I will give Clarkson one thing. The Very Hungry Caterpillar is an all time banger. I love that book. It’s almost as good as Harold and the Purple Crayon.
@Alan Stokes How is the maintenance on those? Always been interested in Nobles since it uses a Ford Duratec V6. I have a newer revision in my Fusion Sport. Love the engine
''It's 2003''. If only it still was - for many reasons. For me, the Golden Era of Top Gear was 2003/2004-2010. And every now and then you stumble across and old gem like this. Love your work!
@@mareksicinski3726 Petrol was cheaper, the Cold War had been over for a while, Russia and China were still far behind us militarily and economically, the economy was good, petrol was cheap, the internet was still in its infancy so no cancel culture, Political Correctness wasn’t as big, need I go on?
They probably had no choice, ik thsi day and age its no surprise, its all tbeu coud do too keep the company afloat, who the hell is going to buy a morgan now anyway, a massive same but better then having it gone, the car business has been killed by all of this, knowone is buying cars now, its sad tk say but thats a fact...
@@expertop5844 Technically MG as its now is a separate brand from the British company. If you go on sites like gumtree you'll see separate categories for "MG" (Morris Garrages) and "MG Motor" (SAIC China) there was a connection initially but that is long gone.
When I was in the Marines, a buddy went on to the naval academy at Annapolis. His sponsor family was British, headed up by retired royal navy captain. The cpt had imported a couple cars when they moved to the former colonies. One was a little mg convertible that his wife drove in the summer. The other was a white Noble M12. The first time I visited we spent at least an hour talking about and poking around in the car. It was on a 4 post lift in the carriage house above a half disassembled wooden chris-craft. The M12 also needed a service and new tires. The next time I came to town, the boat was finished and in the water, and the M12 was on the ground and in running condition. The first thing the cpt asked me was if I wanted to go for a ride. We spent the rest of the afternoon racing around rural parts of the Eastern shore at well above felonious rates of speed. It's still one of, if not the best, car I've ever driven when it comes to pure driver engagement and excitement. I once heard someone describe it like putting body panels and a steering wheel on a cheetah. Fast as all get out. More nimble and agile than the laws of physics should allow. Attempts to take down much larger prey, with varying degrees of success. And can only be run at the limit in short bursts before needing to rest otherwise it will melt itself from the inside out. Oh, and we got to take the chris-craft out on the Severn and into downtown Annapolis. Pull up to Dock St in Annapolis on a Saturday summer afternoon, in a vintage chris craft piloted by a royal navy officer smoking a cigar and wearing an ascot. You feel like an absolute g.
It’s also ironic because he once reviewed a 75, and hated it on the basis that it was built not as a modern product, but as an attempt to capitalize on British nostalgia and heritage.
I love how all 3 chose the cars they most resemble with, Richard likes classics with a bit of modernity hence the Morgan, Clarkson is brash and all about "Speed and Power", and James's priority has always been a comfortable ride 😂
I went in a rover 75 2 years ago for the first time. Can't believe that Rover went bust. The ride was better than anything I've experienced in a Mercedes, BMW or Audi.
They were a good car, as was the "sporty" MG ZT version, but they had issues. The 1.8 petrol K series engines blew head gaskets for fun, the clutch hydraulics would leak, water could lodge in the plenum chamber, which wouldn't be too bad except the ECU was in there, and the footwells developed leaks. The best ones were the diesels because they had a BMW engine with Mitsubishi turbo-charger, neither of which would break. Pretty much ever.
@@MasterofSpiders The V6 and V8 didn't really have issues either. My grandfather bought a V6 new in 1999, by the time it had been passed around the whole family it had clocked up 327k miles! The onky issue were the belt service which were comically expensive.
