Anyone else think that Top Gear is done? Getting a strange vibe from that last video they had on the show. None of the 'We will see you in the winter!', he only said, "Good night."
He just sees the birth of all these green machines, and worries the super car is a dying breed. A lot of manufacturers are creating "green" vehicles. Even many you'd never expect would make them.
The last segment was strange. At first, I thought it was another parody of a car commercial with serene music and clips of wind rustling in open fields and gentle water flowing in streams, but Jeremy's tone was solemn.
"I just can't help thinking that, thanks to all sorts of things--the environment, the economy, problems in the middle east, the relentless war on speed--cars like this will soon be consigned to the history books."
TG is a show based on enthusiasm for cars, everything that the green movement and government conflict with. I believe he's foreshadowing the ending of the show because the attitude toward vehicles that the show represents is under constant attack from eco-terrorists and government speed Nazis. And they're winning.
They'll be back. But when it does end, I wouldn't mind an entire episode of just THAT. In fact, I think it would be preferable to any other way to do it, really. Preferably well-on into the era of idiotic-looking alternative-fuel vehicles when Aston Martin shoves one last V12-powered beauty queen out the door before shutting up shop for good.
They will be back...yes, a London Times article did mention something about retirement and James and Jeremy opening a pub...but that is way down the road....
That last segment was a metaphor of sorts. Clarkson was making a statement about where the motor industry seems to be headed, based on the constant criticism, regulation and gagging that it is subjected to. It's not a new message, every week on 'the news' they illustrate some way that the government's incompetence is preventing common sense prevailing, but what was new; and incidentally, what made it so poignant; was the presentation. Simplicity is the easiest way to sell a message, and the elegant backing track coupled with the timeline of old super cars and Jeremy's dialogue made it effective.
The point of it, as with all TG segments, was to create a reaction. And it did.
The last segment made me quite sad. It seems once the super car manufactureres go out of business due to more and more green vehicles taking over the roads there will be no more top gear. I see that it is quite a long ways down the road but as Jeremy pointed out this economy isn't helping the super car manufaturers.
Dygear, I have to agree with you. The tone was eerie and that 'good night' felt so final. Scary, but it is reassuring to know that they will be back for Season 14. If that is the last season...well, I'll cry about it then.