Top Gear - New Series

[Mark Blanchard 1,678]

Porsche Fan Boys are taking over the media!  At least the Grand Tour has some balance.

[Kimbers 1,908]

I was suitably annoyed to send an email:

"Afternoon

I have just watched the final episode of Top Gear having watched all of this season.

I was hugely disappointed that Porsche was mentioned and featured on virtually every episode and hyped up and yet, our British Porsche Competitor wasn’t featured at all, namely Lotus and only mentioned once to “Poo poo” the Exige as a track only car!

Likewise there were a myriad of Italian cars including the Alfa Spyder, yet even in that episode the Elise wasn’t mentioned despite being the same price or cheaper and BRITISH…..like your program!

The Evora 400 is a Lotus with the most HP ever for the brand and having driven it I think it easily ranks as well as the Porsche’s. Its performance is that of a car twice it’s money!

The Exige is the fastest Lotus in acceleration and absolutely thrilling on and off road (I have had one myself) and likewise the Elise in V6 form is absolutely nuts and a great car!

However it seems like, With Matt LeBlanc and Chris Harris you have found presenters who are blind to anything except the Porsche (are they paid to push them by the German Manufacturer?). Previous presenters at least supported the British Car industry, something that you currently are failing abysmally in! And the thing is, having driven and raced the Porsches on road and track, I find them quick but bland, unexciting and lacking charisma until you get to above the £100,000 mark!

Please can we see less Porsche and more Lotus in the next season?

 

 

[Vanya 568]

"Dear Sir,

Thank you for your letter.

The prominence of Porsche in this season of Top Gear is due to political strongarming by Angela Merkel and Porsche Group who threatened to levy British exports at 100% post-brexit should their vehicles not be placed front and center in subsequent episodes. 

We hope you enjoy the rest of the season where we will be road testing this year's indistinguishable Porsche models including a special episode on how to buy your first Porsche on a working man's budget of only £40 000."

[LotusLeftLotusRight 1,400]

V6 Elise?

[bogle 32]

Kimbers...beautifully written email.  Let's hope they get the message.

Vanya --- classic.  Totally agree with the indistinguishable line as I have immense difficulties telling the Porsche models apart from each other.  Well this one is a 911, but this one is another 911 that cost only 90 grand more and from the outside I can't tell the difference!  Maybe it's stereo has a volume knob that goes to eleven?

From the U.S perspective,  I find this lack of Lotus participation/mentioning in the "new" Top Gear just as disturbing as our President.

Matt LeBlanc will be no "Friend" of mine until the Evora 400 or 410 is reviewed.  My actual friend just picked up a new 2017 Evora 400 and it's fantastic.  I will try to keep up with him in my 91 Turbo Esprit (and most likely fail) once I bleed my radiator properly.

Did you notice they even moved the Red Esprit on the set to a new position which limits the time you see it.  At least Extra Gear shows the Red Esprit more. 

Long live British motor works.

 

 

[The Pits 4,411]

I don't enjoy seeing my licence fee being used by Chris Harris to promote Porsche. He really doesn't have to now he's on the BBC and no doubt paid a fortune. In his very first studio appearance on Top Gear he declared his love for the Porsch-er 911. He has been asked 3 times what he would spend £X,000 on, three times it's a Porsche.

At the end of the Mercedes AMG GT-R review he concludes that he'd still rather have the Porsche 991GT3RS. When asked to pick a supercar for a series of challenges he shows up in the Porsche 911 Turbo S and shows and unreasonable amount of glee at beating the Lamborghini Huracan. At the end both he and Matt Le Blanc conclude that they'd both take the Porsche.

The Cayman 718 review looked for the first time ever to include some criticism from Chris Harris. It was going so well until he declared anyone 'completely mad' to buy anything else at the price and then systematically discredit all the alternatives, two of which were British. It beggars belief, but not as much as the people who comment online that our press has a pro-British bias!

The wierd part is that before he started on Top Gear he was known to have more than 12 cars in his garage, none of them were a Porsche. If he loves them so much, why not have a few in the garage? No doubt he has several now each with a big bow on top and a card that reads 'with love from Stuttgart'!

