Gizmodo: top gear

Lego House May Face Very Real Wrecking Ball In 24 Hours

Sean Fallon — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:20:00 EDT

No doubt you were impressed by the two story Lego house built by Top Gear's James May and 1000 volunteers. Unfortunately, the pictures may be all that's left unless they can find a buyer in the next 24 hours.

Initially Legoland planned to buy the house, but that deal fell through because it was deemed too expensive to move. Now Top Gear is reaching out to fans via their website in the hopes that someone, somewhere will be willing to pony up the £50,000 or $81,000 it will take to dismantle and rebuild the structure. Unfortunately, their Monday deadline seems to have already passed, and there is no word on whether or not a buyer was found. Their only hope is that Jesus Diaz will call in at the 11th hour. [Top Gear via BBC News]

Take a Look At the House Made Completely of Lego Bricks

Adam Frucci — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 16:40:00 EDT

Top Gear's James May is working on building an entire house out of Lego bricks for another show, and it's really coming together. Hell, even the toilet is made of Lego in this place.

It's not 100% Lego, but it's close. There's a timber "safety frame" inside the walls to provide an extra level of stability, which is probably for the best, and there are non-Lego lights and stuff, obviously. But it's still a whole lot of Lego. They have 3 million bricks on hand and may need more.

Oh, and about that toilet? Here's what the designer has to say about it:

Oobject: The toilet - right, this the thing we want to know most, how does a Lego toilet work - I mean how much of it is actually Lego?

BG: Pretty much all of it. The exact design is being specified by the interior designer and will have a Lego cistern connected to a Lego bowl via a Lego pipe. It will even have a Lego flusher.

Uh, I'll pass, thanks. Check out Oobject for the full gallery of shots. [Oobject]

This Is What It Feels Like To Fly In a U2 Spy Plane

Jesus Diaz — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 01:12:56 EDT

I love Top Gear, but when James May gets the opportunity to fly to the edge of space on board a U2 spy plane, my love turns to plain, absolute, complete, overwhelming hate. Bloody good video indeed.

The Lockheed U2 is an amazing plane, developed to spy enemy countries by the CIA and the United States Air Force. Flying at 70,000 feet, the U2 can fly day or night, rain or sun, photographing ground facilities on very short notice, something that satellites can't do. It was created in the 50s, flying for the first time in 1955, and despite some being shot down over the Soviet Union, Cuba, and China, the fleet is still in use today. In fact, the successful design outlasted the SR-71 and the secret A-12 CIA spy plane, and will keep flying till 2014 or even later. [Wikipedia]

Top Gear's James May to Construct Two-Story Lego House

Jack Loftus — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 12:00:00 EDT

Jesus, we know you love Lego something fierce, but are you willing to live in a completely Lego house, like Top Gear star James May?

May, known to many in the U.K. for his affinity of automobiles, ~~speed~~ being "Captain Slow," and other wheeled insanity, is prepped and ready to construct the two-story Lego house next weekend. More than 3 million bricks have been delivered to the building site so far.

The building plans state that everything must be constructed with Lego bricks, if possible. This includes the planned working Lego toilet, Lego plumbing and maybe even parts of the power supply. May has put out a call for brick donations, should you be in the area next week with a big bag of Lego.

Oh, and that sound you hear is just Jesus beginning work on his inevitable 1 trillion brick skyscraper. No biggie. [BBC]

World's Largest Set of Balls Spotted Inside World's Largest Loop-the-Loop

John Herrman — Mon, 18 May 2009 08:14:10 EDT

Stuntman Steve Truglia drives a puny Toyota around a loop-the-loop in a record-setting stunt for British TV show (and Top Gear doppelganger) Fifth Gear. The full stunt, safe descent (hopefully) included, airs this Saturday. [Dailymail]

Top Gear America to Build 70MPG Car Out of a 1971 VW Rabbit for $7,000

Adam Frucci — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 10:20:00 EST

Sure, you can get a fuel-efficient hybrid car, but it'll cost tens of thousands of dollars. That's too much for the Top Gear America crew, who've set out to build a 70MPG car for $7,000.

They're doing this by buying a 28-year-old Volkswagen Rabbit, driving it up to CWS Tuning in Saskatchewan, replacing the engine with a "modern, computer-controlled, turbocharged VW TDI engine" and then driving it down to UCLA where aerodynamics professor John McNulty will help, as they say "make the car more slippery."

