(gentle music)
(theme music)
(audience applauding)
- Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Hello, welcome to Top Gear.
Where we have some sad news, because tonight
is the last show of the series, everyone!
(audience groaning) - Oh, no.
But we also have some good news, because tonight
we are on a public service mission.
We're gonna be fighting injustice and tackling
one of the biggest disgraces in modern motoring.
- And that's the sheer expense of being a new driver.
What young people have to fork out nowadays
just to be on the road.
It's a disgrace, Pad.
- Scandalous.
- See, according to recent research,
new drivers have to shell out, on average,
close to 5000 pounds on their first car,
plus another 1900 quid on insurance.
That's nearly seven grand straight off the bat, Fred.
- For your seven grand, you'll probably get
something like this.
A Corsa with a few miles on the clock.
- Yeah. - Now it's fine.
It's a bit Vauxhall Corsa, innit.
- It is very Vauxhall Corsa, it is.
But don't worry though, because for that sort of money,
there are some far better options out there,
as we shall now demonstrate.
(upbeat music)
Cars for new drivers?
Head to Plymouth, they said.
Recently declared the UK's top city for young adults.
(distorted music)
All right, on this particular Friday,
it was also the UK's windiest city.
But no matter, because the big news is
that with a seven grand budget for car and insurance,
you can have something a bit special.
Ah.
The MG B GT.
Oh yes.
I have gone classic, and what a classic this is.
5000 pounds to buy, and if I was a young 17-year-old Paddy
from Bolton, it'd 1300 quid to insure.
(upbeat music)
All in all, that's 6300 pounds
for a great British sports car
that's dripping with 60s style.
And with a 1.8 litre four-cylinder engine,
plus rear wheel drive, it is genius.
I mean, there was even enough left over
to give it a trendy lick of paint.
And while I'm giving you the McGuinness money saving tips,
this car is over 40 years old,
which means it's officially classed as an historic vehicle,
which means it's exempt from road tax and MOT.
I'm like a sexy Martin Lewis.
(horn honking)
Oh!
(rock music)
The love bug!
- Oh, oh, nearly lost me door!
- I've picked the wrong day to roll me sleeves up!
- It's not a day for hair neither, is it?
- See, this is where I've top-trumped you today.
- This is when bald's in your favour.
- Love it.
Go on, give us the numbers.
- It's obviously a Beetle. - Yeah.
- Cost me five grand, and a 17-year-old Fred from Preston,
870 quid to insure, but there's more,
don't start, there's more, there's more.
'Cause it's over 40 years old, no tax, no MOT.
- Yeah.
I've already told 'em that.
That's cheaper than most of these modern city cars.
(rock music)
- [Freddie] Oh, yes.
For just 5800-odd quid, you could get the original
air-cooled four-cylinder icon whose timeless looks
just get better with age.
- It's an absolute beauty.
- I love it in white as well.
- And people from our era. (horn honking)
Herbie.
- Oh, what? Oh. - What's this?
(regal music)
- Has he left an SUV in the wash?
- Oh, I don't know, Paddy, I think he's done it again.
That's a Lada.
- Lads.
I'm excited!
The Lada Niva, the Soviet four-by-four legend.
Look at it!
- I like it when you're smiling.
- Under five and a half grand to buy.
- What? - Okay?
Under a grand to insure for the 17-year-old me.
Why would you want a Corsa when you can have this?
Look at it.
(upbeat music)
Forget the Land Rover Defender.
This pint-sized hero of the off-road world
has been in production longer than any other four-by-four.
And for just six and a half grand all-in,
it is a total bargain.
- Oh, I want to hammer ya.
(Chris laughing)
But no, I love it.
I love it.
- I think this is the first time we're all kind of like,
happy with these three motors.
- Oh, one more thing. - Go on.
- Because it's 40 years old. - Yeah.
- Don't need an MOT, don't have to pay for tax.
- Yeah.
He said that, I have, three times they've heard that.
It's a good money-saving tip.
- Now, most importantly, that looks like a factory colour,
a factory off-white.
I can imagine that in period.
Is that a factory colour? What colour is that.
- Oh, this is like, you know like,
the fancy Audi and the Porsche colours? - Yeah.
- I think they call it putty grey.
- What colour was it originally?
- Well, it was British racing green.
- Oh, so you painted over BRG for that?
- Please, please, please. - A classic.
- What colour's that?
Berocca wee?
(Freddie laughing)
- If I were doing it for you, I'd do it burgundy red.
But we're appealing...
Look, we could have argued about the colour all day.
The point is, when it comes to choosing your first car,
this little trio makes for one hell of a menu to pick from.
- Oh, I do love the Beetle.
Just driving it for the first time,
it's everything I thought it would be. It's lovely.
- I make no secret of the fact that I've
always wanted a Niva, always.
It's joyous!
- It was actually known as the poor man's Aston Martin,
this, when it came out.
No one's calling the Corsa a poor man's Aston Martin.
Have you got an MG in the collection, Chris?
- I don't, but looking at yours, there's something
about the shape, that hatchback shape, that I love.
- What about a Beetle, Chris, you got a Beetle?
- No, don't have a Beetle.
You're either a Mini man or a Beetle man
when I was young, and I was a Mini man.
- You still are.
(Freddie laughing)
(rock music)
- Now, we might've been happy with our motors,
but the producers weren't convinced.