The bad assembly and build quality from older cars and the decision from BMW to focus on mini brand rather than rover were the 2 reasons that went bust
My father's... 4th? car (and his second Rover) was a baby blue 2003 Rover 75 that he bought new, with the 2.0 BMW CDTi diesel engine and a cream cloth interior. *Super* comfortable, and whilst you wouldn't think that engine would be a powerhouse it had so much low to mid-range grunt and it was so smooth that it felt like you were in a plane, as it effortlessly surged up to speed and glided gracefully over the road. It only had 129 bhp though its 221 lb/ft of torque was key to that. Definitely the most comfortable car he ever owned, and in many ways his fastest. Beyond that, it was a quiet car (the engine produced a muted rumble at most) and a very calming place to be generally. TG's later review of the V8 MG ZT noted that same exact effect. Honest to god, the nicest car my father ever owned, which he agrees with; we all still miss it to this day. It was involved in a crash that bent the chassis and made it a write-off we had to scrap, I still remember the day and it still saddens me. Hell, my brother, who has had some amazing and powerful cars since then (2006 Subaru WRX, 2012 Civic Type R, 2011 Audi RS3 - the former two of which he modified) along with a couple of new posh Jags as courtesy cars (2018? XJ diesel and a 2018 F-Type V6) still thinks that Rover is one of the best cars he's ever driven. The Rover dealership he bought it from ended up becoming a BMW dealership; we go past it all the time to this day. R.I.P. Rover.
3:50 genuinely, the first book that popped into mind when he said he could read a book in the time left was the hungry caterpillar. At least that’s the shortest book I remember reading.
Rover made some cracking cars when they partnered with Honda. The 200, 400, 800 etc. They made a huge mistake dropping Honda for BMW. Look what happened after the Germans took over. And look where the Mini is today. That should have still been Rover's baby. They could have made a new little MG sports car for the 21st century. How about a new Triumph Stag? So many missed opportunties.
Honda dropped them to be fair, they were offered the chance for outright ownership by British Aerospace and the balked. BMW had the cash, it could have bought BAE outright if it wanted to, Honda didn't. I think they were expecting there to be much more of a fuss over selling the last volume carmaker to Johnny Foreigner, like in 86, and they could continue their close relationship as before. Times changed.
I had a red Morgan in 1968. It was a series 2 , a Morgan special with modified engine , rev counter , overdrive that didn't work. Bought it for 250 quid , sold it in 1970 for 350 quid. I was 21 years old , a great car for the best of days.
Look at these cars today. Which one aged the best? In my humble opinion, the Noble looks like it comes from 2003, and not in a good way, the Rover looks like it's from the 90's, and the Morgan looks like... well, like it's from the 1940's. Honestly? I'd take the styling of the 40's over early 2000's anyday.
I’d still happily sit in a beautiful new Morgan or that Gto that Jeremy drove. They’re classic British cars. Obviously not your daily driver but some something about the hand crafted feel and style pushes all the right buttons for me.
I love the fact that they even entertained MG Rover's marketing bollocks regarding the MG SV and it's upgradability, in reality, yes, the engine could take the mods but you would need to completely re-engineer the transmission to actually be able to deploy them, that's why a fully loaded SV never returned to the track to "give the germans a bloody nose"!
The rover was clearly the best of the 3. The only car you would want to drive daily. Imagine having to drive the other 2 cars on a rainy day in a traffic jam during your daily commute...
Yes while you soak in the years added to your age, and the literal hatred and depression it radiates. Id rather kill myself than drive that sad ugly thing. Oh and dont even get me started on the BEIGE INTERIOR 🤮
Wasn't the Rover 75 out of a time when BMW and Honda invested in Rover (and BMW a little later owning it outright, before dumping it unto MG)?? Also, the Noble M12's engine is a Ford made V6. And the Rover V8 is basically a Buick 215... "out of a boat", as James put it. So... the "best" out of Britain are made by foreigner or with core technology from overseas.