And for reference, a 2009 Toyota Prius achieves 48MPG and costs $22,720, while a 2009 Honda Civic Hybrid achieves 40MPG and costs $24,320. This thing will get 70MPG for $7,000.

It's a downright awesome project, one that they'll be covering step by step online via video and images. And they're looking to get the internet to name it for them, so look for the Ballsmobile to hitting the road in the near future. We can't wait. [TopGear]

Television App For iPhone is Not Quite Hulu, But Getting Warmer

John Mahoney — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 12:00:00 EST

The creatively name "Television" aggregates web TV sources like CNN, CBS, NBC and BBC, making Bob Schieffer, Brian Williams and the gang from Top Gear just a single tap away.

Television is only an aggregator—meaning all of the content available already exists out on the web for free. And, it only works on wi-fi, which is unfortunate. But the list of available shows is pretty decent:

USA

CNN - Now in the News, In Case You Missed
CBS - Eye to Eye, Face the Nation
NBC - Nightly News, Meet the Press
CNBC - Fast Money
Comedy Central - Standup Highlights
VH1 - Celebrity Rehab, The Pickup Artists
Onion Networkk - All videos
College Humor TV - All videos
Digg.TV - Diggnation
CNET - First Look, Buzz Report
Discovery Channel - Highlights
National Geographic - Highlights
MTV - MTV News, music videos
NBA - News and match highlights

UNITED KINGDOM

BBC - Highlights from Top Gear, Torchwood, Goodness Gracious, QI
SKY - Sky News
ITN - News and Showbizz
Megawhat.Tv - Tech News

FRANCE

TF1 - Le Journal, Météo
M6 - Six Minutes
BFM - Première Edition
iTele - iTele News

GERMANY

RTL - News, Aktuell, Wetter, Exclusiv
ARD - Tagesschau, Das Wetter
NDR - Ratgeber Technik
WDR - Die Sendung mit der Maus, Käptn Blaubär
ZDF - Heute, Wetten Dass Backstage, Aktuelle Sportstud

Now, Hulu—you must be working on an iPhone app, right? When can we see it? [Television - iTunes - $3.99]

Top Gear Crew Puts the Tesla Roadster Through Its Paces

Adam Frucci — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 18:30:00 EST

If there's a more entertaining show about cars in the world than the BBC's Top Gear, I've never seen it. Which is why we're psyched to see them take on the Tesla Electric Roadster.

The gang finds that, while the Tesla is amazingly fast out of the gate and cheap to operate (once you drop the cash on buying one), it's not without its faults. For one, that battery is crazy heavy, and charging it up takes a whopping 16 hours. Also, it has a way of breaking down. But don't take my word for it, as I'm far less charismatic than Jeremy Clarkson.

Side note: bring this show to DVD/Blu-ray, BBC! Come on! [Jalopnik]

Top Gear Races Nissan GT-R Vs. Bullet Train In Japan

Christopher Mascari — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 19:00:00 EDT

The Top Gear crew is in Japan for this week's episode and they've got another heated race for us: A Nissan GT-R R35, a gadget car by dynamic handling and Playstation inspired dashboard vs. a bullet train, running both from Japan's northern Hakui-Shi coast to Tokyo. With no surprise ol' Clarkson is driving the fiery beast while Hammond and May are left traveling Japanese public transportation. I'm not gonna spoil the race for ya though, but Jalopnik has the results for you. [Jalopnik]

Shooting Flying Cars with Machine Guns, Rocket Launchers

Jesus Diaz — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 07:16:59 EDT

I'm on the beach on semi-vacation now, here in the south of Spain, and we have BBC One via satellite. This means one thing on Sunday nights: Top Gear. Chances are that you probably have watched Top Gear clips on YouTube, like the one above, in which Jeremy Clarkson replaces clay pigeons and shotguns with real flying cars, machine guns and, at the end of it, a gas-tank-seeking (no kidding) rocket launcher.

The quality, effort and creativity put into each episode makes Top Gear some of the best TV you can get, but of course the US will only get a stupified remake in the US. Gotta love those brits (specially if you have married one.) [Break]

Top Gear Coming to NBC in Remake Form

Adam Frucci — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 09:37:22 EST

I've got good news and bad news. First, the good: the amazing British auto show Top Gear is coming to the US! Now, the bad: it's in the form of a remake on NBC, haters of original ideas and kings of the unnecessary remake! That means that the wonderful hosts — Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond — won't be involved. Instead, knowing NBC, it'll probably be hosted by Macho Man Randy Savage, Vern Troyer and Alicia Silverstone. Time will tell whether or not they'll be able to pull the remake off (they did a damn good job with The Office, after all), but I'm more than skeptical. Hit the jump to check out my favorite Top Gear segment ever and then try to imagine NBC doing something half as entertaining.