So to prove their first car credentials,
we'd be taking them on a tour through Devon and Cornwall,
starting with Dartmoor.
- [Chris] What do you see a lot of on Dartmoor?
- Is it...
What are they called?
Panthers?
- Did you say "Panthers," Paddy?
Panthers?
- Yeah, there's one roaming round it, isn't there?
Didn't I read sommat, the beast of Dartmoor or sommat?
- It's the beast of Bobmin, you big berk.
(rock music)
- So, you've just passed your driving test
and you're buzzing.
What do you get?
Well, you want something speedy.
Something sporty.
Something to really show off to your mates.
Sadly, you can't afford to get insured
on anything like that, unless you go old.
The MGB was launched in 1962, and soon became
one of Britain's favourite sports cars.
Half a million they built, and it's easy to see why.
So for your first taste of driving,
honestly, why wouldn't you?
It's light, it's nimble, it's rear-wheel drive.
It ticks all the boxes, and this car
actually forces you to drive.
I mean, look, look at that.
You've got to wind the window down on this thing,
you've gotta drive it.
If the head gasket goes, you've gotta change it.
It's a learning curve, this car.
(upbeat music)
- One of me neighbours used to have a Beetle as a kid.
Liz Smith lived across the road with her six kids.
Her running around with one of these.
I remember being in it one day.
It was a real novelty.
It was lovely.
But one thing which I learned,
other Beetle drivers, they all wave at each other.
You'd be driving down the road and have a pomp,
flash of their lights, or a wave.
You're part of something.
The Beetle was built for over 60 years
in every corner of the world.
And if you want to talk numbers,
they made 20 million of 'em.
Every single one offering that same affordable,
economical, cheap-to-run recipe.
So if you buy one of these, you're not just buying
your first car, you're buying a piece of history.
And the thing that makes these perfect for new drivers
is they're really slow, peaceful, you just slow down.
Where's the downside?
Probably the windscreen wipers at this point.
And a windscreen that I've just gotta keep wiping.
But I'm smiling.
I really am smiling.
(dramatic music)
- Maybe.
But not as much as I was.
What a cool, cool vehicle.
I have so clearly got the coolest car of the three.
This is...
My 17-year-old dream.
The Lada Niva is the exception to the rule
that all Soviet era cars were terrible.
Designed as a workhorse for the villagers
and farmers of rural Russia, it was built to operate
in some of the toughest conditions on the planet.
And as a result, it has endured like almost
no other car in history.
Nivas have been everywhere.
North Pole, South Pole, Everest base camp.
They are indestructible.
It's simple, it's practical, it's tough.
I love it.
I absolutely love it, it's a hero car of mine.
(rock music)
But before we get too carried away
with the whole old car for new driver pitch,
there are a couple of things you need to know.
First, insurance.
Now we've rang round the insurance companies
trying to get the best quote.
You can ring one day, it'll be a decent quote,
ring back the next day, it'll totally change.
- And the other thing is, it all depends on where you live, too.
So if you live in London, you're paying a premium,
which you should be used to, you pay
a premium on your houses, you pay a premium on drinks,
food, everything down south.
- But if you go with a classic car,
there's some really competitive quotes out there.
Now, I say competitive, providing you're not
going for something fast, expensive, or rare,
you should be okay.
- So basically, what we're saying is buy something
slow, cheap, and readily available.
And move yourself to Preston.
You will save yourself a packet on car insurance.
- And then there's the whole 40-year-old car thing.
Just 'cause it doesn't need an MOT,
you don't have to tax it, you still need
to keep it roadworthy.
No bald tires, look after it.
And remember, it's an old thing.
Take some pride, cherish it.
One note of caution, though, just before
you go out and buy, oh, hello.
- I'm freewheeling here, me engine's cut out.
- Unbelievable.
- Come on.
Just having a couple of technicals with the Beetle.
- Go on, Fred.
Go on, Beetle.
- It's gone.
Oh, you f... - No, he's died.
He's died.
- Now, I know what you're thinking,
and no, you don't want your first car breaking down on you.
- Of all the days.
I don't need to be pushing this car around Cornwall.
- [Paddy] But this isn't a breakdown.
This is just a VW Beetle giving its new owner some exercise.
After all these cars are over 40.
- [Freddie] Oh, hang on.
It's just gone a bit back.
- [Paddy] Everyone over 40's the same.
- We're back on.
Think it just needed a rest, the old girl.
We all need a rest at 40-odd, don't we?
Go on, the Beetle.
We're moving again.
- [Paddy] Good work, boys.
- [Chris] Now, for some reason, the producers
couldn't yet see the brilliance of our
old car, new driver theory.
- Oh, oh, oh, oh god.
- [Chris] And in a shameless bid to disprove it further,
they soon told us to pull off the road for a test.
(tense music)
- [Paddy] What the hell's this place?
- [Chris] Quarry.
- Yours'll be at home here, Chris, won't it?
- This is Niva country.
- [Freddie] It's like you've got
a cloaking device round here, Paddy.
Look at ya.
- [Paddy] Oh, lads.
I spy a Corsa.
Hang on, it's being driven by the Stig.
- What's he doing?
- Who knows with him?
- He's out of the car.
He's out the car.
He's walking off.
- Someone approaching my window in high vis.
Thank you very much, boss. - No problem.
- Unsurprisingly, it's a challenge.
Having spent so much on their first car,
the next challenge facing new drivers
is getting as far as they can
on what little fuel they can afford.
