You might make it in to our Birmingham, but you wouldn't make it out....:cool:

Thinking about it you wouldn't ever make it out of our Birmingham either - have you SEEN their road system? They don't call it spaghetti junction for nothing. Not sure whether a swift violent end is preferable to starving to death....

If there were two hosts, they could be called dumb and dumber. Since there were three I guess they should be called dumb, dumber and dumbest. I was excited at the front end when they showed the coupe in the background (which didn't even get mentioned) and then when they showed the 427SC and implied they were going to run it against a Viper. That vaporized into the most stupid waste of time I've ever watched - a totally staged Cobra gunship stalking a Viper! Please, leave this show to the Brits! %/ :(

The show was not very entertaining but not AS bad as I thought it was going to be when I saw the hosts. Tanner is a good driver and would make an okay third member to get picked on and harassed but not the lead guy. Should have been big and bombastic Adam Carolla to mirror Clarkson on the BBC version.

Running the Cobra against the Viper would have been epic. Terrible missed opportunity.

I would like to see them set the STIG loose with a CSX4000 or Kirkham for a run at the power board. It would be very interest to see where on the board it would land.

- we've made similar requests, but Clarkeson is on record saying he hates 'kit cars', although somehow the Westfield/Caterham is seen as acceptable (did you see the episode when they tried to build one in the time it took the stig to drive a few hundred miles North?)

I have heard lots of people talking about TG and one of the reason for its success is the huge budget they spend on the stunts. I think this has grown over the years. When TG came out (actually 'returned to TV') a few years ago now, it was a bit of a shaky start I remember. It was well known that Clarkeson had fallen out with his fellow (original format - mainly cars, no gags) TG hosts Tiff Needle, Vicky Henderson Butler and another reporter who's name escapes me. They went to UK Channel 5 and started Fifth Gear - using the same old top gear format. Top Gear then appeared about a year after the bust up on BBC2, some people billing it the Jeremy Clarkeson show', which was the part of the problem of the break up with the old team.

It was criticized initially as being politically incorrect and bad use of the licence fee. all quickly forgotten about when it got a firm footing in the ratings.

Pub quiz factoid:
Before the Hamster was famous, we persuaded him to do the interviews for a UK Cobraclub meet at Duxford Aircraft Museum. The video is downloadable... somewhere on the web.

Ok just watched it . I'm a big fan of the UK version and magazine , do you get that in the states ? Anyway pretty good , as soon as they loose the the two comedians , tanner and the new hosts may have a great show . My pick s Carolla , Leno or matt farah from the smokin tire .com oh ya and me
SDR