Is the tunnel sequence in ‘A Scandi flick’ the stupidest thing they’ve done?

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OlorinRidesAgain@reddit

They have done a lot more stupid things but this one was unnecessary and pointless

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RichyJ@reddit

Crashing a truck/lorry through a brick wall would be pretty close

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Xadnem@reddit

This one? [Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZhtZRl9OIQ)

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armoghu@reddit

Convinced that was gonna be a RickRoll!

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YoungBeef03@reddit

The camera in the cab when Jeremy hit it was just fucking brutal

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MLPorsche@reddit

i believe Patagonia was just coincidences that lined up perfectly, if you measure random data points it will inevitably happened, it's just math

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zinic53000@reddit

Slogans in the deep south is probably a good contender here.

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MLPorsche@reddit

the closest they got being killed until the Patagonia special happened

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WackoMcGoose@reddit

"They've shot *their own sign*! What are they going to do to *us*?!"

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Mahajangasuchus@reddit

Not catching the license plate thing in Argentina as well, regardless of how accidental it was

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I still seriously doubt it was some random coincidence especially when it was Clarksons car. It got way crazier than they expected so they played dumb and were like “we didn’t know”. Like it was Clarkson. The guy that loves military history, who is very much a “England, fuck yeah” sort of dude, and who has a long history on the show of saying and doing things to purposefully piss people off. It wasn’t a coincidence.

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Mahajangasuchus@reddit

I completely agree. And I am pleasantly surprised how rational everyone is being, unfortunately most top gear fans just completely dismiss any possibility it wasn’t a coincidence. Their explanation of it makes no sense. James’ logic that it was 50/50 odds is pretty facetious, given it’s just as likely they searched for an offensive plate first and justified it second. Even if I can accept the cosmic coincidence that that happened, what totally breaks it is *they brought a backup plate with them*. Really? They had a backup plate for a car they never noticed had an offensive plate?

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Ashjaeger_MAIN@reddit

I'm neither British nor argentinian so the plate didn't really mean anything to me, is it actually like that obviously an offensive message? What does the H stand for? Because I always thought the H didn't really mean anything so you had to remove it to get 982 FLK which I genuinely wouldn't have even been able to connect with a historical event when asked to. Though as I said I'm neither British nor Argentinian so maybe its just that.

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kd0g1982@reddit

H982 FLK looks like 1982 Falklands aka the 1982 Falklands war between the UK and Argentina.

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Ashjaeger_MAIN@reddit

I am aware what people associate it with, I was just saying that as someone not from either country H982 didn't scream Falklands to me.

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kd0g1982@reddit

I’m also a naval history nerd so 🤷‍♂️

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JWoolner76@reddit

I think the H982 just looked like 1982 or that’s what I always thought

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Interestingcathouse@reddit

I definitely couldn’t say that 8 years ago without being downvoted by the “the original license plate stays with the same car” crowd. But you also couldn’t say anything negative about Jeremy either. So those people either aren’t here anymore or they grew up and are no longer idiot teenagers idolizing famous people.

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grubas@reddit

I always thought they KNEW it could be offensive but figured they could change it out. Except it resulted in absolute bloody madness and now nobody will admit it.

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Agreeable-Ad4079@reddit

wasn't it a random date of the war? It wasn't even famous

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Glunark2@reddit

1982 stays in your mind if you were alive at that time and were bad at geography, and confused the Falklands with the Shetlands.

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JimmyShirley25@reddit

It said H982 FKL. If it was an accident, it was an incredible coincidence. I personally think they thought they would get away with it, realised the massive fuck up they caused and vowed to never admit to anything to actually not cause a potentially even bigger and more dangerous controversy. Also maybe to protect themselves from any legal claims. But that's nothing more than wild speculation.

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Red4pex@reddit

It’s 100% this. Best to keep your mouth shut forever.

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Stierscheisse@reddit

I keep imagining an intern mentioned that car ad with that plate in production office, they all had a laugh, then there's a quiet minute, and then they knew the next location and type of cars for the next special...

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longshot201@reddit

I really want to believe it was an accident, but the trios history makes it hard to believe it wasn’t. If it was an accident, it’s a wee bit shocking they didn’t connect the dots it could be a problem. They figured out pretty early into the trip people noticed if I remember correctly.

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moon__lander@reddit

Some [gov.uk site](https://vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk/) says the plate is indeed the legal plate for the Porshe but I'm not from UK and I don't know when a car's licence plate changes or since when it had that plate

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Candayence@reddit

It had had that plate for decades. IIRC, Clarkson claimed there were two differently coloured Porshes available, and he picked the one that would show up better. He would never have even looked at the plate. Going by their standards, if they did make a joke about that, it would have been a) incredibly obvious, and b) not on a license plate that was promptly switched out when someone noticed it could be offensive.