On one pound of petrol, the Stig has just driven
a Vauxhall Corsa flat-out until it ran out.
He managed 11 laps in six minutes and 14 seconds.
You will now have the same amount of fuel
to see how far your cars can go in the same time.
- Oh.
How many laps did he do?
- 11.
- I'd take three at this point.
(light music)
- To see which of our classics was best suited
to a new driver's frugal lifestyle,
with our tanks drained and filled back up
with just one quid's worth of fuel,
we would now take turns seeing how far we could go
within the six minutes, 14 seconds set by the Stig
in the UK's most popular first car.
Do you know what, actually, this challenge
is right up my street, because when we were all younger
in Bolton and we got our first cars,
that's what we put in it, a pound of juice.
And it kind of ran for awhile.
- I remember me brother, his first car was a Fiesta Mark II.
Just on the one litre engine.
And he used to put two pound in at a time.
He used to go forever.
(Paddy laughs)
(upbeat music)
- Oh yes, it was time to summon up
all those penny-pinching years of experience
as Flintoff and his Beetle lined up first.
- Here we go, Fred.
Three, two, one, go.
(upbeat music)
- Come on.
Have to open the window, I'm steaming up.
Windscreen wipers on.
I've gotta say that this doesn't really feel right.
- Chris, I'm not sure if he's got
his foot down in that or not.
- Can't find gears.
Get round.
Now look, we all know speed is not the Beetle's forte.
- Have you got your foot down there, Fred?
Or what's the tactic?
- I have me foot on the floor there, lads.
(Paddy laughs)
- No one was expecting it to beat the Corsa.
Wrestling it round.
- He is crawling round.
- Can't see.
- [Paddy] And while it did somehow manage
to put in 10 valiant laps...
- Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh!
- She's dying, she's dying.
- In the end, it didn't disappoint.
She's starting to go, boys.
I've gone.
(Chris laughing)
- [Paddy] Look at Fred, straight out in puddle.
No messing.
- Got wet feet now.
- Look at him!
He's out of his mind!
As Flintoff got stuck into his second workout of the day,
amazingly, his Beetle had lost out to the Corsa
by just one lap.
But our classics were still in with a shot,
because next to have a crack was the expert car journalist
and his legendary Niva.
- He's gonna have a theory, isn't he?
He's gonna have a theory, this lad.
- He'll have worked out the times, the cornering.
- Don't hold me on the line, McGuinness.
(Freddie laughs)
- Here we go.
(tense music)
Three.
Two.
- Come on!
- One.
Go!
- [Freddie] Now it turns out Harris did have a theory.
- Go nice and slowly. - Strong start, Fred.
- The only problem was it was totally wrong.
You're gonna run out of time, Chris,
there's a time limit on it as well.
- You've already done over a minute 20 seconds,
and you've done one lap.
- [Freddie] It's not hard.
To get anywhere near the Corsa's 11 laps
in the time, you'd have to drive fast.
- Third gear.
Can I get into fourth?
- [Freddie] Do something, man, just do something!
- Christopher, that was your fifth lap.
Fifth lap, and you've two minutes, 50 seconds left.
- This is top fun.
- [Freddie] But with Harris still none the wiser...
- Yes.
- [Freddie] Eventually, his time ran out.
- Three, two, one, and stop.
- Still going.
It's still going.
It's a little fuel miser.
- Chris, the time is up.
Listen.
(timer beeping)
He's still going.
What's he doing?
- [Freddie] This is embarrassing.
- And she's just died, boys.
After an amazing victory, the Niva dies.
- Did you not understand the challenge, Chris?
- [Paddy] Harris had failed his Lada
with just eight laps in the time.
So, last to have a crack at the Corsa's
11-lap benchmark was the mighty MG.
Are you ready to go, Patrick?
- Yes.
- [Chris] Three, two, one.
Go!
(dramatic music)
- Go on, MGB!
- He's taking this very seriously, isn't he?
- Yeah.
- Woohoohoo!
Stirling Moss set a land speed record in an MG.
Granted, it weren't round a quarry,
with a quid's worth of petrol in it.
But it's got racing DNA in its blood, this thing.
- Under three minutes now, Pad.
Keep going, under three minutes.
- Right, come on MG, let's go
- That was almost oversteer. (Freddie laughs)
- [Freddie] Go on!
- Under a minute.
Go on, see if you can get it out.
- [Paddy] Well, it's getting a bit jottery.
- This is ridiculous.
The old MG's gonna prove to be more efficient than a Corsa.
Under 30 seconds.
- Still going!
Go on, I hope you're watching this, kids.
- Keep going! - 10, nine, eight...
- Keep going! - Seven, six, five-
- Go on! - Four, three, two, one.
- Oh!
It's just gone at the end, boys!
Oh!
That were a lot of fun.
- It looked so much better when you was having a go.
- Well, here we go, Pad.
Stig did 11 laps and you were about to complete your 12th.
So you beat him.
- Fantastic!
Not just a victory for the MGB,
but a victory for the classics, lads.
And with the winner rightly treated
to a bit of help off the field,
fuelled up and point well and truly proven,
we got back to enjoying the drive in our old-school heroes.
Lads, so, if you go back over 40 years,
that takes us to 1981.
40 years ago, lads.
- My daughter's nearly 17.
I can't imagine that I'm gonna be teaching her to drive.
I'm not sure I'm the man for that job.
