Peaqy Blinders

According to the BBC, there's a bit of a hoo-ha going on in The Peak District.

Or is that the Peaq District?

No, that isn't one of those amusing stories about signage that has been spelled incorrectly.

Skoda have sponsored the Peak District National Park to change their signs FOR ONE WEEK.

I put that in capitals to stress the massive impact this will have on the area.

Not.

But some people have got quite upset about it. Including presumably Jessica Peach who has been taking photos of the protests for the BBC.

Including that one.

Did she wait until a Skoda was passing before taking it?

Pity that's a 2013 Skoda Fabia estate rather than a 2026 Skoda Peaq.  She'd probably still be there waiting today to catch one of them up there.

Given that we still have to pay for Brexit and the many years of austerity, I don't see anything wrong in this deal FOR ONE WEEK to top up the funds of the national parks.

Although I don't think it would have worked without the protesters.

I wouldn't have known about it if it wasn't for this item about them.

But I'm not going to buy a crossover SUV and I went to The Peak District last year which I enjoyed but want to do other places for the next breaks I have.

And what do we know about the Peaq?

As an electric crossover SUV it is, by definition, boring.  It certainly doesn't look any different to the rest.

Everything Electric Cars have reviewed it.

I'd not noticed it before but they do what Tory councillors always do in local newspapers and get theire photos taken pointing at whatever is annoying them.

Now, where have I seen someone else doing that lately?

Photo credit Jessica Peach.

Big Little Car

Another video from one of the YouTube Channels I subscribe to...

This is a review by the petite Imogen Bhopal of the Hyundai Ioniq 3 on Robert Llewelyn's Everything Electric CARS channel.

I say "petite"...

...she looks quite large here:

 

Or is it just a small car?

 

Then again? 

   

Is it a small woman and a big car?

 

At the start of the review, she states that they only had 30-ish minutes with the car.

 

And the more I watched it, the more it looked like she and the car were nowhere near each other.

 

She and the car appear to be digitally combined. 

 

Like Marc Almond & Gene Pitney in the video to the brilliant "Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart."

 

Then, all of a sudden, just before 6 minutes into the review, she opens the boot!

 

She also climbs in to it:

 

This really excites the commenters.

But I suppose the biggest takeaway is that you can stash the body of a petite person under the boot floor of a Hyundai Ioniq 3.

Which I suspect isn't what they were really going for.

Thinking About Plato

Here's Plato, in a candid shot, posing in front of a column with a statue on it.

Plato said, "One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors."

This is what America is suffering from right now.

And the rest of the World.

He also allegedly said, "Tyranny naturally arises out of democracy."

Yep.

And then there was, "They certainly give very strange names to diseases."

OK, might have gone off at a tangent there.

"My right arm is generally quite strong."

That last one is actually Jason Plato - ex-racing driver and ex-TV presenter.

And current racing team boss.

He has started up Team Plato in less than 12 months and intends to start winning races in the BTCC straight away.

Very impressive.  His former Fifth Gear colleague Jonny Smith spends an hour of his YouTube Late Brake Show discussing it with him here: 

There's no sign of Jason's flat cap but he does appear to be sucking on a mint through the video which is a bit off-putting.

But, mint aside, it is fascinating stuff - for example, the Mercedes cars they are using were all originally water damaged write-offs.  And they've sourced spare bonnets from scrapyards.

Which makes it sound like they are working on a shoestring.

But they aren't.

He's got a crack team of engineers, a state-of-the-art driving simulator and some bloody expensive components.

I always look forward to the BTCC Season.  This year it kicks off tomorrow at Donington Park.  I normally support the BMWs and West Surrey Racing. Have done from before and after owning a BMW myself but, this year, the livery is a bit bland - I wonder of they are no longer a manufacturer team? And I was hoping that Colin Turkington, my favourite driver, might be rejoining their line-up but it looks like they have other plans for him.

So I think I'll be cheering on the Mercs.

"And guess what? I've never run a team before."

400 and Out.

Is it really over?

Dennis Collins' Coffee Walk has been something I've loved for years.

A new episode has come out on YouTube every Friday for presumably 400 weeks.

Now he has stated it is over.  He did use the word "Break" - does that mean it may be back?  Or he's just having a holiday?

One commenter was hoping that it was just an April Fool's Prank - I suspect that commenter is not very good at using calendars.  Let's hope Dennis isn't either.

