Jeremy Clarkson hates America. He hates the junk they call food, the stuff in “Styrofoam buckets” that “passes for coffee”, the blindingly shiny perfect teeth, and he finds the natives rather thick – both in the head and around the middle. But what he hates the most about America is what it drives.
Their cars are cheaper and have a bit of power, he notes, but that’s because they’re under-engineered rubbish, made out of “melted down action men”. Worse, if the Americans actually manage to stumble upon a proper bit of (European) car-making, like say a Mercedes SLR McLaren, they ruin it – cut to a shot of a fugly SLR tricked out with broad red panels. It’s properly hideous.
But then a funny thing happened. He drove a Corvette C6 and actually liked it. American automakers, it seems, have discovered materials like carbon fiber and devised a method to steer around a corner. Could it be that he was all wrong or is the C6 a fluke? There was only one way to find out – bite the bullet and make the hop over the Atlantic. Jeremy Clarkson’s The Good, The Bad, The Ugly is the result.
It starts out in a style familiar to Top Gear fans around the world – Clarkson ranting on in his inimitable style as the camera pans to take in some stylish shots of America’s Wild West. Well, sort of – it's really just California, except for a couple of visits to Las Vegas, but that’s close enough for a Brit, what with the ominous rattlesnakes and scuttling scorpions, not to mention people who think Asia is a country in Europe and Scotland is next to Austria.
As an added bonus, he’s brought The Stig over despite rumors that “his head would explode if he left the shores of England”. As I find myself mourning The Black Stig at odd moments, I am appalled that they would chance The White Stig thus but he seems to be in fine helmeted form, so that’s all right.
First up, the Corvette Z06 – he races it along a track in Death Valley and rather likes it. He thinks it compares favorably to Ferrari's products and for one-third the price, he ups his ‘like’ to ‘fantastic’. If you think this seems a little too good to be true, you’re right. He takes it out on the road and everything falls apart. The tyres are too loud, the gearbox feels like it “belongs on a plow” and the radio is useless… “In many ways then, this car is rather like herpes: great fun catching it, but not so much fun to live with every day.”
Article comments
1 - Dan Mosqueda
I love Top Gear. I was offended initially by Clarkson and he went way over the top in getting his point across. But the take-away is two-fold:
1. Throw away society - this means US consumers don't generally demand much. Billy Bob will drive his pick-up a few years and than wants another one.
2. Our engineers (and more than the likely their bean-counter masters over them) either can't or won't engineer a good car. Obviously it's NOT American workers since BMW and Mercedes build the majority of their SUVs and even some sports cars in America. Also Toyota exports Avalons and Sequoias made in America. So, it's the guys WAY back at the drawing board not bothering to put that extra effort to make our cars compare to those of Europe.
Of course the Prius isn't American. I wouldn't own one, but there is no denying the economics of owning one now. It's not a performance car and doesn't pretend to be. I wish EVERYONE drove on because than gas prices would finally go down.
So, Jeremy, enjoy America. Our food and coffee puts UK food to shame. Try not drinking coffee in styrofoam mate, get it at one of millions of cafes like the Colorado Coffee Merchants (www.coloradocoffeemerchants.com). Our cars are ok. They should be much, much better. If we put our mind to it, we could shame Mercedes and BMW and absolutely trounce anything put of England, but we're pretty content, apparently, cranking out 10 million cars and selling them knowing they'll be cast aside in a few years.
2 - Eric
What's been killing American automobile quality is the UAW. Unions KILL businesses; make no mistake: they tear a company apart from the inside out. Look at the Chrysler/Chevrolet merger. They're doing it because the unions have disemboweled them. Ford is better off than they are, but I'm guessing it's not by much.
I would NEVER allow a union to take over my company. I'd fire every one of those bastards and replace them with people who just want to help grow a company in the fiscally healthiest way possible. Unions are selfish, greedy & corrupt. If not for this government 'bailout', every one of those union bloodsuckers would be permanently out of a job.
Chrysler and Chevy both would go completely under. And it would have been because both companies ALLOWED the unions to take them down. The unions would have done it to themselves and they'd blame anyone else they could think of because if they can't pull in $40+/hour, then someone else has to be to blame. They should be making a quarter of what they are now.
3 - cliff2003
hmmm clarkson does rub things in a bit,1 thing being in the states for 1 yr is they have a strange charisma on cars, usually boring like there roads
4 - cliff2003
oh should be quiet on last comment, as most americans come originate from europe silly me, maybe they need to take a trip back or learn from the Japanese. yes USA is the best in the world but most of their stuff comes from China??? Even levis made in mexico along with millions of flags out side there houses now come on!!!
5 - cliff2003
americans are just cowboys!!! take a look at West virginia etc imagine them making a car in that state no wonder the amish ride horse and buggy LOL in nearer states scared of the consequences in the future!
6 - Transatlantic
cliff2003....shut up already.
Your posts are about as accurate as your grammar.
As for this movie, Clarkson pretty well sums everything up in his opening lines. He hated everything before he even tried it. Clarkson's sharp single-minded personality really kills him as car reviewer, and his tests are pretty laughable as well.
By the way....anybody who thinks they can trick the viewers with a V6 Mustang and call it a V8 doesn't deserve to review cars.
7 - cliff2003
Tansatlantic knows nothing
8 - cliff2003
Clarkson is right tho american cars are just mainly rubbish, sorry about the grammar, least i got my view over, they drive there cars dropping to bits in a lot of states, i wonder how they get away with it,must be redneck cars or they just dont care, weird and rough standards, no wonder the usa cant build good family cars, shame really. Jeremy Clarkson is just having fun having a pop at the USA, but he does have good points aswell.