Top gear Porsche Article

[mhinch]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/main.jhtml;jsessionid=QAVUHIKQJRDPZQFIQMGCFFOAVCBQ UIV0?view=DETAILS&grid=A1YourView&xml=/motoring/2007/10/06/nosplit/mrmay06.xml

Click on this link to read a recent article by the Top Gear Presenter, James May.......interesting

enjoy

Mark

ps the best bits are the comments at the bottom of the page

[Paulporsche]

Yawn.

[dagriff]

I don't know about "Yawn". Yes, the same thoughts have been expressed by others before. However, it's always nice to read a well written article, penned by someone who actually was taught English Grammar at School.

Also, it was dead on. I was still in the UK during the Thatcher years.
There is another dimension to it that only a Brit would understand.. the class thing.
A very large number of yuppies in "The City" were not "old School" (literally), but common working class made good types. viewed by the upper class (whom up to then were the only people who could afford Porsches, big houses etc) as trade. Therefore every thing they claimed their own, in this case Porsche ownership, automatically meant that Porsche lost their cachet as far as the posh were concerned.
Even the ones who were perhaps not posh, but car blokes who struggled to pay for one, did not want to be painted with the same brush.
In the UK your social class is still a huge deal, and you better not get ideas above your station.......one of the reasons I am in Canada now..............

[DARISC]

Hey, he bought it...nuff said.

[Pele911]

Its been said before, nothing new here to see. Well written, but a subject thats been explored. It no different then many of the Boxster owners in the US. They have no understanding beyond the P-car cache. No big deal.

[afterburn 549]

I think he is in luv with his own witty words...He ought to have a Boxster, Cheerio for him. Rah Rah Rah.
Just cause he can not drive a 911 he should not knock it..I do not know why we continue to pay him any Attn. @ all !! Boycott the slimy Limey with his Prince of Darkness electrical systems. Go drive his Triumph Spitfire Lotus Jaguar or what ever he likes .

[mhinch]

Guys, I think the point has somehow been lost in translation, James May bought the car.........forget it, I'm out numbered by you US Pelicans anyway...and you thought James May had problems

Mark

ps appologies for any offence caused to Americans with a sense of irony and humour

[afterburn 549]

No offence , The relationship between top gear and Porsche has never been too friendly ...unless you like to see a piano dropped from a 2nd story window to try to kill a 911- that they could not do after having tried every other way........Quick Britt thinking ??

[Wayne 962]

Originally Posted by afterburn 549

No offence , The relationship between top gear and Porsche has never been too friendly ...unless you like to see a piano dropped from a 2nd story window to try to kill a 911- that they could not do after having tried every other way........Quick Britt thinking ??

Not entirely true. Only Jeremy doesn't really like the 911 - Hammond and May both like them, with Richard being the biggest fan. Jeremy did really like the GT3RS (996) and loved the Carrera GT as well.

-Wayne

[mhinch]

James May sold his 1985 Carrera earlier this year and regretted so much he bought another, don't believe everything you see on Top Gear, James is a Porsche fanatic......the Stig is actually human and Richard Hammond raved about the GT2 in the new series....I'll leave you your own opinions on Clarkson.

[afterburn 549]

I do not care if he dose not like a 911...The pt is he goes on and on every chance he gets.. he needs a larger vocabulary and a lot more peripheral vision...

[Dave (Oz)]

Originally Posted by afterburn 549

I think he is in luv with his own witty words...He ought to have a Boxster, Cheerio for him. Rah Rah Rah.
Just cause he can not drive a 911 he should not knock it..I do not know why we continue to pay him any Attn. @ all !! Boycott the slimy Limey with his Prince of Darkness electrical systems. Go drive his Triumph Spitfire Lotus Jaguar or what ever he likes .

Hey, don't knock Lucas electrics. Everything has its place. Every time I pull my Triumph MFI fuel pump apart on the side of the road (apparently Lucas thought a windscreen wiper motor was a good basis for a continuous duty high pressure fuel system) it reminds me of just how well put together my 911 is....

[afterburn 549]

Ahh,,.. but can you say Zion diode ,positive ground, pop the bonnet please. And most of all any color as long as it is a shade green .
Do not change the subject about Jimmy Clark,, I believe he was a scotts man in real life. A mighty fine chap, not to be put into the same category of sub-human gibberish from the above pointed state of argument by "top wheel" " top gun", "Super duper mouth" , what ever he thinks his is claim to fame ,love to blame, promotional dialog, oat meal all north of the eye brows.
Got Pabulum on his breath , CR squish in the cranium.

[DARISC]

Originally Posted by mhinch

Guys, I think the point has somehow been lost in translation, James May bought the car........

Yup - I posted "Hey, he bought it...nuff said. ".

I'm not familiar with the writer's past comments on the 911 but the article struck me as less about the car and more about a lot of the people back then who bought them as status symbols - like a whole lot of people do now.

Thought it was funny, a bit of satire.

[jhubs]

If you haven't seen this, it's good!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaCbgWJIiIs

[johndglynn]

Originally Posted by afterburn 549

Do not change the subject about Jimmy Clark,, I believe he was a scotts man in real life. A mighty fine chap, not to be put into the same category of sub-human gibberish from the above pointed state of argument by "top wheel" " top gun", "Super duper mouth" , what ever he thinks his is claim to fame ,love to blame, promotional dialog, oat meal all north of the eye brows.
Got Pabulum on his breath , CR squish in the cranium.

I think you have James May confused with Jeremy Clarkson, but in any case, both write rather better than 'sub-human gibberish' according to the panel who gave them their Emmy.

James is not a 'British is best' kind of guy. He's a confirmed 911 fan, rides a Guzzi that he has owned since new with three other old Honda motorcycles, flies an American (Luscombe) aeroplane and the daily driver is a Fiat Panda.

In tonight's Top Gear, they drive three old two-wheel drive cars across Africa, proving you don't need an SUV to drop the kids to school. None of the cars are British obviously or they wouldn't have gotten off the boat (Lancia, Mercedes, Opel).

[dagriff]

One has to bear in mind that this is a TV program from a foreign country. And despite any "special relationships" or sharing of a common language base, it is a country with different values, history & geography.

A case in point is that Clarkson hates the 300c. I have one & love it. For long drives across the prairies in boiling temperatures it's great.
However, If like Clarkson, I had tested it in the UK I would also have hated it. It's no good for the tight twisty roads (for one thing the steering has zero feedback) and impossible to park in any city or town. It is a HUGE monster of a car in the UK environment. The same goes in reverse, a lot of cars that are brilliant in the UK (or Europe for that matter) would be a very hard sell in North America.

[RWebb]

Zion diode?

I guess it only lets in the faithful in a single direction.

[johndglynn]

Anyone who likes Top Gear will enjoy the Africa thing that just screened, parts of it were really entertaining.

No one in the UK pays a blind bit of attention to Clarkson when they are buying a car - only when they are sat on their sofa on a Sunday night looking for something to watch. My kids (girls aged 9, 5 and 2) were watching an old one before they went to bed - it's good clean fun.