Behind The Glass Dec 4, 2025

[S8, E11] Our Car Of The Year, Top Gear Awards & Yang Wang

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Car

Renault 5

The Renault 5 is a small car that was popular in the 1970s and 1980s. It's being updated now, and people are excited to see how it looks and drives today.

Brand

Ferrari

Ferrari is a famous car company from Italy that makes very fast and expensive sports cars. They are known for their bright red cars and success in racing.

Car

BMW F80

The BMW M3 is a fast and sporty car that's based on a regular BMW sedan. It's famous for being fun to drive and is often talked about because it's a favorite among car enthusiasts.

Car

Porsche 911 GT2 RS

The Porsche 911 GT2 RS is a super-fast version of the Porsche 911 sports car. It's built for racing and has a very powerful engine, making it one of the quickest cars you can buy.

Term

GT2

The GT2 is a special, faster version of the Porsche 911 that is made for racing and high performance. It has a powerful engine and is built to be lighter and faster than regular 911s.

Car

Porsche Cayman

The Porsche Cayman is a sports car that looks like a Boxster but has a hard roof, making it a bit different in style and performance.

Car

Porsche 718 Cayman GT4

The Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 is a sportier version of the Cayman, designed for better performance on the track.

Car

Porsche 718 Boxster

The Porsche 718 Boxster is a sporty convertible car that is fun to drive and has a stylish design. It's known for its good handling and performance.

Company

Yang Wang

Yang Wang is a brand of luxury electric cars that is part of the BYD company, aiming to compete in the high-end car market.

Company

BYD

BYD is a car company from China that makes electric cars and batteries, focusing on environmentally friendly technology.

Concept

Nürburgring

The Nürburgring is a well-known race track in Germany where many cars are tested and raced. It's famous for being very challenging and is loved by car enthusiasts.

Car

Pagani Zonda

The Pagani Zonda is a super-fast sports car made by the Italian company Pagani. It's famous for its cool looks and powerful performance.

Term

production car speed record

This is the fastest speed that a car, which you can actually buy, has ever reached.

Term

electric car

Electric cars run on electricity instead of gasoline, making them different from traditional cars that use fuel.

Term

Bugatti

Bugatti is a brand that makes very fast and expensive cars, famous for their speed records.

Concept

Schumacher era

The Schumacher era is a time in Formula 1 when a famous driver named Michael Schumacher raced for Ferrari and won many championships. It was a very successful time for the team.

Car

Ferrari F80

The Ferrari F80 is a supercar concept that Ferrari created to show off their technology and performance. It combines a powerful engine with electric components to enhance speed and efficiency.

Car

Ferrari 296

The Ferrari 296 is a powerful sports car that uses both a traditional engine and an electric motor to go faster and save fuel.

Car

Ferrari 458 Speciale

The Ferrari 458 Speciale is a faster and lighter version of the regular 458, designed for better performance on the track.

Car

Bugatti Chiron Super Sport

The Bugatti Chiron Super Sport is a super-fast luxury car that is very powerful and expensive. It's known for being one of the fastest cars in the world.

Term

warping of wheels and tires

When wheels and tires get really hot or are pushed hard, they can change shape, which can make the car harder to control and wear out the tires faster.

Term

lifting off the accelerator

When you take your foot off the gas pedal, the car slows down quickly. This can make the car feel unstable, especially if you're going really fast.

Term

300 km/h

300 km/h means the car is going really fast, about 186 miles per hour. Only certain cars can go that fast safely.

Term

aerodynamic parts

Aerodynamic parts help cars move through the air more smoothly. They can make the car faster and more stable, especially when driving at high speeds.

Car

BMW I3 Bmw

The BMW i3 is a small electric car made by BMW. It has a unique look and is made with eco-friendly materials, making it different from traditional cars.

Car

Fiat Panda

The Fiat Panda is a small car that's easy to drive around the city. It's great for running errands and is known for being practical and efficient.

Car

Renault 4

The Renault 4 CV is an old-fashioned small car from France that was very popular a long time ago. It's often talked about because it's cute and represents a different time in car history.

Car

The Rolls-Royce Spectre is a super fancy electric car that combines luxury with being eco-friendly. It's important because it's Rolls-Royce's first electric model, showing how they are adapting to new technology.

Car

Audi Allroad

The Audi Allroad is a special kind of wagon that can handle rough roads and is still very nice inside. It's talked about because it’s practical for different kinds of driving while looking good.

Car

Kia Ev9S

The Kia EV9 is a new electric SUV that doesn't use gas and is designed to be spacious and modern. It's important because it shows how car companies are moving towards electric cars.

Car

Renault Twingo

The Renault Twingo is a small car that's easy to drive around in the city. People like it because it's fun and practical for everyday use.

Car

Ford Mustang GTD

The Ford Mustang GTD is a super fast version of the classic Mustang sports car, made for racing and high performance. It's talked about because it takes the Mustang to a whole new level of speed and technology.

Car

Aston Dbxs

The DBX is Aston Martin's first SUV, which means it's a bigger car that can carry more people and stuff. It's important because it helps the brand reach more customers who want both luxury and space.

Car

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Hello and all, and welcome to Behind the Glass,

your weekly automotive podcast, hosted by two rather uninformed enthusiasts.

I'm Sam from the YouTube channel Seem2Glass.

I'm Tony from Gravelord Castel, and you can watch us each week.

We hope you enjoy the episode.

Well, last week, I went to a party.

What sort of party?

An actual... Well, it was a party.

It was an award ceremony.

Not black tie, it was an industry shindig.