I'd also like to write but probably won't mention Lotus, instead that the presenters are using British taxpayers money to promote Porsche in particular. What email address did you use @Kimbers?

Still, it was a nice surprise to see a Giugiaro Esprit in the studio. Wasn't it that a Testarossa and a Countach to begin with? Then they added a 911 Turbo. I wonder who's idea that was? At least someone declined his request to have the Lotus removed!

 

[TpupNomad 68]

Is it possible that they just prefer Porsche as opposed to some conspiracy?  I recall reading that Lotus and Chris Harris don't get along and that Lotus will not let him test one.  Problem number 1 to solve is for Lotus to do what it takes to get a review (even if it involves groveling imo).  Many of the US reviews of the Evora 400 have been very positive; perhaps they could get a positive review if they get TG a car.  A nice head to head with a 718 would be fun!

 

 

[franjipane 245]

I thought it was Ferrari that impose strict restrictions on who tests their cars and how they're tested, not Lotus?  

http://jalopnik.com/5760248/how-ferrari-spins

(granted, article from 2011)

My thoughts on TG today is that viewing numbers aren't great and Joe-public loves to hear about Porsche.

Shame they haven't done any Lotus bits lately as the Clarkson Evora bit a few years back was great, and the Esprit V8 bit long before that was also great.  Also loved the Exige pieces old TG did.

The Patagonia trip obviously was fantastic for Esprit fans.

[Bibs 11,659]

http://jalopnik.com/how-auto-journalism-fails-when-nationalism-gets-involve-1686723025

He burnt his bridges with this article, no doubt subbed in Stuttgart. The Cayman GT4 is better than an Evora 400, before driving either and that's because it's uncool to like British cars. 

[Jacques 965]

As the old saying goes: "judge the tree by it's fruits". At least the new topgear have declared it's colour: Black, yellow and Red. All Things from that country, in particular p.....e get's a splendid review, always being better than anything else on the planet. Yeah, right... Not.

Not that they are not great cars as such, but the lack of opinion and journalism is appaling. That is why I now follow people like for example George with his Soup #1,2,3... Far better and much more entertaining. The new topgear have eaten up itself. Just like the recent us election... I much prefer Harrys garage over the new topgear.

Moreover the new TG and floutube mo...s (defined as mild intellectual disability) like shmee, seb and all the similar people screaming like little schoolgirls at the age of 6 (sorry, no pun intended, but the programmes define it all by itself), kind of melted together in one big Commercial with no real content. Just an ego flashing totally over the top (-gear).

To me at least, it seems like many of those new presenters on tv-channels and certainly also on floutube cannot seperate between jounalism and being an extenson of a sponsored (or not) commercial. Together with the inability to express themselves in a relevant way to the subject makes up for some sad times.

ps: I think this will hit p.....e back in it's face some time in the future.

Kind regards,

Jacques.

ps: well spoken Kimbers.

[Kimbers 1,908]

14 hours ago, The Pits said:

 

I'd also like to write but probably won't mention Lotus, instead that the presenters are using British taxpayers money to promote Porsche in particular. What email address did you use @Kimbers?

Still, it was a nice surprise to see a Giugiaro Esprit in the studio. Wasn't it that a Testarossa and a Countach to begin with? Then they added a 911 Turbo. I wonder who's idea that was? At least someone declined his request to have the Lotus removed!

 

'[email protected]' Please do write!

[clivef38 156]

Sorry just watched the one show with two of the presenters  of top gear ,Matt the plonk and one of the others ,cant remember his name. They admitted that they drove Mercs and porkers  so don't  expect any Lotus coverage .

[Sizona 173]

Looks like Top Gear are wanting to do some Lotus stuff, just received this email from Club Lotus as I'm sure lots of others have.

 

BBC Top Gear is embarking on making the best homage film to Lotus we’ve ever made – and we’d like to pull out all the stops to celebrate 70 years of Lotus.

The question is relatively simple, but the logistics perhaps less so.

To celebrate 70 years, we’d like to amass Lotus cars to Brands Hatch on Thursday March 1^st.

