The sixth episode of the third series of Top Gear aired on the 7th of December, 2003. It was presented by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May and The White Stig. Sanjeev Bhaskar was the guest star. It was the 26th episode overall, and served as a conclusion to the main challenge of the previous episode, which involved destroying a Toyota Hilux.
It is widely considered that this episode, along the previous episode, catapulted Clarkson's Top Gear onto the world stage.
Synopsis[]
Top Gear gets a lot of letters from those with 'sensible shoes' that the show only talks about expensive supercars that the common person cannot buy. To that extent Jeremy reveals the then-new Citroën C2, the Saxo's replacement.
Tonight...[]
- Richard drives a pair of wheeled accessories...
- [Jeremy] discover[s] if the Australians are better at cars than they are at rugby...
- And James tries to finish the job of killing our Toyota.
Segments[]
Cool Wall[]
The Cool Wall received three new additions in this episode:
| Car | Ranking |
|---|---|
| Holden Monaro | C |
| Renault Megane CC | U |
| Peugeot 307 CC | U |
Toyota Hilux Destruction, Part 2[]
This episode formed a two-parter along with Series 3, Episode 5, wherein Jeremy attempted to destroy a Toyota Hilux and failed, thus now allowing James May his turn at its destruction. He decided to place it on top of a 23-storey tower block about to be demolished. While the exterior and chassis were damaged to the point where the bodywork was holding the chassis and the vehicle was barely recognisable, the mechanic (again, using no spare parts and only simple tools) "reconnected the battery, put a bit of diesel in it, brum. Off it went." Clarkson, after surveying the damage, suggested that they build a plinth to honour the Hilux for all time. The idea was a huge success.
Airing History[]
Series 3, Episode 6 originally aired on the 7th of December, 2003, on BBC 2. This followed a week's hiatus due to the 2003/4 Snooker UK Championship Final taking up what would have been Top Gear's slot the week prior. It was then regularly reshown on channels such as BBC Prime and UKTV People throughout the mid '00s, along with the rest of Series 3, before indefinitely ending up as a permanent fixture on Dave from the channel's 2007 debut onwards, albeit in a cut 45-minute version. It would later appear on streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and IPlayer.
Episode Names[]
Though never given a name upon its original airing, much like every other episode of Top Gear, two slightly different names were retrospectively applied to the episode by the BBC years later:
- Top Gear's section on BBC's website calls it "The Hilux Still Won't Die".
- Top Gear's own website calls it "The one with the still-alive Hilux".
Trivia[]
- At over 5.4 million viewers tuning in, this was the most-watched episode of Top Gear until Series 9, Episode 1.
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