Top Gear: Ambitious but Rubbish

Book excerpt: Ambitious but Rubbish reveals the off-camera secrets behind some of Top Gear’s most memorable creations. From the challenge of turning a Reliant Robin into a rocket and the genesis of the Hammerhead-i Eagle Thrust electric car to the complexities of building a caravan airship and the inspiration for destruction-testing a Toyota Hilux, this book is packed with the previously untold stories behind dozens of classic TV moments. Top Gear has never shied away from trying to answer questions no one has even thought to ask. Questions like ‘Can you make a convertible people carrier?’, ‘Can you cross the Channel in a pick-up?’ and ‘Can you turn a combine harvester into a snow plough?’. Ambitious but Rubbish reveals how those insane ideas came about with remarkable tales of ingenious invention and idiotic engineering. This book is essential reading for any Top Gear fan and a terrific insight into the creation of the world’s biggest car show. It’s also a terrifying window into the minds of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May. Don’t say you weren’t warned about that last one.