The Morgan isn't a car, it's an wardrobe with an engine. An engine that was designed by Buick. So it's not really british. The Noble also uses a Ford duratec from a mondeo, which was originally designed by porsche, so again, not really British. Now onto the Rover 75, most of which were diesel engined. Using BMW engines. So. Which of these cars is the best British car? The best British car is and always will be the mgb (v8 excluded) its lightweight, agile and fun, not to mention its the car everyone thinks of when you mention classic cars. Not to mention that around a quarter of those built are still running. A record that many high end supercar manufacturers of the same era would be jealous of
Morgan is owned by Investindustrial, an Italian private equity firm. Rover stopped existing as its onw entity in 1967 when it was merged into British Leyland, then it was sold to BMW in 1994 and was then sold on to an investment firm. The last Rovers were built in 2005, the Chinese turned the scraps into Roewe, Land Rover went to Ford and then to Tata in India. Noble was bought in 2006 by Dyson. The purely British car industry is dead. All car manufacturers in Britain are owned by non-British companies or investment firms.
Random fact, the MG-SV was available with a ludicrously priced 1000BHP package, however the package didn't actually exist it was just done for PR purposes, however because this wasn't properly communicated internally by MG they accidentally let somebody order it xD
I'm 1m 22 in and I'm suggesting the best British car is the Mazda MX5 using the "full English breakfast cooked in Buenos Aries is still a full English breakfast" theory.
James was right. Considering this was in 2003 the Rover 75 was in fact the proper modern car for the average middle class British man or woman, especially if you had a family. The car wasn't perfect at all but it was as powerful as cosy and as decent as it should be for its category. The S-Type Jaguar could overall be deemed a better choice but bare in mind that it came a year later, cost 3-4.000 £ pounds more and its front design looked like a clown.
id have to side with Richard as a NON UK citizen.. the Morgan represents what i think of when i think of Britain.. Hand crafted a bit quirky but damn good fun.
2021 Update. Sadly, none of these car companies are completely British anymore. MG Rover went into liquidation in 2005, Morgan is now owned by the Italians and Noble (whilst still being owned by the British) often use engines from other car companies like Volvo and Ford. I think McLaren is one of the few fully-British ones left.
Noble is very much British, and likely always will be. They are a very successful small car company in Leicester and have produced multiple different models since then. Morgan doesnt exist at all, and not does Rover.
Oh and btw, McLaren are not the only company. Aston Martin, TVR, Noble, Caterham, Ariel, BAC and some other small brands do still exist. Bristol Cars were only just liquidated 2 years ago…
The 75 used its own platform (R40) but used BMW's Z-axle, electronics (including a Bluetooth microphone mounting clip), ICE, paint and fit & finish standards and the Tourer (R41) used the same opening rear window mechanism as BMW 3/5 Series Touring models.
I think here we see the perfect reason why Britain failed with cars, The Morgan and the Rover said modern day no thank you we will stick in the past. The Nobel had the right idea but the wrong execution in a market where a car can become a legend or obsolete in a matter of months.
I hate Jeremy's obsession with claiming that companies owned by foreign companies aren't British. That makes no difference. Chelsea is owned by an American and 75% of the players aren't English, but you'd still call it an English football club.
In my opinion Jeremy, James and Richard will always be the very best presenters of Top Gear....the latest 3 guys are okay, but they’ll never be as good and as naturally entertaining as Jeremy, James and Richard.
Авто/Мото
The Nissan Micra was one epic troll, given how it confuzzled Jezza enough to significantly delay his reaction.
I was like "come on, someone say Morris Marina"
@@miljororforsprakpartiet290 or Austin Allegro
He set himself up for it by pointing out that Aston and Jag were American and Rolls Royce and Bentley were German
2:20 James was doing the heil hitler salute
@@redluca56 Aston is now Kuwaiti and Jaguar is now Indian.
I will give Clarkson one thing. The Very Hungry Caterpillar is an all time banger. I love that book. It’s almost as good as Harold and the Purple Crayon.
Nah Thomas and The Great Railway Show is a lot better
I gotta agree.
What about Terrific Tractors? Hammond got a charge out of that one.
@@bmstylee too vulgar, "The Little Red Racing Car" now thats a classic
No ways...The Very Hungry Caterpillar is better than all of those. Legendary. No other word for it
Good old top gear where the music was louder than the engine 🤣
I mean it was the early 2000s🤣
Be happy they used proper music.
