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Now, on Top Gear.
I'll drive a car with wings.
I just flew into the sun.
Tanner gets some air in a
race against a HALO jumper.
No, there he is.
And Kid Rock soars
around our track.
Welcome to "Top Gear.
"
On this show nobody will save
their failing restaurant,
nobody will date Adrianna, but if
gasoline flows through your veins,
you're at home right here.
I'm Adam Ferrara,
that is Tanner Foust,
and this is Rutledge Wood.
Yeah, and we got an
amazing show coming up.
He gets to drive the
bad-*** new Mercedes SLS AMG.
We've got Kid Rock on our
test track in the Suzuki,
and, G.
I.
Joe, pay attention 'cause
we're gonna find a replacement for that.
But before all of that, what would you
buy if you had 40 grand to spend?
- A judge.
- Ooh! GTO.
No.
A real judge.
What vehicle would you buy?
I would buy either a Subaru WRX STI
or maybe a Dodge Challenger SRT8.
- You could do that.
But did you know,
for just over 40 grand,
you could buy a flying machine?
Few things have captured
the imagination of mankind,
more than flight.
It's commonly assumed that
to achieve it, you need wings.
Ford's special vehicle
team begs to differ.
The words "ultra-high performance" usually
conjure a 200 miles-an-hour Lamborghini
or a racetrack-ready Pagani Zonda.
The F-150 based Raptor,
however, is just as radical.
It subscribes to a totally
new definition of performance.
One paved in dirt, measured
in suspension travel,
and punctuated by hang time.
Okay, so it jumps rather than flies,
but this much air time is close enough.
Oh, God!
There's something
so purely redneck about that sound
But everybody can relate to it.
Yes!
What's jaw-dropping about the Raptor
isn't that it can do 100 miles an hour
on surfaces scarred like the moon.
It's not that it'll cost
you just 42 grand.
No, it's that the Raptor is
just a plain old production car.
The Raptor is available
with Ford's new v-8,
a 6.
2 liter with 411 horsepower,
and 434 foot-pounds of torque.
But this isn't your ordinary Raptor.
This is the Hennessey Velociraptor 475.
Hand another 7 grand and your Raptor
over to the guys at Hennessey,
and they'll transform your 6.
2-liter
Raptor from an animal into a beast.
Hennessey is a Texas tuning shop
famous for creating Texas-size
horsepower numbers.
And for modifying supercars that'll
steal a Bugatti Veyron's lunch money.
Hennessey managed to find
another 64 horsepower
by replacing the intake
and exhaust systems,
and retuning the engine computer.
That's like giving crack
to a charging rhino.
You look at it, and it looks
like it's gonna be a rough ride,
you know, like a stiff,
rugged truck-y ride.
But in order to be good off road,
the suspension has to travel
and 12 in the back.
That 12 inches when you turn the wheel
makes the truck roll over on its axis.
It's made for off-road
so when you get on road, where
it's gonna be 90% of the time,
the steering is slow, the
suspension's squishy.
In a straight line, it seems fine.
You can hit potholes, small KIA Rios
Basically anything at speed
And it's just a kick.
That's it.
Hold on.
We've got to run over a small car.
It's like sitting on a marshmallow.
It's just floating down the road.
You would think you're in a Cadillac.
The only thing that separates
this from driving a Cadillac
is that every single second
you're driving in the Raptor,
it sounds like 40 Harley-Davidsons are
trying to overtake you from the back.
As if the Raptor wasn't
visually disturbing enough,
Hennessey's installed a loud button
which takes it to
ear-threatening decibels.
Anybody walking by,
can't help but just be
absolutely pissed off.
It's like hell has broken
loose, like Armageddon.
It's awesome.
In Monte Carlo, you may get some action
in a Lamborghini or a Ferrari.
In Eloy, you're the king in the Raptor.
My reign was short.
The Raptor was a heat magnet.
I was politely told to leave town.
It's attracting attention.
That's what it's supposed to do, right?
Ah.
When you get behind the
wheel of something like this,
suddenly the lines of the roads go gray.
If you want to turn off the road
and go into the bushes, watch this.
Yes.
Wow.
All four wheels spinning.
But there are huge gotchas
Big holes that can just
swallow a whole truck.
That right there was
the size of a Volkswagen.
Sure, you can spend 40 grand on
a Camry or something like that.
But will it do this?
I don't think so.