Does this mean that Zach Oncamera will be getting his P45?  His real surname may be Gorgas - I'm not 100% sure.

The final episode involved the purchase of a "Holy Grail" 1965 Ford Mustang "K" Car - which is the one with the biggest engine that Shelby used as a base for his ones.  I've learnt that plus a fair bit about Jeeps and VIN tags by watching Coffee Walk over the years.

He bought it from a Trump fan who had kept it in very good condition - I wonder if he thinks the show is called Covfefe Walk? 

Coffee Walk has always been my signal that the working week is over - it means I can relax and I usually enjoy it with a can of lager or two.  I guess I'll be going back to Gardener's World now - I'll be learning about Hydrangeas and the like.  Wonder how Monty Don and the Cockney bloke who is a good gardener but shouldn't be because he is a Cockney bloke have been getting on?

Oh well, if it really is over, then thank you Dennis and gang for entertaining me.  I'll miss you all.

Catch the 400th (final?) episode here.

Return of the Grand Tour!

Just with three different blokes:

Haven't a clue who they are but they seem far too young.

That will be the reaction of most Grand Tour fans I imagine.

It was certainly my first thought.

Jeremy has done an "amusing" little sketch for The socials where he is choosing them: 

So I suppose I'd better find out who they are.

Thomas Holland appears to be Spiderman.

I may have the wrong person.

There's a racing driver called Thomas Holland - it must be him - I approve of racing drivers becoming TV motoring presenters - like Tiff Needell, Jason Plato and of course, Vicki Butler-Henderson. Only trouble is, Thomas Holland the racing driver doesn't look like any of the blokes in that photo.

OK, a bit more digging.  Thomas and second new presenter James Engelsman are successful motoring Youtubers with a channel called Throttlehouse.

I'd never heard of it but they have 3.36 million subscribers so must be doing something right.  I approve.

Although I'd have probably gone with the Youtube presenters I watch - Ian from Hubnut, Ed from Twincam and Ryan from Yorkshire Car Restorations. I'd love to see how those three would get along.

The third presenter, who I have also never heard of, is "viral train enthusiast Francis Bourgeois."

They nearly had me. 

What does a Renault 5 cost?

About £23K

But that's one of the brand new, most excellent, electric ones.

I was watching an episode of Flipping Bangers this week.

It's a programme I saw a series of a few years back and quite enjoyed.  I assumed that there was only one series and thought no more about it.

Then they started showing more episodes this year.

Then I saw the two blokes off it at The Classic Motor Show talking about their latest endeavours.  Turns out they've gone onto YouTube.

Anyway, I must have been watching Series 2, Episode 7.

It was an original Mark I Renault 5.

They bought it for £1000 and spent £485 doing it up.

I've just found out they they bought it off Sam Brackley, son of Paul Brackley - the mechanic off Wheeler Dealers in the Edd days.

They didn't do anything about the brown headlining or dodgy dash area above the ashtray.  It had obviously spent a lot of time being smoked in.  They didn't mention a smell though.

It also had some black tape pretending to be trim going between the wheels at the bottom of the doors.  They sort of sorted that.

They did do some actually vital stuff too.

Then they sold it to a dealer for £2600.

This was in 2019.

As soon as I saw the car I thought I recognised it - had I remembered it from seeing the show a few years back?

Nope - it wasn't series two that they broadcast.

Turns out I remembered it from here.

Twincam, another of my favourite Youtubers, has some sort of arrangement with auction house Manor Park Classics.

He reviewed it and they sold it last year.

For £4140.

Somebody somewhere has probably not done very well out of that between 2019 and 2024.

It still had the horrible headlining.

So I'll have one of the new ones please.

Classic!

This weekend just gone I visited the Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show at The NEC in Birmingham.

What did I think?

Well, since you ask, I'll tell you.

The free show guide was most excellent - even came in its own carrier bag!

I got close to Mike Brewer and Tiff Needell which was nice.

And to Will & Gus from Flipping Bangers and to a couple of my favourite YouTubers.

And to Frank Stephenson - apparently pronounced Steffanson - not to be confused with Steph Fromidriveaclassic - one of the aforementioned YouTubers.  I didn't realise until he started talking that I actually knew who he was - in as much as he has a regular column in Top Gear Magazine critiquing modern car designs.  He revealed some secrets about his design work on the Mini One - check out how the exhaust pipe is the same as a Budweiser can.

