The End Of An Era: FinalGear.com's Main Site Retired, Forums Will Live On

To Viper and all the others, you've all done an amazing job. Thanks to this site I've met one of the chillest car communities going, got to see Top Gear in person and even had a shirt design sold in the shop. Those are things I'll never forget.

Here's to FinalGear.
 
To all those that made FinalGear happen, a heartfelt thanks! You guys are heroes.
In the future, every time I'm relegated to watch two year old episodes on local telly, I will lift my glass in memory of FinalGear.
 
Check out the first post. I link to a great TV calendar website that besides showing what's on TV each night, it also has countdown timers for shows.
 
Thank you for all your work in maintaining this site! It's been 6 great years...

I'm still hoping for that FACT/DMCA action to be denounced for the bullshit it really is! Im sorry you cant face them in court to shut their asses down! (Im really pissed over this!)
 
The main site is how I discovered the forums, so what can we do to keep the community growing? (other than obviously tell our friends directly)
 
"Long before Top Gear was available here in the US, we were providing Americans (and others) access to this wonderful show. More recently we were providing access to the American spin-off of the show to British and worldwide audiences. I strongly believe that through the increased access to the show that we provided, more global fans were created and in turn have helped airings on local channels such as BBC America prosper."

Yes and thank you. There was no other way to see it for years and years and you guys blessed us with its brilliance. It is much appreciated.

We just have to wait a little bit longer for new episodes to be aired in the States, not that big of a deal with netflix and bbc america getting them fairly quick.
 
I know I haven't really been an active member for a long time, but I do stop in sometimes and have fond memories of the site in years past, going back to my FTP days. I was even able to add some rare files myself way back when. Glad the forum will live on.
 
It's the end of an era. Makes me wonder just how much life Top Gear has left in itself, too. Especially since they seem hellbent on alienating their most loyal fans.
 
Here's to Final Gear and the effort the people have put to maintain it. It is much appreciated. Thanks for all the content!
 
Thanks for everything great the site has provided; not just with Top Gear, but also the community and the many other shows associated with the cast.

But, there is an option that hasn't been put on the table yet. It is possible to host a distributed website with a minimal (if any) centralized server - somewhat like how torrents are hosted. The site administrator can hold the keys (password, basically) that are used to push updates to the shared site. So, unlike a torrent, the site can still be updated and appear, on the surface, to be just like any other website.
The technology and software for this hasn't been implemented yet, but there is considerable effort (and some funding) pushing the development forward. And, this site has a big enough community to ensure that enough users would be online to allow reliable access.

It's worth considering, when the technology is available. The work done here is too good and valuable for the fanbase.
 
Well as others have said, I will raise a toast to FG.com as I watch the classics. Finalgear made the unobtainable at the time, obtainable. I had migrated to the forums years ago (mostly just shadowing) but I always used the counters and read the latest bits of news. Viper thanks to you and all the people who helped bring the "pokey little motoring show from BBC 2" to our shores and my TV. All the best to you all, and I will always be here on the forums. I may not always be active, but I'm never more then a byte away. Cheers from the land of Maple Syrup and Poutine. :cool: Sorry aboot Celine D.:eek:
 
Maybe you guys shouldn't have been giving poor reviews of the episodes... haha.

Alex, I know how time consuming maintaining website content is, 10 years is a more than excellent run, and a lifetime by today's internet standards. Time to hop in your Viper and drive off into the sunset.

-Robert
 
Thanks for your hard work through all these years, Viper. Can't appreciate it enough. Top Gear owes Finalgear alot of gratitude over the years. It's nice to see the forum will stay up, even though I am a reader more than a poster :)

Long live Finalgear :mrgreen:
 
Nothing remains the same. You are right. I have seen forums I've been involved with die the death, and two websites I created also died over time, because things run their course and end.

I also know how it is to be burned out from these activities and I know the desire to not have to keep pouring effort into maintaining these things. Thank you for the years of work you have put into Final Gear, and to the other supporters too. I wonder if anyone from TG will make an effort and express some appreciation here for the hard work put in by fans which has benefited them.
 
Oh god, I really hate this.

I know that if I'm a new comer to the site but I think I'm fall in love with the site. I mean, when a group of people sharing hobby or interest. I am fall in love in top gear and so this site.
 
I really appreciate the many years of service everyone has put into this site.

Top Gear has definitely benefited from this community and the way it helped spread a UK TV show (and indirectly its magazine) globally. We would not have so many offshoot language Top Gears around the world without FinalGear :)

Thanks again everyone.

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It's the end of an era. Makes me wonder just how much life Top Gear has left in itself, too. Especially since they seem hellbent on alienating their most loyal fans.

+1
You'd think if the show was improving significantly in quality over the last year or so this might make sense to raise revenue. However maybe its just my opinion but the show is good but not as great as some of the earlier race specials and things like that we observed between 2 to 5 years ago (e.g. veyron, GTR & bullet train races, polar expedition... they were great, nothing that superb in the recent year as far as I remember).
 
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