Top Gear Mistakes/Gaffs

Maybe not a mistake but a funny observation. They always say that Richard doesn't eat fish, but in the episode where they race to Monte Carlo on the train Richard eats fish for lunch. :) small but funny observation from me hehe
 
I know this is incredibly petty, and I'm a complete nerd for noticing, and it was probably part of the setup anyway, but...

When they were driving the Blue Ridge Parkway and complaining about the speed limit being 35, Jezza said something like "Wait...it's 25" while the camera looked at a warning sign for a curve showing the suggested speed, not the speed limit.
 
Mistakes in TG are funny

Mistakes in TG are funny

First, i am a big TG fan... i love the show, did you know, that there
are actual facts included in the show? you'll just have to look closely
Second, I really don't like writing stuff in the internet
rather just read -or just look at the pictures-

But hmmm to the point, we all think that TopGear is never wrong, they
know all about cars and driving etc... especially if Jameas May says
something, we take it as a fact.
I've been searching though the -net for years, watching old episodes of TG,
and nobody... really nobody or anything has pointed out the biggest mistake
of them all.

Chek out TopGear season 5 episode 7 James the May -while blabberin about the
restauration rip off- tells us all -at 22min 22s- that James Dean was killed in
his Posche Speedster???
While Dean actually had a 1954 -some say it was a 1953- Speedster, Little Bastard,
the car that killed him was a 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder.
May not seem like a big mistake, but take a look at those cars... the other one is a
sleek, low racing machine and the other is... well, bulky, tall everyday cruiser.

I'll try to add links to pictures of both cars, so that the enormity of mistake can be seen by anybody -or anything-.... and Yes even I know, that Dean himself
had a nickname "little bastard". He then had it painted on his car, thus naming the
Porsche after himself... I Really hope, that somebody - or somethong- will tell this to
James May

TGFool from Finland... ohhh yes please, let's find more stuff like this one

http://www.roadandtrack.com/var/ezf...52-1-eng-US/sf_james-deans-last-race_img1.jpg
http://farm1.staticflickr.com/68/202337402_4fc9d7ce77_m.jpg
 
Another big mistake was in 17x04, when Clarkson said that Jag XKRS did the Nordschleife in 9 minutes. Rubbish, he has been in a diesel Jag that is faster than that.
 
Another big mistake was in 17x04, when Clarkson said that Jag XKRS did the Nordschleife in 9 minutes. Rubbish, he has been in a diesel Jag that is faster than that.

Not really. The diesel Jag's time was bridge-to-gantry, which cuts off about 2-3 km of Dottinger Hohe straight, the XKRS time was the full 20.8 km lap.
 
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The US episode where they went from Blue Ridge Pkwy to New York. The map shows them going north from DC through central Pennsylvania to get to New York. In reality they went east through Maryland, over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge (shown in the episode) and then into some random clip of Pennsylvania (probably just out of order), then into Delaware to drive north on Rt 9 (you can see the route sign which is unique to that state), and finally into Intercourse, Pennsylvania to look at the Intercourse sign.
 
oops-1.jpg
 
You can often see the film crew in the background of Top Gear shots - why is that one special? Or why should it be regarded as a mistake/gaff?
 
Some of my favorites:

- Whenever referring to the off-throttle noises a turbocharged car makes, they often reference the "wastegate", when the various sounds in question are actually blow off valves.

- During the US Bonneville trip with the ZR1/CTS-V/Challenger (12x02), the map graphic suggests that the long, twisty road the 'vette and caddy are tossed around on is Route 93 in northeastern Nevada. It is actually the Virginia City highway / Route 341, clear across the state near Reno.

- Very common for the guys, especially Clarkson, to refer to any US highway or road as "I-whatever", as with the "I-50" in Nevada. That isn't an interstate. It's U.S. Route 50.

- The US east coast special suggested that navigating Manhattan was a particularly difficult thing to do. This is hilarious as the majority of the city is one big numbered grid, and anyone who's even glanced at a map, or indeed spent a few minutes wandering around, could figure out more or less where they're supposed to go. Also amusing was Clarkson's inability to understand the one-way-street system, which is hilarious as the direction of travel alternates between each street/avenue.