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Lele_@reddit

There is no way in HELL that wasn't intentional.

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TheLastDropInn@reddit

With hindsight this is definitely the answer. But it’s difficult for a Brit to understand the exact volume of irony deficiency your average southern Yank possesses…

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BlueFox5@reddit

Calling a southerner a Yank is like calling someone from Scotland a Londoner

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DittoGTI@reddit

Go up to Scotland and call them Americans, you're probably likely to end up with a similar reaction to garage owner woman

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BlueFox5@reddit

Why would you go to Scotland and call people americans? Thats not even a proper comparison. You’re just grouping people we’ve talked already talked that has no place in this conversation. There were bloody conflicts between yanks and southerners, Scotsman and brits. There was no war between scots and americans. You do see that now, right? You do understand what a comparison is, right? It’s surely not your weird attempt to one-up the conversation. Right?

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absolute_monkey@reddit

🤓

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KnightsOfCidona@reddit

Richard Porter came up with the idea of that one, it was based on old idea he had called the Texas Smart Car challenge where a presenter would drive a Smart Car through Texas with 'Man Love Rules OK' written on it. When they were doing the US episode, he decided they can adapt this plan. He however wasn't on the shoot but with his American girlfriend (now wife) in LA and he told her what they guys were gonna do. She panicked and told him they're not going to react well in Alabama to that and they could be hurt. He tried to get in touch with the crew to tell them to not do it but it was too late!

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Cicero912@reddit

> Southern Yank Excuse me, us Yanks have nothing to do with those Dixies

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jaiteaes@reddit

Many of us "Dixies" don't want anything to do with them either tbh

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PheIix@reddit

There are a lot of deficiencies going on over there...

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bigpaparod@reddit

A lot of family trees that look like Charlie Browns X-mas tree.

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sporkmanhands@reddit

“I’d like you to meet my wife and sister” And it’s just one lady standing there

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jugularhealer16@reddit

More wreaths

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This_is_Topshot@reddit

The family telephone pole as I like to call it

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Bandguy_Michael@reddit

When the family tree is just a straight line…

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sentinel1280@reddit

When you turn the family tree into the family bush, you can't hide as much underneath...

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Bandguy_Michael@reddit

There’s no deficiency of inbreeding!

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The_Blue_Rooster@reddit

Haha, calling them a "Southern Yank" would have resulted in unavoidable violence.

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brodie1912@reddit

Go down there and call them a “southern yank” and you’ll know just how nuts that bit was!

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Naievo@reddit

Southern Yank

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Sonoda_Kotori@reddit

H982 FKL would like to have a word with you

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OrangetangyOrka@reddit

I think the slogans on the cars in America were probably the most reckless. Patagonia was an accident, America was intentionally seeing if they could rile people up, and they nearly got shot lol

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musezach627@reddit

I’m pretty sure sailing into the south China Sea with boats not meant for open ocean was probably the dumbest thing they did. They looked legitimately in danger that time.

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DannyArcher6@reddit

Hammond got battered to the point of pissin himself, felt bad for him at the end.

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GreenT1979@reddit

What about the time they did the same thing in the English Channel in 3 cars that were haphazardly converted to be amphibious?

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YoungBeef03@reddit

Given they had real boats with their camera men on them nearby, it couldn’t have been that dangerous. Should the worse happen, that is, their car boats sinking, it’s as simple a save as gingerly floating over to the camera boat

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Speedster202@reddit

The episode showed the camera boats in that storm taking on water and struggling just as much as the other three. None of their boats were designed for those conditions. Very lucky nobody died.

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YoungBeef03@reddit

I was talking about the English Channel with the boat cars

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Speedster202@reddit

Ah my bad I completely misread! Apologies.

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YoungBeef03@reddit

That said, I can’t imagine having Jeremy Clarkson involved in any marine transportation would end well.

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Speedster202@reddit

I thought he had a boating license though? I would assume he would be smart when it comes to boats if that is the case.

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HaydenJA3@reddit

The camera boats were also in a lot of danger

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iamabigtree@reddit

Not really. It was a calm-ish day. They had support crew alongside the entire time. Even if they had sunk and ended up in the water they would have been scooped up quickly.

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Rinaldootje@reddit

It was dumb, but the english channel is much less volatile than that storm was. With addition a couple of support vessels nearby. If anything would happen they would for sure be hauled into a support vessel and safely boat back to the UK The south China Sea, was more a giant risk, it was already a very severe storm, and while there were support vessels nearby, it's already shown in the episode itself, these were also in quite a lot of trouble, with lots of water going in already. if anything would have gone wrong, it would have been a disaster.

