Monday 27 June 2016

Rolls Royce Brexit

Last week, I decided that there could have been a Ford Brexit.

Then, the World (or Europe at least) fell apart.  We have reports of an acrimonious split and headline-hitting resignations.

Yes, apparently, Matt LeBlanc will quit Top Gear if Chris Evans isn't sacked.  It was reported by The Sun after speaking to "a source".  Now, The Sun does have quite a bit of form for publishing lies but Evans & LeBlanc do seem to be harder to find at the moment than Boris Johnson & Nigel Farage.  Evans didn't do his scheduled Radio 2 show this morning.

While we're discussing form, Top Gear has form for controversial number plates.

And last night, we saw Evans' Rolls Royce Corniche driving about part of the EU with a Brexit Number Plate:
That's  BRX 522 T  which is near enough.

5 is the number of the Top Gear episode that came straight after the Brexit vote.
2 is the number of Top Gear Presenters that include Evans and LeBlanc.
and 2 is thember of guests that we now have every week on the Top Gear sofa.

Wow.  Spooky Huh?

Tuesday 21 June 2016

Would EU Believe It?

I have touched on the EU Referendum before.  It was in March.

And now I'm touching on it again.

Autocar report that Nissan are planning to sue Vote Leave over a Brexit flyer in which they claim that “Major employers have all said they’ll stay in the UK whatever the result of the referendum” which may be true but they use various employers logos alongside this statement implying by association that these employers are pro-Brexit. Nissan are pro-Bremain so don't want to be appearing on these flyers.

I suspect it will be something about use of a trademarked logo that they will get them for.

The FT have the story too.  I love the way that their website is pink to match their newspaper.  They state...
"Some of the country’s largest manufacturers — Jaguar Land Rover, Toyota, BMW and Vauxhall — on Monday issued a renewed pledge to protect jobs and investment by voting to remain.

Other major manufacturers such as Nissan and Ford have already said they would prefer the UK to remain part of the EU, although none of the companies have said they will close UK plants in the event of a Brexit."

So Nissan haven't actually said they will stay open, they just haven't said they'd close.  Toyota & Vauxhall logos also appear on the leaflet - I guess they won't be too happy either.

I could imagine a small 1970s saloon being called the Ford Brexit.  But that's just how my mind works.

Meanwhile, Jeremy has backed his up Remain views (look back to my March article) with an amusing video featuring James May.


Monday 13 June 2016

Everything's Going To Be All Right

I promise that this is the last Top Gear review-type thing I do for this series.

During the week I came to the revelation that Chris Evans was doomed to failure - I saw him as David Moyes trying to fill the impressive shoes of Sir Alex Ferguson.

I say "impressive" reluctantly as someone who does NOT support Man United.

But whoever took over from the red-faced one with anger-management issues was never going to win over the fans of just about the biggest franchise in the World unless the resulting performances were brilliant.

And they weren't.

So he got the push.

Then Louis Van Gaal took over.

Same result.

I saw the same thing happening with Top Gear - Chris gets the gig for one Season, then someone else takes over but doesn't improve things, then Jose Mourinho gets the job and all is well again.

But maybe, after last night's performance, the tide is turning.  I think this was the first show filmed after the disastrous reaction to show 1.

Evans was noticeably less shouty and Matt LeBlanc seemed to be leading the studio bits.  The newcomers were allowed in to comment on their films and the interview was enjoyable - although Kevin Hart had a lot to do with that and Anthony Joshua played his part too.

Overall, I thought, "Everything's Going To Be All Right." - and so did the press.

Generally. 

Here's the Mirror view and here's the Telegraph.

I think the back-room team might just be able to sort this.

Wednesday 8 June 2016

Not Two Bad

Last week, I stated how new Top Gear needed three front people rather than two.

After episode 2, I still stand by that - although episode 2 was better than episode 1.  Although that may have had something to do with Eddie Jordan joining Evans & LeBlanc for the road-trip.

Still not got the chemistry working properly yet though.

The Internet seems more interested in watching Clarkson, May & Hammond assembling DHL packing boxes.

Which got me thinking.

Three middle-aged men - good chemistry - good comedy.

Now I know I've always banged on about how car shows should be presented by motoring journalists or racing drivers.

But, let's be honest, Top Gear is a comedy show with car bits in there too.

So this is who the BBC should have got in to front it...
They have all that is needed.

Including the cardboard boxes.