Shindig?

I know that for a while.

Hosted by the lovely team at BBC Top Gear.

Right, so Top Gear Magazine, I should clarify,

because I think there's still some confusion over that corporate identity.

Do you know what I mean?

But you did dress up though, mate.

I did.

You didn't let us down.

Mate, I put a suit and tie on.

There were lots of people in the room who didn't have ties.

Right.

There was, oh my God, I fell in love with a man.

Really?

Not the first time.

I wish I fell in love with two men.

But on my table, we're going to get into all of this,

was the man from Ferrari, and he had a beautiful Ferrari tie on.

Yeah, yeah.

And actually, it's like the only words I've spilt.

Does he like you?

No, why he didn't?

Because I literally said to myself, I was like,

I love your tie.

Like looking deeply into his eyes, and he went,

good at you.

And then like turned away, and I was like,

oh, okay, cool.

Oh, mate, a big mistake.

That was my one chance for an F80 allocation.

But then, so this was BBC Top Gear Car of the Year.

What's all this like?

I have.

You have an issue.

This is literally what was gifted to me.

BBC Top Gear, the world famous awards issue.

I think it's just called Top Gear Awards.

I don't think it's Car of the Year.

Although there is Car of the Year as part of the award.

Okay, we're calling it Top Gear Awards.

Nice.

Now, people like me don't usually get invited

to these kind of events.

They are sort of behind closed doors industry events.

Essentially, the people in the room were

Top Gear journalists or BBC journalists,

manufacturer PRs, and then manufacturer executives.

Right.

A few sprinklings of other people in there as well.

But you invited you, mate.

Well, I've got to shout out Roan Hall Castle.

Absolutely legend.

But I think sort of the Top Gear team in general,

weirdly, it really blows my mind to say this.

They're quite nice about us, the Top Gear team.

Really?

Yes.

Blimey.

Over the years.

That's been the only one.

We've received quite a few nice messages from the team there.

And we're obviously very supportive of everything we do.

I think what we've spoken about so many times before,

we kind of love the content and the articles

and stuff that Top Gear do.

So it feels like this nice symbiotic

kind of supportive relationship.

Fair enough.

So I have lots of stories, lots that I think you're going to enjoy.

But I also, the main point is I'm not just here

to talk about how I went to a party.

I want to break down the awards,

talk about some of the categories

and some of the winning cars.

And then, I guess, start to mull over what maybe are

car of the year might be.

Because you know me, I often forget what I've driven.

So I thought, you'd help me remember

what we've experienced.

Anyway, come back to that later.

I'll let you think about that one.

So where do I begin?

So the awards were hosted in this sort of private members club.

It's called So House.

A lot of people have heard of it.

Yeah, very fancy.

So good.

Food was amazing.

So I always worry about those kind of industry events

or awards ceremonies.

Because there's not always a lot of money

floating around for those kind of things.

Really?

Yeah, no, it's not.

Because, well, first let's BBC.

Let's face it.

Well, they haven't got any money yet.

I don't think so.

Paying lawyers bills to come care of all of their messes.

But anyway, you know, yes, I don't think you can always

expect great food.

It's often what I'm going to classify wedding food.

Oh, dear.

It's no on-the-road drive and tour toilet.

Fair.

But this one was.

The food was amazing.

Kind of all sharing.

Platters, which I struggle with the bigs.

I'm going to be so...

You don't want to share?

No, I'm just going to give me the...

Is that all for me?

Yes, I'm going to share it.

These 15 lamb chops are all for me.

Fantastic.

But I don't want to have to pass the place on.

And he's genuinely like that, by the way.

And then because, you know, my parents, I guess,

tried to bring me up.

Well, I'm always like, you know, pass around first.

And then by the time it gets to me...

Pass around really hardly.

The plate.

Are you serious?

You probably don't want this.

It looks disgusting.

I'll try it for you.

Do you like spicy food?

These are really spicy.

Well, the bit that killed me, there was a great pasta dish

and I was on the table with Ferrari.

And I was like, oh, they're going to take all the pasta

that they don't have Italians.

And they did.

And I was like, OK.

Did they?

Yeah.

Oh, my God.

He was just scooping it up.

But you know, all the Italians that I know, mate,

they don't like our pasta.

Well, this is what I was like.

That's not real.

It's not the same.

I was like, well, that means the pasta's got to be good.

And he's just eating it all.

We're not like, bastard.

Got on daddy's top.

Wouldn't give me an FAT allocation.

And I ate all the pasta.

So anyway, fancy schindig.

You know, you arrive, there's some drinks,

people are buzzing around.

And obviously, well, I'm sort of there alone

and I'm a bit like kind of out of my depth.

Of course, I do know a lot of people in that room.

I know a lot of the manufacturer of PRs.

I know quite a few of the executives.

And obviously, from a journalist's point of view,

I end up on rotation at press events.

You know who is there?

Whom?

More guests by my reaction.

I'm talking about journalists.

Sometimes talk you're affiliated.

Geoffrey Bobbitton.

Yeah, yeah.

Why don't you get him on ear, mate?

Oh, well, that's a good point.

I think he would come on.

I'll ask him.

Yeah, I'll ask him.

Yeah, that would be fun.

Because that would be really interesting.

Because I'll be able to ask some proper questions.

Yes, about proper driving rather than, you know,

asking me about.

Because you can drive as well, right?

Oh, I can.

Yeah, I mean, well, you know,

you know how I feel about this.

I did go to everything and say,

I don't know if you ever heard it,

but the last time I spoke about it on the podcast,

I did slightly deify you.

