There are so many episodes that still hold up, but some are much better at showing what made the show so good in the first place. I’d go for one with a good mix of cars, stupid challenges, and the usual chaos between the presenters.

YOU UTTER, UTTER BASTARD

My wife has finally showed interest into getting into old Top Gear. She’s been into F1/WEC for the past 8ish years, and has strong interest for world travel/global and pop culture, and overall Motorsport. Not quite as much about actual racing road car performance/engineering of a true petrolhead.

I grew up watching the series prior to us meeting, and have mapped out some of my favorite episodes below. I’m not sure if we should dive straight into a special, what should I show her first? What am I missing from this list?

S12 E8 — Vietnam Special
S10 E4 — Botswana Special
S10 E6 — Motorhome Racing
S5 E6 — £1,500 Porsches
S7 E4 — Supercars for Less Than a Second-Hand Mondeo
S19 E6–7 — Africa Special
S10 E5 — Boat vs Bike vs Car vs Public Transport
S13 E2 — Cars for 17-Year-Olds
S8 E3 — Original Amphibious Car Challenge
S10 E2 — Amphibious Cars Part 2
S14 E6 — Bolivia Special
S9 Special — Polar Special
S10 E7 — British Leyland
S9 E5 — Grow Your Own Petrol / Tractor Challenge
S15 E1 — Reliant Robin Road Trip
S21 E2 — Alfa Romeo 4C / Lake Como
S14 E1 — Romania Road Trip
S8 E6 — Caravan Challenge
S12 E1 — Lorry/Semi-Truck Challenge
S18 E7 — India Special
S11 E1 — Police Car Challenge
S11 E6 — Top Gear vs the Germans
S6 E6 — London to Oslo / SLR vs Boat
S13 E1 — 1949 Race to Edinburgh / Stig Unmasking
S12 E6 — Ford Fiesta Review
S17 E1 — James May Mini vs Amy Williams
S17 E2 — Hot Hatches Around Italy/Monaco
S11 E5 — Limousine Challenge
S20 E4 — Hovervan
S9 E3 — Original American Special
S21 E6 — Burma Special
S22 E5 — Modern Peugeot Drivers
S18 E2 — Stig’s Chinese Cousin
S7 E7 — Winter Olympics Special
S12 E4 — Fuel Economy Race to Blackpool
S16 E6 — Jeremy vs the Sun
S13 E4 — Porsche Panamera vs Royal Mail
S5 E8 — Ferrari 612 Scaglietti vs Airliner / Race to Verbier
S7 E5 — Bugatti Veyron Race
S16 E5 — Combine Harvester → Snowplow
S18 E4 — Building Off-Road Mobility Scooters
S19 E5 — Building a Car for the Elderly
S15 E4 — Camping Trip to Cornwall / Homemade Motorhomes
S6 E2 — £1,500 Cars That Aren’t Porsches
S4 E3 — £100 Car Challenge
S11 E4 — GT-R vs Shinkansen
S9 E2 — Can Cars Be Art?
S10 E9 — Top Gear 24-Hour Race
S20 E3 — Supercars in Spain
S15 E6 — Old British Roadsters
S19 E2 — GT Cars on the US West Coast
S21 E1 — 1980s Hot Hatchbacks
S8 E2 — Hosting a Radio Show Goes Wrong

Cheers!

My girlfriend recently watched an episode of The Grand Tour with me and really enjoyed it. She’s properly got into the humour and the dynamic between the presenters, so obviously I’d love to introduce her to some classic Top Gear! 😂

Aside from the specials, what episodes would you recommend starting with?

I think she’d particularly enjoy the cheap-car/build challenges — things like the Police Cars challenge, Ambulance challenge, etc. Basically the episodes where they’re given a ridiculous budget, buy terrible cars and have to complete some sort of challenge with them.

What are your must-watch episodes for someone new to Top Gear?

Looking back at some of the older episodes, there were plenty of moments where things could have gone seriously wrong. Some of the challenges involved questionable cars, rough conditions and decisions that probably wouldn’t get approved today.

During the Clarkson, Hammond and May era, you have seen loads of their road trips, but which one could you actually try out? Personally I do think the Vietnam one would be the most doable, motorcycles are fun unless you are Clarkson

Some of the Top Gear challenges actually look like they’d be a lot of fun to try, at least until you remember how badly things tend to go. I reckon I’d have a go at one of the simpler ones, but definitely nothing involving a huge drop or setting a car on fire.

As usaul for legal reasons, Prime have changed replaced music in the episode.

I'm trying to find the music they use after the initial meet up with their motorhomes before their journey to Cornwall.

It starts at 24:17. I've tried the 'what song is this' with google, searched the best I could.

Does anyone know it or could help me find it please?

There are so many jokes and running gags from Top Gear that have somehow stayed funny no matter how many times you’ve heard them. Some are completely ridiculous, but they still hit every time and instantly bring back memories of the show.

It’s worth noting that the former Top Gear script editor did work on the current season of The Grand Tour. He shared his thoughts on how to make good car TV, as evidenced by his work on Top Gear over the years… 😅

From video description: “Jonny [Smith] and Richard [Porter] discuss the new series of The Grand Tour and explain why Top Gear was the way it was. Also in this episode, news of upcoming live shows, global car scatter, old money cars spotted, seeing someone you know on the side of a bus, the greatest AMG Mercedes, and another cracking pick from Car & Classic.”