I watched a video biography of Robert Duval this weekend. And then I caught the western flick Open Range, in which Bobby shares screen time with Kevin Costner. The great thing about Duval is that he always seems to be paying attention, Hell, thinking, whenever Kevin does his laconic integrity dialogue thing (i.e. speaks his lines). Nobody does listening better than Duval– even if he's probably thinking about shagging some young production assistant. Certainly not Top Gear's James May or Richard Hammond. (I mean pretending to think, not getting shagged by Robert Duval). As JC pontificates in front of hundreds of adoring fans, it's like Hammond and May are standing in front of the school principal, waiting for him to shut up so they can say something clever to get into even more trouble, Instead, anything they say can and will be used against them to make Clarkson seem even more bombastic than he already is– and that's saying something. Still, you've got to give The Great One and his production team credit. They really are… …. …. something else. As is, of course, the GT-R.
11 Comments on “Shock! Clarkson Hearts the 1mhp Nissan GT-R...”
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Awesome video – the car almost broke Clarkson’s neck. Note too that the GT-R busted the ZO6’s time around the Top Gear track.
Was that a legit U.S. GTR? Or a custom tweaked version like the one that circled the Ring?
Some are said th have sticky-er non production skins.
Foul.
So two points:
1. Just because the GT-R is a fantastic engineering accomplishment, we still don’t have to love it. Which is good, because I dont.
2. The main problem with Top Gear and the “listening” that the hosts don’t do to each other is that it’s heavily scripted, but they aren’t actors.
So the director isn’t trying to get the conversations to seem real, the director is trying to get the jokes out.
“1mhp Nissan GT-R”
1mhp = 1 milli hp = .001hp right?
I assume you are talking about the Hot Wheels model.
I love your version of one of Clarkson’s typical pieces- I never read the first half of what he has to say since it isn’t ever relevant to the car itself. Nice going RF.
The dialogue used to flow a bit better, but lately it seems as each host isn’t acknowledging what was said by the host before them. Without the camaraderie aspect, the jokes appear perfunctory. The salary negotiations occurring behind the scenes may or may not have anything to do with this.
That said, I’m less worried about the flow than I am the production team. They’re trending toward the overproduced MTV-style ADD look that’s been a fixture of movies targeted at teenagers for the last few years. It’s detracting from the show, the cars, and the hosts, and I wish they’d cut it out.
C/D described the GT-R (in a rare moment of candor) as being a lot like the old Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4. The Mitsubishi was another over-engineered GT that, while not without virtue, didn’t ever play as well in the real world as it did on paper.
Wow. That is a fast car. I still believe it’s under-rated (hp) from the factory. The power to weight ratio doesn’t put it (GTR) in the league of the cars its timing-up too…
“C/D described the GT-R (in a rare moment of candor) as being a lot like the old Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4.”
I’m pretty sure that they said they THOUGHT it would be like the 3000GT VR4 but that after driving it, they were surprised at how nimble it actually was.
But I’ll have to check the back-issues…
Meanwhile, if you’re beginning to think the GT-R defies easy classification—a new-age Mitsubishi 3000GT was our first dismissive thought—we’re beginning to agree with you.
C/D may 2008
@argentla & @ret:
Ret is correct. C/D had a preconceived notion that it would be like a VR-4, but after driving it they changed their opinion of it.
No, we don’t have to love this car, but I do. And I will take it over anything German (especially M3s and 911s) everyday all day. To me its says, “this is what Lockheed Martin would have made…if they made cars.”
I drove one yesterday in New Zealand. Makes a nice second car. Interesting. Amazing machine. Quite noisy exhaust sound inside. Nice, resonant, exhaust sound audible at all times outside. Incredible torque. Will “idle” at about 1000rpm up a 15 degree incline at 50-70 km/hr. Hard ride in all modes but comfortable, probably because suspension system is excellent. No detectable body flex/roll or tyre scrubbing at any speed on any normally available road surface. This makes the GTR a breeze to drive confidently from the first press on the starter button. Not pretty. But fit for the purpose. 100 km/hr barely moves the speedo. Normal speed cues are absent so GTR owners and drivers must be alert. Otherwise licence loss is inevitable. Very clunky auto transmission in city driving. Better to use manual and stay in gears. Third gear adequate for all city driving and speeds. Otherwise a safe, extreme fun, machine. Only problem is mercedes matrons, aspiring audis, boy racers, curious porsches etc who try to race the GTR. Never mind. Stupendous acceleration available for the price of a little dab on the loud pedal; then the GTR is by itself again.