My kids don't listen when I tell them about cricket.
I've got no chance with driving.
- Well, they're not on their own there,
Fred, let's be honest.
(Freddie laughs)
(rock music)
- Look at the way we behaved when we were 17.
Everyone was out to go fast.
And if I start saying you can't do that,
I'm just being a hypocrite, 'cause that's what I did!
- I think that's quite a good selling point
for all three of these cars, isn't it?
You know, the kids can't go fast in 'em.
- [Chris] But despite the compelling weight
of this argument, the producers were apparently
still not convinced by the genius of our first car classics.
Because we were soon told to make a stop
at an abandoned RAF base, with an unlikely history of speed.
(mysterious music)
Back in the early 1950s, Davidstow Airfield
played host to Formula One.
As venues go, it was about as far as you could get
from the glamour of Monte-Carlo.
But nevertheless, the Cornish grand prix
ran three times, and even saw Lotus win its first ever race.
But remarkable as that may be,
sadly, it had nothing to do with our next test.
- It's paint, is it, that's coming at us?
'Cause I can't cover my head properly.
I'm just worried about me hair.
(Chris laughing)
People pay a lot of money for this hair.
Don't worry about that, lads.
- "I'm worried about me hair."
- If that doesn't go in the edit, I'm resigning.
- So, because speed is the biggest cause
of accidents among new drivers,
with our speedos and pretty much everything else taped over,
we would now see who could get closest
to exactly 50 miles an hour.
Go over, and we'd be out of the game.
As naturally, a paint bomb would go off inside the car.
So I'm gonna use the logic of when these cars were new,
nought to 60 around about 14 seconds on mine and Fred's.
So if I do the one Mississippi, two Mississippi,
till I get to about 10 Mississippi,
I reckon that'll be the cutoff point.
That'll be about 40-odd.
(Freddie laughs)
Right, are we ready?
- Yeah, go on, then.
(engines revving)
- Three, two, one.
Best of luck.
(tense music)
Oh god, here we go.
- This is horrendous.
- One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi.
- Third.
- Come on, the Beetle.
- I'm flat out.
Whatever happens, I'm flat out.
- Six Mississippi, seven Mississippi.
Oh god, eight Mississippi.
- I gotta be up near 30 or 40 here.
- McGuinness is taking liberties there.
Nine Mississippi.
10.
Come on.
I reckon, I reckon... I reckon
that's about, I mean, I'm well in front of them two.
(Paddy laughing)
- You were nearly getting sprayed there, I reckon, Pad.
- If they tell me I got to 48, then that's me out.
- [Freddie] First run down.
We crawled back to the start line for the results.
And we would have to decide whether to stick with the speed
we'd hit or run again to try and get closer to the magic 50.
- Here we go, lads.
Ho-ho-ho-ho!
Chris, in the Lada, 38 miles per hour.
- Damn.
- Freddie, in the Beetle, 37 miles per hour.
- 37?
- Mr. McGuinness, in the MGB, 44 miles per hour.
- Oh, no!
- I'm sticking, boys.
- No!
(Paddy laughing)
I'm last, I'm going again.
- Mr. Harris?
- Well, I've got to twist and I don't want to.
(tense music)
- I'll count you off, boys.
- Go on then, Chris.
- Ugh.
- Three, two, one, go!
(tense music)
- Flintoff.
Right, first, that's gotta be about 20.
Little bit more than I had last time.
- Second gear.
Oh, Harris has gone for it.
- They're moving a bit.
- It's a bit bumpy.
I've got me foot on the floor in third.
- There.
- Not sure I could have gone any faster there, Chris.
- This is ridiculous.
(light music)
- [Paddy] What are you thinking, lads?
- I reckon that was around 45 for me.
I don't reckon I can go much quicker than that
without risking it.
- I think I got over 40, Pad, but I had
me foot on the floor.
I need flatter ground.
- Thank you.
Oh...
My...
Days.
Mr. Flintoff.
- Yeah?
- [Paddy] 42.
- Aww!
- Still under McGuiness's time of 44, but Mr. Harris.
Maximum speed to hit before the paint goes off,
50 miles per hour.
Christopher Harris, you did it in 49!
- No!
- [Paddy] Miles per hour.
- [Freddie] I'm not having that.
I'm not having that.
We've gotta go, Pad.
(Chris laughing)
- No.
Oh no, it's a northern-off.
(suspenseful music)
- Harris and his Niva had thrown down the gauntlet.
Meaning McGuinness was back at the table against me
and the stakes were getting higher.
- Paddy, I'm gonna to back up and give meself a run-up.
- Oh god, here we go.
- The chips are in the middle, Paddy.
I'm going all in.
- I think he's going to the next county.
- It's 'cause it's uphill.
(Paddy sighs)
(tense music)
Boys, I'm off.
I'm off!
- Cut me in, Chris.
- [Chris] Three, two, one, go!
(tense music)
- Ooh, he's gone.
- Oh, Flintoff, flying into it.
- Come on.
- 49, that is crazy.
- Come on.
- Oh stop, I'm not doing me Mississippis, I've lost meself!
- Come on.
Come on.
- Oh no.
Oh, that's feeling fast.
- Come on!
- Oh!
- Come on, the Beetle!
- There.
Right, I'm (bleep).
Oh no!
- Paddy's gone, Chris, Paddy's disqualified.
(Chris laughing)
- Oh, god.
