It cannot be otherwise that you have enjoyed it again. The most recent series from Top Gear. Of course; it has little to do with serious car journalism. Jeremy Clarkson himself said that the concept of the BBC car program can be summarized as "Three guys who roll out of a car every week and have great fun." And you can say what you want; it works like a train. You can see how good Top Gear is when you delve into the history of car shows on TV.
We start the round in 1968 with our eastern neighbors. Rainer Günzler is testing the BMW 2002 for the Autotest program of the ZDF. A moody music sounds when the Beier comes into the picture. But after that there is no room for frivolity anymore. Günzler tests as you would expect from a German: thorough and scientific. Everything from interior noise to braking distance at 100 kilometers per hour is measured. And as uncritical as the German magazines can now be for new products from the Heimat, their predecessor on TV is as mosquitosy. For example, he makes a serious point of the fact that the poker is five centimeters too far from him.
Absolute piece de resistance is the scene in which the 2002 is placed in a freezer. The pegs are hanging on the bumpers, so it seems to have been there for a while. The tension rises when the car journalist tries to put the key in the door lock. Will he be able to open the door? Rainer has to fiddle, but then the door clicks open. The hand goes to the key switch, the left leg on the clutch and then the apotheosis follows. It is a bit coughing and snooping, but the Beier is catching on. Test passed. Incidentally, Günzler still appears to be able to count on a loyal group of fans because under the test someone responds by saying that this is another real test: "That is how they should be."
You don't even have to look at Autotest for a long time to realize that Rainer Günzler could be the German brother of Fred van der Vlugt. Perhaps the most famous auto journalist our country has ever had. The same pepper and salt hair, just such a voice that radiates authority. Van der Vlugt started with Wereld op Wielen and ended his career on the tube with the Highest Acceleration. Where do we know that name from?
It is a bit sad for such an icon, but you can hardly find anything on YouTube about all the programs he made. A minute of Highest Acceleration from 1990 in which Fred introduces the never-taken Volvo 480 Convertible. That is it. Fortunately, the clip does contain that characteristic opening sentence: "Ladies and gentlemen, good evening and welcome to the Highest Gear ..." However, there is something to be found via Google. A movie from the Avro about the Autorai 1981.
Van der Vlugt is at the car exhibition with in the background the perhaps most terrible products that Austin has ever produced: The Metro and the Allegro. The journalist draws conclusions that could be that of 2011. The previous year was bad for the car industry and despite the crisis we managed to get all those beautiful shiny cars together. Some things never change.
Finally a look in the archive of the BBC. Because whoever thinks Jeremy Clarkson has always been this tough is wrong. At the end of the 1980s, JC made his debut at the BBC as a somewhat ugly-looking youth with a huge bunch of curls. Clarkson looks back with horror in a clip that is no longer so new. "My hands, I just didn't know what to do with it," he says. "And why am I so over-distinguished about Bentley?"
BMW 1600 ti:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl1O6teXaIk&playnext=1&list=PLF17EFEB42FA86FC9
Van der Vlugt:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Nf4wGIPkJc&playnext=1&list=PL92B68D8A1A1BC2B2
httpv: //www.autojunk.nl/2009/12/autorai-1981-fred-van-der-vlugt-avro-tv
Old Clarkson:
httpv: //www.youtube.com/watch? v = r9PAfx7g_ec