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Jaded-Tear-3587@reddit

The camera boats were small and underpowered for the conditions

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JWoolner76@reddit

And sinking aswell

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Qurutin@reddit

They seemed seriously to be in distress, and genuinely worried about James. They're not good enough actors to look like that just for the camera. It could've ended really, really badly. And frankly, for all the shit they gave BBC and their health & safety, that would've never happened with them.

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Roflcopter71@reddit

Which episode was this?

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IndianaBones_@reddit

What episode is this? Seem to have missed it

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evilbeaver7@reddit

Seamen. S04E01. Hammond looked genuinely terrified for his life. Easily the most dangerous thing they've done imo

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longshot201@reddit

3 people died in that storm there that day from what I remember. They are very lucky to have made it out alive and this has my vote.

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barth_@reddit

It doesn't even crack top 20 of stupidest things they've done

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SubjectiveAssertive@reddit

Hmmm the deliberate crashes in the £100 challenge is probably up there, or the ones in the trucks. Because those were designed to be crashes this was an accident.

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gigem9000@reddit

what season, episode is this again?

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SubjectiveAssertive@reddit

£100 cars is series 4 episode 3 of Top Gear. Lorry Drivers series 12 episode 1

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gigem9000@reddit

thanks!

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Altodial@reddit

Which one was this?

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poormansRex@reddit

Back in the middle Top Gear days, they tried being hgv drivers, and deliberately crashed into obstacles that weren't very forgiving.

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CanadianGoose11@reddit

Jeremy did a brick wall if I remember correctly

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Altodial@reddit

Ah yes i remember the one of the trucks but not the one of the 100& challenge

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hatlad43@reddit

That was the first ever Cheap Car Challenges featuring a £100 Audi 80 bough by James, a £100 Rover 416 bought by Richard, and a £1 Volvo 760 bought by Jeremy. S04E03

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Robbomot@reddit

Jeremy did a brick wall in s4e3 cheap car challenge when his speedometer wasn't working so hit it at nearer 40 than the planned 30mph. He then smashed into a brick wall in the hgv challenge.

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Vahilior@reddit

Speed and power, thats what you need when driving into a brick wall.

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Daddy_Smokestack@reddit

Yeah Richard and James were perfectly fine. Jeremy was fucked.

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Funkagenda@reddit

I think after the fact, we found out that the mortar in the wall hadn't fully dried (cured?) and that's part of why it was so destructive. The wall ended up being much heavier than anyone realized because of so the extra water.

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AurelianBear@reddit

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZhtZRl9OIQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZhtZRl9OIQ)

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WeNiNed@reddit

Those were stupid, but at least they had some safety precautions. Burma special where the crane fell over is imo the most stupid thing, but the Police Fiat's spike wheel coming off nearly hitting the crew, or Richard flipping the suzuki van (he still has neck problems i think) is up there

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patta14@reddit

The crashes in the trucks were the first ones that came to my mind. That was nit very smart

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orbital0000@reddit

Jeremy couldn't drive on the pagani (I think it was) on track after that as he was injured from hitting the wall.

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Track_Boss_302@reddit

You are correct. Not sure why you got downvoted. He literally says so on the next episode, and Hammond was too busy selling fish

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Pottatothegreat1985@reddit

Jeremy getting chucked around in his truck is seared into my memory

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JudasAD@reddit

He immediately grabbed his chest, you can SEE THE PAIN, I was like ooiiuffff, the way he moans is also baked into my head.

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Bfife22@reddit

“Oh god almighty” then grabbing his neck 😬

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Ilpav123@reddit

"The gear stick went up my arse" "After the gear stick was removed from Jeremy's bottom..."

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RedFive92@reddit

😂😂

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SupportGeek@reddit

I’m honestly like this with James tunnel crash, watching his head bounce was just….damn

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MaximusGrassimus@reddit

“Are you hurt?” “The gear lever’s gone up my ass” “Ok”

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Trance354@reddit

As is my laughter at the orangutan.

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Simoxs7@reddit

Also the sequence before that nicely illustrated how practical seatbelts can be even when you’re not crashing.

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Fallenangel152@reddit

I can not imagine the amount of paperwork they would have to do to get that done. There is no way that would happen today.

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ragnarok_klavan@reddit

As Clarkson said, "We have proper accidents on this show!"

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JoseCansecoMilkshake@reddit

"Have a crash? On purpose?"

