Top 10 Top Gear Moments

Using a trusty Toyota Hilux pickup truck – and a team of Icelandic mechanics – Clarkson and May became the first people ever to drive a car to the North Pole. Far from the easy ride Jeremy anticipated, the pair face cracking ice-roads, polar bears, and physical labor in their race against the dogsledding Hammond. Although it was one for the books, the journey gained criticism from Greenpeace and controversy when Jezza was seen drinking a gin and tonic while… “sailing.”

Despite being a Mercedes fan, Jeremy decides the interior of this 1996 S-Class isn’t lush enough. So he hires an interior decorator to revamp it, then ignores her completely. Drawing on traditional cottage designs, Clarkson has a wood stove and concrete flooring installed – creating, what he calls, Anne Hathaway’s Cottage. While the car rates high on the posh scale, Hammond and May struggle to bring the creation up to speed, only partly due to the sliding, unbolted chairs.

Few challenges embody the host’s distinct personalities like this one. After being challenged to make an amphibious vehicle, May builds a slow, boring sail car, Hammond attempts an ambitious but flawed camper boat, and Clarkson straps a boat motor to the back of his go-to pickup, the Toyota Hilux. It was an all-out disaster, but one that merited a do-over two series later, which saw the guys cross the English Channel, finally landing on the French coast in Jeremy’s outboard-powered Nissan.

Hilarity ensues when the tallest man on British television drives one of the world’s smallest cars. Cramped inside the Hammond-sized three-wheeler, Clarkson drives the tiny car to work. Literally. While zipping through the halls of the BBC, Jeremy finds himself at the mercy of the Beeb’s news anchors, who either steal his sweet ride or drag him off course. When Fiona Bruce shows they’re not all bad, Jezza show his appreciation straight from the heart.

The guys are challenged by producers to build limousines out of junkers, deliver VIPs to the Brit Awards, and see who gets the most press at the end of it all. Although Clarkson officially wins thanks to his own newspaper column, none of the cars can really be declared a winner. Jeremy’s over-stretched hatchback snaps in half, Richard’s limo leaves much to be desired in the way of a roof… or doors and, well, the less we say of James’s two-fronter town car, the better.

In one of the best-loved epic races, Jeremy takes the wheel of the world’s fastest car and pits it against a plane. While the 800-mile trip should have been an easy win for the Cessna, it had one major disadvantage: James. Although definitely aided by Clarkson’s lead foot, in the end it was Captain Slow’s meticulous safety checks, backward flight plan, and inability to fly at night that spelled victory for the Veyron.

While trying to prove that it’s cheaper to buy a beater than rent a vacation car, the boys exhibit some behavior that doesn’t exactly please the U.S. State Department. After writing, shall we say, “liberal minded” graffiti on each other’s cars, the trio are cussed out, chased, and stoned by Alabama locals. Matters aren’t helped when Clarkson arrives at their campsite with a dead cow on the roof of his Camaro, a model of car he insists is only driven by murderers.

When a viewer writes in to complain that “Top Gear” no longer does proper road tests like they once did, Jeremy sets out to do a simple review of a simple car. After discussing parking, fuel economy, and build quality, Clarkson continues reviewing the car’s handling, grip, and braking while being chased by a Corvette through a shopping mall. If you aren’t already sold on the Fiesta, then seeing it in marine assault mode is probably enough have you sign on the dotted line.

Entertaining themselves any way they can during their 8-day journey, the guys buy cheap suits, terrible gifts, and Jezza and Slow convince an entire restaurant staff to spray-paint Richard’s motorcycle hot Barbie pink… all of which wastes time. Making up for lost time by train, the boys still have to employ their ingenuity to convert their bikes into watercraft to get to the end of their quest, which in this case is a remote island bar.

- “Cheap Lorries” Series 12, Episode 1
- “Reliant Robin Space Shuttle” Series 9, episode 4
- “Botswana” Series 10, Episode 4
- “Caravan Holiday” Series 8, Episode 6
- “The Ariel Atom” Series 5, Episode 9

Driven by everyone from militants to Marty McFly, this Toyota is known as “The Indestructible Truck” – leading Clarkson on a quest to find out how much abuse it can take. He rams it into a wall and a tree, then watches as it survives a high tide drowning, a wrecking ball, and a fire. But wait, there’s more: Jeremy passes it over to James, who puts through its toughest challenge yet. Though it’s busted practically beyond recognition, the Hilux still starts and is deemed death proof.

Do you agree with our list? What’s your favorite “Top Gear” moment? For more staggering Top 10s published daily, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.