It's quite embarrassing.

So if you haven't heard it, please never listen to it.

Could you please let me know if the Australian order

dusterly is true or step away?

In the mean time, a bouncer came in saying,

sorry, Mr. Bobbitton does not want to see you.

Oh, so yeah, plenty of people that I knew,

but still quite an intimidating room to step into.

Quite a serious room.

And, you know, I was a bit like,

so no, buzzing around.

And I see the Porsche gang.

Something like, well, at least I'll go over there.

And as I'm sort of walking,

I sort of bump into something.

I'm like, I'm sorry.

And I turn around, Andrea's pointing at me.

Oh, nice.

So I'm like, hello.

I've never met him.

I'd like to have a chat with him.

From my experience, an unbelievably nice guy.

I mean, we're essentially a Porsche podcast these days.

Most of you listening will know this.

Obviously, Andy, I'm going to call him Andy.

I don't think he wants me to call him Andy.

I don't know if that's a thing.

I'm going to call him Andy or Big A.

I'm basically responsible for every real GT car you can come

apart from, I think, 9 and 6.1 GT3.

Which is why I instantly like him,

because I've never met him, because indirectly,

he's bring me so much joy over the years,

because of all the GT cars I've had.

Well, he won the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Oh, did he?

I mean, it might not be called exactly that.

And forgive me, Top Gear team,

I'm going to probably misquote some of the award names

and categories and things like that.

But yeah, essentially, the Lifetime Achievement Award.

He is, you know, super discool and weirdly unpeared

for somebody at his level and his position.

A lot of people I meet, those kind of executives,

are so media trained and quite, you know, tight-lipped.

And anyway, he was very chatty, very nice.

And at the end of the evening, said to me,

see you in springtime.

Right.

I was like, oh, spring.

I think he actually said April,

but maybe that's revealing too much.

Oh, you know what I mean?

I love to real Porsche secrets on this podcast.

So I can say April.

But I think he said spring.

Let's keep it spring.

Let's be fake.

So, well, that's one of two cars.

There was a lot of...

Okay, go on.

What do you think?

My personal opinion, Dot 2 Free RS.

Yes, okay.

If I'm honest, there's another one,

but I don't think that's quite...

You think it's the GT2 RS?

Not yet.

It's too early, mate.

Well, there's been so many rumors about that car,

because I heard a complete rumor

that that was supposed to be a 902.1 car,

and they basically couldn't get it to work

and set up and do what they wanted to do.

So they went, let's weigh and do it as a Dot 2.

But can I just tell you something about that?

Oh, please, yeah.

The GT2s are normally 10-year cycles, normally.

Okay.

So if it come on a 992.1, it's way too early.

So I think...

Well, hold on a second,

because it was a 991.28...

What, 2018?

2018, yeah, announced 17, released 18.

Yeah, okay, so it is a bit too soon.

So, you know, we're still two years away.

I mean, they might announce it next year,

but I can't see it coming till 27.

I'm fascinated to see whether that car

will have the T-Hybrid system,

because it's sort of anti-visual,

but it's got to, right?

Yeah, yeah.

And if you look at what Bentley just did,

removing hybrid systems,

obviously the T-Hybrid is nowhere near as heavy,

and, you know, it is performance...

Yeah, fascinating to see on that car.

Because the...

Can we say the current GT2 RS,

as in the 18 model car?

Yeah, the last GT2 RS.

That isn't a light car.

It's not like a true RS.

It's like 150 kilos heavier, because of the...

And they've got to have it,

because of the four-wheel drive system at the front.

You better be, you said that.

Tony's taken the piss, because, yeah,

I once claimed the GT2 RS was a four-wheel drive.

It's so good.

It's not that good.

It's embarrassing, really.

Completely discredits me.

I spent one, was it last?

We got two weeks ago,

just proving that I know nothing

about mechanically fixing a car.

And now you've completely undermined

my sort of Porsche credibility too.

I might as well just go home at this point.

Anyway, it's because the new turbo RS,

I think, is more powerful, isn't it,

than the GT2 RS.

So they've got to...

Anyway, we're getting caught up in the details.

Yes, you're probably right.

It's probably the new 3 RS.

Could be the new 3 RS.

Like, when are we going to see Boxster Cayman?

And are they going to launch that with a GT4?

Would that be insane?

They couldn't, could they?

Boxster Cayman, not next year.

No, it's got to be 3 RS.

Because then...

Oh, no, I know what it is.

I know what it is.

It's the GT3 Cabriolet.

That's what it is.

It's the GT3 Cabriolet.

I've just put two and two together.

There you go.

I'm fairly certain that's what it is.

Yeah, that's the long route.

And it's been seen developing.

And not a speedster, but a Cabriolet.

Yeah, that's...

Because you're right.

That's what that car should be.

The speedster.

Yes.

What if they're still going to make a speedster, though?

God, amazing.

Anyway, we suddenly ended up making

this whole Porsche chair,

which it wasn't.

No, no, I like it, mate.

I know it's GT cars.

And a lot of audience, too.

But anyway, Andy, Big A, my mate.

Love you, too.

Your mate, but he's not really...

No, no.

He makes me tell you anything.

Because he started a conversation with...

Where did we meet?

I was like, oh, damn it!

Come on!

Come on, we're great friends.

Anyway, cool to see you.

By the end of the evening, we were great pals.

So, yeah, so, you know, after that,

I sort of waffed it around.

And, you know, I could shout out

the people I was rubbing shoulders with.

But I forgot most of their names.