That is not good.
(upbeat music)
Eventually, I found me way back to the start line.
I can't see.
Where am I?
Oh god.
(Chris laughs)
I've hit a cone, lads!
And the results were in.
Thank you.
Ooh, ho-ho-ho-ho!
I was doing 51.
Chris Harris, your time was 49 miles per hour.
- Here we go.
- Mr. Flintoff, in the Beetle, your time is...
49 miles per hour!
We've got a twist-off, boys!
- Oh, no!
(suspenseful music)
- Oh, yes.
It was Beetle versus Niva for one final showdown.
What have you got, Harris?
Push them chips in the middle, son.
What have you got?
And to make sure the V-Dub could definitely hit 50,
we'd be lining up from the other end, pointing downhill.
- This is it, boys, this is for the big one.
Go hard or go home.
Here we go!
Three, two, one, bet the lot!
(suspenseful music)
- Don't be backing off on it, Chris, come on..
- Come on then, Flintoff.
Come on then, Flintoff.
- Ooh, it's looking quick, lads!
- [Freddie] It's 50 mile an hour coming in, Harris.
- That's enough for me.
- [Paddy] Keep going, Fred!
- Come on.
I'm running out of runway.
Oh!
Come on, Paddy.
What's the numbers?
- Ooh, ho-ho-ho, boys!
Chris Harris...
50 miles per hour.
- Yes!
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!
- Mr. Flintoff...
50 miles per hour!
It's a draw, boys!
- Does that mean I'm the winner 'cause Chris
was following me trying to keep up with my speed?
- We can argue the toss about that after I've had a shower.
(audience applauding)
- I was not wrecking the interior of my car.
I was not wrecking it.
No way.
- That paint bomb going off.
- Oh.
- I don't mind admitting I was genuinely nervous.
- It took me a week to get it out of every nook and cranny,
and then I started on the car.
- You've only got yourself to blame though, Pad,
because myself and Fred, we're more
at one with our vehicles, we tend to be.
You can't teach it, it's natural.
It's car synergy.
- There's nothing to boast about,
you literally had two cars that wouldn't
get to 50 miles per hour.
- That is true.
- All right, Tony Hart.
Listen to Morph.
Anyway.
We'll get back to that film later.
It's time to move on.
- Yes.
Yes it is.
Tonight, we're celebrating the brilliance
of old cars, and if you're talking brilliant old cars,
there's one that stands head and shoulders above the rest.
Take a look at this.
(solemn music)
This is the story of the Lamborghini Miura.
(dramatic music)
It was introduced to the world in 1966,
and it remains one of the most beautiful,
most important cars of them all.
This is supercar genesis.
(Film reel rattling)
(upbeat music)
Oh, yes.
Yes!
What did this look and feel like in the mid-60s?
Before the Miura there were fast cars.
Before the Miura of course they were beautiful cars.
But there was nothing as outrageous as this.
And like all the great inventions,
of course it was born out of a feud.
A feud that begins in late-50s Italy,
where a businessman by the name of Ferruccio Lamborghini
has become rather successful in the world of tractors.
Ferruccio is making so much money,
he's bought himself a few Ferraris.
Trouble is, they keep breaking down
and costing a bomb to repair.
So he takes one apart and discovers
that his beautiful Ferrari actually uses
the same cheap clutch as his tractors.
Ferruccio is not best pleased.
Tracking down the boss, Enzo Ferrari, he says,
"you build your beautiful cars with my tractor parts."
"My cars are the best in the world," Enzo replies,
before adding, "you are just a tractor driver.
A farmer."
Now Ferruccio doesn't take this too well.
Incensed, he vows to seek revenge on Enzo
by starting his own car company, Automobili Lamborghini.
(dramatic music)
First out of the factory was the 350 GT.
It was very nice, but it was also a bit Ferrari.
To really stick it to Enzo, Ferruccio and his team
of brilliant young engineers needed to change the game.
They needed a car that would make
the entire world stop and stare.
And boy, did they nail it!
This is a masterpiece of design.
But even more amazingly, it seems no one can agree on
who actually designed it.
There's a big plaque that says it came
from Bertone styling house, but within that styling house,
there were two young designers, Gandini and Giugiaro.
Now Gandini claims he was the one that drew it,
but Giugiaro stuck his hand up as well and said, "I did it!"
I mean, imagine not knowing who painted the Mona Lisa!
That's what we're talking about here.
One of the most beautiful cars ever, ever drawn,
and we still don't quite know who did it.
(light music)
One thing is certain, though.
The look of the Miura was only the beginning
of Lamborghini's out-there approach.
Take the engine.
To make sure the car also had the pace to embarrass Ferrari,
it was a 3.9 litre V12, but inspired
by the original Mini, that engine shared its casing
with the gearbox to save space,
and was mounted sideways behind the driver
for better weight distribution.
And what an engine it was!
Bizzarrini V12.
Smaller, lighter, and more powerful
than anything Ferrari had at the time.
It had 350 horsepower.
This later SV car, 385 horsepower.
Big numbers back then, and I can see
the carburettor and the throttles moving behind me.
Every time I push the pedal, you can see it moving.
It feels like I'm just off the side of the engine,
'cause I am!
It's about six inches away from my shoulder.
And the noise!
Oh, ho-ho.
Top speed?
Well, in true Lamborghini fashion,
nobody quite knows that either,
but it was at least 170 miles per hour,
which crucially made the Miura faster
than anything Ferrari was selling at the time.
