Does UK Comedian Wish Top Gear’s Richard Hammond Had Died In Jet Car Crash?

Daily Mail readers apparently hate Stewart Lee's bit about Richard Hammond's famous jet car crash, in which Lee says he wishes the Hamster had been "decapitated." We're guessing Lee was joking, you prats. [Daily Mail]

Top Gear Abuses Lamborghini LP670-4 SV In Abu Dhabi Desert

During Sunday's episode of Top Gear, Richard Hammond let loose for a spirited drive through the Abu Dhabi desert, drag racing a Mercedes-McLaren SLR 722 in Sant'Agata's newest "snot-nosed kid," the raucous Lamborghini LP670-4 SV. More »

Jeremy Clarkson: US Viewers Don’t Get Top Gear

"That's been canned," said Jeremy Clarkson speaking of Top Gear USA in this video. "[Americans] just don't understand a single word we're on about." More »

Richard Hammond's Ferrari 550 Up For Sale

Looks like Top Gear co-host Richard Hammond has decided to part with one of his cars, in this case a 1997 Ferrari 550 with just 49,000 miles on the clock. Despite the fact this supercar was owned first by EVO magazine before falling into the hands of Hammond, the advertisement states the 550 has "had every care possible by Maranello to keep it pristine." Hammond's Ferrari is the requisite red with black interior and has a proper manual gearbox, but with right-hand drive, US buyers need not apply, even at the asking price of about $66,200. [Motorbase]

Top Gear Teaser Provides Sneak Peek At Season 12

The teaser commercial is out for season 12 of everybody's favorite car show, Top Gear, and it packs a lot of teasing into 30 seconds. Aside from the much-anticipated American power tour, we see shots from all kinds of shenanigans set to start in two weeks, including what looks like double-decker bus racing — or at least tipping, the Stig in a Bugatti Veyron and Captain Slow getting punished at the helm of a very slick speed boat. We've snapped a couple of screen grabs and listed out what to expect from the new season, all available after the jump. More »

Real Top Gear Returns November 2

Originally intended to start on October 26th, Top Gear is now officially slated for a return to television on November 2nd. We can hardly wait for Series 12 to start, particularly because of the American road trip Jeremy and the boys had in a 2009 Corvette ZR1, 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 and a 2009 Cadillac CTS-V. Though we'll have to see if their hour-long special trip to Vietnam is part of the upcoming series, or a stand-alone. [via TopGear]

Top Gear Spotted Filming Episode In Vietnam

Top Gear is expected to return next month; we've already seen that Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May will be coming to America for an episode, and it now appears they'll also be headed to Vietnam for a tour of duty. Unlike their American trip to the Bonneville salt flats in which the chaps drive a Corvette ZR1, Dodge Challenger SRT8 and Cadillac CTS-V, the journey in Vietnam is allegedly happening on motorcycle. Well, three motorcycles we presume. Either way it's not going to be an easy trip from Ho Chi Minh City in the south to Hanoi in the north, but it will definitely make for entertaining television. More »

Top Gear's World War, From The German Perspective

Remember when the blokes at Top Gear squared off against their German counterparts this past season? Well, now the German perspective from the show DMotor has aired. Hosted by none other than Sabine Schmitz—and a couple of other guys—the episode has been subtitled into English now by some intrepid fanboys at FinalGear. Even if you've seen the complementing episode of Top Gear already, it's interesting to see things from the very serious German angle. For instance, the idea of this drag race in the clip below was to match 3 cars fom Axis countries (Germany, Italy, Japan) against 3 cars from Allied countries (Britain, America, India). However, for some reason the DMotor hosts strangely fail to make any mention of this. In fact, there's not a single mention of WW2 in the entire program. Check it out for yourself in the video after the jump. More »

