Top Gear Magazine #3 was the issue of the magazine cover-dated December 1993. Published by Redwood Publishing Ltd., it contained 258 pages and was edited by the magazine's very first editor, Kevin Blick.
Cover[]
Juxtaposing an AC Cobra with a Fiat Cinquecento, the third issue of Top Gear Magazine boasted a tagline of "More for your money", and promises to detail the best and worst value cars in Britain.
Contents[]
Upfront[]
- First gear - Volvo goes motor racing, supercars start to sell well, the cellphone crime wave, the dog that hated its car seat covers and a Capri-mad crank case.
- First steer - Clarkson drives the wild Ferrari 456GT, we drive the tame VW Golf Ecomatic, plus Golf estates, a bevy of BMWs, SEAT Ibiza, big Accord and Mercs.
- Steering columns - Jeremy Clarkson gets himself lost in Norfolk but finds his way home again.
- Quentin Willson tells you how to spot the cars that take a tumble when you sell.
- Tiff Needell finds life is tough with a throbbing thumb.
- Guest columnist Richard Littlejohn remembers the bad old boys of British Leyland.
Competition[]
- Supercar supercomp - part 2 - Last chance to win that amazing Honda NSX. Just answer the set of easy questions you'll find on page 60.
Showroom[]
- Cheap but cheerful? - Who will be laughing if you buy a cheapster - the neighbours, or you?
- Drive hot or keep warm - We love hot hatches but the insurance man hates them. Can we settle for warm hatches instead? We compare three pairs.
- New stars on stage - The three-pointed star faces a double attack from Japan in the shape of the brand new Lexus GS300 and the latest Honda Legend.
Waiter, The Bill[]
- Sandwich spreads - Everything you ever wanted to know about police cars but felt too guilty to ask - including Tiff going mad round Millbrook and Clarkson going slowly round the M3.
Coverage[]
- Good Value - ...and how to get it. A man, a computer and a lot of pages with all the info you could want.
High Octane[]
- Lambo to London - Bread-and-butter motoring for the glitterati, champagne and caviar for us as we bring the Diablo VT across Europe to our Motor Show stand.
- No Norfolk turkey - The stunning Lotus Esprit S4 takes on the even more stunning new Porsche 911. An unequal battle? Don't be too sure.
- Dark star - The amazing Lexus Coupé that makes high-tech look low tech.
Weird Old Stuff[]
- Puppets on a string - Thunderbirds are go as we talk to puppet master Gerry Anderson.
- Mason's masterpiece - The Network Q RAC Rally previewed by TV's jovial commentator.
- The single life - We drive BMW's new Funduro bike - and find it's loads of fun. And durable too.
Regulars[]
- Top Gear club - Subscription bargains, offers, competitions and prize draws.
- RAC advice - Don't stand there scratching your head, get the RAC's experts to sort it for you.
- Write turns - We get a hundred pages, you get two so make the most of them.
- Gearbox - You can't afford the car, so have the next best thing - the Jag aftershave, the BMW sunglasses, the Lada tie. The Lada tie?!
- Auto Jungle - Viz cartoonist Simon Donald brings you the amazing Chameleon Driver Man.
Used Car Guide[]
- Used news - The ups and downs of the used car market this month.
- Long-distance runner - An Alfa 164 that has sailed past 100,000 miles in style. Quentin Willson reports.
- The thank Q queue - Manufacturers are lining up with used car warranty schemes. We've been looking at the small print.
- Expert eye - How to be a Sherlock Holmes with a car's paperwork by our man Willson.
- Quentin Willson's good used car guide - All the cars and all the prices. Plus our man in the know - tells all about the best - and the worst - second-hand cars you can buy in Britain.
New Car Guide[]
- New car news - New cars, new prices, new news, blues, shrews, gnus, shoes.
- Our top cars - What cars would we buy? They're all here in our top ten favourites.
- New car listings - Every new car analysed and annotated in our utterly amazing buyers' guide.
- Manufacturers' directory - Contact names and numbers, A to Z.