Oh, my gosh.
I cannot believe how hard
I'm pushing this truck right now.
Despite being an off-road juggernaut,
the Raptor has an unusually plush interior.
But it's got these weird knobby gauges,
where it's like if you have
forgotten you're in a truck,
they remind you by showing you big
mud tires all over the dashboard.
And the color-coding interior
Frankly, it raises the hair
on the back of my neck.
The reason for that is, I think it
flat-out reminds me of a pt cruiser.
So, the Raptor is certainly
a press-release car for Ford.
Probably the most dramatic
and radical machine Ford makes,
a behemoth that is horrible on the road.
It's made for what people
don't do, which is go off road.
A lot of people would think
that it's just absolutely crazy
to spit out a gas-guzzling
ginormous truck in these times.
But it's actually pretty smart
because it's a concept car
that you can buy and own.
Not many people will drive this,
but it will make a big impact
on the image of Ford.
We couldn't find a production
vehicle that even comes close
to matching the raptor's outright
speed on the desert floor.
With its go-fast bits
and off-road prowess,
it hops along the desert
quicker than anything.
It's really in a class of its own,
so a comparison was
virtually impossible.
We did, however, find one person
who was willing to take
on the Velociraptor.
But he's not starting on the ground.
He's gonna start up there
He's a HALO jumper.
Halo, or "High Altitude, Low Opening,"
is a military free-fall technique
first tested by the
U.
S.
air force in 1960
to help pilots ejecting at
altitudes up to 35,000 feet.
It was then adopted by
special forces during Vietnam
who were able to fly at high
altitude out of missile range
and then drop into enemy territory
undetected by radar.
This HALO specialist's
identity is classified.
And since he trains Navy seals how to leap
from the heavens and kill people undetected,
if I even see him,
he may have to kill me.
He kind of reminds me of Darth Vader.
The race will be exactly 5
miles from start to finish.
The Raptor will face a
combination of asphalt,
rough trail, and open desert.
The course is set on land
designated for cattle grazing,
so by law, they have the right of way.
If I mess with the cows,
the rancher has the
legal right to shoot me.
The HALO jumper will
start 25,000 feet up,
giving him exactly 5 miles of falling.
He will free-fall at speeds
up to 120 miles an hour
until he hits 2,000 feet.
Then he must open his chute,
or we'll be taking him home in a bucket.
To beat the HALO jumper
to the finish line,
I've got to get there
in just over 4 minutes,
which means averaging 71 miles an hour.
That's unbelievably fast, considering
there are sand traps, jumps, and cows
between me and the finish line,
and he's just falling.
He's been breathing pure
oxygen for the last 45 minutes
to rid his bloodstream of nitrogen.
If he doesn't, as he climbs, the
nitrogen will expand in his blood vessels,
and he'll get the bends,
the same way a diver can.
And at this altitude, he's also
at risk of oxygen deprivation.
Have no doubt this is very dangerous.
I was 60 seconds from
the most insane race of my life.
25,000 feet above me was
my opponent, a HALO jumper.
Both of us were about to hurtle
It was time to prepare the Raptor.
Push the traction control,
hold it for five seconds,
and it flashes, alerting you
of the potential danger.
Then push the off-road mode.
Off-road mode enabled.
Then pull this little ***
to lock the differential.
Shifting is in progress, and it's done.
Five four Four -
Three - Three.
- Two
- Two.
- One.
- One.
We're off!
I think I got a bad start there.
All right.
Hammer down now.
As HALO man hurtled earthwards,
he shaped his body to create the least
resistance to the rushing air around him.
I had my foot to the floor,
and all 475 horses were galloping hard.
I was hitting 80 miles an hour.
The raptor's giant
shocks just soaked it up.
Darth had reached terminal
velocity 120 miles an hour.
Then he used the force
to go even faster.
The off-road technique
when you go over the bumps
is actually to lift off the pedals.
'Cause if you hit the
gas over the bumps,
it sinks the back end and
takes away the travel
And you bottom out.
It's called
"g-ing out.
" It's not a good thing.
Ugh! That was about the
limit, I think, right there.
The Arizona desert was witnessing
two unstoppable missiles,
heading for each other
at 120 miles an hour
Velociraptor and Darth Vader.
It was like "star wars vii:
The Jurassic menace.
"
Two minutes down, and
I had to be behind.
But ahead was a mile
and a half of pavement.
