Bullitt or Vanishing point? Charger or Challenger? For my non existent budget, I’ll go with Kowalski’s choice, but for Top Gear’s Richard Hammond…well, he’s British! In this episode of Top Gear, Hammond spends some quality, non destructive time in a Dodge Charger R/T powered by a 440. Oddly, he says the 440 is the car. Apparently he’s never heard of a Hemi car, but I suppose we need to cut him some slack. The head injury must have affected his judgement.

Thanks to Carscoop for finding this one.
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Years ago I remember reading a Peter Egan story about his love of the Bugeye Sprite. There was a bit in there about how much fun the little cars were to drive. You could race through an intersection at full opposite lock, at 35 mph and nobody would even notice that you were having the time of your life.

Today, Tom Ford over at Top Gear is telling the same tale:
Now I’ve come to the conclusion that I actually really get off on strange little cars that require more driver input.
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The BBC has released a few pictures of Richard Hammond’s jet car crash while filming an episode for Top Gear. The show has been widely criticized for setting up what many consider to be a stunt. The reality is that a trained team put together the effort and a reasonably experienced drive got into a type of race car with a reputation for being safe and fairly easy to drive. The crash wasn’t a result of driver error, rather a blown tire. Bring on the show Top Gear and keep up the great work!

Long live The Hamster!

Via Jalopnik

It’s been a tough week for Racer Journalists, as two prominent writers have been injured in heavy car crashes.

Firstly, the legendary Paul Frere sustained serious injuries in a heavy collision in a Honda Civic R while testing near the Nurburgring. A former Formula 1 and sports car racer, Frere has a talent for turning the automotive experience into words. As a contributing editor to Road and Track, the 89 year old has delighted enthusiasts the world over with his reviews of some of the world’s most exotic machinery. Reports are that the prognosis looks good for Frere to return home soon.

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Two teens in the UK have destroyed a $220,000 Ferrari that they stole from a Highgate Village driveway. It seems they planted it in front of the local mental hospital and then ran off into the night.

Via Topgear

Related TT or Tank

Over on the other side of the big, cold pond, TopGear is reporting that Elton John’s Bentley Continental convertible is going on the auction block on May 24th in London. This car was delivered to the Knight way back in 1985. It’s distiguishing feature is a body colour front grille. Big Whoop! The estimated sale price is around 44,000 lb and for that price, who knows what sort of back seat history you are buying.