WWW.topgear.com.ph TOP GEAR PHILIPPINES 41
time because I hadn’t done my research
properly. Other cars have brought me
much joy. Fangio’s World Championship-
winning 860 Monza was a bit of a wow.
Super, super good-looking chariot.
The Aston DB 10 , Bond’s new car...
that’s what I’m itching to drive at the
moment. But there’s so much good stuff
around. Honestly, anything from Land
Rover or Bentley I look forward to. I know
they’re the bigger and the flashier cars,
but I look at the masterful engineering
of Rolls-Royce at Goodwood and think,
“Yeah, I want a bit of that.” But then
there’s smaller stuff, the independents,
which are always interesting. I like the
cars that have changed my mind on things
like stop/start. Hybrid technology and
where it’s all going fascinate me.
Also, how far can new car design go
when speed and power are now way past
what is at all sensible? Cars are getting
faster all the time, yet roads are getting
busier and speed limits are coming
down—if anything—instead of up. It’s
like the supercar manufacturers know
something we don’t. Otherwise, why
would they still bother? The other great
modern-day irony is that Formula 1
is considerably slower now than in its
speed-happy heyday. I don’t get that at all,
especially when it’s also much safer. Then
there’s the potential sacrilege of Bentley
and the Bentayga, its SUV that threatens
to outstrip the Range Rover for posh.
Diversification is the name of the game
even for the likes of Porsche, Rolls, Ferrari
and McLaren with its new baby boomer
540 and 570 S. I hear Lamborghini fans
are also about to be able to Lambo up the
school run with the Urus. I don’t know
whether to scream, cry or just leave.
On the other hand, I don’t mind at all
things like Honda bringing back the NSX.
All aluminum from collar to cuffs back
in the day, and now as a super-complex
AWD hybrid supercar. Can’t wait.
And as for Ford with its GT racing
at Le Mans next year, 50 years after the
company won the race, and teeing up a
classic Ferrari-versus-Ford battle, I think
they are pretty much on the money with
everything they’re doing at the moment.
The silly and pointless but brilliantly
affordable Mustang in RHD for the first
time ever, and Ford’s continued domi-
nance of the budget family car market.
Plus, they really have been very savvy in
their loyalty to their hot-hatch/RS market.
If I were to pick a three-car garage:
My old 1960 250 SWB Ferrari California
Spyder, the McLaren F 1 that I never
drove—but not in silver—and that first
car, the Mini my mum took out a 500 -quid
loan to get me started with.
Now, as for Top Gear, I honestly didn’t
think I would get the phone call. I was
amazed that I did. I ruled myself out
because I didn’t want to be part of all the
nonsense that was going on. But then the
situation changed, and I wasn’t stepping
on anybody’s graves or toes. I was actually
in the middle of preparing for TFI Friday,
and I talked to Will and he said, “Why
would you not do this?” And that’s the
question. It wasn’t: “Why would you do
it?” It was: “Why wouldn’t you?”
If I make television programs for a liv-
ing and love motor cars and love the big-
gest challenge in the world, why wouldn’t
I do it? So, 20 minutes later, I phoned back
and said, “Yeah, I’ll do it.”
This is the most challenging thing I
have ever done in my career. When I took
over Terry Wogan’s show, people kept
saying I had big shoes to fill, and they’re
saying it again now. I don’t mean they’re
wrong or they’re right, it’s just such a pre-
dictable thing to say. And Jeremy is very
tall, so they’re even bigger shoes.
The new team is nearly in place. We’re
so very close. We have to start filming
really soon, definitely within two months.
We know what we want the production
crew to do—editorial and location and
studio—because we’ve written the show
we want to make.
The search for a presenter isn’t a gim-
mick. No, it can’t be, because, first of all, I
do not have time in my life for gimmicks
anymore, and Top Gear doesn’t need
gimmicks. The only reason I’m doing
these auditions is because that’s how they
found James May and Richard Hammond.
We know from things that have gone
on in the past that there are some amaz-
ing people doing stuff in their bedrooms
or in their garages. We’d be stupid not to
find those people. You don’t know whom
you’re going to find. You might find no
one. And that’s also why it’s not a gim-
‘Jeremy is
very tall,
and so the
shoes I
have to fill
are even
bigger...’
mick, because you’re not guaranteeing
a place, because that would be a gimmick
in itself and you might only be employing
a person for the sake of it.
We know that the car industry is
prolific, that there are new cars coming
out every week around the world. The raw
material and the content are always going
to be there. It’s served to you on a plate
every week. Everybody has ideas. I’ve got
cameramen phoning me up with 20 ideas,
so ideas aren’t the issue. The issue is
organization. You’ve got to be organized.
You’ve got to get the right people in place.
You’ve got to get your timetable and your
timeline sorted out. And if you get all that
sorted out, it’s not a problem.
When I start working on Top Gear and
stop doing The One Show and then stop
writing my book, I will be less busy than
I have been this year. When I go abroad
to make some films, when I get on those
planes to go off to wherever we’re going,
that’s the most downtime I’ll have in five
years. I can’t wait, to be honest.
This bloke is not into
watches or clothes.
He’s just into carsHe’s not merely putting
on a show. He’s really
addicted to automobiles