I wanted to get my two cents in on this. First of all - Thanks for that, I'm in withdrawal and it was nice to have some Clarkson material. As an American though - a couple of things about it bothered me. Many have already been commented on and I understand its all in good fun.
I am pretty self-critical as an American - I love Clarkson's American bashing, and he has our number on a lot of issues. That man on the street business is sad but true and a bitter-sweet laugh. There is a Paris themed casino RIGHT THERE - come on; Venetian? Bellagio? Monte Carlo?. Factual issues aside:
As noted, these comparos were pretty stacked.
M5 v SRT8 - Bringing a knife to a gun fight - as he conceded, huge price difference, the SRT8 has no pretenses of going head on with an M5
Mustang v Exige - Again - a mass market cheap sports car vs a more expensive, purpose built, creature comfort free, track car? why not an SLK350 or even a Boxster?
Viper v Atom - I mean come on - I have infinite respect for the Atom, I do, but seriously the viper is a fully enclosed car, same as the exige problem. I think a Viper vs an M6 would be a much more dignified and pertinent comparison
Offroad Challenge - H2 - fair point - but the Escalade is no off-roader. What about the H1, or any manner of Jeep? Give us a fighting chance.
The Corvette, Viper, and Rousch Mustang are solid, the Cadillac Sixteen was incredible (and I lament that we didn't build it) and some of the SS models are solid. Fords and Daimler Chrysler cars, particularly (while certainly having European contributions) are fine.
There are things we can do, and things we can't do
We can't do: (This isn't news to anyone)
- Luxury
- Comfort
- Economy
- Corners
- Refinement
(I know thats a LOT)
But we CAN do:
- Cheap
- Fun
- Great sounds
- Straight-line fast
(for some reason we have refined the absolute hell out of pushrod v-8s and live axels)
- Offroaders
- Blue-collar exotics
Were not European, but we deserve a little credit. Still - hilarious vid and all in good fun. This was a great watch - the cinematography was beautiful. I especially love that scene it goes out on - fantastic.
Meh - whatever - I respect and enjoy his editorial opinion