No, no, it's okay, it's okay.

But it would just be boring

and it's not that interesting going on.

It sounds like I'm just sort of, you know,

name dropping.

I will name drop throughout this podcast,

but I'm not going to literally

break it down person by person.

Okay, fine.

So, we went to my table.

I was literally sitting in front of the stage.

I, at one point, was like,

am I about to win something?

Is this...

Like, have they just secretly invited me here?

Have I got to present this award?

Well, that would be more obvious.

But in my big ego head, I was like,

why am I sitting right in front of the stage?

Like, literally, I was front row, mate.

Front row.

And on my table...

Oh, you've done well.

Very well.

I had a couple of lovely BBC team members.

Oh, Oli Q, you know who Oli Q is.

And then I had Ferrari.

Yeah.

And...

They still like you.

Well, let's get into that.

The BYD group.

Oh.

Most specifically, Yang Wang.

No joke.

I was sitting on the table with Yang Wang.

What the actual man?

Or is it his name?

Well, I think he's called Yang Wang.

But obviously, we've spent so long on this podcast

talking about Yang Wang.

And how much we love Yang Wang.

Do we love him?

Well, we love the name.

We love saying Yang Wang.

And we love the fact that Yang Wang

made the first step of production car.

And that's Yang Wang that did it in the UNI.

Yeah.

You know, when you can walk up to a pub and they go,

oh, what a cool looking car.

What is it?

That was my Yang Wang.

Um, I think I slacked that off when you said that.

Well, no, we all did.

I'm saying this completely sort of tongue in cheek.

Okay, nice.

Because it's Yang Wang.

Can you forgot him?

Carry on.

Yes.

But also...

I am an investor in BYD.

So it's quite good to be amongst the team.

Yeah, yeah.

To understand the product and prospect of running shoulders

with my investors.

Actually, because I invested in Fry too.

For me, it was an investor evening.

I've just realised.

I was just sitting there as an investor.

Yeah.

Well, I didn't make that clear.

I didn't make that clear.

Hang on.

If you don't know that, by the way,

Swiss Crote Bank Europe, about a year and a half ago,

I invested in, well, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Mercedes and BYD.

A few...

We should update at some point.

Yeah, a few don't well.

A few haven't.

No.

I know the ones that haven't.

Great to sit there.

And really interestingly, on my table and again,

was the man, Mark...

I'm going to pronounce his name wrong.

Basing.

I kept wanting to call him Basing, but it's not.

It's Mac.

Mark Basing.

Was the man who did the 300 and whatever miles an hour

in the Yang Wang.

Oh, wow.

Unbelievably cool guy.

But he's racing driver, right?

Yes.

So he was a big Nürburgring guy.

Oh, nice.

And there's an old video back in the day of a Zonda revolution.

Driving around the...

Or Revolutione.

Driving around the Nürburgring.

That was him.

He's a Nürburgring lad.

Oh, I'm not having a lot of trouble with him.

Yeah, and a Porsche GT driver.

Proper legend.

And he was the one that did the all-time production car

speed record.

Fine, for an electric car.

For any car ever.

Oh, the speed record.

300 miles.

Something eight miles faster than any Bugatti ever.

Fine, but didn't it get the Nürburgring record

for an electric car as well?

Possibly.

I think it did for an electric car.

I should know these things.

It's sort of cleaning up.

I mean, it's...

Again, so it was fine.

I'm going to try and go through the stage by stage

because I'm going to forget stuff.

Ferrari?

Yeah.

Oh, I'm going to remember the guy's name.

They bought a beautiful Italian man.

Like Gianla, but not...

They're all beautiful, like.

Yeah, I don't get it.

I'm never going to find his name.

Love it.

I have met him before, but he doesn't weird.

He's a little bit too high-brow for me.

You know, he looks down like,

Oh, he's the same for Lawrence.

I still don't embarrass myself endlessly with fries.

I often do.

I wanted to endlessly impress.

Obviously, I knew the PR there.

Fantastic.

What I'm called, Gian, is incredible,

and has hooked up some amazing things for me over the years.

Didn't really have a relationship with this man.

Who's the main man?

This man.

So I was kind of trying to give him eyes.

He was sort of sitting...

He was sitting annoyingly far away from me,

so I couldn't really hobnob with him,

but I could make eye contact.

So I sort of stared being like, you know,

slightly aggressively pursuing him.

And I realized I had this incredible silk Ferrari tie-on

with little tiny Ferrari prancing horses all over it.

And it reminded me back in the Schumacher era,

like late nineties, early nineties,

they would often go to sort of corporate venting

notches in suits with a Ferrari badge on the sort of pocket.

And I always wanted to scour eBay,

or I used to think, oh, maybe I could make one of those myself.

And it gave me that energy.

It was kind of like a tie that only you get

if you're a Ferrari employee.

Because like an immaculate suit, and then there's a Ferrari tie.

So literally, I was like, that's my in.

I'm going to compliment the tie.

So I just kept staring.

And then eventually there was my moment

as I passed him the pasta.

And I said, I love your tie.

And he went, oh, that's it.

Security.

So around the piano, I was like, that's it, kill it.

That was about my conversation with Ferrari,

which is a bit upsetting.

No, I joke entirely.

They were lovely.

And they won, as you would expect,

Supercar of the Year Award for the F80.

And they won another award as well.

What was the other Ferrari one?

I'll say I'm looking down the cover of the magazine.

Oh, the 296 must have won Supercar.

Maybe they won Hypercar for the F80.

Or the Speciale.