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imscottmalkinson94@reddit

"He's woken up, stuck in a lorry cab with five fireman 😃" 😂

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Colavs9601@reddit

What was the challenge where they had to crash at 30mph and Jeremy didn’t have a working speedometer?

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AppropriateGrand6992@reddit

my crash at 40mph

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Loui5D@reddit

The teenage first car challenge i think, he was in a volvo estate iirc

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echocall2@reddit

It was the season 4 £100 car challenge. Different Volvo

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Loui5D@reddit

Right you are, it just got uploaded onto the classics challenge.

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Legendary_Hercules@reddit

>Different Volvo Same sex appeal.

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The_Mellow_Tiger@reddit

Getting all the geography teachers hot and bothered.

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Lewinator56@reddit

No, that one had an anarchy flag

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Kichigai@reddit

Teenage First Car challenge was, hands down, one of the best they ever did, and the most realistic. Right down to needing insurance to fit within the budget. But sneaking out, hanging out, the incident with James’ radio…

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manuel_f_p@reddit

Probably one of my all time favorites

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Kevinator24@reddit

Wrong challenge/Volvo lol. That car he broke the rear window with his Anarchy flag pole lmao

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Beahner@reddit

$100 cheap car challenge where Jeremy got his Volvo for £1

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bossrabbit@reddit

What episode was that? It sounds hilarious

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badonkagonk@reddit

Season 4 episode 3. I remember that was the first one I watched when I was a very young kid.

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ihathtelekinesis@reddit

That series was right around where the show started to find its feet.

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ArtIsDumb@reddit

& that was when Quentin Tarantino started to take notice...

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UltraJackPlayz@reddit

I also watched it lol. I fkn laughed at the fact that he spent just a quid for the car

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Beahner@reddit

Answered but I just remember it was way early in the series and was one of the first challenges of this type I remember seeing. Between crashing the cars into walls and Jeremy fist pumping that he won by getting the car for £1 hooked me in for sure.

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resh78255@reddit

that “ONE POUND!” is forever ingrained into my memory

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jakedasnake2447@reddit

That and "He's bought a Rover!"

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Ilpav123@reddit

It looked like James went into the wall at like 10 mph because he was too scared and refused to go faster lol

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Fuzzy-Cap7365@reddit

And he still died.

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KnightsOfCidona@reddit

'I've had a good life...I met Stephen Fry. And Jodie Kidd'

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AppropriateGrand6992@reddit

any of the deliberate crashes was probably worse. but the absolute worst thing was the drive across Alabama with very liberal and anti redneck slogans on the sides of the cars, they really could have been killed where as with this tunnel thing speed and reaction timing was everything.

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JaiEye@reddit

Argentina.

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Calm_Cranberry6303@reddit

Yes. Visiting Argentina in the first place was a stupid thing to do. Shithole of a country

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Novacc_Djocovid@reddit

People bring a lot of examples for even more stupid things like intentional accidents but even for intentional accident you can plan somewhat ahead. I think none of these can top a speed contest in a dark tunnel towards a solid stone wall with no space for evasive maneuvers. I got so anxious just watching this with the lights coming on while they race towards the wall. No other scene has done that for me before. So for me that‘s a definitive yes.

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SpaceAgePotatoCakes@reddit

Yeah I'm not sure how anyone thought that was a good idea. Any sort of mechanical failure and there's nothing to do but go into a wall. If a fire is involved nobody is going to be able to get anywhere near the car. Just a terrible idea all around.

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Skunkzilla44@reddit

James being rubbish with a shotgun is a good candidate

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kd0g1982@reddit

I like guns, I own a good number of guns. Every. Single. Time. That clip of May trying to look down the barrel makes me cringe and my stomach to churn just as much as having seen people irl do the same thing.

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Skunkzilla44@reddit

Definitely spikes my blood pressure a bit every time fr

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SpaceAgePotatoCakes@reddit

to be fair to James, looking down the bore is one method for the last step of the PROVE technique for ensuring a gun is safe. They were in Canada at the time and PROVE is what is in the Canadian firearms licensing course.

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DamnInternetYouScury@reddit

The moment in Syria when James yells GO GO GO while standing in the path of the tow rope, then proceeds to slam his head on a rock comes to mind

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heeringa@reddit

Read through the comments and was sad to find this as far down as it was.

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existential_chaos@reddit

I can still remember his blood on the floor.

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Interestingcathouse@reddit

It’s called the ground when it’s outside.

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bowserusc@reddit

Is this a super subtle Parks and Rec reference? Probably not, but I recently watched an episode where Ron says this to someone.

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Interestingcathouse@reddit

It was actually. I love that line.

