I'm starting to wonder about his automotive knowledge lately too. Don't get me wrong, I find him entertaining and I'd love to have a beer with him, but some niggling things I've noticed:
He loves to bash the Corvette, but he can't get his facts right, these errors stuck in my mind:
- In his latest column in Top Gear Magazine, he went on about the Vette of the 70s with the giant screaming eagle on the hood. Umm, Jeremy, that was the Trans Am.
- In "Heaven and Hell" he complained about the live rear axle. Jezza, the Corvette has had an independent rear since 1963.
- He's always on about the leaf springs but never once mentions they aren't the kind the viewer is probably thinking of and they are like the ones F1 used not too long ago.
For a guy who is immersed in cars, I'd expect him to remember things a little better. For a guy writing a script, he or his staff should check his facts. The folks editing the video should know to get their facts straight too.
Really these kinds of things don't annoy me that much, but it makes me feel like they're slacking or that they're too bored with cars at this point to bother. The same things they complain about with American cars (only being 90% finished, lack of attention to detail) are starting to apply with Top Gear.
I used to like how they shielded viewers from the boring technical details, and how he purposely left it to magic behind the curtain. But you know what, sometimes we'd like to know how something works. Every car guy has talked about supercharges vs turbochargers, variable valve timing, DSG, CVT, et al.
So I wonder if the gang just sees this as a job and has lost some of the passion.