Time to floor it.
A little bit of asphalt to
make up a little time here.
I think the top speed's
about 120 miles an hour.
There's 115.
He's falling like a bat out of hell
And I'm doing 120 miles an hour.
Up ahead was my turn
into the open desert.
The asphalt flats had
me back in the game.
But no one told the cows.
Oh, that's a heavy beast.
Ahead, 2 miles of track and
open desert to the finish line.
Every twist and turn, I tried to get a
glimpse of the tiny black dot above me.
I don't see him yet.
But how could I?
He was using gravity as his jet pack.
He was ahead, but now
the advantage was mine.
The HALO jumper had to pull his
chute or become Darth pancake.
As the canopy opened, he decelerated
violently to 60 miles an hour.
This was my chance.
No more twisting and turning.
The Raptor and I were
headed to the finish line
as the crow flies whatever lay ahead.
This is what makes this truck bad-***.
Yes.
Halo guy was just a thousand
feet above the finish line,
and I could see the flags ahead.
We were neck and neck.
I could see him circling above.
There was no way he
could float down in time.
The race was the raptor's.
Whoa! Too hot into that corner.
Suddenly, he threw his
parachute into a dive,
spiraling towards the
ground at 90 miles an hour.
No! There he is!
No way!
I thought I had it for sure!
Oh!
- Wow.
That was a close race.
- It was really close.
It was close, but you still lost.
You know, but it was just barely a loss,
and I can't think of another
production truck on the planet
that would have been within
a mile of that HALO guy.
It is impressive.
What did you say it costs?
The regular raptor's 42 grand.
Then it's another 7 grand to Hennessey
if you want the Velociraptor.
So that's 49 grand for a
truck that looks like this,
that went over terrain like
that at speeds like that.
It makes me want to trade
my tundra in right now.
- That is the deal of the century.
- It is.
What makes it so good is not just that
it has a foot of suspension travel,
but the shocks themselves
The oil inside is an
aerospace-grade formula
that costs more than
most entire shocks do.
They really thought this thing out.
It's the real deal.
I love it.
I have to
have one in my life.
Can I hug it?
- Yes, you can hug it.
- Okay, great.
- Hi.
That's a little scary and creepy.
Well, coming up next, Adam gets
a pair of wings Gullwings.
This is the iconic 1955
Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing.
One of the most desirable
sports cars on the planet,
and when it was new, the
fastest car in the world.
And now, just 55 years later, Mercedes thinks
they have come up with a successor
to this instant icon.
The 300 SL's
DNA is everywhere
The sculpted, all-aluminum body,
Fender vents like shark gills,
and its signature doors are pure SL.
But under the 6-foot-long hood lies
a beastly, space-age power plant,
making almost 3 times the
horsepower of the original.
This is the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG.
Listen to this exhaust note.
That's downright nasty!
This dirty-talking siren's gonna
lead you right into the rocks.
This is the first car Mercedes-Benz'
tuning arm, AMG, has built from scratch.
And they started by conjuring up the most
powerful production, naturally aspirated v-8
on the planet
Making 563 horsepower.
So that's why one technician is responsible
for its assembly from start to finish.
And when he's done, he
signs his name right there.
"*** Nordheim" sounds
like a German underboss.
Thanks to cars like the Bugatti Veyron,
resurrecting the SL's status as the fastest
car in the world is pretty pointless.
But this comfortable Grantura
will destroy plenty of supercars
on its way to its top speed of 197.
All right.
Let's begin.
At 60 miles an hour, I just
dusted the Porsche GT3.
V-10 Audi R8
Done.
I just flew into the sun.
Comfort wasn't the primary consideration
of the original 300 SL.
It wasn't built to go
to the country clubs.
It was built to win championships,
and it did,
taking the 24 hours of Le Mans outright
and the Carrera Panamericana
in the same year.
The SLS, however, is
pure luxury in motion.
So, Mercedes went with this
aircraft-themed interior,
and you can really tell.
Look at this.
This AC vent looks like the
business end of a jet engine.
They really have the retro airplane feel
in these gauges, as well.
And look at the gear lever.
It reminds me of the throttle of a 747.
See all this leather
and all this prettiness?
It adds weight.
So what the engineers had to do
was Jenny-Craig any part
of this car they could.
It has a carbon-fiber drive shaft.
It even has magnesium seat frames,
the lightest structural metal
on earth, all to save weight.