Top Gear Invades London, Takes Tower Bridge With Tank

Self-promotion is something the boys over at Top Gear have never had a problem with, and as part of the build-up to Top Gear Live, they've pulled out another stunt ready to become an instant classic: Driving a tank across the Tower Bridge following a line of supercars. Why'd they do it? Although initially we thought maybe Clarkson's ego finally convinced him an invasion of London made sense or perhaps Captain Slow finally found something to drive that he felt he could keep up with. No, in reality the Tower Bridge stunt was part of an attempt to promote the live stage show kicking off in the UK this October before it goes global. All we know is, although it was an interesting play, we'll keep our remote-controlled tank, thank you very much. More »

Top Gear Unveils "Throne Of Gratitude," Honors UK Anti-Speed Camera City Councilman

In this past week's episode of Top Gear, the boys awarded Peter Greenlagh, a city councilman in the little UK town of Swindon, the "Top Gear Trophy of Excellence" for taking a stand against speed cameras. Not only that, but Jezza announced the creation of the "Top Gear Throne of Gratitude," inviting Greenlagh to drop by the studio and have a seat anytime. Sure, it's not whipping the Nissan GT-R around the test track, but if anything deserves a standing ovation and bestowing of honorifics, a fight against speed cameras surely does. [SwindonWeb]

Telegraph: James May, Richard Hammond "May Leave" Top Gear Unless BBC Meets Salary Demands

The UK's Telegraph is telling us today James May and Richard Hammond, two of Top Gear's threesome of hosts, have yet to sign new contracts recently presented to them by the BBC. According to the UK daily, they're holding out for the same multi-million pound deal received last month by Clarkson in his new contract. The Telegraph even goes so far as to say the two "may leave" the show if their contract demands aren't met. However, the only source they've been able to get a quote from on the record is none other than James May, who very clearly states

"The only reason I haven't signed my contract yet is because it has not yet been finalized. The current one doesn't expire until the end of July. I'm sure a new one will be sorted out soon. I'm not stomping around about Jeremy's contract with BBC Worldwide. Quite frankly, I couldn't give a **** about it."

But, the Telegraph's sources say different. More »

Richard Hammond Has The World's Greatest Life

After watching this promo video for his new book, we want Top Gear host Richard Hammond's life. Is that so wrong? Not to say our life's shabby. No, not by any sense of the imagination. And while we'd certainly love to shoot a rocket-car down a runway, we'd like to do it without it almost killing us. Still, how amazing would it be to have Top Gear dog?

Top Gear Ground Gear Force: Top Gear Gone Bizarro For UK Charity

Some say he's nothing but a short, funny-looking decorative garden accessory. Others say his best friend is a little bunny rabbit who hops on by. All we know is, he's not the Stig — he's a garden gnome. That's right, the Brit-boy threesome of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May stepped back from their adventures in high horsepower for a bit of charity work on the Beeb last month. The hosts of the world's greatest motoring show in all the world took a run at resurrecting the greatest gardening show we've all probably never seen — Ground Force — for the charity telethon Sport Relief. The one-off mashup, called Top Gear Ground Gear Force, took the "Punk'd"-like ethos of the original pruning show and added a dose of the hilarious by completely demolishing the backyard of Sir Steve Redgrave, their target. We're surprised we hadn't seen it yet — especially as the three co-hosts managed to show off the most impressive jet-powered backyard chicken rotisserie we've ever seen. But after a late night torrent session, we've now rectified that issue. It's high time you did the same, so we've dropped the full episode below the jump, so get to it. More »

Top Gear LIVE: World Tour

Yes, not only will the US be getting our own version of the BBC's hit motoring television program, but the BBC is now saying there will be 'Top Gear Live' world tour stopping at 15 countries. No word on which countries those will be, but its possible that the US will actually be a stop; a managing director of Top Gear, BBC Worldwide, saying: "Taking Top Gear Live on tour is tremendously exciting and ties in perfectly with our plans to reach out to audiences around the globe." BBC Worldwide says the live shows will "incorporate the drama of film and theatre with the thrills and spills of stunts and special effects" whatever that means. Let's just hope they keep The Stig's identity a secret. More »