[Reuters]

Full-Sized Remote Control Cars and Explosions

Adam Frucci — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 16:00:00 EST

Oh how I love Top Gear. Why is there no show this good being produced in the States? In today's example of why this is one of the sweetest shows on TV in any country, we see a race between a souped-up remote-control electric car and a regular old remote-control car. The results are, well, not expected and infinitely entertaining. Keep on keeping on, Top Gear. [Jalopnik]

BMW Prototype Races Autonomously

Mark Wilson — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 13:35:10 EST

Top Gear got some time behind the wheel of a BMW 330i that can drive itself. How it works: a human driver takes the car around the track for a spin, while the car records data of event. Then, using military-grade GPS, the car can coordinate its position on the track with the driver data to zoom around at high, pants-crapping speeds. It's like Knight Rider's KITT, if David Hasselhoff preferred tweed over leather. [crave via bbg]

What Car Nuts Really Think of the Prius Hybrid Electric

Brian Lam — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 14:50:05 EST

The Prius is widely recognized as a technological marvel, with its regenerative braking, its hybrid electric motor setup, and the supercar-low drag coefficient of 0.26. Which is why it's sobering to geeks and treehuggers to watch Top Gear describe the Prius as so slow that "a child could run into the street, retrieve his ball, and grow to puberty, before the Prius could hit him." And at a tested 45mpg, it's actually less green than a diesel.

It's easy to say that this is not the market, but ultimately, these are the people who have to be sold before the tech becomes as desirable and mainstream as it is cutting-edge. One day, Toyota will bring us the Supra Hybrid, and not one of those numb-feeling sedans with electrics. I just want a diesel electric with gobs of power, 100mpg, and the lines of an Italian sports car. Is that so much to ask? [TopGear]

Boeing 747 Makes Mincemeat Out of a Couple of Cars

Charlie White — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 08:31:19 EDT

Next time you decide to take a little joyride behind a Boeing 747 with its engines at full throttle cranking out 58,000 lb. of thrust each, think of this video from the Brit car series Top Gear. Forget how small electronics fare in a blender. We want to see how large machinery stands up to a 747!

Those Top Gear guys are always good for a laugh and a thrill, and we especially like Richard Hammond's mild oaths such as "blimey!" and "crikey!" – Charlie White

What happens if you drive behind a 747? [Spluch]

Radio-Controlled Car Goes Full Size, Man Inside

Charlie White — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 11:25:55 EDT

Radio-controlled cars are toys, right? Well, not this one, where the crew of the Brit TV series TopGear runs a full-sized radio-controlled car through a muddy obstacle course. Looks like it's not easy to control, as the two guys try it out on each other. Must be a weird feeling! – Charlie White

The Man-Sized Remote Control Car [Born Rich]

Lightning Strikes Car, With Man In It

Mark Wilson — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 12:59:14 EDT

Cars are supposed to protect the driver in the case of a lightning/voltage strike. Apparently it's not the rubber tires that insulate the vehicle, but that the shell is attached in a way to keep the threat away from (most) of the cabin.

But what happens when a TV show puts it to the test—with one of their very own inside the car?

Hint: the funny part is when the host dies.

Ok, so maybe he doesn't actually die. But we're fairly certain he soiled himself. And that's gotta be good for something, right? – Mark Wilson

What Happens When Lightning Strikes Your Car [uberreview]

Top Gear and BattleField 2 Make for Great Machinima

Jason Chen — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 20:30:40 EDT

What happens when you combine an episode of Top Gear, the BattleField 2 PC game, and a few guys who have way too much time on their hands? A machinima that's worthy of being aired on the actual Top Gear.

Congrats to the guys at Sir. Community forums for a job well done. – Jason Chen

No One Can Tell Clarkson He's Wrong, Top Gear Is A Battlefield [Jalopnik]

Top Gear's Limey Bastards Hack Cars for Remote Control

Brian Lam — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 16:21:25 EDT

There are only so many stunts you can pull in a car before you worry about getting yourself killed. So UK auto show Top Gear rigged some with remote controls, and raced them past a swinging wrecking ball, through a dirt track, and over ramps.– Brian Lam

Top Gear Video: Full-Sized Remote Controlled Cars [via techeblog]