Wing mirrors were optional in 1966.
Why did you need them?
Who was gonna overtake you if you were driving a Miura?
This was the fastest road car in the world.
There were no questions.
It was the fastest.
Or at least...
It was when it worked.
Early Miuras were built using steel
less than one millimetre thick.
They were fragile, temperamental cars, and they broke a lot.
The headlights were borrowed from a Fiat,
and they were rubbish.
One owner apparently confronted Ferruccio,
saying his car was lethal to drive at night,
to which Ferruccio replied, "What gentleman
would want to spend his nights in a car?"
Caddish retorts were all well and good,
but in fact, the headlights were the least
of the Miura's problems.
The V12's carburettors had this habit
of dripping fuel down to the spark plugs,
which occasionally resulted in a massive fire,
which kept owners on their toes.
As did the handling at very high speeds,
because the fuel tank's in the front,
so when it was low on fuel, the front would lift.
So yeah, your Miura could become an aeroplane.
(solemn music)
It was hardly surprising.
Lamborghini's engineers hadn't had test tracks
or wind tunnels.
It was only once the car got onto the road
that they could see if their great experiment had worked.
This was a car born out of improvisation and passion.
Bravery and, it would seem quite a lot of stupidity as well.
This interior is completely bonkers!
The speedometers obscured, the rev counter's
hidden behind the steering wheel.
I can't see any of this stuff, it's too low.
It was just designed to look great, to make you feel great.
It doesn't matter if it works or not.
It just makes you feel special.
(light music)
It was a neat trick.
The Miura felt so special that it quickly became
the ultimate superstar accessory.
Miles Davis had one, Frank Sinatra,
Twiggy, Rod Stewart had two.
But for the rest of the world, it was in 1969's
"The Italian Job" that the Miura truly became an icon.
There's no decade in modern history
that's more romanticised than the 1960s.
And this is the supercar of the 60s.
You just imagine the way it was developed, the passion.
There's nothing logical or pragmatic about it at all.
It's just a piece of green ridiculousness on wheels,
and I absolutely adore it for that.
The Miura proved for the first time
that a car could be admired not because it was practical,
or comfortable, or safe, nor even, like its great rivals
from Ferrari, because it had racing pedigree
to match its pace.
Instead, the Miura proved that a car could be admired
simply for being extraordinary.
Every supercar since, Ferrari F40, McLaren F1,
Pagani Zonda, they all owe their existence to this car.
This is where it all started.
This is the original.
(audience applauding)
- Love it, love it.
- That is a stunning car.
- Yeah. - Stunning car.
- Do you know what?
I do love a proper Chris Harris deep dive.
You really come away feeling like you've learned something.
- Yeah, a lot of information there, not a lot of laughs.
But a lot of information.
- And 1966, what a year.
Birth of the Miura, England winning the World Cup,
and Doritos were invented.
- Were they? - Doritos?
- Correct, yes.
'66 Doritos, '73 Hula Hoops, '75 Frazzles.
Oh, I've got facts too.
And don't even get me started on biscuits.
- I'm moving on before you start on Quavers.
Anyway, it's time to get back to our West Country road trip,
where we were about to find out
whether our old cars for new drivers idea
was really the brilliant brainwave we thought it was.
(solemn music)
(waves crashing)
- [Chris] Bathed as it was in sunshine and blue skies,
as we arrived the next morning at the Cornish coast,
the car gods were clearly smiling on our cause.
Oh, look at the ocean, boys.
- The Atlantic that, I think.
- [Paddy] Beautiful.
- [Chris] But the producers were still not on board
with our old cars for new drivers concept.
And at Perranporth Airfield, they said it was time
to sort things out once and for all.
- Who have we got here?
- Lads, I spy young people.
- Oh, here we go. - Oh dear.
(upbeat music)
- [Chris] Yes, to find out what some actual new drivers
made of our cars, we'd each been paired with one
to take on a driving test.
- [Paddy] Hello!
- Hiya pal, I'm Fred. - How are you, I'm Sainaath.
- Sainaath, nice to meet you, mate.
- I'm Charlotte. - Hello Charlotte, I'm Chris.
- Hi, nice to meet you.
- What's your name, pal? - Heathcliff.
Love it.
Great name.
Get your seatbelt on, son.
- Where is the seatbelt?
- Can you see it?
That's it.
- It's not coming over.
- Have you got it?
- Nice and easy, Heathcliff, nice and gentle.
Have you got it?
- I think so, yeah.
- There you are, son, get it in that there.
Hold on.
Right.
So while the younguns get familiar with our classics...
- It just seems to get stuck there.
- [Paddy] Let's have a look at the irresponsibly designed
tests we'd be taking with Stig and his trusty Corsa.
Naturally, we kick off with a hill start.
Then there's a roadblock, where you get on the horn
to clear the van out of the way.
Up next is a reverse around a roundabout
before a toll barrier that, once opened,
of course means you can gun it.
Then it's a slalom through a traffic jam of stationary cars,
slamming on the anchors for an emergency stop,
where we would swap drivers.
Standard.
The final stint would see our teams
use their phones to sat nav us 10 miles down the road
to that first car road trip driving mecca, Newquay.
The winner would be whoever reached the Headland Hotel
in the fastest time.
But with both team and car needed
to work in perfect harmony, it'd be fair to say
we hadn't got off to the best of starts.