@@skylined5534 The music of which included Fatboy Slim's Right Here, Right Now in this episode and Ya Mama in the budget Porsche challenge.
In their case, that might've actually been a good thing.
@@skylined5534 and the real music that came from the bonnet
Fun fact: when James debuted in 1999, the first car he reviewed was the Rover 75.
Was it really 1999 when he joined? Jeeez
...and he trashed it for being too retro.
@@nez9751Might have been on Top Gear, but he was video reviewing cars way back in the 80s
The legend himself
Maybe thats why he took the Rover 75 to represent “ Best British Car “
Love how Richard said that the Noble was a calculator. Damn thing didn’t even have ABS. Oh how times have changed
It still doesn’t have ABS…
@@AndorRadnai Yep. Not that having ABS is bad but it is safer.
@Alan Stokes How is the maintenance on those? Always been interested in Nobles since it uses a Ford Duratec V6. I have a newer revision in my Fusion Sport. Love the engine
Funny... Abs is also a button on scientific calculators!
@@extremedrivr it is not safer wut
Hearing Fatboy Slim come in while Clarkson was driving the Noble really sold it for me.
Right Here, Right Now to be precise!
Jeremy trying to finish reading the little caterpillar as fast as he possibly could, to beat Richard in a race, is my favourite thing he has ever done
That was hilarious!
feltmuchbetternowhewasnotreallymorelittlecaterpillarwasmorebigfatcaterpillar,builtasmallhousecalledacocoonaroundhimselfstayedinsideformorethentwoweeksandhenibbledaholeinthecocoonpushedhiswayoutANDHEWASABEAUTIFULBUTTERFLYYYYYY!
"Be careful [the toy] doesn't eat your car" sent me
“It’s a car they forgot to stop making” 😂 May is a savage
"A car they forgot to stop making", damn, I didn't expect this from May 😭🤣🤣🤣🤣
''It's 2003''. If only it still was - for many reasons. For me, the Golden Era of Top Gear was 2003/2004-2010. And every now and then you stumble across and old gem like this. Love your work!
I think with so many other things in life not even related to cars, the early 2000s was the best time to live.
what on earth was so good about 2003
@@mareksicinski3726 Everyone was younger. That's what
In 2003 Tony Blair introduced the "Communications Act" ... which made political censorship a reality.
@@mareksicinski3726 Petrol was cheaper, the Cold War had been over for a while, Russia and China were still far behind us militarily and economically, the economy was good, petrol was cheap, the internet was still in its infancy so no cancel culture, Political Correctness wasn’t as big, need I go on?
Even Morgan have now sold out to the Italians
They probably had no choice, ik thsi day and age its no surprise, its all tbeu coud do too keep the company afloat, who the hell is going to buy a morgan now anyway, a massive same but better then having it gone, the car business has been killed by all of this, knowone is buying cars now, its sad tk say but thats a fact...
Chinise
Oh sorry they are mg
And they use bmw engines
@@expertop5844 Technically MG as its now is a separate brand from the British company. If you go on sites like gumtree you'll see separate categories for "MG" (Morris Garrages) and "MG Motor" (SAIC China) there was a connection initially but that is long gone.
When I was in the Marines, a buddy went on to the naval academy at Annapolis. His sponsor family was British, headed up by retired royal navy captain. The cpt had imported a couple cars when they moved to the former colonies. One was a little mg convertible that his wife drove in the summer. The other was a white Noble M12. The first time I visited we spent at least an hour talking about and poking around in the car. It was on a 4 post lift in the carriage house above a half disassembled wooden chris-craft. The M12 also needed a service and new tires. The next time I came to town, the boat was finished and in the water, and the M12 was on the ground and in running condition. The first thing the cpt asked me was if I wanted to go for a ride. We spent the rest of the afternoon racing around rural parts of the Eastern shore at well above felonious rates of speed. It's still one of, if not the best, car I've ever driven when it comes to pure driver engagement and excitement. I once heard someone describe it like putting body panels and a steering wheel on a cheetah. Fast as all get out. More nimble and agile than the laws of physics should allow. Attempts to take down much larger prey, with varying degrees of success. And can only be run at the limit in short bursts before needing to rest otherwise it will melt itself from the inside out. Oh, and we got to take the chris-craft out on the Severn and into downtown Annapolis. Pull up to Dock St in Annapolis on a Saturday summer afternoon, in a vintage chris craft piloted by a royal navy officer smoking a cigar and wearing an ascot. You feel like an absolute g.
