Top Gear / The Grand Tour / Driving appreciation thread

[PistolsAtDawn]

Well here I am up super late again with a brain too wired to shut down, watching old episodes of Top Gear while I try to get comfortable and fall asleep.

I've seen these episodes so many times, but I don't think I'll grow tired of watching Clarkson/Hammond/May talk about cars and driving. The thing I love most about the show is definitely the chemistry between the hosts, but a close second is their love for driving.

I've heard that if you own a car - any car - you are wealthier than 75% of the planet. And in the sense of what having a car enables, I have to agree. The freedom we enjoy through driving is insane when you consider prior to the Ford Model T, most people would never leave a 50 mile radius around where they were born (making this up somewhat, too lazy to confirmed actual numbers).

I mean, I've been privileged enough to see some beautiful parts of the USA because of the car. My drive though the Pacific northwest was the absolute best vacation I've ever had! There's something I cannot quite express about the satisfaction I derive from being able to travel farther, faster than our ancestors would have dreamed possible. The absolute brilliance of modern engineering is staggering. My car is 14 years old with 135K miles, but it runs great and I love it. I'll probably drive it until the wheels fall off!

The international trips the trio on Top Gear took in absolute beater cars on their last leg are some of my favorite episodes of any TV show, period. Even those junkers can be nursed across deserts, jungle, and other roadless terrain (given spare parts and a great set of tools).

The car is amazing. Driving is amazing. Top Gear is the single best celebration of both that I've ever seen, and it is my favorite TV show of all time!

What about you guys? Do you know what I'm talking about? What do you think?

[e_poison]

Never seen Top Gear, so can't comment there.

But I know exactly what you mean about driving.

When I lived in Colorado, I lived kind of out in a remote little area, so I loved going out late at night and just driving around lonely mountain roads listening to Coast to Coast AM on the radio. At the time I had a 2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse GT. I loved that damn car. I worked hard to buy it. I kept that baby in mint condition. It was my pride and joy. There was only little flaw and that was a burn hole on the back seat. My girlfriend at the time borrowed my car and somehow burned a hole in the backseat with a cigarette. She wasn't supposed to be smoking in my car in the first place. I was sooooo mad lol.

But, cigarette burns aside, I loved just driving around and taking in the fresh, cool mountain air. There is something soothing about being behind the wheel and just driving down long, empty roads with no destination in mind.

The day I had to finally retire that car was a sad day. It served me well and I have many good memories of long road trips. RIP lil' Eclipse.

[PistolsAtDawn]

Mountains are my favorite, and I enjoy solitude, so I absolutely get that combo for a nice drive!