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BlackestBeetle@reddit

Outside? What is that thing? Is it a type of floor, like stone floor, wood floor, etc?

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dagbrown@reddit

The big blue room.

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DoritoBenito@reddit

Outside is when the floor makes your shoes dirty instead of your shoes making the floor dirty.

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ARK_Redeemer@reddit

"Outside? *Please*, we're Redditors! We don't even know what that means!" 😆

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Miss-Indie-Cisive@reddit

It’s the look on his face when he realises he doesn’t know where he is or what they’re doing there. And Hamster being so subdued when talking to him.

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Lewinator56@reddit

*what are you two wearing?*

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pavo_pdf@reddit

Which episode was this again?

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Careful_Trip_311@reddit

Middle East Special I think

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Goatfellon@reddit

It's the Syria Christmas special, isn't it? Or are those one and the same and I'm just accidentally being a dick

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_Diskreet_@reddit

When baby Jeabus turns out to be the Stig.

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Interestingcathouse@reddit

They are the same but the episode wasn’t specifically about Syria, they just were in Syria for a bit. It was a Christmas special following the path of the 3 dudes that brought a bunch of crap to a magical baby.

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Goatfellon@reddit

Ah dang. Thanks! It's been about 7 years since I watched it all, my memory was a bit fuzzy on the details

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DEATHbyBOOGABOOGA@reddit

James?

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jonnygecko@reddit

Scrolled down to find this- I don’t think most people understand the risk associated with that specific (and very common) accident and how close that was to a forever nap. I have way more recovery experience than reasonable and that scene played out in slow-mo with a sinking stomach.

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Edm_swami@reddit

Late to the thread, but that was the first thing that came to mind. It's so dangerous standing in between towed vehicles. He's lucky he didn't get killed.

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Sir-Barks-a-Lot@reddit

I feel like that's on par with the log jumping behind Jeremy's car in the Africa special.

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CaptainMarble90@reddit

That was Himalayas India

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Sure_Comfort_7031@reddit

Thing is - that was dumb if you knew to watch for it. A lot of people do dumb stuff with recovery straps all the time. It's a miracle more people don't die. This was unquestionably, no experience needed, stupid.

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Unitast513@reddit

That was so epically stupid

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Lost-Manner5119@reddit

Most realistic

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Lady-Seashell-Bikini@reddit

Richard accelerating AFTER crossing the finish line was pretty dumb.

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sporkmanhands@reddit

Honestly the Toyota truck on top of an imploded building is fantastically stupid but it just worked out amazingly

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Jim_skywalker@reddit

Not really because it was controlled and there wasn’t anyone in danger.

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doqemddl@reddit

jeremy getting a gear knob stuck in his bottom was also quite stupid.

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Commander_Red1@reddit

The boat special was worse. They went into the open sea with river boats and almost died

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devadander23@reddit

Yes. Studded tires on concrete is extremely dumb and they should have known better. I was cringing as he set off, zero surprise he wrecked

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Baggage14@reddit

Out of interest why is it dumb? I’m over in Canada and lots of people have studded tires in winter. Just curious.

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Jaded-Tear-3587@reddit

Studs don't grip on tarmac

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benedictfuckyourass@reddit

They grip less but they still grip somewhat ok, world of diffrence with concrete where they indeed don't grip at all.

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Jaded-Tear-3587@reddit

Concrete if wet is terrifying

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LibraryBestMission@reddit

Yeah, there's a good reason for why they make roads out of tarmac, or gravel.

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Jaded-Tear-3587@reddit

Studs don't grip on tarmac

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Chipdip88@reddit

Ever try sliding something made of steel on concrete? It actually slides quite easy. Studs are great on ice and gravel, not amazing on asphalt but asphalt is soft so the studs dig in(really bad for asphalt though) and you get some traction. Concrete is extremely hard, the studs don't dig in and just slide on top.

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Ilpav123@reddit

All cars had studded tires and the other two stopped just fine...it was just James pulling a "Hammond" and braking way too late.

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devadander23@reddit

None of them should have been racing down an enclosed concrete tunnel on studded tires.

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thomasshelby1932@reddit

This takes the cake

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NahMateYouAre@reddit

It might be the most surprising thing the captain has done, but not the stupidest

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automobilewreck@reddit

Breaking Stalin's house.

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RLruinedme@reddit

Tbh Richard did way worse with the rimac

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ConsistencyWelder@reddit

The Rimac crash wasn't even his worst crash: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOlZb7K7Kg8

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yankeeman320@reddit

Driving through the American south with that writing on their cars was the dumbest thing they’ve done.