There were loads of Triumph Dolomites there:

BUT THEY WERE ALL SPRINTS!

Some of us owned 1500HL Dolomites.  They did have a few Triumph 1300s and a 1500 too though.

They also had some famous cars like The Sweeney Granada:

The Saint's Volvo:

And Richard Hammond's Oliver:

They had an F40:

And also whatever this is:

The food was crap - and overpriced - but that's the fault of the NEC - should have used the various vans there.

Loved the day - would recommend it to any petrol-head - and even non-petrol-heads - the two I went with enjoyed it too.

It was classic.

Brexit Bonus - Not!

It's been a while since I've had a rant about Brexit.  Steph was keeping schtum on her views which tend to veer to the right of centre so are more likely to be pro-Brexit.

But, as ever, a very interesting video from one of my favourite YouTubers:

What we have here is a Morris 1100 estate that was bought for £2200 from Sweden and that eventually cost more than twice that due to a combination of transport costs (unavoidable) and British and Swedish bureaucracy and taxes which wouldn't have existed before Brexit.

A couple of the comments seem to agree with me.  One twerp though claimed that one of the reasons he voted for Brexit was because EU laws were making it more difficult to keep classic cars.  I'd like to ask him to name one law that the EU actually forced on us but it looks like he deleted it when he found out that nobody was agreeing with him.

Ed, the purchaser of said vehicle, is an experienced mechanic working in a classic car restoration shop so will have little worries about getting the car fit to use as his daily driver.  He also has the confidence to convert it to right-hand-drive.

Which brings me to my most favourite comment, from @GrandadTinkerer, which has nothing to do with Brexit,

"Many years ago, my friend was asked to convert a mini from right-hand drive, to left-hand drive, as it was going to be used in France.  Pretty easy job he thought. No changes to the dash, just new pedal box and 'flip' the steering to the other side.  Conversion completed, he set off down the road and was immediately terrified as the car turned left, when he steered right!

He had failed to realise that by 'flipping' the steering rack, the pinion was now on the bottom, and effectively reversed the steering action!"

Where has Tom Ford's hair gone?

Here's a picture from back in the day of Tom Ford and Johnny Smith on Fifth Gear.

Back in the day, Tom Ford was known as The Wookie.  A nickname now given by Steve Berry to his sidekick/producer/editor Paul Roverman (not his real name)

He was called that because he was very hairy.

I have followed them both in various guises since they left that show - most recently on YouTube.

I was well aware of Jonny's diminished hairline but, for some reason, maybe it's been a very gradual process, I've only just noticed that Tom has now gone the same way:

I was shocked.

But mostly because he looks a hell of a lot younger now.

Where are they now?

During a recent conversation in the pub and a quick search on The Internet, I found out that a couple of showjumpers I used to watch on The Horse of The Year Show back in my distant youth are still alive.  David Broome and Harvey Smith are both in their mid-eighties.

The conversation diverged and I looked up former Top Gear presenter William Woollard.

He is also alive and in his mid-eighties.

Although, if you believe his Wikipedia page (and it isn't convinced itself), he was looking extremely frail 14 years ago.

So, what about the other former TG presenters?

It may be a false memory, but I think I can remember Angela Rippon presenting it - I am more certain about remembering Noel Edmonds.

Angela has, rather disappointingly had a stint on GB News alongside drunk-driver (and definitely NOT a TG presenter) Alistair Stewart.

She now does an advert alongside a Albert Einstein impersonator - not sure what it is for but it's got something to do with energy.

Of this lot, Tiff Needell and Chris Goffey have both appeared recentlyish on a couple of my favourite YouTube Channels (Late Brake Show and idriveaclassic respectively) looking a lot older but still going strong.  Meanwhile, Steve Berry has just started up is own channel - Steve Berry's Big in the Nineties.

In it, he gets angry every week and mentions that he used to present Top Gear and drives a car from that decade in a very entertaining package.

He also appears to be turning into Bob Mortimer - especially in the Audi A6 C5 Avant episode where he compounds it by attempting a North-East accent.

I have liked and subscribed.

Paddy, who I DO REALLY LIKE JUST NOT PRESENTING TOP GEAR OR QUESTION OF SPORT, was on Who Do You Think You Are? last week - that was enjoyable and he found out his ancestry was Irish - who would have thought that?