You sailed from the River Severn to Annapolis? That seems like a very busy evening.
This episode is very indicative of all 3 presenters personalities and styles, it's so spot on
And its thier actual personality, not tv presenter personality.
“Come on, this is a bathroom appliance.”
That just made be chuckle. Classic James May.
The rover 75 was a brilliant car it was a looker and the top of the range was pure luxury. I think it still looks good today
I do still like the Rover.
I vote rover!
and it is really cheap now
Indeed
@@prokoerkoerfeuuififune8936 and you can still get parts as a company bought the parts catalogue
"Make sure it doesn't eat your chassis" 😂🤣
Somehow I knew before I ever watched this that James would roll up in a Rover 75, England's Buick Park Avenue.
RCR fan?
It’s also ironic because he once reviewed a 75, and hated it on the basis that it was built not as a modern product, but as an attempt to capitalize on British nostalgia and heritage.
I love how all 3 chose the cars they most resemble with, Richard likes classics with a bit of modernity hence the Morgan, Clarkson is brash and all about "Speed and Power", and James's priority has always been a comfortable ride 😂
7:35 this is probably one of the best genuine arguments of Top Gear history.
I went in a rover 75 2 years ago for the first time. Can't believe that Rover went bust. The ride was better than anything I've experienced in a Mercedes, BMW or Audi.
They were a good car, as was the "sporty" MG ZT version, but they had issues. The 1.8 petrol K series engines blew head gaskets for fun, the clutch hydraulics would leak, water could lodge in the plenum chamber, which wouldn't be too bad except the ECU was in there, and the footwells developed leaks.
The best ones were the diesels because they had a BMW engine with Mitsubishi turbo-charger, neither of which would break. Pretty much ever.
@@MasterofSpiders The V6 and V8 didn't really have issues either. My grandfather bought a V6 new in 1999, by the time it had been passed around the whole family it had clocked up 327k miles! The onky issue were the belt service which were comically expensive.
The bad assembly and build quality from older cars and the decision from BMW to focus on mini brand rather than rover were the 2 reasons that went bust
Go for a run in a big french car.
Comfort? Yes.
My father's... 4th? car (and his second Rover) was a baby blue 2003 Rover 75 that he bought new, with the 2.0 BMW CDTi diesel engine and a cream cloth interior. *Super* comfortable, and whilst you wouldn't think that engine would be a powerhouse it had so much low to mid-range grunt and it was so smooth that it felt like you were in a plane, as it effortlessly surged up to speed and glided gracefully over the road. It only had 129 bhp though its 221 lb/ft of torque was key to that. Definitely the most comfortable car he ever owned, and in many ways his fastest. Beyond that, it was a quiet car (the engine produced a muted rumble at most) and a very calming place to be generally. TG's later review of the V8 MG ZT noted that same exact effect.
Honest to god, the nicest car my father ever owned, which he agrees with; we all still miss it to this day. It was involved in a crash that bent the chassis and made it a write-off we had to scrap, I still remember the day and it still saddens me. Hell, my brother, who has had some amazing and powerful cars since then (2006 Subaru WRX, 2012 Civic Type R, 2011 Audi RS3 - the former two of which he modified) along with a couple of new posh Jags as courtesy cars (2018? XJ diesel and a 2018 F-Type V6) still thinks that Rover is one of the best cars he's ever driven.
The Rover dealership he bought it from ended up becoming a BMW dealership; we go past it all the time to this day. R.I.P. Rover.
Richard: Went with heritage, tradition.
James: Wanted practicality, comfort.