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Geonetics@reddit

No, that football crap in Patagonia

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iDesignz1994@reddit

I have to say, it seemed scripted to me. Haven't been able to shake that feeling for this scene.

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macIovin@reddit

Driving in a deep redneck area in the states with slogans like „country is rubbish“ or hillary for president“ was peak the dumbest idea

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Emotional-Link-1734@reddit

The pond bug may not be as “impactful” but I would never get in that thing, I love it, but I think it was a bit too much.

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DaDawkturr@reddit

Writing “Man Love Rules” and “NASCAR Sucks” in a deep south US state. People argue Patagonia, but that was purely an accident and the locals were trying to stretch something to satisfy a long standing grudge. Purposely writing stuff on the side of your car to deliberately attract attention, knowing it could be potentially violent, is probably the stupidest thing they’ve done ( considering it also endangered the camera crew )

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jasonology09@reddit

Was it a smart move? Absolutely not. But they were counting on Americans not being as stupid as everyone thinks we are. Turns out we're even dumber.

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Mat488@reddit

Some I've not seen mentioned yet: Hammond's Scandinavian flick in the Daihatsu Hijet which left him with a serious whiplash injury that still affects him to this day. Hammond crashing straight into a brick wall, which split his sternum. Hammond trying to land a barrel roll stunt Driving trucks through portacabins The oval races with touring car drivers, which were intended to be demolition derbies. Particularly rolling the catering truck and the stair truck in the airport vehicle race. There's a lot of stupid things outlined on the Hammond Reacts to his Crashes video here. https://youtu.be/LxF7LXNzgaM?si=FOX5Frj3z3IXJLaA

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KuntaWuKnicks@reddit (OP)

I had no idea this existed 😂

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Minibeebs@reddit

I dunno, celebrity brain crash was pretty shit

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pibenis@reddit

James pointing a shotgun to his head

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NeterKhertet@reddit

Nope they’ve done far stupider, that’s why we love them so much 🤣

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NorthPermission1152@reddit

No it was the Alabama graffiti challenge

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Greengiant304@reddit

I remember watching that scene for the first time and thinking that the lights weren't coming on quick enough, and wondering if it was edited to make it look more dangerous. Then May's crash happened and I thought, nope, it really was that dangerous.

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Polirketes@reddit

If I remember correctly, in some shots you could see red lights somewhere near the end of the tunnel, which was put there probably as a braking point. James overdid it anyway, but without such thing it would be straight up suicidal

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bigboyjak@reddit

I'm not sure how the footage is cut, but Clarkson clearly brakes just as he gets to the lights, but in James' footage you see him still accelerating for a few seconds after passing the lights

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Jaded-Tear-3587@reddit

Yeah thing is May totally didn't have awareness of how far from the wall it was. You should reharse to do it decently. Strange because you wouldn'y expect it from Captain Slow to crash this hard

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JWoolner76@reddit

Captain Slow reactions

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Sawmain@reddit

Genuinely have no idea why anyone in the team thought this was a good idea. I saw something happening mile away. Especially because of those lights.

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KarlHp7@reddit

I think it is. Idk whose call it was, or it really was just a misjudgment by James but he could have been very seriously messed up. He’s my favorite, unacceptable. But good tv nonetheless.

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KuntaWuKnicks@reddit (OP)

In a tunnel, in rally cars which means no air helicopter

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ScheduleSame258@reddit

Helicopters don't magically land anywhere ... they need a certain amount of clearance, level surface, etc. There's almost always some level of extraction involved to get an injured person to a spot where a helicopter can land. Considering that it was an active naval base, the helipad was probably 5 mins away or that there were even better medical facilities right on the base.

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Gromle81@reddit

It hasn't been an active naval base for years. Its privately owned and can be rented by anyone. But the hospital is just 20min away, so no need for a helicopter.

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Stierscheisse@reddit

Never underestimate the power of montage in film and TV though. The tunnel and the base could be hundreds of miles apart.

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ScheduleSame258@reddit

That's a terrible disappointment!!!

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JMoney689@reddit

And on studded snow tires 😑

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Jester-252@reddit

That was the beginning of the end for the show

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ohreddit1@reddit

I think the death road in Bolivia in Lorrys with questionable brakes probably the dumbest. This tunnel was just James not being smart.

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izzyeviel@reddit

Britcar 24 hours.

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Anders_A@reddit

I was so concerned when they decided to do this with studded tires that would give really bad grip on that smooth surface. Like why didn't they swap tires off camera?

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ConsistencyWelder@reddit

Jeremy crashing a truck into a brick wall, giving him a neck injury that he's going to have to deal with for the rest of his life, was pretty daft.