But the car still weighs 3,600 pounds.
This car really feels balanced.
What they did was,
they took the big V-8,
and they stuffed it down
low behind the front wheels.
And the steering is really responsive.
It's not so much
turning as it is diving.
Dual-clutch 7-speed gearbox cracks
off shifts in a hundred milliseconds.
When this thing hits triple digits,
it becomes an adrenaline spigot.
Around town, however,
the adrenaline's been
replaced with Novocaine.
The car just feels numb.
The suspension's more
at home on the track,
so it's a stiffer ride.
The most obvious link to
the iconic 300 SL of the '50s
is the trademark gull-wing doors.
The way I see it, this
is a two-step process.
Step one is getting in the car.
Step two is closing the door.
So, what if we start by
sitting down like this,
bringing your legs in?
All right, that's not cool.
What if we go one leg in,
butt down, Sharon stone?
Okay, I'm in.
Now we close the door.
Of course.
You'd think with all these buttons,
Mercedes would have put an electric
motor here to open and close the door.
They didn't because it would
have added 61 pounds of weight.
How much you think a
subway strap weighs?
I got it!
So it's closed, but is it safe?
If you find yourself
upside down in an SLS,
Mercedes has devised
a pyrotechnics system
that blasts the doors off
so you can get the hell out,
thus making the SLS the only car
that can blow its own doors off.
The SLS is a super GT
Part supercar, part luxury Grantura.
Now, Mercedes is not gonna
be pumping out a lot of these,
so it will almost be as rare
as the iconic SL it resembles.
But, for me, the looks
are not a complete success.
I mean, look at these lines.
It's great, right up until
Here.
What happened?
It's like they ran out of ***.
They just stopped.
They didn't know how to end it.
It's like someone ran into
the design room and said,
"stop.
Stop what you're doing.
"
"But we're not finished.
"
"You're done.
That's it.
We're finished.
"
Most cars have that "x" factor.
This car actually has a "y" factor.
"Y" don't I just love it?
I just why don't I just love this
Don't get me wrong.
There's parts of it I really love,
like that motor,
the sound of this engine.
An iconic car should
feel special all the time,
not just when you're doing 160
or climbing through a gull-wing door.
Now, don't get me wrong this
is a world-class automobile,
and it's bound to be a collectible,
but, like Icarus, it should
learn to respect its limits.
The SLS is supercar fast,
it's exclusive,
and it has an exhaust note
like Thor, the God of thunder.
But is it an instant
classic like the 300 SL?
I'm gonna have to say no.
Did it look fun?
It looked fun, but you
obviously didn't love it.
No.
I didn't love it.
I love that.
- But I didn't love that.
- Did you like it?
I liked parts of that.
The motor was great.
It had plenty of power.
I love the way it sounded.
It felt good once you
got it up to speed.
But the look bothered me.
I do not like the back end.
And the doors are fun
for about 20 minutes.
You know, I got in.
I made-believe
I was a spy.
I liked that.
But after a while, you drive
around with doors like that,
you're a ***.
Ouch! There still is one test
left to do with the SLS.
And thankfully for the Mercedes,
it does not involve Adam.
It involves our silent
racing driver, the Stig.
The Stig, of course, is
the fourth member of our team,
whose sole purpose is to shake
down each new car we review.
He should feel right at home
in this racecar-inspired SLS AMG.
And he's off the line there.
A little bit of wheelspin, but really
not much, a 7-speed gearbox in this SLS.
Really incredible 562 horsepower.
The car has some big shoes
to fill with that gullwing.
But through the southern chicane,
looking very, very composed.
One thing we did hear as the Stig
is grabbing at paddles through there
is the front-end grip is amazing,
but very difficult to put the power down
as you see him sliding into the teardrop.
This is the slowest part of the track.
You can see him almost drifting,
trying to put all of that horsepower
to the ground in a 3,600-pound machine.
On to the back straightaway,
the fastest part of the track,
hitting speeds upwards
of 130 miles an hour.
Really working this vehicle very hard
as he comes into one of
the fastest sections
The second-fastest section, the S's.
Sawing at the wheel, fighting it
And breaking in to the very last
corner, kicking up some dust.
A little bit of cross-walk there
And across the line.
You know, you got to
wonder where it's gonna sit.
We've got a tough lineup
here with the Balboni.