Jeremy was just... Jeremy, all he ever wanted was THE SPEEEEEEEEEEED.
And POWWWWEEEEEERRRRR
3:50 genuinely, the first book that popped into mind when he said he could read a book in the time left was the hungry caterpillar. At least that’s the shortest book I remember reading.
For anyone wondering, the song is called right here right now by fat boy slim.
Thank you I was wondering exactly that I’ll add it to my playlist
Do you know the name of the choir piece?
I came to comments to see if anyone knew the song. Thanks. 😃👍
@@hammedmousavi2297 my pleasure
I know the song in all of it's glory.
Meep! Meep! "Get out the way" - I remember crying with laughter when I heard James say this when I was a kid, and it's still hilarious now.
Any channel: I want subscribers and loads of views. Ok unseen old Top Gear clips!
Me: i'll take any of that.
"You could get into this after your dog had died and all would be well" hahaha! Gotta love Clarkson.
Rover made some cracking cars when they partnered with Honda. The 200, 400, 800 etc. They made a huge mistake dropping Honda for BMW. Look what happened after the Germans took over. And look where the Mini is today. That should have still been Rover's baby. They could have made a new little MG sports car for the 21st century. How about a new Triumph Stag? So many missed opportunties.
BMW still owns the naming right to Triumph. They could do a badge engineered z4 like Toyota have relatively easily. TR9 anyone?
@@siviter- How about the Germans making a Triumph Spitfire? Now that would be interesting on all sorts of levels!
@@Gandalf606 yeah good idea. They can do it for me 👍
Don’t be suprised if they would rebadge it as the Triumph 109...
Honda dropped them to be fair, they were offered the chance for outright ownership by British Aerospace and the balked. BMW had the cash, it could have bought BAE outright if it wanted to, Honda didn't. I think they were expecting there to be much more of a fuss over selling the last volume carmaker to Johnny Foreigner, like in 86, and they could continue their close relationship as before. Times changed.
2:50 i have never seen a more evil laughter than that
Well naturally Hammond's not worried about falling out of a car, he's got a much lower center of gravity than Jeremy.
I had a red Morgan in 1968. It was a series 2 , a Morgan special with modified engine , rev counter , overdrive that didn't work. Bought it for 250 quid , sold it in 1970 for 350 quid. I was 21 years old , a great car for the best of days.
When I was in Chicago somebody imported the Noble m12 and I would see it once and while north of the city. Beautiful car
I know it's not in this clip but I will always say an E-type is a masterpiece!
You mean a master in pieces
@@sugarnads um no.
Undersized wheels, coupé looks like a dog taking a dump
Look at these cars today. Which one aged the best? In my humble opinion, the Noble looks like it comes from 2003, and not in a good way, the Rover looks like it's from the 90's, and the Morgan looks like... well, like it's from the 1940's. Honestly? I'd take the styling of the 40's over early 2000's anyday.
I’d still happily sit in a beautiful new Morgan or that Gto that Jeremy drove. They’re classic British cars. Obviously not your daily driver but some something about the hand crafted feel and style pushes all the right buttons for me.
I love the fact that they even entertained MG Rover's marketing bollocks regarding the MG SV and it's upgradability, in reality, yes, the engine could take the mods but you would need to completely re-engineer the transmission to actually be able to deploy them, that's why a fully loaded SV never returned to the track to "give the germans a bloody nose"!
This was in 2003, you think the guys ever guessed 20 years later they'd still be doing this together? Bless these men!
Everyone is on about the "Right it's 2003" quote but nobody talking about the IBM ad line when stig was taking the MG around
I love the Noble M12! I got to drive one through the auction block for Mecum back in the day. So cool!
God the 3 wipers on the Morgan look so nice!
Have to agree with James.
Wtf, how i can find you here lmao. Love ur possession
@@mkrmaa472 thanks. I love Top Gear that’s why ;9
@@intorsusvolo7834 oh, cool
Miss the ol TG, from a time when i didnt have anything to care about in the world.
