To make it clear, I loved the old Top Gear series. Every Sunday at eight I would sit down to watch one hours worth of silliness and car fun with Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May. But what I particular liked is when they would do the specials. These would involve all three of them selecting a vehicle each, then go on an adventure. Either trekking their way through the amazon jungle or exploring the North Pole, the specials are something worth watching. So these are my top ten favourite ones.
No 10. The U.S.A special.
Where to start but with the one that started them all. The Top Gear trio arrive in Florida with cars (that coast a thousand US dollars each) and have a long road trip to New Orleans. The trip involves them crashing into a river full of alligators, camping for the night but have to eat road kill, and being chased out of the state of Alabama by angry locals. Sadly the DVD version cut a lot of bits out of the special which spoils it a lot. But there is an extended version on a rereleased DVD.
No 9. The Patagonia special.
This one everyone would know off. This is the one where the trio travel through Argentina and Chile so that they could play car football in the southern hemisphere of the planet. But they ended up abandoning it because of the licence plate on Jeremy Clarkson's car. I would go on but you should already know what happened. This is sadly the last special the trio would ever do together.
No 8. The Vietnam special.
In this special, the trio are in Vietnam. Where they have to travel from the south to the north on bikes. This one has a lot of laughs as they keep getting huge and useless gifts for each other, have to go to a driving school, and even when Jeremy and James spray paint Richards bike pink.
No 7. The Botswana special.
The trio travel through Botswana. Across the famous salt flats, through the Okavango Delta, seeing many wild animals, and many other things along the way. But what makes this special stand out is that it is the one where they introduce Richard's special car Oliver.
No 6. The South American special.
Jeremy, Richard, and James are challenged to drive three off road cars from Bolivia to the pacific ocean in Chile. Where they have to take on thick rainforest, bumpy dust roads, the deadliest mountain side road in the world, the driest desert ever, and even a road that takes them over an active volcano.
No 5. The Polar special.
The trio have a race to see who can get to the North Pole first. Richard with a slay and husky dogs or Jeremy and James in a car. On their journey they'll encounter super thin ice which they have to drive over, huge bolder fields where they have to get across, abandoned research labs, and have to get there so that James can eat a tin of Spam.
No 4. The Middle East special.
This one (as many of the specials have been) was aired during Christmas. In this one the trio arrive in Iraq and have to travel to Bethlehem like the three wise men. This one will take them through five countries and have to buy gold, frankincense, and mirth for who ever is at the end of the journey.
No 3. The India special.
On a diplomatic mission (as they call it), the trio are in India trying to help the trade industry. This involves traveling in three British cars, hosting a garden party, have a mountain side race, and through-out the journey sing "Hey Jude!" by John Lennon (which was changed to "The Seeds of Love" when the special was released outside of the UK. Which is also the version that is on the DVD sadly).
No 2. The Burma special.
The team are in Burma (Myanmar) where they have to travel in three lorries in order to help build a bridge over a river (there is a lot of references to the film and book "Bridge over the river Kwai" And also the true events that the film was based on). This journey takes them through villages, cities, and they even attend a party. And the end part where they build the bridge is also worth wile.
No 1. The Africa special.
The trio are in Africa again where they're searching for the source of the river Nile. This one is great because it includes them turning their cars into mobile homes, re-encountering the African wildlife, coming across a town called Jezza (which Jeremy claims it was named after him), building a car ferry across a river, and all in the name of finding the source of the river Nile.
