Top Gear Wiki
Advertisement

Top Gear Magazine #209 was the issue of the magazine cover-dated October 2010. Published by BBC Worldwide, it contained 266 pages and was edited by the magazine's fourth editor-in-chief, Charlie Turner.

Cover[]

Issue #209's cover was made under the premise of the ultimate 3-car garage, containing an Ariel Atom V8, Bentley Continental GT, and an SSC Tuatara. It holds a significance in the sense that it was the earliest known cover to be shown digitally in online magazine stores. Ripley & Ripley were responsible for capturing the cover art on board the HMS Dauntless.

Contents[]

  • SSC Ultimate Aero: The Grudge Match: Until the Veyron SS appeared, SSC's Ultimate Aero was the fastest car in the world. But it looked rubbish. Enter Jason Castriota...
  • QT Wildcat: The only 'road-spec' Qt Wildcat in existence is actually due for service as a Ugandan golf cart. Turn to page 142 if you want this to make sense.
  • Ariel Atom V8: A 500kg Ariel Atom with a 500bhp V8 engine wedged in the back. Matt Master dons his 'Brave Hat' for a tour of Italy's supercar makers. Wheeeee.
  • Bentley GT: The most successful model in Bentley's history gets a thorough re-working. Tauter, leaner, sharper; here's the lowdown on the new GT.
  • Bye Type R...: Strict Euro V emissions regs have led Honda to suicide the Type R brand. TopGear subtly reminds Honda of what we'll be missing.
  • Old vs New: One is the old hand, the Jedi master of rallying. The other is the hot-shot kid straight out of F1. Sounds like the script for a movie. But this is real.
  • Rizk DBR2: Tom Ford drives a car made of spaceships across a desert with a cowboy and an Egyptian. Last seen with third-degree sunburn.
  • RCZ vs CR-Z: Triple word score in Scrabble, a twin-test without the use of vowels. It's a showdown between chic little urban coupés: Peugeot vs Honda.

Metal[]

  • Mercedes-Benz CLS: Merc's more-door coupé gets an overhaul.
  • Morgan Eva: A four-seater Batmobile. With a girl's name.
  • Not the XJ-R: Jaguar's new XJ75 is not XJ-R. Not at all.
  • Lotus T125: Lotus builds a limited-run track machine that looks like an F1 car. It costs £650k. Gulp.
  • New Stratos: Italian soul. German electronics. Perfection.

TheBoys[]

FrontEnd[]

  • TG's Turbo Tyres: How to be part of an F1 pistop. For real.
  • Cars and Coffee: Car chat the American way, i.e. better.
  • Paul Horrell: Applauds the purity of basic specification
  • Jon Claydon: Reminds us of when men were Men.
  • Pat Devereux: Accidentally buys a Porsche. What?

Drives[]

In Drives this month:

  • Nissan Leaf
  • Cadillac CTS-V
  • Volkswagen Jetta
  • Kia Sportage
  • Skoda Fabia vRS
  • Infiniti M37
  • Audi S5/Twingo Gordini
  • Merc S63/Alpina D3 Lux
  • Audi A3 1.2 Cab/Punto Evo
  • Ford Galaxy/Mégane Tourer
  • Mini/Roomster

Gear[]

  • Your Biggest Fan: A jet pack-cum-helicopter from New Zealand and carbon fibre from Woking.

Regulars[]

  • Behind The Scenes: Navy destroyers, cowboys, picket lines, a tungsten mine and a confused Italian.
  • Letters: Imagine a conversation. But more textual.
  • Subscriptions: Don't panic. Get it delivered the lazy way.
  • Camrrac: American V8 Sprint Cars. TG. Top Stuff.
Advertisement