After seeing how the adverts in the back of many car magazines advertise supercars for less than £10,000 (the average price of a two-year old Ford Mondeo), Jeremy, Richard and James decide to see whether or not these offers were worth taking up. They were therefore each given £10,000 to purchase a mid-engined Italian supercar, which would then be put through a series of challenges.
Introduction & Choices[]
The presenters were told to meet up at the SS Great Britain in Bristol. Richard was first to arrive, driving a 1979 (albeit late-registered in 1983) Ferrari 308 GT4 Dino, followed shortly after by Jeremy, with a 1974 Maserati Merak SS. Richard noted that he had paid the full £10,000 for his Ferrari, while Jeremy had only paid £7,000, despite the previous owner having spent £10,000 to restore the engine. After a while, the two began to wonder where James was, and were highly amused when he showed up with his car, a 1974 Lamborghini Urraco on the back of an AA truck, having broken down due to an electrical problem.
Challenges[]
Test 1 - Bristol to Castle Combe[]
The first test was simply to get from Bristol to Castle Combe racing circuit, a journey of 20 miles. Jeremy and Richard both managed this without much trouble, but James was delayed setting off while he fixed the Urraco's electrical issues, and then broke down again twice before getting there.
Test 2 - Power Lap[]
After The Stig sets a benchmark time of 1:35 around Castle Combe's circuit in a 2005 diesel Vauxhall Astra, the presenters each have to try and beat that time. After James's (once again) belated arrival, the other two decide to send him out on the track first while his car's still working, only for the Urraco to spring a coolant leak, overheat and then stall after the first corner. After the car is repaired, James successfully completes a lap, but with a dismal time of 1:58. Richard fares a lot better, but his time of 1:43 still isn't enough to beat The Stig's time, and Richard subsequently tries to blame the Dino's developing a misfire, to the amusement of the other two. Prior to starting his lap he knocked off the interior mirror. Jeremy's time ends up hardly being any better than James's, at 1:54, and adding insult to injury, his brakes fail just as he finishes the race aswell as overheat.
Test 3 - Horsepower Test[]
To see how well the cars have aged, they are each tested to measure how much of their originally-rated horsepower they have retained. The Dino fared the best, dropping from its rated 255bhp to 194bhp. The Urraco had dropped from 220bhp to 117bhp. Prior to the Merak's test, Jeremy revealed that he had checked out its service history and found that it was actually an original-model Merak, not the more powerful SS. This meant that its rated power was only 190bhp, and it turned out to have dropped to less than half of its original power, registering only 80bhp.
Test 4 - Oil and Spark Plug Changing[]
After departing Castle Combe, the cars stop off in Bath to have their tanks drained, and are each given 25 litres of petrol to get them to their ultimate destination, the Spearmint Rhino "gentleman's club" in Slough which was 96 miles away. They then have to drive to a service centre in Chippenham, with no outside help the trio we're tasked with changing the car's oil and spark plugs. While Richard and James decided to change their oil first, Jeremy decided to change his spark plugs first. Richard does this with no trouble, taking it at a leisurely pace due to the Dino's spark plugs being designed to be easily replaced compared to Lamborghini and Maserati. Richard is the first to finish and Jeremy finishes close behind him by 1/2 a second. Despite his sloppy and unorganized approach, the Merak only has six spark plugs compared to the eight of the other two. James's overly fussy and meticulous manner causes him to finish last by a wide margin. He even tells the pair and sod off to let him finish off alone.
Test 5 - Parallel Parking[]
Because supercars are notoriously difficult to park due to their length and poor rear visibility, the three presenters each have to drive into the centre of Marlborough, where they will have to parallel-park their cars without hitting anything including the Nissan Almera (as parked car behind) and Ford Mondeo (car parked infront). Just making the journey again proves troublesome for James, as the Urraco loses power again right outside a school during lunch hour, causing him (and Jeremy and Richard when they arrive on the scene) to be mobbed by the students. Wisely Jeremy and Richard decide to leave James behind while he fixed the Lambo and dealt with the crowd of students. It also becomes apparent at this point that the Merak's engine is rapidly deteriorating, likely due to strain from the power lap and horsepower test.
