The sixth and final episode of the ninth series of Top Gear aired on the 4th of March, 2007. It was presented by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May and The Stig. Billie Piper, Chris Moyles, Jamelia & Lemar were the guest stars, with the latter three appearing in the show's main challenge segment.
Synopsis[]
This episode begins with the topic of stretch limousines; there are 9,000 of them in the UK and they are all American cars that have been elongated and then coated with a sort of "veneer of velour". Jeremy then asks why can't limos be based on cars domestically available in the UK? To find out, they propose a challenge; each member of the trio was to buy any car they wanted, then turn it into a limousine.
Tonight...[]
- We cut some cars in half with saws...
- Richard smokes a horse...
- And Who's in our Reasonably Priced Car? Oh, it's his assistant!
Segments[]
Limousine Challenge[]
- Main article: Limousine Challenge
The trio were tasked with building a stretch limo from a car sold in the UK. Jeremy chose a 1992 Fiat Panda, though its initial length had to be crudely cut and shut down by 7 feet in order to make it road-legal. Richard chose a 1996 MG F while maintaining its convertible roof (which was not lengthened, turning it into a phaeton), whilst James chose to marry the front ends of a 1994 Saab 9000 and a 1996 Alfa Romeo 164 to create a conjoined limo, which had the added advantage of 4-wheel steering.
Each of the three limousines were tested out on a slalom course in order to make sure they were waterproofed (much to the dismay of Richard, as well as Jeremy who had to abandon his car during the challenge) and could avoid stinger traps, before being sent out onto the road to chauffeur their celebrities to that year's BRIT Awards. Jeremy would be chauffeuring then-BBC Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles, Richard would take pop-R&B singer Jamelia, and James would be driving also-pop-R&B singer Lemar.
Richard was the first to arrive, although the open-top nature of his limo and the throttle becoming stuck meant that Jamelia attracted more attention than she wanted. Jeremy followed soon afterwards, despite the entire rear half of his car being missing, with Moyles now up front. James got lost and Lemar stormed out of May's car after being an hour late to the start of the ceremony. The ultimate winner of the task was whoever got the most photos of their car printed in newspapers or magazines, and Jeremy earned that honor, by virtue of having a picture printed in his own column in The Sun.
Trivia[]
- The Limousine Challenge was filmed on the 14th of February, 2007, as that is the day in which the BRIT Awards were held that year.
- As part of the official roadworthiness test, all three limos were given Q-plate registrations to denote vehicles where 'the age or identity is in doubt'.
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