Top Gear: Botswana Cars Hot!

A rusty, fragile Italian sportscar with an engine known for failing. In a desert. Why? Because, as Jeremy put it, “A man who chooses to drive a Lancia has made a conscious decision to love driving.” Heroic stupidity.

: The crew used much more practical vehicles to film, including Toyota Land Cruisers Land Rover Defenders , which are generally the recommended vehicle types for actual travel in the region. Survival Modifications To survive the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans top gear botswana cars

When we think of iconic road trips in automotive television history, one episode stands perched at the summit, dustier and more battered than the rest: (Series 10, Episode 4). While the later Bolivia and Vietnam specials are masterpieces, the journey from the panhandle of Botswana to the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans remains the purest distillation of what made the Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May era so perfect. A rusty, fragile Italian sportscar with an engine

Unconfirmed for years, but May revealed in a 2019 DriveTribe video that the Mercedes was sold shortly after filming. It was bought by a Top Gear fan in Germany, who drove it for several more years. It is believed the car eventually died of natural causes (mechanical fatigue) around 2015. Unlike the sentimental Oliver, May saw the Merc as a tool—and when the tool wore out, it was recycled. Because, as Jeremy put it, “A man who