Speciale won Supercar, I think, and F81 Hypercar, I think.

So, and I spoke to briefly to some people in the room.

Speciale is supposed to be very, very good.

Okay.

So that's quite exciting.

Well, we didn't expect that.

But good in a good way.

Not as like better, like good.

Okay, good.

So that was encouraging.

And I did ask if I could drive an F80 and they went,

and then turned their heads.

I was like, wonderful.

But yeah, Mark, basing like unbelievable guys.

So they, I think they won Moment of the Year for that speed record.

And I, I'd had the awesome opportunity to meet Andy Wallace before

when I went to Bugatti and did the Chiron Supersport

test drive.

And he shared with me a little stuff,

some of the crazy stuff that happens at those kind of speeds,

you know, the, the warping of wheels and tires.

Can you imagine how much the car's being pushed into the ground?

Yeah, yeah.

Makes so much sense, but you don't think about is obviously

when you lift off the accelerator from 300 miles an hour on the video,

the car jumps like four lanes.

Oh, mate, it must be terrifying.

Terrifying.

My one question was, what would happen if there was a bird in the way?

A bird?

Not, no, not that kind of bird.

Oh.

A flapping wings bird.

What would happen if there was a, you know, an animal?

An animal in the way.

We don't think about that.

No, no, because they're not wide popular.

No, like, you know, I also did want to know, like,

how, like, how much you concentrate?

Because I said, it is, you are just going in a straight line, right?

Like, do you just like zone out and think about the football?

But he's concentrating.

But he's concentrating when he lifts off.

Oh, he's like, in general, like, yes, you know, you are really

concentrating because you have to look a mile down the road

because you blink and you've done the mile.

So you just have to look so, so far.

Yeah.

Really fascinating guy.

He would be a fun guy to get on the show.

Great sense of humor.

Really cool guy.

Great stories and wild.

And was the, you know, of course, he sort of a semi-amaster for them,

but said great things and said the bit which people miss is first

of the acceleration of that car, not just the top speed.

The Bugatti.

No, mate, the Yang Wang.

The Yang Wang now, right?

Okay, fine.

Forget Bugattis, mate.

Right, okay.

What about Yang Wang?

Because he was just talking about Bugatti.

No, no, I said, I spoke to Andy Wallace during the Bugatti experience.

Now speaking of to Mark.

Fine.

And when you look at it on the banking, he's constantly accelerating on the banking

and he's doing like 300km an hour on the banking.

Yeah, yeah.

It's mental.

And the car's not dripping in aerodynamic parts.

No.

So I was at, I mean, you know, Yang Wang, but Yang Wang, you know, so pretty cool.

Well, it's a huge achievement if you're doing 300 mile an hour work.

I mean, that's just incredible in any bloody, doesn't matter what car it is.

No, it was amazing.

I spoke with you to the BYD team.

Any of you out there want us to like look at BYDs?

Because I sort of said that I assumed that our audience are going to be that fast,

but the PR, it was a very good PR, made the valid point that even if you're a Petrohead,

you do sometimes need a daily or a family car and people are buying BYD.

No, you know, I've just done USD all day before.

I've just bought an electric charger for work.

Have you?

Yeah, yeah, because I'm starting to get offered very good value used electric cars now.

I've got two in stock.

So, but you won't believe this.

I've just taken in Park Exchange last week, a 2017 i3 BMW.

Really?

With 30,000 miles on it.

Right?

Yeah.

I'm going to put it up for sale.

Yeah.

Eight and a half grand.

Yeah, unbelievable.

That's a range extender one or that's the...

Yeah, yeah, unbelievable.

But I mean, they're 250 for a city car.

It was ahead of its time.

You're driving a BMW for eight and a half grand with 30,000 miles on it.

I have a friend who lived like that.

That was obsessed.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So incredible.

One of my friends got one.

They literally use it as a shopping car.

They just poodle around in it.

Compared to going and getting a new 3,500 electric or which is what, 20 something?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I mean, at that money, it's only done 30,000 miles.

It's like completely fine.

It's lovely.

Have you seen the new Fiat Panda?

That's a cool thing.

The electric car.

A very good value as well.

Do you know what else I like as well?

The new Renault 4.

Yes.

Oh my God, it's one on the way here.

I think it's one on the award.

Yeah, it has one on the award.

Yeah, because it looks mega.

And when they gave the award out, who was on stage?

Was it Jack Ricks or was it Ollie?

Anyway, they said, fix the foibles of the five.

So that's interesting.

Yeah, fine.

So I'd like to have a go in the four.

It looks really good.

Well, anyway, let us know.

I sort of was like, I don't think the audience would really care.

But if you do, like basically the BYD team, we're like, we can get you cars.

Like if you want to borrow something and check something out.

So, you know, let us know if you're interested in podcasting.

Yeah, I just kind of assumed that people wouldn't really care.

But if people do, then why not?

So yeah, so great table, great chat, great vibes.

I said Jack Ricks was hosting, did an amazing job,

cracked out all the one-liners, loved that.

The stick was there.

And then I say, Jethro got up, spoke a bit,

Ollie Q got up, spoke a bit.

Did anyone else present anything?

I'm not sure.

And I just thought we'd run through some of the awards.

Now, some of that obvious, but there are two that I really want to point out.

Again, I forget the titles of all the awards.

I've picked them up now.

Let me see if I can flick through and actually remind myself some of the names of the awards.

There were obvious things like off-road.

I went to the Okta, which I'm like, okay, cool.

There was something a little dacia that won a design concept, which I thought was cool.