BBC America Bribes Us To Talk Up Top Gear, We Accept

While we don't do the whole "junket" thing like most auto pubs (we pay our own way), we do accept swag (at least under like $25 or something). And if there's one thing you can be sure of — if we get something Top Gear related, we're sure as hell gonna talk about it especially since Top Gear is so amazingly epic. Like today when BBC America sent us DVD's of the first three episodes of Top Gear's Season Ten, which begins to air on the Beeb's colonial brand starting tonight at 8:00 PM EST/ PST. Despite already having torrented magically already seen the episodes we were sent, we were pleased as punch to get it. However, now the ante has been raised. If they want us talking up Top Gear USA, they're just going to have to make us a host. Just sayin'... [via BBC America]

Hamster Working To Cope With Post-Accident Emotional Issues, Memory Loss

For those who don't remember, the much loved Hamster, a.k.a. Richard Hammond, of Top Gear nearly didn't make it after crashing a jet-powered car at nearly 280 mph. And while the Hamster survived, the crash provided quite a shock to the system (Check out the Hamster crash footage). According to the Daily Mail, Hammond has been suffering with depression, memory loss and some diminished ability. He also admits he may have come back to Top Gear too soon given the effort required to rewire his brain to complete the tasks he used to do easily. More »

Top Gear Races Remote-Controlled G-Wiz Against Real RC Car

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The Stig Is Baffled By The London Underground, Thinks Lewis Hamilton Is Rubbish

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New Episode Of Top Gear Airs, Features Audi R8 Versus Porsche 911 Carrera 2S

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Richard Hammond Crashes Again

Oy vey. Poor Hamster. Yes, once again, the whitest toothed member of our favorite TV show has gotten himself into a spot of trouble. Only this time he wasn't strapped into an open top jet-car attempting to break the British land-speed record on a bald front tire. No, this time the diminutive yet fiesty Mr. Hammond was behind the wheel pf a race-prepped BMW 330 DTi when a faster car tried to overtake him. The two cars went boom-boom. Neither Hammond nor his Bimmer were seriously injured. In fact, after some pit repairs they continued the race with Stigy, old Jezza and the notorious Captain Slow all taking turns behind the wheel. [BBC]

Top Gear Polar Special Airs in 1080 HD

If this isn't one of the peak moments in car culture, we'll eat our official Boz Bros. motocross cap with a dollop of Hollandaise. The BBC's Top Gear aired its "Polar Challenge" in stunning 1080p high-definition TV this past evening. We have no idea where one might procure a viewable of the entire program, but teaser clips are available online. It looks absolutely brilliant. Now if only we could get a video card that could handle the full version on our Briggs and Stratton laptop. Thanks to Trevor for the tip. [Top Gear]

Top Gear Once Again Under Eco-Fire

Jezza, Der Kapitan der Nicht Schnell Ist and Doctor Teeth are once again in trouble with environmentalists for racing to the North Pole. Clarkson and May drove cold-weather outfitted Toyota Hiluxes, while Hammond hitched himself up to a team of sled dogs. Greenpeace, however, was far from pleased at the competition, once again spewing vitriol at Clarkson and blaming the BBC for destroying the environment. Interestingly, the notoriously outspoken lead presenter has yet to issue a comment, but we imagine he'll have a lot to say on the occasion of the show's airing. As a side note, Spinelli talks about the trek here. [Daily Express, UK]

Top Gear in Botswana?

Apparently, some Botswani (Botswanian? Autobot?) people aren't entirely thrilled that Jezza, Captain Slow and the Hamster are headed to their African nation to trek out across the country's salt pan. While some citizens are upset about the environmental impact Clarkson & Co. will wreak upon the flats' fragile ecosystem, Guy Brina isn't particularly worried that the Beeb will screw things up. What concerns him is that Top Gear's massive popularity may encourage less-sensitive yahoos to head out on their own salt safaris once they witness the hilarity that'll no doubt ensue when the Three Amigos bicker their way across one of Africa's natural treasures. More »

Top Gear of the Pops!