9:55 i think i've seen that gesture somwhere
ah yes, the old indicating method
Surprised they didnt pick the lotus cortina.
Some years after, only the Morgan resists muahaha
James's: "They've brought the wrong cars" entrance is 🔥🔥🔥🔥
"van inhaling" is the most outrageous und funniest RUclipsr name I've ever seen. Well done mate! 👌🏻
This was good’ol British television. Miss this show. Go ❤!!
These three had lightning in a bottle. This show was SO good with them . I miss it.
The rover was clearly the best of the 3. The only car you would want to drive daily. Imagine having to drive the other 2 cars on a rainy day in a traffic jam during your daily commute...
But which do you want for heading to the beach on your weekends?
May always picks the best car
Yes while you soak in the years added to your age, and the literal hatred and depression it radiates. Id rather kill myself than drive that sad ugly thing. Oh and dont even get me started on the BEIGE INTERIOR 🤮
Wasn't the Rover 75 out of a time when BMW and Honda invested in Rover (and BMW a little later owning it outright, before dumping it unto MG)??
Also, the Noble M12's engine is a Ford made V6.
And the Rover V8 is basically a Buick 215... "out of a boat", as James put it.
So... the "best" out of Britain are made by foreigner or with core technology from overseas.
Bloody nearly fell out of it!
"A car they forgot to stop making in the 40's" what a great line from James.
The Morgan isn't a car, it's an wardrobe with an engine. An engine that was designed by Buick. So it's not really british.
The Noble also uses a Ford duratec from a mondeo, which was originally designed by porsche, so again, not really British. Now onto the Rover 75, most of which were diesel engined. Using BMW engines. So. Which of these cars is the best British car? The best British car is and always will be the mgb (v8 excluded) its lightweight, agile and fun, not to mention its the car everyone thinks of when you mention classic cars. Not to mention that around a quarter of those built are still running. A record that many high end supercar manufacturers of the same era would be jealous of
Morgan is owned by Investindustrial, an Italian private equity firm. Rover stopped existing as its onw entity in 1967 when it was merged into British Leyland, then it was sold to BMW in 1994 and was then sold on to an investment firm. The last Rovers were built in 2005, the Chinese turned the scraps into Roewe, Land Rover went to Ford and then to Tata in India. Noble was bought in 2006 by Dyson.
The purely British car industry is dead. All car manufacturers in Britain are owned by non-British companies or investment firms.
That is some garage! A Rover 75 daily, a Morgan plus eight for fun, and a Noble M12 for the occasional kick in the backside!
Nice you managed to get everything wrong 👍🏻 Its a Rover 75, and a Noble M12
@@raveninnsbruck9166 Well autocorrect is a bitch, now isn´t it? Reminds me of you, actually. But thank you for pointing it out regardless.
9:53 BRAVO ROVER 75 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍 👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑
I actually love the 75 and feel sorry it didn't sell more
Damn Im old, in the real world ( with potholes) I would actually choose the Rover. It seems nice
Wish they struck this balance of entertainment and information/passion going forward from early top gear.
Nearly fell out if it 😂😂😂
Random fact, the MG-SV was available with a ludicrously priced 1000BHP package, however the package didn't actually exist it was just done for PR purposes, however because this wasn't properly communicated internally by MG they accidentally let somebody order it xD
Proof please? And does the car actually exist?
talking about an IBM ad dated this even more than jeremy saying the year itself
Clarkson at 9:08 - "I bloody nearly fell out of it!" 😄
Jeremy forgot to mention that the Noble was built in South Africa. He must still think we a colony...
This aired 20 years ago, i feel old now.....
I like the noble, but its engine is a ford v6 which got a couple of turbos. I have to say that rover is a beauty!
What’s your point about the engine?
@@Jabber-ig3iw that it is not British at all.
@@eRacing_driver_Jaco seeing as it was an engine semi developed for racing in the btcc its kinda British
I am now older than the James May in this clip.
I believe the engine in the Morgan is really a Buick aluminum V8
Daily, Sunday driver and a track car. They were all right.