They're bloody good, them little duchies.

By the way, they were like industry cheap them cars.

They're not bloody cheap anymore.

Yeah, they're actually really nice now.

Yeah.

So they did electric car the year went to the Rolls-Royce Spectre Black Bad.

Saloon of the year went to the new CLA, which I am starting to see noise about because

I missed it has a 360 mile range.

Oh, electric car.

Yeah, electric saloon.

So interesting that, isn't it?

Yeah, yeah.

Really good.

They are starting to increase ranges and I'm sure we're going to talk about a

belly buster of a car that's got an insane range.

Yeah.

Anyway, home charging gives an operating radius of 180 miles without using public posts at all.

And the CLA does have a 360 mile range at motorway speed.

We've done it in cold blustery November.

That's 4.2.

Even Tesla's can't live with it.

So, you know, they were very complimentary of that.

Then dacia, yeah, with this little hipster concept one design of the year, which I thought

was cool and cute and very cool.

And everyone in the room was like, oh, you know,

because I knew I was at an industry event there.

We're like, you know, even the fry guys, like, oh, very cool.

Very good.

I was like, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.

So that's the open mid-design.

Was that mid-pastor off?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.

It was very good.

So that was all cool.

Then yes, so crossover of the year was the Renault 4.

Estate of the year was the A6 Avant.

It gets very overlooked.

Yeah, well, so I drove the A5, remember, that rental.

Yeah.

But have you got into one of these new A6s?

Not the new ones, no.

I've got, I've literally got like a five or six-year-old one

coming in to stop next couple of days.

The one that really gets overlooked that's a proper car

is the A6 Allroad.

Oh, mate, don't, I'm going to punch you square in the face.

Well, it's always been meganuck and the A4 Allroad,

but the A6, get out of this room and die.

Why, mate?

Why are you so annoying?

What have I done?

How many times have I said, like, I've bought up A6 Allroad.

Why don't you go and buy one then?

Because you always say, no, I pointless, mate.

No, no, waste of time.

I've never said that in my life.

You do, you do.

No.

Mate, I've sent you links.

Have you?

Yeah.

Oh, I've probably sent this away

to the time because I've fed up with the links.

Get in the bin, mate.

There's a very great car, mate, A6 Allroad.

I know, but it always has been, like, for however long.

No one buys them, though.

Well, it's not that no one buys them,

it's that no one buys them new.

As a used car, they're like gold dust.

Yeah, I wanted an A6 Allroad Vorsprung edition,

a fully loaded one.

You get a nice green.

Yeah, yeah.

I wanted one of those so much,

and you can get there, I said, they're 40-odd grand.

Yeah, yeah.

For, like, a fully loaded one.

Really nice.

Dying.

Anyway, this one's interesting.

They're not leaning on the each one, I don't think.

Let's see.

We live in a choicey era.

You want some really, I was like,

so the A6 follows the zeit, guys,

whether you're an EV believer or perpetual diesel

or hybrid, there's a version for you.

Because the each one is spun off

a totally different platform.

From the combustion models, there's very little compromise

whichever way you lean.

The event has a range of 437.

But anyway, A6 event.

Off-road, it was the Octa.

Yes.

Absolutely.

Then, yeah, especially, it was a super car of the year.

Yeah.

I say people are very complimentary of that.

You haven't driven that yet, have you?

No, and I asked.

I have asked.

Right.

Don't know when that's going to happen.

Okay.

I mean, I would assume at some point,

they'll get one on fleet here in the UK.

It's going to be a while away.

Yeah.

I asked if I could go to the factory and drive one.

That's going to be, I'll be a customer.

There'll be a customer car anyway,

worthless, won't there?

Yeah, I hope next year with enough pressure,

and I might just have to do a little bit more buttering up

and say some nicer things about the Amalfi and then.

Anyway, so that, yeah, I say people were very,

very positive about that and said like,

you know, it is great.

Lifetime achievement.

Did go to Andreas Poininger.

Nice.

So let's see what he brings to us.

Family car of the year.

Go on.

Went to the Kia PV5,

which is the VW ID rival.

Right.

I didn't even, I'd never even heard of it.

No, it's only, can only do 256 miles.

But I think the ID, the buzz is also not particularly great on me.

Mate, I told you last week,

I bumped into a poor lady.

She was fuming.

She had one, and I really like these cars.

She had one of them EV9s, you know, the biggest EVs.

And I was paying for fuel,

and there was a big fuel tank next to the EV9.

And I said to her joker, I said,

you can't put that in there.

So it's electric.

She said, honestly, do not ever buy an electric car.

She said, it's constantly in Kia.

It's constantly broken.

I'm going back to petrol and diesel.

I just cannot wait to get rid of it.

She's fuming.

So can I record you please?

What are you doing next Tuesday?

Hypercar of the year, F80.

Do you know on the way back and watched,

Chris Harris posted that it was the 10-year anniversary

of his P1-918 laugh video.

Nice.

And I hadn't watched it since it came out 10 years ago.

Fine.

And I went back and not much surprised me on the first listen.

They're still relevant then, Carl.

Yeah, it was unbelievable film,

anyway, the way that it's put together in the greatest of ways.

But do you remember the order?

Do you remember the lap times?

No.

Who do you think was fastest?

Walmart Business is in the business of helping your business.

Regardless of whether you're building bridges,

building spreadsheets, or building lesson plans.

Ooh, that looks fun.

Walmart Business can help save you time, money, and hassle,

so you can focus on what you're building

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It's probably the P1.

Yeah, comfortably.

For Walmart track, where do we go?

