MatraSport Forum

...and not in good terms either.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/jeremy_clarkson/article6867968.ece

I fear the day he gets his hands on the Murena, oh he did! About 10 years ago, im sure I saw a book of his, saying like the Mclaren F1 it had 3 seats with a central driving position...

Yes I've got that book. 100 cars everyone should drive, or something like that.
Too true!

I bet he never saw book or car, I'd like to have a scanned copy of that if you ever have time..

He was also pretty harsh about the Alpine GTA while Evo recently voted it well up on the top 100 drivers cars... Just goes to show, the only opinion that matters is your own..

I've learned that Clarcson is a good entertainer - and good entertainers are often not far from clowns - but he is on the bottom line quite populistic when it comes to his oppinnions and his rating of different cars. Audi's and Mercs are in general good rated while the french often get the hard hand.
So i've stopped bothering myself with some of his statements and watches Top Gear simply for fun!

Well... though I find the show quite entertaining ,I think top gear is becomming more and more like a "sit com", with the presenters getting stuck in their given roles, and their responses more or less predictable.
Occasionally they have some half decent feature of a "real world" car, but for the most part its pure entertainment.. and i agree... .. there is quite a lot og "clowning" going on.

As for cars... I'm sure Clarkson knows what he is talking about most of the time.
Though I have a hard time believing that he has no mechanical skills at all (how can your life revolve around cars without you wanting to mend them yourself), His lack of mechanical interest does go along way explaining his priorities.(who cares it your mercedes SLK rusts in less then 5 years when you will be on to the next car by then? )

Personally, I find the show to be TO MUCH in favour of British made cars, more than anything else.
 

Yay, quite right too! There are so few british made cars these days, they are right to champion them.

As far back as his Performance Car column days, I've been a fan of Clarkson, although even then I've disagreed with almost everything he has said, no matter how entertaining.

I'll get on with scanning that Murena piece...

Indeed, BUT to me it has never been a problem that they slag off anything non-british. Thats their style, and I don't have to agree to still find them hilariously funny. Especially "The News".
I wish they stopped their silly challenges though.

They remain almost the ONLY thing I turn on my TV to watch. (no kidding!)

/Lennart

Clarkson is an embarrassment and, as a fervent Brit, I find myself cringeing at things he does and says.

I stopped liking him, and to some extent the others, when they trashed the Maserati, the Lamborghini Urraco and the Ferrari. How can any car enthusiast treat dumb machinery like that? And expect other car enthusists to enjoy the sight of them doing it.

Respect for other people's loves is central to the Classic Car fraternity. You may not agree with them, even think they are crazy, but destroy their idols? Not likely, not for a real enthusiast.

Clarkson is little better than the hooligan who scrapes his keys alongside a nice car and they are pandering to that primative mentality.

But I still watch. How is that?

Andy