- Hammo's ham-fisted F40 gear changes in 16x06. Yes, gated shifters take a little getting used to, as does the old school dog leg Ferrari pattern, but c'mon. :p

- The "difficulty" getting out of Lucca, Italy in 17x02... which is amusing, given that they start in Piazza dell'Anfiteatro, which is a few blocks away from "the way out", and less than a mile from the Autostrada.

- Clarkson's "AK-47" in 8x06 is obviously a replica. Same prop is used in Commie Cars.

Almost forgot my favorite: Clarkson's Ford GT debacle, every bit of which was caused by the horrible Cobra alarm system installed in the UK. You can tell it's a Cobra by the keyfob he "shows off" during the supercar trip to France. I spent no small amount of blood, sweat and tears extracting that same electronic demon from my Elise. Shudder.
 
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^You knowable man
 
You can often see the film crew in the background of Top Gear shots - why is that one special? Or why should it be regarded as a mistake/gaff?

Because he's in the middle of one of the main 'piece to camera's of the segment and the camera is distractingly noticeable!
 
Well man. It was the 80's. And I am sure that golf was selected cuz It was one of the best in shape in britain. In fact that very same golf has been featured on other Clarkson DVDs. Apart from the fact that BBS wheels are so popular in VW owner circles that you can even call the stock.

Well, it was mostly the 70s. MK1 Golfs were built from 1974 to 1983, GTIs from 76 to 83. The MK2 was the actual 80s GTI.

Anyhow: I remember the silver car from a Clarkson DVD, and I *think* it was also used at some other point in another TG-episode (besides the MK 5-review).

The point was however that JC talked about the subtlety of an original Golf GTI and then proved this point with a not-so-subtle, "pimped" version. For comparison:

VW-Golf-I-GTI-005.jpg

This is how a MK 1 came out of the factory (this one is a very early model with the all metal bumpers).

golf_1_7.jpg

Very late Pirelli-model with the new plastic-bumpers (among other things :D). Again: All original.

260804vw--L.jpg

That's the car JC used. Dunno about MK1s in the UK, but I can't imagine VW sold them like this over there ...



S.
 
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I can't remember which episode it was from but I remember when Jezza was criticizing Richard for his lack of knowledge in classic rock, by saying: "you see, this is what I've had to put up with. He (Hammond) thought Colin (Cozy) Powell was the drummer with Black Sabbath!". But as a matter of fact, he WAS a drummer on Sabbath's 1989 album "Headless Cross" (and on a few other albums but I can't remember them now).
 
I can't remember which episode it was from but I remember when Jezza was criticizing Richard for his lack of knowledge in classic rock, by saying: "you see, this is what I've had to put up with. He (Hammond) thought Colin (Cozy) Powell was the drummer with Black Sabbath!". But as a matter of fact, he WAS a drummer on Sabbath's 1989 album "Headless Cross" (and on a few other albums but I can't remember them now).

We know that Cozy Powell was the drummer for Black Sabbath. The Colin Powell that Jeremy was talking about was the former four-star general and US Secretary of State, who, as far as we know, was never involved with Black Sabbath.
 
We know that Cozy Powell was the drummer for Black Sabbath. The Colin Powell that Jeremy was talking about was the former four-star general and US Secretary of State, who, as far as we know, was never involved with Black Sabbath.

Oh, that's awkward. I should have figured that out sooner why he had intentionally called him "Colin" rather than his usual stage-name "Cozy". My Mistake then :p
 
- During the US Bonneville trip with the ZR1/CTS-V/Challenger (12x02), the map graphic suggests that the long, twisty road the 'vette and caddy are tossed around on is Route 93 in northeastern Nevada. It is actually the Virginia City highway / Route 341, clear across the state near Reno.

Thank you! I grew up in the town they stopped at after driving across highway 50 (Ely, Nevada). I knew that twisty road they drove afterward wasn't any of the roads in the area, and I always wondered where it was. I love this forum
 
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