I'm 1m 22 in and I'm suggesting the best British car is the Mazda MX5 using the "full English breakfast cooked in Buenos Aries is still a full English breakfast" theory.
4:29
Oh, wow. They picked the right soundtrack for this bit.
Whats the music?
@@papapapa16 "Right here, Right now" - Fatboy Slim:
ruclips.net/video/ub747pprmJ8/видео.html
I haven't seen this segment before, but I'm not surprised Hammond went with a Morgan, since he now owns one.
I love the 75
We had one for a couple of years
I was 2 years old. What a childhood to be proud of.
At 11:00 that MG SVat the end looks like it inspired the design for the front of the Bugatti Veyron though
James was right. Considering this was in 2003 the Rover 75 was in fact the proper modern car for the average middle class British man or woman, especially if you had a family. The car wasn't perfect at all but it was as powerful as cosy and as decent as it should be for its category. The S-Type Jaguar could overall be deemed a better choice but bare in mind that it came a year later, cost 3-4.000 £ pounds more and its front design looked like a clown.
Well I know which I’d have, Noble hands down 👌, I’ll admit it looks a bit wonky but the drive and the noise is everything.
I dont know about a rover giving you peace! I had a 45 and was worried about it breaking down everyday! I did enjoy it though!
id have to side with Richard as a NON UK citizen..
the Morgan represents what i think of when i think of Britain..
Hand crafted a bit quirky but damn good fun.
This was the golden age for Top Gear
Love an MG SV!
MG metro gti or the 6r4, also love the mgb gt and ofcourse the mini cooper clubman and the rover P5 and sd1
2021 Update. Sadly, none of these car companies are completely British anymore. MG Rover went into liquidation in 2005, Morgan is now owned by the Italians and Noble (whilst still being owned by the British) often use engines from other car companies like Volvo and Ford. I think McLaren is one of the few fully-British ones left.
Aston aren't owned by Ford anymore
Its a shame JLR don't revive Rover. I always like them more than the Jags :(
Noble is very much British, and likely always will be. They are a very successful small car company in Leicester and have produced multiple different models since then. Morgan doesnt exist at all, and not does Rover.
Oh and btw, McLaren are not the only company. Aston Martin, TVR, Noble, Caterham, Ariel, BAC and some other small brands do still exist. Bristol Cars were only just liquidated 2 years ago…
2:58 Hammond looks like Stuart Little pulling up
9:52 is the bedt bit 😂
James is Allways Sensible, He Select proper Car this time Also.
Still waiting for the nitrous rematch that never happened
The Rover 75 was built when BMW owned Rover, so it was a German car
The 75 used its own platform (R40) but used BMW's Z-axle, electronics (including a Bluetooth microphone mounting clip), ICE, paint and fit & finish standards and the Tourer (R41) used the same opening rear window mechanism as BMW 3/5 Series Touring models.
10:42 that launch!! 🤤
I think here we see the perfect reason why Britain failed with cars, The Morgan and the Rover said modern day no thank you we will stick in the past. The Nobel had the right idea but the wrong execution in a market where a car can become a legend or obsolete in a matter of months.
“It’s 2003 and boy can we make something good…” - JC
*That hit me in the feels. Goddamn I feel so old now…*
May: "This is a bathroom appliance!" 🤣🤣
James brought something luxurious
Jeremy brought something sporty
Richard brought a church
To night...
“brought a church” bro what 😂
I hate Jeremy's obsession with claiming that companies owned by foreign companies aren't British. That makes no difference. Chelsea is owned by an American and 75% of the players aren't English, but you'd still call it an English football club.
I looked for this vt for years
Jag is an exception now
In my opinion Jeremy, James and Richard will always be the very best presenters of Top Gear....the latest 3 guys are okay, but they’ll never be as good and as naturally entertaining as Jeremy, James and Richard.
this was 2003...oh man...
Soo many new great cars
I can sleep peacefully with top gear in background.
I forget how old the aerial atom is sometimes.
Technically, Jaguar was owned by Ford Europe, so, with some degree of leniency you could say it was sort of British.