We've got the Murci�lago,
the V12 vantage at 128.
Somehow the SLS manages
to scrape in a 127.
6.
Wow.
It's really actually very quick.
Does that make you like it more?
I mean, it's fun.
It's just
It's not that, and I
wanted it to be that.
Have to agree with you on that.
We still have a little
bit of business, though,
because you remember the
Velociraptor I was in before.
Well, we had another
version of that truck.
This one's actually the Velociraptor 600,
which has a supercharged engine in it.
Unfortunately, somebody
left the keys in it
sitting out in the parking lot.
The Stig had never seen
a pickup truck before.
Did a lap.
Anybody want to see it?
- I do.
All right.
Roll the tape.
And he's off.
Got that four-wheel drive kicking
in there, so obviously no wheelspin.
Now, this is a truck
that weighs almost 3 tons,
massive vehicle being
hurtled around the track.
Just looks scary.
This must be one of the riskiest
things that the Stig does.
He really does take
a lot of risks for us.
And there you can see it in his face.
He's getting a little motion sick.
Diving into the teardrop
Tightest section
Nice little drift in the Raptor.
Who would have thought you'd see that
out of a ginormous pickup truck like that?
Over the yump.
Those fox shocks just
absorb every bit of it
as he works his way up
to 100 miles an hour.
Really concentrating.
He knows what's at stake here
as he pitches it in sideways.
Unbelievable.
That's cameraman's corner, and
we almost deserved its name there.
He comes into the s's, fighting
his way to the end of the track.
And looks like he's off
road, but, no, he's not.
He's still on our track,
into the last corner,
swinging wide there.
It's not looking good.
Almost takes out the flag,
and he's across the line.
Whew!
That was sketchy.
Difficult to say where
this is gonna land.
We've never had a pickup
truck on the test track before.
But it came in with a time of 139.
0.
Wow!
Wow! Wow!
That's amazing!
For that big of a truck?
I thought it was gonna roll over.
I want one.
I want one so bad, I would lick it.
That is a
very disturbing thought.
Well, coming up next, Kid Rock
is our "big star in a small car.
"
Burn, baby.
Burn.
And now it time to put
a star in our small car.
Our guest today is a
true American bad-***.
He's sold over 22 million albums
just in this country alone,
and he is proud to call
Detroit motor city his home.
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome
the one and only Mr.
Kid Rock.
- What's up, man?
- Good to see you.
Have a seat.
Man, it is good to have
you on the show, man.
Thanks for being here.
- This is one of those fun ones
- This is great.
One of those shows
you look forward to doing.
What's it like growing
up in Michigan around
You know, being in Detroit,
being around there?
I mean, you've got American car blood
- just pumping through you.
- Yep.
Everywhere you look, every friend,
every relative, everybody you know
either, you know, works
for one of the big three
or at one of the parts plants.
That's what we've been known for and
hopefully will continue to be known for
is putting out some of the
greatest cars in the world.
And even though it's been some trying
times, I think we're on the right path
to get back to really design
something cool with some style.
That's what I'm really
hoping for out of Detroit.
So, are you a fan of the
big retro movement, then?
Yes, I love the retro stuff.
I love the Challenger,
and, you know, the Camaros,
Mustangs all that stuff.
I think they're great even the Ford GT.
But at the same time, I'd like
to see them do something new
that kind of defines
our generation, our era,
something that's new and
moving in the right way
that's not, you know, a small box
that runs off, you know,
whatever leaves and stuff,
you know, which is great.
So you're saying you
don't own a Prius, then.
Gosh!
If there's anything that
says "UN-awesome, uncool,"
it's a Prius.
I have a 1930 Cadillac, V-16, 1 of 27.
I can sit around, drink beer,
and look at that car all day long.
- Yeah.
- It just blows your mind,
the ingenuity and the time and the
craftsmanship that was put into it.
I know there's been better engines
and technology has come near and far,
but I think pound for pound,
if you just took that car and
put it in these times somehow,
you know, upgrade it with those engines and
all the fancy talk-free this and everything.
But just the craftsmanship of that.
Like, the guy that built that
That thing coming off the line
Must go home and be like,
"you should have saw what
we built today at work.
"
Whereas you're at work, like,
"what'd you do today?"
"Ah, we cranked out 78 Priuses.
"
It's like, "give me a beer.
"
"I'm gonna
drink away the pain.
