James May's Cars of the People

[MitchT]

Janluke said:

Max_Torque said:

Lordbenny said:

This is just like Top Gear without the two other presenters!

Just like? Hardly. It's way better! ;-)

There's more "Meat" too, no news, no celeb interviews etc

I was thinking it's basically like the bits of Top Gear that are good, spun out to the full length of the programme, and the pointless bits removed.

[boxst]

Like the first episode, that was great.

[danllama]

Just watching this now, so awesome to see James lauding the Impreza!!

And that Quattro!!

"you drive, I'll drink"

James must be one of the few celebrities I actually like. He's just an all around decent and interesting chap. One of us.

Edited by danllama on Sunday 31st January 23:30

[anonymous-user]

Really enjoyed this one. Great to see some positivity about the Impreza from Mr. May.

Thought it was a very fair balance and selection of vehicles regarding 4WD in people's cars.

Glad there was no mention of that hideous overpriced piece of crap that is the G Wagen too!

[Silver Smudger]

Kitchski said:

So ladies, any thoughts on the crispness of his shirt? How about his hair?

He would look so much better with a haircut, jacket and tie...



... or maybe not.

[The Don of Croy]

But no mention of the Jensen FF?

[Scuffers]

The Don of Croy said:

But no mention of the Jensen FF?

he missed out a lot of cars, notably:

Jenson FF
Ford Cosworth (Escort, Sierra & Granada)
Subaru Legacy/SVX/MV/Justy (all pre-Impreza)
Austin Champ (and Wolseley Mudlark)

the list goes on...

[Kitchski]

Scuffers said:

The Don of Croy said:

But no mention of the Jensen FF?

he missed out a lot of cars, notably:

Jenson FF
Ford Cosworth (Escort, Sierra & Granada)
Subaru Legacy/SVX/MV/Justy (all pre-Impreza)
Austin Champ (and Wolseley Mudlark)

the list goes on...

I did think about the FF when he said Audi brought 4wd into the mainstream, but then if I recall correctly, wasn't the FF fitted with a Ferguson system that was quite problematic?

Enjoyed it, though not as much as last time as 4x4s don't really interest me that much. Bit that made me spit my beer out was when he said Audi rocked up with 4wd and shook the scene up (they did) until the end of Grp B (they didn't - the Quattro was pretty old hat after the first 2-3 years).
If I remember rightly (and I was 3yrs old at the time, so I may not) the Quattro did indeed turn up and destroy everything in its path, but then Lancia, Ford and mainly Peugeot went away, built mid-engined 4wd cars and the Quattro's reign was over. I could be wrong, but I thought the 205 T16 was the daddy of the Grp B cars?

[nicanary]

When discussing the origins of the Willys Jeep, May mentioned that 180 manufacturers were approached to design the utility vehicle which the Army had in mind. 180????

Surely by the advent of WW2 the number of American marques can't have been that many? The Depression and the formation of major conglomerates like GM would have seen to that. Wouldn't it? Any thoughts?

I suppose the number could have included truck makers, maybe aircraft makers and engineering firms, but you'd have thought that in view of the short time allowed, they would have concentrated on established makers. And to think that little Bantam were the only ones who could come up with the goods.

[XRS]

Great programme. I particularly like finding out new information. Like the fact that Oz Clarke was one of the rally heroes who drove Audi Quattros back in the day

[Scuffers]

nicanary said:

When discussing the origins of the Willys Jeep, May mentioned that 180 manufacturers were approached to design the utility vehicle which the Army had in mind. 180????

Surely by the advent of WW2 the number of American marques can't have been that many? The Depression and the formation of major conglomerates like GM would have seen to that. Wouldn't it? Any thoughts?

