TOP GEAR in Argentina

raul

Active Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2013
Messages
100
Location
Santiago, Chile
Car(s)
Opel Zafira, Skoda Fabia
It?s been reported that the Top Gear Team is currently filming in Argentina. But Something is gone wrong:

Top Gear abandon? los autos en Tolhuin despu?s de ser atacados a piedrazos

Translation: Top Gear abandoned cars in Tolhuin after being attacked with stones


Full document can be find here: http://autoblog.com.ar/2014/10/top-...-tolhuin-despues-de-ser-atacados-a-piedrazos/ (in spanish)

Short version, the gay are filming in Argentina. Jeremy is (was) driving a Porche 928 with a plate number H982 FKL, (many read Falklands 1982). May is driving a Lotus Espirit and Hammond a Ford Mustang. After the attack the guys flee to Chile. Other vehicules where also attacked and damage: The buckup vehicule, a citoen 2CV and the Land Rovers Discovery of the production team.

Photos:

TOPGEAR-TOLHUIN1.jpg


TOPGEAR-TOLHUIN3.jpg


TOPGEAR-TOLHUIN2.jpg


TOPGEAR-TOLHUIN4.jpg


TOPGEAR-TOLHUIN6.jpg


TOPGEAR-TOLHUIN7.jpg


TOPGEAR-TOLHUIN5.jpg


TOPGEAR-USHUAIA4.jpg


:(
 
What is the deal? First, a country where I currently live pelts Top Gear with stones and then, a country where I spent 9 years does it so badly that they chase them out of the country entirely. Is it me? Am I the Top Gear curse? I guess I'll have to email them a list of countries that I've had any association with just to keep them safe. Be careful guys...and don't worry, the list is coming. :devil:
 
I think this is a bit bigger than the spoiler section... Just read about it here: Top Gear Was Just Forcibly Thrown Out Of Argentina
I agree, it's all over the news. There is even some news about it in Belgium so unavoidable

Damn that's the second time they have rocks throwing at them but this time it seems much more serious. I hope they weren't in too much of a shock and all. Could be very scary when you see some foreign nutters throwing big rocks at you and your friends! I still hope they make the special though.

I think Top Gear could get some slack if the number plates were intentional (I think most here now the answer to this question)
 
According to The Telegraph, Andy Wilman said ?To suggest that this car was either chosen for its number plate, or that an alternative number plate was substituted for the original, is completely untrue.?

I can't believe that. How much of a coincidence would that be? Especially since Clarkson is known to brag about how England has beaten all their opponents to a pulp since ever.
 
Well, apparently the car was first registered in 1991 and that was also the last year the H numbers were issued. So it could indeed be the original number plate. We will know sooner or later, since I suspect the history of the car is well documented in Britain.

I guess it's kinda like the old story of the boy who cried wolf: Nobody is easily going to believe it was not intended. But even if it was just a coincidence, the reactions are quite understandable. Top Gear and Jeremy Clarkson in particular have a history of insulting and provoking other people and countries. So now they fell victim to their own doings of the past.

I also read that the outcome of this latest affair decides about Jeremy's job at the BBC - apparently he's on some kind of probation.
 
Last edited:
I agree, it's all over the news. There is even some news about it in Belgium so unavoidable

Damn that's the second time they have rocks throwing at them but this time it seems much more serious. I hope they weren't in too much of a shock and all. Could be very scary when you see some foreign nutters throwing big rocks at you and your friends! I still hope they make the special though.

I think Top Gear could get some slack if the number plates were intentional (I think most here now the answer to this question)

First time. The American episode 'rock throwing' never happened. Part was staged, part was created in post production.

The fact that it was fake but presented as real was why their next American episode had to be 'factual film making only' - the US State Department was not amused by their antics and restricted their visas.
 
Last edited:
Seems like they made friends everywhere :)

And they left a trace of devastation in the countries they visited:

- After visiting Iceland, a volcano erupted and forced the intercontinental air traffic to the ground,
- After visiting Syria, all hell broke loose there,
- After visiting the Crimean peninsula and Ukraine, well...

Actually I'm surprised they're still being handed visas at all :mrgreen:
 
Damn that's the second time they have rocks throwing at them but this time it seems much more serious.

Stupid question. When did this happen first?
 
Well, apparently the car was first registered in 1991 and that was also the last year the H numbers were issued. So it could indeed be the original number plate. We will know sooner or later, since I suspect the history of the car is well documented in Britain.
According to vehicle inquiry website the plate has been issued to a 1991 Porsche with an engine which has a displacement of 4957 cm? which is the exact displacement of a 928 S4 or GT which both were in production in 1991.

@ Mitchi: read the complete thread, not just up until the 5th post. ;)
 
According to vehicle inquiry website the plate has been issued to a 1991 Porsche with an engine which has a displacement of 4957 cm? which is the exact displacement of a 928 S4 or GT which both were in production in 1991.

It's quite ironic, don't you think?

If that's all true, they've been attacked for a provocation they weren't even aware of... All other provocations they ever did were apparently carefully prepared, so there was no danger. But this time - with a simple coincidence - it seems it got really dangerous. Quite funny, if you ask me :lol:

But how will this incident influence Top Gear in the future?
 
Last edited:
@ Mitchi: read the complete thread, not just up until the 5th post. ;)

Yeah sorry, I had the Alabama thing in mind, but did think he meant something different. :blush:
 
If it's real, it's the best thing that could have happened to them (of course, hoping no personal injury was inflicted on them). Maybe this will get the "let's go abroad, script some shenanigans and wonder how they could have possibly happened" bullshit out of their system and steer the series on the right track.

Besides, how would the incident even happen? Did someone point them out at a market place, "Look! That number plate vaguely looks like it mocks an important period in our history!" Unless Top Gear has been loathed in Argentina for ages, it feels like a weird thing to occur without actual provocation.
 
Last edited:
Apparently the number plate went viral in Argentina, because it actually was considered a provocation.
 
Nobody is easily going to believe it was not intended. But even if it was just a coincidence, the reactions are quite understandable.

Destroying private property and going out of your way to try and injure people because of a plate is understandable? For some reason I doubt if this was reversed in Germany with jeremy doing some kind of WW2 we won plate, or nazi plate on a VW I feel very much him and the production team wouldn't get stoned for their efforts.

Sounds like it was aiming up to be an epic special. Hopefully they can remove the cars and re-do it in Chile.
 

Rough translation....

"we are waiting for those Englishmen, they refueled at Ushuaia, they seem to be making fun of Argentina about the Falklands and '82, so we're waiting to insult them"

And then "there they are... hey asshole, asshole, son of a bitch" etc.

If that plate is really a coincidence, and I dunno if we'll ever know, it must be the worst coincidence ever. It's as if one of the bikes in the 'nam special said "USA 1967"
 
Top