Next Thursday also sees the return of Vicki & Rory in Fifth Gear on Quest and the return of Jeremy, James & Richard in the last ever Grand Tour on Amazon Prime.

Shame it has to end.

We don't know if Top Gear TV has ended but we do know who the general public (as opposed to the car-fanatical public) remember the most.

Question Time

But that isn't Question Time!

No, that isn't the right-leaning political show - that is actually A Question of Sport.

But last time I actually mentioned Question Time, I titled it "A Question of Sport" so this makes up for it.

Anyway, the question Paddy McGuinness must be asking himself is, "What have I done to upset the BBC?"

After several years of being given (inappropriately) lots of TV shows that he really shouldn't be fronting, first Top Gear gets canned and now A Question of Sport has gone the same way.

As I have previously stated, I DO LIKE PADDY McGUINNESS!

But not for Top Gear.  And I know the Question of Sport fans preferred Sue Barker - a UK tour of that team drew in the crowds after they were booted off showing that the BBC sometimes make daft decisions - I refer you back to my 2018 Post M'Lud.

The BBC needs to be careful - I mentioned earlier this month that YouTube is now my main source of motoring information, education and entertainment - Lord Reith should be spinning in his grave.

I am actually subscribed to 14 motoring YouTube channels (15 if you include Dominic Chinea)

There are the three I really like who specialise in driving old cars with bits of maintenance jobs and other interesting stuff interspersed:

• Hub Nut - the nerdy one
• Idriveaclassic - the woman one
• Twin Cam - the young one

My highlight of the week is Dennis Collins' Coffee Walk on a Friday which also usually involves food and there is his Dallas-based neighbour Gas Monkey Garage.  The other American ones are:

• Jay Leno's Garage
• TFL Classics

There are the electric ones:

• Electric Classic Cars - the Welsh one
• The Fully Charged Show - the Kryten one

There is Top Gear which is a good addition to Top Gear Magazine although I actually prefer reading their stuff but it is nice to hear the voices of their journalists.  And if you want Clarkson, May & Hammond there is DriveTribe - mostly Hammond these days.

The Late Brake Show is Jonny Smith's vehicle (if you'll pardon the pun) - very entertaining, especially his barn find episodes.

Great British Car Journey is these people - and they have added Sarah Crabtree.

And finally, there is Edd China - who I'm actually a bit worried about.  He was the highlight of my week for a very long time but hasn't posted anything new in ages.

So there you go - and here I go.

To catch up on some YouTube.

But Seriously...

Last month, The BBC announced what many people believe to be the end of Top Gear as a UK television programme.

They then announced that the last bit of the last Grand Tour had been filmed.

One of those saddened me more than the other.

Hagerty have now produced a very interesting article  by James Mills suggesting that we need a new, proper car show rather than an entertainment show.   It also points out how the success of Top Gear 2002 (as I think of the Clarkson era) was down to the hard work and skills of Jeremy Clarkson and Andy Wilman - which would explain the success of The Grand Tour.

It is a very well written article - apart from where Sabine Schmitz is described as "a little-known German racing driver."  You may not have heard of her James, but true Top Gear fans know exactly who she was.

The article goes on to say why Top Gear was never going to match the Wilman/Clarkson era and how we need a proper motoring show now more than ever - especially as the motoring world is evolving into an electrically-powered world.

In a way we have that though thanks to YouTube.  I get most of my motoring fixes that way now subscribing to about ten different channels.  I even have my own channel - not that I think I'll ever use it.  I only created it so that I could add a reply to someone commenting on a Lotus Europa in the background of this video.

But, if you are not a fan of Youtube, maybe you should write to the BBC and tell them to take note of the words of the prescient young-ish blogger who wrote this 10 years ago.

Leap of Faith

 Those bloody Chinese ripping off western cars...

I mean just look at that uglified Fiat 500 clone - Fiat must be furious.

Actually it is Fiat that is going to be importing it into Europe!

It's called the Leapmotor T03 and Autocar have the story here.

They seem to think that it could leapfrog the competition to become the cheapest electric "proper" car on sale here.