Portugal.

Where do we go?

Where do we go for carting?

Yeah, Porta Man.

Really?

Yeah.

Now, manufacturer of the year went to Renault,

which I thought was the Renault Group maybe.

I think it was the Renault Group.

And they lent on the new Turbo 3.

What, that 100 odd thousand pound?

No thanks.

But then they also mentioned, like, you know,

they've got lots of other things going on,

Dacia doing, making big moves.

Yeah, yeah.

But I sort of backed that.

Well, for mainstream, but to highlight that Turbo thing,

120-odd grand, I agree with all the other stuff, for sure.

Like, because that's what they're for.

They've got lovely new big van coming,

new Renault traffic, let's you one, Larry one.

And the stuff that Alpine are doing.

I do agree with them as a group.

Renault for me are doing...

Just from a design point of view.

And usability and like,

the new Twingo as well.

They put that on here.

Unbelievably cool looking thing.

Oh, I haven't seen that.

Oh, mate.

Oh, that's pretty.

Really?

But it looks like the old one.

Yeah, yeah.

20K.

20K is going to be really, really great.

Oh, and so here they blah, blah, blah.

Have you seen the BYD surf things?

I saw one, yes.

Because that's a cheap little car, aren't it?

That's a really cheap little car.

Where's the range on here?

Range is quoted at 163 miles.

Yeah.

But with Renault claiming the potential customer base,

averages is 22 miles per day.

So the ship is spot on.

We'll launch it under 20 grand.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But it looks...

Looks adorable.

Yeah, yeah.

This is the stuff I think Renault are doing a clever.

Yeah.

This is where Renault have gone.

Screw the £150,000 electric super saloons.

Let's do this.

Now, performance car of the year.

This one was fascinating.

What's it?

This is the Chimera Evo 37,

which is a Resto mod.

Oh, wow.

Based on the Lancia O37 Stradale.

Now, this has been around for a while.

Yeah.

And I actually have the chance to drive this a few years ago

in Switzerland with car vintage.

Anyway, I had the chance to drive one of these.

A trip got cancelled.

I didn't do it.

So quite weird that this is coming on song or strong now.

It's the first time a Resto one has ever won

performance car of the year.

Wow.

So it was huge.

Yeah.

And everyone in the room was kind of like,

we're so happy given the way the world is that something

which is back to basics, analog, rally inspired,

quite brutal, doesn't always work,

all the kind of best things about what a super car

should represent.

And Jethro.

So you have to drive it.

He's like, go beg and plead.

He said, it's mega.

And I was like, where should I drive it?

He said, make anywhere.

Anyway, it's right size, right amount of power.

It is the most tail happy thing you've ever done.

Can you imagine?

Ultimately controllable.

The founder of the company is an Italian man, X rally driver,

is the most sort of seductive man in the world.

He was there with,

he had like no buttons done up on his shirt.

Do you remember like they were all out.

He was so laid back, you know, very.

What I always like about the Italians is that they sort of

like come alive after 10 p.m.

Yes.

He looked like he was there before going out.

Do you remember how like he just swung by,

just a really cool guy.

And just, you know, he's a bloody X rally driver,

WRC rally driver, like proper.

And he's built this car which everyone in the room

loved, like loved and obsessed with.

So that's a goal of mine in the year to go and get one.

Get involved.

Noise of the year went to the Ford Mustang GTD.

Yeah.

I'm intrigued by that car too.

That's not intrigued by the price of it.

But yeah, it's a lot of money.

But Yang Wang, U9 through the eight miles an hour.

For the super SUVs, they actually named that awful,

sorry, they named it DBXS.

So Freudian slip out there.

Remember I drove it for half a day.

You didn't like it?

DBX 707 all the way.

Oh, right.

They've pushed it way too far, that DBXS.

They love it.

Too aggressive.

Way too stiff, way too aggressive.

Like as a super car that happens to be an SUV,

sure as an SUV that has super cup four, it's definitely not.

It's an Urus performanty rival though, no?

Yeah, but it's just too much.

Way too much.

But I think an Urus performanty is too much.

Agreed.

Fine.

Okay.

God, they've done a big article here against the Pura Sangway.

What, good or bad?

Yeah, but like seven pages.

Right.

It's still going.

2026 car that we're most looking forward to driving.

Yeah.

Bugatti D'Orbillon.

D'Orbillon?

Also, a little shout out here.

Will she like me telling this story?

No, I'm not going to tell this story.

Anyway, no.

Someone from the PR team that admitted that they listen,

which I thought was delightful.

What PR team?

Bugatti Slash Rimac.

Nice.

Anyway, if she is listening, she won't let us.

You know who you are.

Yeah, but there's basically like,

I had an experience of going to visit the factory

with Matty Rimac, who's the coolest guy on the one.

Of course, she was some PR.

Then I think she's elevated into a million

more impressive roles now.

And there was a very funny thing happened when I did that,

that she had forgotten that I remind her of.

Fine.

But I feel like it's probably not.

It's private.

It's just a funny joke.

Fine.

It's nothing like.

And it's probably not funny if you don't,

if you tell it here.

It's an in joke.

It, there we go.

It's an in joke.

But I was very amazed to hear that she listens

every now and again.

Nice.

And I was like, does it matter?

Can you force him?

Let's do a show in the back of,

I don't think there was back seats,

but let's do one in a D'Orbillon.

D'Orbillon.

And then the big moment of the night,

car of the year.

Yeah.

And this was like, whoa.

BMW iX3.

Now we freaked out about this car when it got unveiled

and got very excited.

