam because of these shiny happy people.

Loved all the "Stars in ordinary cars..."   haha  Hamilton in 4 door econobox using the FI line and sliding sideways...

Clarkson in open cockpit with open mouth wind blown  pic...  best ever...

Back in the early to mid 2000's when I first discovered their show, I wondered why the best car program available was from the BBC and not from some car show in the USA.  I didn't really find anything else that could match Top Gear in terms of filming, humor, cars, format, etc., so I basically became a Top Gear fan because my wife and I (and even some of my kids) loved watching the show--it really had something for everyone.  The American version of Top Gear held no interest for me at all and I was happy that, when Jeremy Clarkson was fired, Hammond and May followed him to Grand Tour where we could see even more of their antics and even better filming, producing, and content.  The boys have aged out of being able to pull off the same kind of shows, but at least they have moved on in their own shows which are made at their own pace and in their own style.  I just don't have the time to watch everything that is available now :)  

Also, for those of you who drink gin, James Gin asian parsnip gin is fantastic.  Because it must be shipped, it's a bit more expensive than what is 'standard' at a liquor store, but boy is it delicious!

Iusedtobefast said:

I always loved the Caravan episode. Any time they pranked each other or rolled something off a cliff, I always laughed. My son and I have had a lot of father/son time watching these guys and we will miss them. 

I LOVED this episode.

The hammer drawer in my toolbox is labeled "Jeremy"

Stars in reasonably priced cars.  I liked that Mr Bean had the fastest time ( he took the F1 line) . Also Tom Cruise almost rolled the car trying to beat Cameron Diaz.

Cap Slow being coached by Sir Jackie Stewart into reducing his lap time by over 20 seconds.  The Jackie Stewart comments were priceless.

To show their broad appeal my ex wife,  not at all a car person, really enjoyed watching the show because of the banter between the lads and also the comedic competitions they set up.

James May, upon seeing the toilet in Jeremy Clarkson's trailer fall out onto the road, was laughing so hard that he couldn't speak. I enjoyed it because for at least that moment, I felt like I was seeing a genuine reaction, not a contrived reaction.

I'm honestly surprised I haven't seen a single mention of the Polar expedition episode. That one was among my favorites. Trying to poo while watching for bears? Priceless.

Plus it showed me just how unstoppable a properly set up Hilux can be...

Probably my favorite episode was the first Botswana episode. It was the first episode I ever saw of Top Gear, I'd barely heard of it before except some mentions on this board (some 16+ years ago now). I was in a friends basement, there was a cute girl I'd soon be dating there, I had the keys to the E30 convertible, and had I had just figured out how to operate that pedal all the way to the left. This was right up my alley. That episode lead directly to the US Special to the Polar Special to the British Leyland challenge.

I have especially loved their cheap car challenges and seeing the world through their cameras. The Mongolia episode was incredible. Vietnam Special even more so. 
 

Sure, everything became predictable, and to a certain extent it all became a caricature of itself. I don't care. I've seen my favorite band play live 15+ times and am upset they're retiring. I feel the same with these 3. First up in the set list, Clarksons makes an ass of himself... 

kb58 said:

James May, upon seeing the toilet in Jeremy Clarkson's trailer fall out onto the road, was laughing so hard that he couldn't speak. I enjoyed it because for at least that moment, I felt like I was seeing a genuine reaction, not a contrived reaction.

I just saw an interview clip with May. He was asked how much of the show is scripted. "I think about 20%. The rest is just us doing what they told us to do in the 20% and our reaction to what happens next".