"
What's your favorite car
that you own right now?
God, I just got this
really fun '64 Bonneville
that this designer, nudie, did.
He's an old Western designer,
did, like, all of Hank Williams clothes,
all the early Western guys Roy Rogers
All the flashy Western wear.
He did about I think
it was 15 to 20 cars.
Like, Elvis had one and
Roy Rogers, of course,
Webb Pierce, a lot of country stars.
And this was Hank Jr.
's
And it came up for auction.
It had been in the
Smoky Mountain top museum
since like '68, and a
collector passed away.
It's on the cover of my new record.
It's, you know, bull horns on the front,
you know, 22 pistols that open the doors,
and turn-of-the-century silver
dollars all lining the car,
and hand-tooled leather.
It just screams "American fun.
"
In the fun department, I've won.
You look so right in
the backseat of a car,
and you see the two pistols
that are holding the backseat.
Like, everything about that is you.
- It's awesome.
- It's fun.
It is.
It's fun.
So you'd say you've driven
some fun cars, then, right?
Yeah, I'd say so.
How would you say the Suzuki compared?
It didn't interest me at all.
You guys want to see his lap?
Let's take a look.
This thing doesn't get
off the line at all.
Not a ton of power.
Plus, it is wet.
- This is pretty impressive.
- Yeah, it's very wet.
Look at the windshield wipers cranking.
Coming into turn 1 here.
Smooth so far.
Oh!
Ha-hoo!
Tried to take out the tires there.
That's nice, though.
Here we go.
Okay, coming down into the teardrop.
This was a pretty hard part
of the course, wasn't it?
Yeah.
Come on!
You really look like we might be
related when I see you in the car.
Wow, that was impressive.
Suzuki they should
call this a "su-puke-I.
"
This thing is garbage.
So, not planning to replace any
of your cars with the Suzuki.
Hauling ***.
- By "hauling ***," you mean 75 or 80.
- I was up to at least 80.
Wow, coming in fast there
to cameraman's curve.
Burn, baby.
Burn.
Look at that fierce determination.
- Pretty smooth.
- Yeah, that's impressive right there.
Come on, baby.
I'm not gonna ask
about that.
Here we go.
Oh! Wow! Look at that lean!
And across the line!
Oh, wait.
Oh, you're coming back!
Wow! You that was nice.
That was fun.
You were the first one
to do a victory lap there.
That's impressive.
Now, if we look up at our board.
You got a hobbit, a funny man,
and an astronaut.
How do you think you
compared to those three?
I'm gonna be really upset
if I didn't beat them.
Really?
Yeah, I know this is all about
having fun, but I really want to win.
Kid Rock, you did it in
One minute, forty
Three-point-nine.
Yeah!
And with a "w.
"
To put up that kind of time in the rain
and to beat our other guys nice work.
Let's give it up one more
time for Kid Rock, at the top.
Now, coming up, we
helped the U.
S.
government
find a replacement for the Humvee.
On the top, brother.
I will be conquistador-ing you, my friend.
Aah!
Now, this, as you may have
noticed, is the H1 Hummer.
And thanks to Arnold Schwarzenegger,
it became the vehicle of choice
for ballplayers and
adult-entertainment stars,
even though it started as a
piece of military hardware.
Trouble is, the Hummer's
become socially unacceptable.
And now the army is turning its back
on the faithful Humvee, as well.
And since the economy's in the tank,
the army has to cut down on spending.
And that got us thinking
What would be the
perfect, cost-effective,
less-aggressive vehicle
for the army of tomorrow?
We decided
to meet at kill hill,
a paintball park just
outside of Los Angeles,
a place where accountants and meter maids
go for the weekend to blow off steam
and transform themselves
into paintball mercenaries.
I arrived first.
This is a 1977 Chevy El Camino SS.
This was the
fourth-generation El Camino,
and this thing had plenty of grunt
from its 354-barrel V-8.
Now, that's a lot of power to
deliver to a light rear end.
And it's light because it's not here.
It's a truck, but it's also a car.
This is the original crossover.
This is the perfect platform
to build my battle wagon.
It's durable, it's strong,
it's overpowering
It is shock and awe.
Look at the armaments on this car
Two dedicated rear guns, two front guns,
and they're all controlled
by this instrument panel,
except for this string that I pull
for the rear guns, but it works.
This is the best part, though.
Look at this.
raining down on foghorn.