Speaking with Lotus, we shortlisted:

  

LOTUS FILM CARS

Lotus Seven

Lotus Elite

Lotus Elan

Lotus Esprit Series 1

Lotus Esprit Series 2

Lotus Esprit Series 3

Lotus Esprit Series 4

Lotus Carlton

Lotus Elise

Lotus Exige (Series 1)

Lotus Evora

Lotus Eleven 

Lotus Cortina 

Lotus Europa 

Lotus Elite Type 75  

Lotus Sunbeam 

Lotus Elan Type 100 

Lotus Esprit V8 

Lotus 340R 

That’s 19 stunning cars, with the 20^th a surprise! At the moment, the intention is to NOT drive the cars – but do you think you could help source each car with an owner that would be happy for their car to be driven? BBC will fully insure the vehicle and the owner will need to be able to either drive and deliver their car to Brands Hatch for March 1^st. Full filming day will be sunrise to sunset. IF the cars are driven, it will be gently.

What do you think? We’re at your disposal to make this happen – seeking one owner per vehicle.

Many thanks,
Rob

 

Rob Searle

Researcher | BBC Top Gear

A: BC3 C6 | BBC Media Village | 201 Wood Lane | London | W12 7TP

Tel: +44 (0) 208 008 0879Mobile: +44 (0)7875 567843 LYNC: 0303 082 6015

[Neal H 914]

That sounds encouraging!

[bogle 32]

Does Rob Searle have an email address listed anywhere?  Just wondering if they have any plans to visit America and possibly add some more cars to the mix.  Yes, that's probably a stretch in the budget and probably not going to happen.

[Dave Eds 289]

[email protected]

[bogle 32]

Thanks Dave.  I emailed Robert and asked him about coming to America.  Sure it's a long shot.

I just want anyone with a Sport 300 to show up at Brands Hatch.  Love that Esprit! Know it's a bitch to work on, but love it.

Bill

[orangeexige 5]

Interesting decision from Club Lotus to just forward the email from the BBC's researcher out to everyone rather than using their resources and contacts to source and support the morning at Brands Hatch themselves. I believe Rob is only after one car per Lotus model so I'm sure they will have their list complete by the evening, especially seeing as I have already sourced half the list this morning for them.

[Dan E 1,592]

I emailed him earlier saying Rick and I can supply my Esprit, his wonderful Elite which is confirmed ex Hazel and the M100 S2 haven’t heard anything back yet. We are also 20mins from Brands 

fingers crossed 

[Steve44 4]

I have had an email saying he wants my 111S series 1 just waiting for final confirmation.

Fingers crossed also 

[Dan E 1,592]

Yep same here for Esprit, M100 S2 and Ricks Elite. See you there I guess although not confirmed yet 

[Steve44 4]

Yes look forward to meeting some of you guys lets hope no snow

[Andyww 1,302]

Did anyone hear back? I texted and did receive a response and he asked me to email but no email reply.

I am assuming no reply means they are sorted for cars now.

On 22/02/2018 at 16:15, bogle said:

Thanks Dave.  I emailed Robert and asked him about coming to America.  Sure it's a long shot.

 

The first episode was mostly shot in America and the preview of the second indicates America also. 

[bogle 32]

I figured they would come to America for certain shows, but I was more interested in Top Gear including America with the 70 year celebration.  Grown tired of Hellcats, Avengers and Charger muscle cars since they are as common place as Civics, Accords and Corollas.  When you see soooo many of them it's really is quite boring.  It gets really annoying when there are two of them in the same color. 

Try getting two Evoras, Elises, Exiges or Esprits in the same color - that barely even happens at American British car show.  Except for some annual British car shows, I'm typically the only Lotus at a car show.  A Lotus on the road in a rare occurrence, but 2 Loti (is that the plural of Lotus?) on the same road together (not planned) is like the odds of seeing a UFO or Sasquatch.   Britain probably has better odds of seeing 2 Loti together unplanned than we do?

[Dan E 1,592]

Andy, he emailed me back asking for some pictures of the M100, I had already sent the Elite and Esprit ones. Problem I have is it is now getting a little late notice. Both cars need a wash so that would mean taking some time out Wed to do this and I still have no idea what cars if any he wants and no idea of the schedule either.