Quote:
Originally Posted by tjts1
I think Jeremy Clarkson has done more to promote fuel efficient practical vehicles than any other person on earth. More importantly he is willing to stick his neck out and chastise a car for the worst sin of all: being boring.
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OK, ok -- First I won't take points off for the first 2 broken YouTube links.
But yes, Mr C. has indeed chastised boring vehicles and commended those that were thrifty and exciting during which the 80's were even more harsh in the UK than Stateside "Reaganomics" and Stagflation.
Further, I'll admit that the Golf GTI Mk I is the singlemost vehicle to spark a worldwide passion for "Hot Hatches" -- to set the benchmark for small, and exciting transport. It took Honda's Sport Compact revolution of the 90's to have an impact here -- not since the glory days of the 50's Chevy and Ford rivalries had we seen such a resurgence.
Without the use of video references, I want to use your examples' definition of "boring" to make a few statements...
The U.S. took the Opel Caddett and made a compact, rear-drive compact that boringly saved the 80's middle-class in Chevette form. Apparently, the UK received a much better version. We even got a Diesel that provided it's own Bond-like smokescreen.
The Ford XR3 from the video morphed the Ford EXP into a whole new brand: Merkur, and its hot XR4Ti. Quite fast and feature-laiden for the day. But, they shot craps on reliabilty and the marque disappeared. Not boring, but not reliable. Instead, North America received the Escort, with the most "exciting" showing up late to the party in '03 as the ZX2 S/R. I supposed the Mazda-derived Probe fit in the mix at some point, but not like what the rest of the World was offered.
My single point is that the show would despise anything thrifty and "uninspiring". I can only imagine what they would say about the likes of a Metro -- but we've seen the FE it can produce and the pleasure of its simplicity.
To be truthful, I'm playing Devil's Advocate here. I'm very much a car enthusiast, and boring cars are, indeed, not my cup of tea. I haven't owned a "boring" car in my 14-vehicle history, but I sure have rented several.
I will admit, however, that the bias of the show is shifted to performance-oriented vehicles, unless British Society or History dicatates a demand otherwise. On a recent program, they comdemned their homemade Diesel fuel, simply because it was, well, Diesel by accident (they were hoping for Ethanol). Ask them if they would take the M3 or 330d, and the BMW of choice is obvious.
The conclusion is the lack of a consistent, FE-centric respect: boring or not.
Exclusion: I just watched a recently recorded version, where the team attemped a cross-town sprint across London in the morning rush. The bicyclist made it first, followed by the speedboat down the Thames, The Stig on mass transit, and May in an SUV. They do redeem themselves from time to time...
-Rick