One of the YouTube Channels I subscribe to is The Fully Charged Show.  I'm a bit in two minds about it because I really like Robert Llewelyn but I was really put off by this video. The woman presenting it may or may not have been correct but her attitude and arrogance made me feel like she was going out of her way to prove that synthetic fuels would never be viable so the whole piece felt too biased to be useful.  Then the chap on this piece just seemed to be trying too hard - he's talking about the forthcoming Citroen e-C3 which is another contender for the cheapest electric "proper" car on sale here.

Which is why I suddenly starting talking about YouTube subscriptions.

It wasn't a leap into the dark.

Feeling Flushed

Now if I was a trendy influencer or Youtuber I'd probably start this story by saying that I'd accidentally dropped my mobile phone into the toilet.

But then I would be telling a lie just for effect.

Although, looking at this photo I found on the Web, it would be fine because there is no water in it.

Anyway, the next thing your Influencer/Youtuber will tell you is that you can dry out electronic gadgets using uncooked rice.

There is actually a bit of debate on this out there but let's assume it is right - can you dry out your electric car if it gets immersed in toilet water?  Or any other sort of water?  Well a trendy Youtuber has tried just that - he bought a water-damaged Audi E-Tron GT for $55000 with a view to drying it out. Un-water-damaged ones sell for $105000 in The States.  His name is Rich Benoit and his video is here.

He is amusing and, as I predicted, he does talk about mobile phones - I started this post before I'd watched the vid.

Anyway, spoiler alert - he succeeds!  He also explains why they could use out-of-date rice - a point missed by the commenter called CC on the drive.com.au story has missed.  He obviously hasn't watched the video and he obviously doesn't get invited to many parties - so won't need the product they suddenly start advertising during presentation.

1996 Honda Accord For Sale

The 2018 Honda Accord looks quite good in a the-front-radiator-grille-has-fallen-off sort of way.

But we won't be able to buy it in Britain.  In fact we haven't been able to buy a new Accord since 2015.  That sector of the market has been taken over by the luxury Germans on one side and the Mazda 5 and Hyundai/Kia i40/Optima on the other side.  You don't even see Mondeos on Ford forecourts nowadays.

 

Meanwhile, in the land where you can still buy a new Accord, a 1996 version is doing very well thank you on an auction site thanks to a very professional advert made by a professional film-maker.

 

The BBC report it here.

 

And here is the ad: 

It's a wonder nobody has thought of this before.

Oh yes, they did.

Old News

I really like Wheeler Dealers.

And on Facebook, I have really liked Wheeler Dealers.

But most of their posts point at a website called musclecarszone.com

And, while I think it does have some interesting articles on there, it is really very rarely that I will click on one.  Mainly because the website itself can only be described (by me at least) as very tacky due to the awful clickbait advertising you get on there:

And if you're using a geriatric laptop like mine, the page takes forever to come up.

I  guess this advertising must have some effect because while I am never tempted to watch the video that billionaires in my locality don't want me to watch or to find out which celebrity I wouldn't expect to be dead is actually dead while a picture of a non-dead celebrity is luring me in - there must be enough people out there who do click on them to justify their presence.

Any road up, the musclecarszone article that Wheeler Dealers on Facebook pointed me at today didn't seem to add up - so I clicked on it.

Apparently, "This Lady Has Been Driving The Same 1957 Chevrolet Car For 53 Years! 116,000 Miles On The Odometer"  - which is the article in the Screenshot above.

However, it doesn't take a Degree in Statistics (sad but true - I have a degree in Statistics) to realise that a 1957-bought car 53 years later only takes us to 2010.

For some reason, musclecarszone.com have taken a YouTube Posting from six-ish years ago, taken the commentary to be the text, and published it as a new story.

It is an interesting story.  I watched and enjoyed an old lady talking about her old car.  It's a Bel Air - not that the article tells you that - presumably because the YouTube Posting doesn't tell you that.

But it ain't new news.

I suppose that at least it also isn't fake news.

But either way, come on Mike, give us some real news (and without the dodgy ads - I don't care that at least 12 celebrities don't wear panties - honest!)

The Lighter Side of Car Crime

At least if you're not the owner of this Range-Rover that is:

Today's BBC story is here.  I seriously hope that whoever owns this is a love-cheat.  It's not even an ordinary Range-Rover - it's a Revere Range-Rover.  If you haven't heard of Revere (like I hadn't) they are one of these up-market tuner/bespoke customiser companies a bit like Overfinch.  The story first started trending on Twitter.