I am gonna paint him like a subway car.
My military machine was built
to dominate this battle with brute force.
But knowing Rutledge, I began to worry
he might show up with paintball cannons
strapped to a monster truck.
Oh, you're kidding!
Clearly, I was wrong.
You're fighting a war
on a budget a del Sol?
A 1997 Honda del Sol
Last year they made them.
They only made 5,600.
This car was
mostly bought by women.
And because of that, no one would expect
a man to take a del Sol into battle.
But as Sun Tzu said in "The Art of War,"
'speed is the essence of war.
'
and this del Sol might not be able
to take the same kind of
abuse as the El Camino,
but it will be able to
run circles around it.
And this is your war wagon?
Look, I got two mounting
forward.
What do you got?
Look at this two mounting forward.
All right.
How about I got four
in the trunk pointed backwards?
I also have one mounted on each door.
You really want to bring
up that argument, my friend?
Where do you think you're gonna hide?
You realize, I never have to get
out of my vehicle to shoot you.
You realize, you can't
get out of your vehicle.
This is front-wheel drive.
It's a 4-cylinder, 5-speed.
I can get wherever I want.
I will give you this, though.
We both picked cars with Spanish names.
We did, didn't we?
What does "del Sol" mean?
Well, the direct translation
means "of the sun,"
which makes sense for the target top.
What about "El Camino"?
El Camino means "the road.
"
But when they exported it to Mexico,
they changed the name to Conquistador.
- Really?
- It means "to conquer.
"
Hmm.
I will be conquistador-ing
you, my friend.
Not if "of the sun" has
anything to say about it.
Diplomacy has failed.
This means war.
To determine whose vehicle
was worthy to operate in the military,
the producers set up a battlefield.
The first to the other side would win,
but only if it gave the other car
a new paint job on the way across.
But winning wasn't enough.
The loser has to shoot
himself with a paintball gun.
- Really?
- Yes.
Are those steel-toe, those
grandpa shoes you're wearing?
- No.
- Oh, you're gonna wish they were.
All right, Adam.
Are you ready?
Once more into the breach.
Go!
My plan was to set up an ambush
so I could unload on Rutledge
like *** Cheney on a lawyer.
Come on! Come on!
Adam had me pinned down,
so I used the del Sol's front wheel
drive to pull me from the dirt
and lined up my real guns.
Aah!
Ow! That hurt!
Rutledge made a run for it.
But he would soon find out
there is no escape
from the truck-Camino.
Oh, lord! Oh!
Take it babe, take it.
The El Camino was as big as a tank,
but I squeezed my del Sol
down its flank.
Come on!
Then it was smooth
sailing to the finish line.
The fleet-footed del Sol
crossed the line first,
slaughtering El "slow" Camino.
Don't hang that head so low, friend.
You gave it your best shot.
It's not the shooting myself in the foot
so much as is it's losing to you.
- Really?
- Yes.
- That takes a real man.
- I know.
A real man that picked an El Camino
when he should have picked a del Sol.
Safety's off!
Can you hold on?
I don't want to get paint in my eyes.
- You want lip balm, too?
- Safety first, friend.
Go for it.
Fire away.
Oh, man, this is gonna hurt!
That foot right there is gonna hurt!
You're not helping.
You're really not helping.
I heard it's like driving a
nail gun through your foot.
What a
- You don't have the guts to do it.
- You're still talking.
- You don't have the guts to do it.
- You're still talking.
- Come on.
- Quit stalling.
All right, I'm gonna do it.
Shoot it hour-long show.
Go.
- Oh!
- Ow!
- Oho-ho-ho!
- Ow!
- Oh, that was awesome!
- Ohh!
That was awesome!
That hurt! Oh!
What would you say it feels like?
Ow, it hurts.
- Let me see it.
- No.
- Come on back over.
- Shut up.
I cannot get enough of that.
Oh, yeah.
That looked like it
really did hurt, actually.
It did.
It hurt a lot.
I just can't believe you
actually went through with it.
I can't believe you
beat me, "of the sun.
"
I can't believe that, either.
And you know what that means
is the official "Top Gear"
recommendation to the military
for the future weapon of choice is
The Honda del Sol.
Amazing.
Next, you're gonna replace the
Air Force's F22 with a box kite.
I love kites.
On that disturbing note,
that is our show for the week.
Thank you for tuning in.
Goodbye.