- Oh, are you a fan of cricket?
- Yeah. - Do you watch IPL?
- Yeah.
- What team do you support?
Like preferably.
- Chennai Super Kings.
- My guy. - Are you Chennai?
- Yeah, 'cause it's Tamil, isn't it?
Tamil in the heart. - Are you a big fan?
- Yeah, a big fan.
- I played for Chennai Super Kings.
- Really?
What year?
- 2008.
- I mean I was a baby at the time,
so I didn't watch cricket back then.
(upbeat music)
- Right.
- The gear shift, actually, when you
concentrate on it, is lovely.
It's, you know, only four gears.
One, two, three, four, in an H.
So like the car you drove.
- Right. - Back to fourth.
The clutch and the pedals you'll find really weird,
'cause the throttle is really far back...
(upbeat music)
- [Charlotte] Oh my god.
- And the thing about this is it's only four gears.
- Yeah.
- So you'll soon get used to it,
but like it's just, they're just very close together. - Yeah.
- And I'll tell you now, when did you pass?
- A month and 15 days ago.
- I started getting into cricket
when I was like 15 or like 13, 14. - Right.
Yeah.
- Yeah, you know what, Fred?
- What about the 2005 Ashes, you heard of that?
- Not even.
Do you know what?
- No? - Like when I get home-
- The first time England won the Ashes for 21 years?
- Okay.
- [Freddie] Has the game moved on that much?
- Before his young teammate could answer,
mercifully it was time for the test to begin.
Where, lined up for a staggered start a few minutes apart,
Team Beetle would be up first.
- When the light's here, Sainaath.
Are you ready?
Hill start.
Green, go, go, go!
Get the handbrake down.
Whoa, wheel spin off the, whoa!
Nicely done, that's a nice start.
Here you go, go a left here, get that steering wheel round.
It's heavier than you think.
And shall we move him out of the way?
Sound it. (horn honking)
Hold on a minute.
There we go.
Into reverse.
- I am in reverse.
- Go on, try, bit of gas, bit of gas.
Oh.
Oh, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop!
- [Paddy] Here we go.
Oh!
Lovely!
A 90 left, Heathcliff, that's what we say
in the racing game.
- Where's the horn? - Right stalk.
Give him a pip. (horn honking)
Come on, get out the way.
Out the way, you bellend!
That's a word you use a lot when you start driving, bellend.
- Left hand down, left hand down, down, down, all round.
Keep moving.
There you go, just keep it there.
Keep moving.
Perfect.
- No stress. - No stress.
- This is gonna be fun.
Okay.
Okay, we're going.
- Yeah!
Look at that!
You smashed it!
Whoa whoa, now back off a bit.
Second.
Brake now, brake now, brake now.
Okay, sound the horn.
- Sound the horn. (horn honking)
Move, bruv!
- Get him out the way, first gear again, first gear again.
Well done.
- Toll road.
I'll lend you a pound.
- Hello, mate. - Thank you.
- Oh, we've stalled, we've stalled.
Get that clutch in.
Ah, here we go, traffic jam.
Coming up.
There we go, give it some gas.
You're good, you're good, you're good, you're good.
- The cones. - Get in second.
- In second. - Now go that way.
- That way, left?
- Oh, oh, oh, oh!
Who reverses round a roundabout?
- Oh!
Look at this, it's just two brothers out on the road.
Here you are, there's a quid.
Get your window down, wind it down first, wind it down.
- Oh, I can't get it.
- Go, go, go.
This is old school, Heathcliff.
Give it him.
- Oh my word.
Nice and smooth, Sainaath.
Blooming heck.
- See, that's my casual styling, man.
- Oh, is this your style?
You're all right now, aren't you?
You weren't like this back there.
Two hands, two hands.
- Two hands, yeah?
- Emergency stop, oh!
Nice.
Well done, mate.
- [Chris] So, Team Beetle had reached the end
of the first leg, and having swapped drivers,
were on their way out of the airfield...
- Oh, that's better.
- [Chris] And onto the final 10-mile
navigation dash to Newquay.
- Here you go, which way we going?
- So we are going left.
- [Chris] But Team MG were also now
flying towards the end of the course.
- Can't believe you've only passed your test
a month ago, son.
- This is very impressive! - Can I stop?
Oh ho-ho-ho!
Heathcliff!
- [Chris] And as McGuiness and his young padawan
swapped for their next stint...
- Gonna get me seatbelt.
It's okay.
- [Chris] Despite the GT's ongoing attempts to hold them up.
- Oh, no.
It's not having it.
No.
- Take your time.
- [Chris] Before long, they were back on the move.
- All right, we're in. - Are you in?
- Let's go. - All right!
- [Chris] Team Lada, meanwhile,
was bringing up the rear.
Bit more gas, go, go, go, go, go, go.
- I've got it. - Get ready.
- [Chris] But coming in fast.
Whoa, what a stop!
Right, now jump out and swap. - Okay.
(upbeat music)
- Come on.
- How are we looking?
- We're going at 49 miles an hour.
- 49? - Yeah.
- That's practically rapid in this.
- Oh my god, my hair.
- Lob it back, just lob it back there.
Don't worry about your hair.
- I've got hat hair.
- At least you've got hair.
- Yeah. - Come on.
Be sensitive for a minute.
- Right, 1.5 miles on this road.
- All right.
- Bit of that.
Oh, let's have it.