Meanwhile, yesterday, the BBC ran with this story.  It also involves Twitter.  It is about a car thief being disturbed while trying to perpetrate his crime.  This caused him to leave behind his bag.  This bag contained a balaclava, a glass hammer and a couple of packets of popular cheesy snacks.  Cheesy snacks that look a lot nicer  in real life than in this picture tweeted by the investigating police officer:

I have to say, I definitely prefer Quavers to Wotsits but since both appear in the picture, I'm sure the officers enjoyed them whilst also taunting the criminal on Twitter, first offering them back, then admitting they had eaten them whilst extracting his DNA from the balaclava.

Police with a sense of humour.

I like that.

I also like the New Zealand Police who have taken part in the current "Running Man" Internet challenge craze (Nope, never heard if it before tonight) whereby they dance to a particular track and then challenge others to do the same.

Here's their very good effort:

And they then went on to challenge several Australian Police Forces plus the NYPD and the Isles of Scilly Police.

The NYPD responded thusly:

But why pick on the Isles of Scilly Police?  After all, the Isles of Scilly are a very small group of islands off the Cornish Coast at Lands End.

Well their response is probably a clue:

I note that the gauntlet has been laid down by https://www.facebook.com/NZPolice/ for a dance off with us. I also note that they can draw on a supporting cast of thousands of officers and staff whereas we have a modest team of five and occasionally a cat. Our combined age on this small rock in the Atlantic (including feline years) is over 300. Ours is not to dance or body pop ever since the thespian PC Mat 'Flashdance' Collier left these shores several years ago. When we do so, we now do levity in the medium of cake.
We wish NZ Police the very best with their recruitment drive. It certainly is a remarkable career even if you have to do it upside down dancing on the ceiling.

Sgt Colin 'Dad Dance' Taylor

And their Facebook page is well worth a like.

The History of Gears

Fifth Gear is now on ITV4.

It came as a bit of a shock to me when I spotted it in The Radio Times a few weeks ago.  Especially as I had just been catching up on the repeats of the Discovery Channel episodes which were being shown on Quest - as I predicted when I found out they were going to Discovery back in September 2012.

I'm not sure why they moved from Discovery but I suspect the answer could lie in a quote from this article in BroadcastNow.co.uk from September 2014 which quotes the chief exec of North One TV (who make the show) that "establishing free-to-air distribution for the show was also vital because the additional viewing figures helped secure the backing of car manufacturers for the series."  As it is, The History Channel get the first airing of the shows but then ITV4 get them half-a-year or more later..

Maybe that is why the Twitter account of Tiff Needell (or Tiffany Dell) uses a historical picture when he tells us the news:

Or is that Barry Sheene?

Maybe they were struggling a bit with lower viewing figures resulting from going over to the dark side.

I could have told them that - I mean, don't get me started on F1!

Why not?

I SAID DON'T GET ME STARTED ON F1!!

Apologies if you've just spent ages reading that rant.  Back to the story or history of Gears.  I've just started to get back in to Fifth Gear after a three year absence.  Vicki seems to be pregnant again and Jason Plato has disappeared again although they are borrowing Karun Chandok who seems to be doing a good job in his place.

At this point I started explaining to one of my sons where Fifth Gear actually came from.  About how BBC2 decided they had had enough of Top Gear (one of their highest rating shows - albeit more about cars and motoring than entertainment) so decommissioned it.  And how the Top Gear team went over to Channel 5 but The Beeb wouldn't let them take the name with them so they called it Fifth Gear.  Then The Beeb realised the error of their ways and got former host Jeremy Clarkson in to front a new version which is what we are more familiar with now.

This prompted me to get onto YouTube and find some old 1980s and 1990s Top Gear episodes which is something I do from time to time at the slightest excuse.  It is difficult to comprehend just how posh Jeremy was in those days - entertaining on a different level.  And nice to see William Woollard again.

Anyway, here is a timeline as I see it right now - with Fifth Gear strewn over five channels.

Somehow, even though it will be on Pay TV, I don't think Clarkson, May & Hammond (or whatever it will be called) will have problems with "securing the backing of car manufacturers for the series."

Not that I'll be watching it until it turns up on YouTube or Dave or wherever it is free.

Meanwhile, I will be definitely be watching with interest Chris Evans presenting an all-newer Top Gear.

That will be the future of Gears.