When it comes to the actual parallel parking test, Richard has some trouble and hits the car behind twice, but ultimately gets parked up, albeit a good couple of feet away from the edge of the pavement with a time of 1 minute 38.7 seconds. Jeremy was next but only got one hit, but finishes the challenge much faster than Richard, while also getting nearer the pavement. His final time was exactly 1 minute. While James is fetching his car, Because of the length of his car and being extremely difficult to see out of, Jeremy and Richard decide to sabotage him by pushing the car in front closer. He reverses too fast and ends up crashing into the car behind, breaking one of its headlamps. It ends up taking James three times longer than it took Jeremy, and he ends up parked at a bad angle. His final time was 3 minutes 20 seconds (2:20 behind Jeremy and 1:42.7 behind Richard).
Test 6 - The Final Stretch[]
The last part of the challenge requires the trio to drive from Marlborough to the Spearmint Rhino Club in Slough. From this point onwards, if for any reason any of the cars stalls and cannot be quickly restarted, the presenter is instantly eliminated. Just under sixty miles away from their final destination Jeremy ends up being the first to fall, and in spectacular fashion, as the Merak's engine disintegrates, showering James's car with debris, and destroying the car's brakes, forcing Jeremy to ditch it in a hedge in order to avoid an accident. Richard and James manage to close most of the remaining distance to Slough, but the Dino suffers an electrical failure just ten miles away from their destination, eliminating Richard. The Urraco is therefore left as the last car standing, but only manages to get to the outskirts of Slough before it too breaks down in less than three miles, thus eliminating James.
Conclusion[]
While the presenters agree that the Merak was clearly the worst car of the three, they conclude that none of the three can be called a winner, seeing how none of them could complete a journey from Bristol to Slough. This causes Jeremy to end the episode with the following bit of advice: "Yes, you can buy a supercar for less than £10,000, but for the love of God, don't!"
Scorechart[]
| Presenter | Car | C.C. Lap | HP Loss | Breakdowns | Insurance | Sub Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeremy | 1974 Maserati Merak | -19 | -11 | 0 | 2 | -28 |
| Richard | 1979 (1983 reg) Ferrari 308 GT4 Dino | -8 | -7 | 0 | -5 | -20 |
| James | 1974 Lamborghini Urraco | -27 | -11 | -20 | -45 | -99 |
*The remainder of the challenges was cancelled due the board being redeemed pointless. The second breakdown box however confirmed that Jeremy and Richard had both got -5pts for having 1 breakdown each & James had got -10pts for his two breakdowns. The parking would have seen Jeremy on -1pt for 1 touch, Richard -2pt's for 2 touch's & James -11pts for 7 touch's and 4 curbs.
Excluding the MPG and Servicing Points which couldn't be seen the final total would provisionaly have been Hammond win with -27pts, Jeremy in second with -34pts & James far behind in last place with -120pts.
Aftermath[]
Richard purchased his Dino from the BBC after the episode aired, and subsequently had it restored to full working order. In stark contrast, the Merak was deemed a write-off, and sold for spare parts. Finally, it emerged years later that James' mechanical issues had been largely scripted, and that the Urraco was exported to Australia in 2010 after being resprayed orange.
Trivia[]
- After the engine disintigrates, Jeremy makes a pun of number plate simply by written an additional of "E", hence reads as "JOKE 229N".
- This was the first supercar challenge with 4-seats but only in rear mid-engine.
- This is the only three 4-seats rear mid-engine cars competitor appeared altogether.
- Jeremy corrects the actually badging of the Dino, it is unclear whether was the Ferrari badge (on mid-MY model).
- Viewers were unsure about the service history scene (when Jeremy discovered the SS badge) since his Merak looked like the SS model with the black bonnet grill, three spoke steering wheel, and a driver-orientated dashboard (as seen in the pictures of the Merak after the episode was filmed). There is a possibility that the Merak was an SS, but due to the service history, all three presenters commented on how it was an original model.