Saleen?

[STLFJ40]

I am from America and I am constantly hearing Clarkson jabbering on about how crappy American Cars are, and how they cant make a real car. If Clarkson is so sure that we can't why has he yet to test drive one of the best American Supercars ever created, the Saleen S7. Plus the car looks phenomonal. PS. I know he tested it at this years MPH

[bartboy9891]

your image tags are backwards, and that picture is pretty large to be hotlinked. considering the fact that the UK will probably never get the S7, there isnt much of a chance of them testing it.

[STLFJ40]

what about the Mustang, they test drove that
I am not 100% sure, but I think i remeber Hamster complaining about not having the Mustang in the UK, I could be mistaken

[caesarbear]

Clarkson is an unabashed Ameriphobe unfortunately. While it works for jokes and most of the derrogatory jabs are rather accurate (most american designed cars are crap), it extends so far that they never even discuss cars from Saleen or Panoz. I don't know if those are available in the UK, but I know that are in Europe, so they should be.

Clarkson also fails to ever mention that US cars have to meet higher emission and safety standards than UK cars.

[Danny Tran]

Here we go again!
I'll start this time;

Clarkson does like american super cars:

- He bought a Ford GT (twice!);
- He loves the Dosge Viper for it being so bonkers (in an episode);
- He said the Corvette is excellent value for money and he would actually consider getting one (http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/art...235587,00.html)

So who knows! He may like the Saleen S7 if he'd try it.

[caesarbear]

Clarkson changes his mind a lot, but he's also disparaged the Ford GT, the Viper and most often the Corvette. The worst thing he's ever said about a Jag was that the S-type has an ugly grill, and not to mention his blind devotion to anything Land Rover. I love Top Gear, and Clarkson is hillarious, but he's far from impartial and fair. I'd love to see a Panoz Esperante and a Saleen S7 on TG, but I'd rather see Hammond or May driving it.

[ryzsru00]

What ever happened with the Turbo version they were supposed to make, with some un-godly amount of HP?

[STLFJ40]

I know Clarkson "likes" some American Cars (atleast on the track) but when he speaks of American cars which many times defy what he thinks is imposible for an American auto, he still complains about them. But I guess that is just Clarkson being Clarkson. I just want to see him give the review of the S7 more than anything

[STLFJ40]

they made the Turbo version with 750 bhphttp://www.ultimatecarpage.com/frame.php?file=car.php&carnum=967

just a S7 with a new engine i guess but still, 2.8 seconds is ungodly fast for that thing

[matt_shaw]

i hate panoz with a passion. i hope they never test that car, yet alone mention the name panoz

[Chupacabras]

Originally Posted by caesarbear

Clarkson changes his mind a lot, but he's also disparaged the Ford GT, the Viper and most often the Corvette. The worst thing he's ever said about a Jag was that the S-type has an ugly grill, and not to mention his blind devotion to anything Land Rover. I love Top Gear, and Clarkson is hillarious, but he's far from impartial and fair. I'd love to see a Panoz Esperante and a Saleen S7 on TG, but I'd rather see Hammond or May driving it.

nobody wants to watch fair... its not entertaining!

[Z Draci]

I think Americans are far too sensitive about this subject. Why do you only pick on Clarkson for car reviews? Have you even read articles and opinions written by your own American journalists? You can find that it's not only Clarkson who has nasty things to say about American cars. There are American journalists who recognise the failure of American cars to be on par with the rest of the world. Top Gear isn't the bible to the entire international auto industry. It is more entertainment than information. There are other more credible sources of automotive news and information.

With regards to Clarkson being fair or not, it doesn't matter. It is his opinions and beliefs that he holds. We as an audience can only watch. Who cares if you think he's wrong? Why don't you have your mother go on TV and announce to the world exactly what you believe then!
If Clarkson doesn't like it, then Clarkson doesn't like it. He is not God or some holy figure. It's not the end of the world if your opinions don't match his.

For every one American car I'd love to own, I have at least 10 other non-American ones on the same list.

[flyingfridge]

^^ Z, BRAVO!!!!!!

[thedguy]

I get irritated by the bashing because it gets to the point that when we make atleast a decent car, it still gets pissed on. I read a review the other day that said basically they love the z06, and compared it to the porsche GT3RS, the porsche was a bit scary to drive, but that was a good thing, and it made it better than the z06 which didn't tramline and had didn't have a twitchy backend...WTF?

I want JC to drive a Saleen S7 TT just to see what he says about it, I would love to see him actually have many good things to say about 1 American car.

I also just would like to see us American's get the F-ing clue and make a decent car. The solstice was close (interior feels typical gm cheap, and looks to be a PITA to work on), the entire new cadillac range, (especially the V-series) rock, they actually have IMO what can be called a "nice" interior. Keep in mind this is the 2006 models, the earlier CTS' for example were crap on interior.

The Chassis are getting a lot better, and they are making more respectable "hps/litre" (even though our "shitty ineffecient" 6.0 v8's are getting better gas mileage than Honda 3.0 v6's).

My entire household only (and continue to) own Japanese and (1)European (and only American cars will be classic, or down the line a new caddy if they keep bringing quality up), but I have enough pride, and know we can make a better car if the "bean counters" weren't in charge.

BTW, if anyone has watched the old Top Gear eps (prior to the Hammond/fat guy/May era) you'll see JC seems to really like American cars. He's done pieces on The ford T-birds, and also on how 15 years ago brits were importing Older American cars cause it was cheaper, and he even picked up a 72 olds cutlass convertable.

Are Vehicle records public in the UK? I'd love to see someone get a listing of all of JC's cars, I'd wager there were a significant amount of American made cars on the list.

[The Doctor]

Wasn't the S7 largely designed by RML anyway?

[fbc]

We're having this argument again??

[bone]

Originally Posted by fbc

We're having this argument again??

and as expected, total posts by thread creator: 7

"slow down there billy"

[caesarbear]

What argument? Did you guys even read the thread? I have no idea what Z Draci is going on about, no one ever suggested that american cars were up to standards.

The only things that were said is that some of us would like to see the american supercars on TG too. Also, that Clarkson is biased. Whoa, surprise and alarm! It's not an argument if we all agree. But it's clear that Clarkson's opinion does matter, quite a bit in fact. (Vauxhall?) If an american supercar is shown on the big stage of TG, I'd hope it was given a fair chance, that's all.

On the old top gear eps, Clarkson seems to say a lot that you wouldn't think of him saying now, like how 'green' cars are important. I wonder how much of his own opinion we heard in the early 90s shows, rather than the editorial board?

[fbc]

Originally Posted by bone

"slow down there billy"

Man that was funny

[SL65]

Originally Posted by fbc

We're having this argument again??

Yep. And I'm really getting f king bored of it

Originally Posted by caesarbear

What argument? Did you guys even read the thread? I have no idea what Z Draci is going on about, no one ever suggested that american cars were up to standards.

I think Z Draci was talking in a broad sense because he's been here a while and knows exactly where this thread is going...*drumroll*...the American car industry

So please stop whingeing about the S7 not getting tested. Its a very low-production car and no-one has even answered the question yet about if it's even being sold in the UK. Please try and keep in mind that the program is aimed mainly for British viewers even if its broadcasted around the globe so you can expect them to form very biased views on cars. Just understand that its all in the name of entertainment/telling the truth about American cars.