I suppose the number could have included truck makers, maybe aircraft makers and engineering firms, but you'd have thought that in view of the short time allowed, they would have concentrated on established makers. And to think that little Bantam were the only ones who could come up with the goods.

according to Wiki:

Wiki said:

Anxious to have one in time for America's entry into World War II, the U.S. Army solicited proposals from domestic automobile manufacturers for a replacement for its existing, aging light motor vehicles, mainly motorcycles and sidecars, and some Ford Model T's.[4][5] Marmon-Herrington presented five 4×4 Fords in 1937, and American Bantam delivered three Austin roadsters in 1938.[6] Recognizing the need to create standard specifications, the Army formalized its requirements on July 11, 1940, and submitted them to 135 U.S. automotive manufacturers.

so, 135? sound more reasonable, remember there were a lot of car/bike/aero manufacturers back then making very low volume stuff, much like American Austin Car Company that came up with the Jeep.

[Cupramax]

XRS said:

Great programme. I particularly like finding out new information. Like the fact that Oz Clarke was one of the rally heroes who drove Audi Quattros back in the day

i think you may be due a Parrot. Really enjoyed that one last night.

[kowalski655]

Otispunkmeyer said:

So a fight between an army of Hilux and one of Russian tanks, and the former came out on top? What?!

Yep
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_War
It was against Libya though
Stick an ATGM on the back of a fast moving pick up & they can fire & be gone very quickly
Im sure French air support helped a bit too!

[coppice]

Scuffers said:

he missed out a lot of cars, notably:

Jenson FF
Ford Cosworth (Escort, Sierra & Granada)
Subaru Legacy/SVX/MV/Justy (all pre-Impreza)
Austin Champ (and Wolseley Mudlark)

the list goes on...

Yes- but editing a programme down to an hour is essentially about what you leave out. Jensen FF was very much a prophet without honour and should perhaps have been mentioned , also the Ferguson R5 . I don't see the point in mentioning any of the Fords (to which can be added Mondeo btw , CApri (rallycross version ) and prototype 4x4 Mustangs ) as for a time everybody had a 4x4- even the Cavalier and Calibra and none of the Fords was especially noteworthy from a driveline perspective . Agree re Subaru - a prophet with honour I think. Champ-more at home on Salisbury Plain ....The deservedly forgotten Austin Gypsy?

An excellent effort I thought anyway .

[Riley Blue]

I thought last night's programme dragged a bit and each segment could have been pared down. That would have left time for a bit more info on the mechanics of each four-wheel drive system, something I would have appreciated but maybe that's just me...

[31mph]

I really liked both episodes, both very interesting and enjoyable

I do love James May, he's a great presenter, I could watch him present a show about anything

[Chris Type R]

Riley Blue said:

I thought last night's programme dragged a bit and each segment could have been pared down. That would have left time for a bit more info on the mechanics of each four-wheel drive system, something I would have appreciated but maybe that's just me...

I found last night's episode weaker than the first.

The driving segment didn't add much, whereas the first episode was a lot more interesting in terms of history, the passengers, and the backdrop of decaying Detroit, etc

Still much better than most (heavily padded) TG episodes.

[markcoznottz]

Chris Type R said:

Riley Blue said:

I thought last night's programme dragged a bit and each segment could have been pared down. That would have left time for a bit more info on the mechanics of each four-wheel drive system, something I would have appreciated but maybe that's just me...

I found last night's episode weaker than the first.

The driving segment didn't add much, whereas the first episode was a lot more interesting in terms of history, the passengers, and the backdrop of decaying Detroit, etc

Still much better than most (heavily padded) TG episodes.

The demise of the British car industry is always good viewing though, emotive as it is. Clarkson has done better stuff on this in non arsing about mode. This whole series is a bit derivative.

[va1o]

I thought it was excellent last night, definitely the best of the 2 episodes so far (shame the series is only 3!)

The race between the F150, Land Cruiser and Range Rover reminded me of Top Gear from a few years ago

[Zad]

The entire programme just showed how Top Gear could and should have been. Yes it could have been tighter, but without the silly childish tttishness that Top Gear had become, it was a pleasure to watch.

When I heard that Quattro though, I actually got goosebumps on my arms. The LWB Ur wasn't the best rally car by a long mark, but I still think it looks the best. Vaguely disappointed that they didn't have the XR4x4 on from a previous series though. It matched the remit for a peoples' 4x4.