The three 'teers arm their muskets and take aim at the music industry in this charity episode of Top Gear only it's about music, not cars. Sort of like a video issue of Gearhead, only with middle-aged British chaps instead of middle-aged punkers. [Thanks to the legendary ThnderBlt for the tip.] More »

At The End Of Doubt: James May Is The Man

Most people start watching Top Gear because of Clarkson's bloviation. Which is fine, as he is very good at it. But then the episodes roll by and you notice that while it's a great trick, Jezzo has but one. So then you develop a man-crush on the Hamster and fantasize about a little bromance with him and his Morgan. However, Richard is something of a spaz. And he whitens his teeth. Enter Captain Slow. Davey and I long ago determined that James May was by far the best part of the show. He's the thinking pistonhead's choice. Spinelli is even going for the hair, as Mr. May is without question the man. Above is the pudding proof. – Jonny Lieberman More »

It's Time For (Your Own Personal) The Cool Wall!

One could say that the Jalopnik Fantasy Garage is a slightly-more-democratic, in-depth version of Top Gear's venerable Cool Wall. But now the TG folks have blown that wide-open with their digital rendition of one of the show's most beloved features. Now you, too can widdle away the hours chewing the scenery like a rabid Hamster. Procrastination through joy! – Davey G. Johnson More »

Breaking! The Stig Speaks On Dutch TV!

We're glad the Stig's able to talk, because now we're completely speechless. We've seriously got nothing more to say other than to tell you that need to keep watching until it hits about 45 seconds left in the clip of an interview of two of Top Gear's hosts...and a human some say used to be called a "thing." We're going to go and cry now and lament the damn hot Dutch woman who got the Stig (who sounds remarkably like Damon Hill) to speak and killed our dream that he's a space cyborg. [Hat tip to Cubeguyt!] – Ray Wert More »

Slipshod Power-Number Reportage on Top Gear

Kasey Kagawa is pissed. The Hamster took out a GT500 for review, tossed it on a chassis dyno and came back with 447 horsepower instead of the 500 claimed by Ford. However, it seems from the show as if this was rear-wheel horsepower, uncompensated for the drivetrain's parasitic loss, while Ford rates the motor at the crankshaft. Either way, the methodology wasn't remotely qualified. Kasey, who is possibly the biggest Top Gear junkie we know, isn't taking this lying down. He's refusing to pirate the show until TG apologizes. We'll probably watch anyway while swallowing salt grains, but it does seem that the show's leaning farther and farther toward entertainment these days, whereas before, it pretty much struck a perfect balance between seriousness, epic hoonage and irreverance. Thoughts, children? – Davey G. Johnson More »

Classic Top Gear: Hamster Fires Up A Jet Car. No, Not THAT Jet Car!

Now that BBC Worldwide's signed a deal to allow certain Top Gear clips from the Beeb's vaults see computer screens worldwide via YouTube, we've been treated to all sorts of fun clips from the past. Like this little run-in Richard Hammond had with a Nissan Celery Sunny and a jet car. No, not that jet car. Also, it's a shame we can't embed the content, but the BBC only wants us to watch them on the YouTube page. You know, for the true British experience. – Ray Wert More »

Jalopnik Breaking: James May... Gay?!?!

First we told you that Clarkson was dead, then that Hamster would never drive or think again because of his severe brain injuries, and finally that BBC would cancel Top Gear. So now, based on only the worst possible source (Jeremy himself), we are telling you that Captain Slow may in fact be a homosexual. And married. Watch amongst yourselves. – Jonny Lieberman More »

The Hamster's Not Dead Yet: Top Gear Is Back!

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Lightweight Flying Hippie Car

Driving a compact and economical French automobile is all fine and good, until you stray onto an airport runway and into the full thrust of a 747 jet engine. Hammond commentary and Citroen 2CV disintegration hilarity ensue. To be fair to the 2CV, not even Steve McGarrett's best Five-O hair style could stand up to this kind of jet age punishment. – Mike Bumbeck More »