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thrakayouface@reddit

Hammond on a Horse

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Random_Introvert_42@reddit

I wonder if the crash was actually scripted and they just overdid it a bit/mis-estimated how hard it would be on the driver (and thus didn't put a stunt driver in)

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the_devils_own_01@reddit

Driving the death road in Bolivia and watching dirt give way under the tires was probably not so smart either.

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WiggyDiggyPoo@reddit

The specific moment when Jeremy needs to pass someone under a waterfall, I'm pretty certain it was one of their cars he's passing but its real squeaky bum time for me when I watch that.

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MrIrrelevantsHypeMan@reddit

I can't even watch that episode

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jembutbrodol@reddit

One of them I am not saying that they need to stop doing stupid stunt, no. But please, for the love of God, take it seriously How can we start? First, there is no need to turn off the lights in the tunnel other than for viewer entertainment The real run should be turned on all the time. No helm? Seriously? NO FUCKING HELM? Nobody did ever occur to say “hey bro, these 3 are used JDM car that is absolutely not in the place for racing into tunnel during snow and ice conditions, should we CHECK THE DAMN BRAKE AND TYRE FOR EVERY SINGLE CAR FIRST BEFORE WE DO THE TEST?

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Cromises_93@reddit

Definitely the slogans in Alabama followed by the £100 car crashes and lorry crashes. Oh and the boat trip through open ocean. I would say Patagonia too but that was more some locals with an axe to grind looking for an insult that simply wasn't there to begin with.

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GreatWolf_NC@reddit

If we're talking about GT, maybe, but going through argentina was I think the stupidest in general.

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Ok-Association-8334@reddit

the diesel hybrid crash test was pretty dumb

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Comfortable-Writer-9@reddit

How could you say that, they proved that Geoff was invincible

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cmgww@reddit

I’m not gonna say the Rimac bc that was just Hammond finishing too hot…plenty of race car drivers with a lot more experience have crashed: I see it every year living in Indianapolis (Indy 500, NASCAR)….May driving in the rain with one arm and a dildo for a “Brody knob” (as we used to call them in the states) wasn’t the brightest idea probably…but the tunnel races are up there for sure

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Jaded-Tear-3587@reddit

More like the car has so much power and before it was driven very slowly. Usually they drive fast in tracks, but those are more forgiving of mistakes. Unless you are in a dragster

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OwnBad9736@reddit

I dunno, putting a DIY convertible people carrier through a car wash always has me in stitches.

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Apprehensive_Rate959@reddit

I'd say it was a decent idea, just misjudged by James. The Argentina special was either an unfortunate coincidence or a dumb mistake, the USA slogans one was one of those that was a stupid idea but, I think it made the special iconic. Everyone remembers that when someone says 'guess what, you're in a hick town man', they're gonna die now as a result. For stupid ones, yeah when they had to crash on purpose for the challenges, or when Hammond tried to Scandinavian Flick a Bedford Rascal van 🤔

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Ilpav123@reddit

Hammond getting his bike wheel stuck in a tram line in St. Petersburg. The Chernobyl challenge.

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Bizzle1345@reddit

Yes, because it was so pointless, dangerous, and not a good spot for filming cars. It was really dark. So, again, yes, dangerous and hardly worth filming. Not to mention that the other two refused to really do it after seeing James.

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0pyrophosphate0@reddit

Nobody else is saying this, but you're right. This was never gonna be good TV, no matter how it turned out.

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Washingtonpinot@reddit

In fairness, being known as Captain Slow really bothered him. IMO you can see it come across in his decisions in the last few specials.

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terry967@reddit

Richard in the jet car

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Zilverfire@reddit

The Death Highway in Bolivia, still gives me anxiety

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Dr_Strangelove1964@reddit

I would argue for taking their tiny boats out into the Mekong Delta would be up there. They genuinely looked like they were going to die.

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iceman1_21@reddit

Stupid...but oh so glorious!

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JJMcGee83@reddit

Yeah it it's definintely up there with reasons they decided to call it quits. It was obvious they had run out of ideas.

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shirty-mole-lazyeye@reddit

What about the license plate thing in Argentina. Or was that truly not on purpose at all? I never did hear for sure

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LebowskiLebowskiLebo@reddit

There’s no way the licence plate thing wasn’t on purpose. It was the same joke they’d done in the past.

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shirty-mole-lazyeye@reddit

Well then that’s gotta be up there, that did not work out well

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weirdoldhobo1978@reddit

I think going to a town full of Falkland War vets with the intent of acting like goofy Englishmen might be the dumbest thing they've done. And no, I don't mean the license plate, I mean the whole plan all together. It was not well thought out.