- That's what we want.
Here we go.
- [Chris] Paddy Makkinen and his new co-driver
were right in the zone.
- Till a right, 0.5 miles on this.
- Good navigating, Heathcliff.
- [Chris] And it looked like the fight for first car glory
would be between Britain and the USSR.
- We're on the rev limiter.
We're flying! - Yeah, come on.
- The Niva is flying!
Especially as the Cornish countryside
was now asking more and more questions
of Fred's sluggish Beetle.
- So the speed limit is 60 miles an hour on this road.
- Not a chance I can get to 60.
- What, this car can't reach 60?
- No way, not a chance.
It's got 50 horsepower.
- Okay. - That was when it was new.
(upbeat music)
- Now this is an experience.
- Yeah, this is an experience.
Look at the beautiful view.
- I like this, you're on the map properly.
- Embrace the scenery.
In one mile we're going right.
One mile.
- Are you happy with your hair?
- Yeah, and my hair's looking great.
- Okay, good, do you want the mirror?
Do you want the mirror?
- Are you happy with your hair?
Oh, well oh.
- There's no need for any of that!
- [Freddie] All right, so the other two
might have been having an easier run of it.
- Right, five minutes, 1.8 miles.
- What, to the destination? - To the destination.
- We are nailing it, pal.
- But this is Cornwall.
And just when you think you're going well...
- Come on, the Niva, come on, the Niva.
Come on!
- In 1.6 miles we're going right.
That's in 1.6 miles.
- [Freddie] You soon realise you're never far...
- Oh no. - Jesus.
- [Freddie] From a bit of holiday traffic.
- Oh my lord.
Look at this!
Come on!
- [Paddy] The delays look costly.
- You wouldn't expect it. - Oh, my word.
Or at least they would've if the competition
didn't still have their own hills to conquer.
- Oh my god!
- It's gonna be noisy. - Come on!
Oh get up, oh get up! - Get up the hill.
- You can do it, little babes.
Come on.
- Come on.
Can only go as fast as the car I went with.
- Come on, let's go!
- Oh, come on, Sainaath.
- Yay, ha ha ha. - Yes! Come on!
- Ooh.
Ooh!
Oh.
Oh man, go on, look at the view.
- The finish line was now just a stone's throw away.
- Oh, look at that for a view down there.
Look at that.
- I can smell the fish and chips already.
- Oh, good lad. - Great cran.
- [Paddy] And with two of us closing in fast...
- Here. - Left up here?
- Yeah. - We've smashed this.
We have smashed this. - We have.
- Sadly for Team Beetle, it turned out
that somewhere along the sightseeing crawl of Newquay,
he'd also gone the wrong way.
- Is this the same road?
- This is the same road here.
- Yeah, and then left.
- Left? - Yeah.
- Why did you take us that way?
- Yeah, well.
- Is that you that, taking your pictures?
- Yeah, come on.
I think the navigator told me to go for a scenic route.
- [Paddy] And that meant with a few extra
valuable minutes lost, as the scenic route
finally brought them round to the finish line.
- Yes!
Ooh!
Yes!
- Team MG was right behind.
- Hey!
Good lad, Heathcliff!
- [Heathcliff] Sorted.
- Lads are here! - Oh my word.
How did you get here so fast?
- Love that, Heathcliff.
Some navigation there, pal.
- Which way did you come?
- The way it told us to go!
- We did the scenic route.
We went round that way first and then came back.
- Did you?
Come.
- Here we go.
- Here's the gang.
- Oh!
- Hey!
Girl power!
- Girl power.
- I've gotta tell you, you were not far behind us.
- Smashed it.
- I've got a feeling you might have done it.
- Well played.
- Oh, hello there, thank you.
- Right, okay.
Freddie and Sainaath, 27 minutes and 12 seconds.
- I think we're last here.
- Chris and Charlotte, 21 minutes and 32 seconds.
Which way did you go?
So Chris and Charlotte, 21 minutes and 32 seconds.
Paddy and Heathcliff...
also 21 minutes and...
28 seconds, son!
- We got close. - That's my boy!
That's my boy!
Hey, come on, get yourself in there, son, you've earned it.
Get in, big man.
- That was good fun.
- You'll be having a shave next, good lad.
(audience applauding)
- Ah, come on.
- Good lad, Heathcliff.
They were all great, weren't they?
They were all great.
So, we set out to find cars for new drivers
that were affordable and more interesting
than a Vauxhall Corsa.
I've gotta say, boys.
I think we've nailed it.
Cracking trio.
- I have to stop you there, Pad.
I admit they are brilliant.
But I found a few issues with them.
No ABS, no airbags, don't steer straight, no brakes.
- Sounds like me now. - Yeah.
- I have to on this one, Chris.
I feel for this one. (Chris laughs)
Because the more I drove this,
the more I realised there's not a chance
I'm putting a child of mine in it.
No way.
- He's got a point, they're charming, but they just serve
to remind you how far the motor car's come.
- Correct.
So, what we're saying is if you've just passed your test
and you want something affordable to buy and insure,
ignore everything we've just said and get a Corsa.
- Exactly. - Correct.
And that's it for the show, and the series.
What?
(audience groaning)
But don't worry, because we'll be back very soon
with a bonus Christmas episode.
Ho-ho-hope to see you then.
A little Christmas gag.
Thanks for watching.
Good night.
(upbeat music) (audience applauding)