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bigpaparod@reddit

They had to get permission and all the paperwork first, so it wasn't just them, the government of Argentina were pretty idiotic as well.

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weirdoldhobo1978@reddit

Honestly I think they could have gone anywhere else in Argentina and it would have been a normal Top Gear special, but going to Ushuaia was just not a good idea.

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joecarter93@reddit

They were all over Argentina leading up to going to Ushuaia and they seemed to be treated fine.

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joecarter93@reddit

When I first watched this and before James crashed, I thought this is incredibly dangerous, how did the producers allow them to do this and more importantly, how did their insurance sign off on it? I was kind of amazed tbh. James is incredibly lucky that he wasn’t more seriously hurt.

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SirDigbyChknCaesar@reddit

Yes they wrecked a perfectly good James and a perfectly good Evo.

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closetsquirrel@reddit

Not saying it's the worst, but one I don't see often mentioned was the episode of Grand Tour where they build the giant scales and the entire thing collapses. It's crazy that no one was hurt.

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Bandguy_Michael@reddit

I’d say it’s one of the dumbest things they did on TGT, but there were some serious contenders on TG — Deep south slogans and £100 car crashes to name a few

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iuselect@reddit

My heart is in my mouth every time I watch this scene. It's just horrible. I'm glad he's ok now. They didn't even wear a helmet.. everything about this was just baffling as to how it got greenlit.

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JDMWeeb@reddit

Stupid but entertaining

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Poo_Magnet@reddit

The tow rope incident in the South America (I believe, forgive me if I’m wrong) where James May gets yeet’d and hits his head. I remember watching him go down and hit his head and thinking he’s very hurt. He was super lucky in my opinion. And the runner up for me is the Jet Car Hammond almost died in. That was a very dangerous thing for someone who isn’t a professional to be doing.

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IJustWannaGrillFGS@reddit

It's Syria, but yes that was horrendous to watch, especially as I got older and realised how serious it was.

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LloydChristmas_PDX@reddit

That was the Middle East convertibles trip

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thecountnotthesaint@reddit

I think racing a rare electric super car in an uphill race was pretty dumb. There are only 6 of them in the world....

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Good_Barnacle_2010@reddit

James had a rare moment of clarity of trying to “catch up” with the other two. He was very sure of his car (who isn’t.). He misjudged. And it was a very stupid stunt in the first place. We like hijinks, we don’t want them reasonably crashing into a wall.

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flatironman7@reddit

You haven’t seen Argentina special, have you?

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TheRomanRuler@reddit

I don't think that was stupid though, i don't think they did anything wrong and some Argentinians just overreacted for no good reason. It could have ended beautifully.

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KuntaWuKnicks@reddit (OP)

Oh I have, but this is racing inside a closed tunnel, in rally cars. A bunch of people sat around a table to discuss this and thought, yeah it’ll be fine

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elkab0ng@reddit

The one with the caravan airship, I’m sure there were safety precautions we didn’t see, but damn that one made me cringe.

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GoodStegosaurus@reddit

There was a guy/pilot sat next to May the entire time. You can actually see him in the corner of the interior shots

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elkab0ng@reddit

Ah! I missed that. I’m certain that straying into the airport was either staged or at least hammed up a bit, but the takeoff and landing both were something else to see. Airships are very cool, but out of my league!

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confidentclown@reddit

The whole build your own ambulance sketch was by far the worst one they did. It’s god awful to watch

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Limey_2008@reddit

I'm sorry?? For what kind of god is that awful by any means?

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confidentclown@reddit

It was so scripted and over produced, felt like a dvd extra that was shoe horned into the tv episode

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Garrosh@reddit

Has everybody forgotten about the dragster incident?

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texan01@reddit

That was a proper accident. The tunnel was just James being uncharacteristically aggressive.

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Washout81@reddit

Jeremy driving the lorry through the brick wall is up there.

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NoelRahlis7@reddit

I dont think it the worst thing, i mean they have driven over old bridges and ziplined with cars over rivers, i guess it could be when shit actually backfired majorly.

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Sleep_adict@reddit

Those stunts were highly control and had a ton of experts and off screen support

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Jealous_Big_8655@reddit

So was this one

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Beahner@reddit

Not the stupidest. But it’s high enough on the list IMO

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Trickster289@reddit

I don't think so. They'd done things that could have gone just as bad or worse before, it's just that most times things went right.

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LollipopChainsawZz@reddit

If you mean stupidest as in most dangerous then yes. If you mean just generally stupid I'd argue this is quite mild compared to some of their Top Gear stunts from back in the day.

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