Or BMW fans, X fans, all these kind of things.

And design wise, stat wise,

why this looks great.

So I was like, wow, have the media drives even happened yet?

Like, like that's quite a big thing to do.

So what had happened was they were getting down,

they basically agreed everything.

And a journalist had gone out to BMW

to do a prototype drive in the iX3

and literally called the teams and guys stop,

we need to consider this car.

Like genuinely need to consider this car for car of the year.

So they went back to BMW and said, look,

we want to be able to consider this,

but we have to drive a,

we couldn't give the award without driving a production car.

So BMW like basically pulled the first car off the line.

And put it in your hands again,

like, sorry if I'm revealing industry secrets here.

And they went out and did a proper road test

in a production vehicle

and decided, yeah, this is, this is kind of,

which I think is huge.

Really huge.

Because this whole noir class movement for BMW,

the man on stage says something ridiculous.

Like there's like 60 cars coming

under the silent noir class vibe, which is insane.

But I like it.

You're still excited by that car?

I'm really excited.

Yeah.

Because it's like 60 odd grand, I think.

Yeah, well priced.

That's just under that.

I think 56.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

Well, I totally put some options on it and whatnot.

Um, it, it's claimed range is actual.

As in,

Supposedly.

Is it 500 miles?

Claimed range of 500 miles.

Yeah, 800 kilometers or something like that.

Even if it's real world, 380, 390, you're doing good.

But, but I'm, I'm told from the dealer world,

which is how I first knew about the car that it'd come in,

that it is like game changing.

As in it's doing what they're claiming, which is mega.

Well, I mean, I think I'd be surprised if it literally does 500 miles

off the block as no one claimed anything,

actual wheel, even MPG figures.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You never get close.

But I think what they were saying in the room is it,

it drives like a BMW.

It drives fantastically.

It performs in all the ways that you'd want to.

The interior is great.

The technology is fantastic.

It feels like a step forward in the right direction for,

as you say, competitively price.

Like everything is tick.

Everything was tick is what they said.

And they said therefore it makes sense.

New battery tech as well.

I mean, this is always the problem with electric cars,

is that we can see that they're getting better now.

It's clear that they're getting better.

But then like an iPhone.

Yes, it's superseded by new tech.

Yeah, the jumps are going to be insane over the next 10 years.

How do you feel about the new Cayenne electric?

I watched a piece on that actually, because it was a Porsche, obviously.

How do I feel about it?

It's a huge amount of money, 200,000 pounds.

For the turbo.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

A thousand horsepower is a bit unnecessary, or 1100, whatever it...

Did you only watch the turbo?

I only watched the turbo.

Yeah, yeah, I only watched the turbo.

Yeah, because that's the only one that would catch my eye essentially.

Really?

Yeah, I mean...

If you were to buy a Cayenne, you'd only buy the Cayenne turbo GT, don't you?

I wouldn't buy an X3.

If I was buying an electric car, I wouldn't spend 120 grand when you can buy something

very similar that drives exactly the same for 60.

But isn't the standard electric Cayenne priced quite competitively to the petrol one?

Because they're still making the petrol one, aren't they?

But there's still going to be a decent spec Cayenne electric.

It's going to be near 100 grand, mate.

Yeah, but so is a standard electric.

Like...

Petrol one.

Yeah, I see, but what I'm trying to say to you is that because electric cars are just tech,

they don't drive any different.

They all drive the same.

I'd spend 60-odd grand on the BMW.

So the Cayenne electric's base car starts at 83 grand.

Yeah.

And then the combustion engine car starts at 77.

Yeah.

So, you know, from performance-wise, comparative performance,

you're looking at the...

Well, that's the kind that you have under the Cayenne S, which is more expensive.

Yeah.

So, if we're doing combustion electric...

And also the turbo electric starts at 130, by the way.

So, if you go mental on the spec...

Yeah, that's fine.

But I saw 200 grand and they said in the video that it can be 200 grand if you give it the big ones.

Yeah, I'm sure.

Yeah.

So, if I had a choice between a petrol car and an electric car for an SUV,

and the SUV was fit for purpose, as in done the same range as the combustion car,

for putling around, I'd consider the electric car, for sure.

As long as I have a charger at home and it could be charged, that's fine.

Because the price difference isn't a huge amount now.

I'm not saying I'd actually go and buy it.

I'd consider it.

The biggest problem that would still probably tip me over to the combustion is the depreciation.

Yes.

I mean, that's still the big question mark.

But McCann's have been doing well.

The electric McCann's.

Because they have McCann in the market in them.

That's why.

But maybe the same thing's going to happen with...

Maybe that's what they need to do.

I think demand from McCann Electric is high enough.

They've not flooded the market.

Whilst pricing is a little bit different for them.

I agree.

I think the turbo electric is...

I don't...

I sort of do get it, but I don't get it.

I think you're right.

Okay, fine.

It starts at just under £131,000.

As we know with Porsche, by the time you've put some wheels on and some leather,

it's going to be £150,000, £160,000.

£200 does seem a little insane, but I'm sure it's possible.

And again, like, do you need...

It does 0-16 in two and a half seconds.

Do you need that stuff?

I don't think so.

No.

But I think the standard car is well-priced for a Cayenne,

and I think represents fairly good value as that big SUV in 398 miles climbing.

Yes, question mark over residuals and things.

I don't know.

I think it's an interesting offer.

I think it's an issue.

I don't...

I didn't see it go,

Oh, but would I ever for a Cayenne?

I really liked Electric McCann when I drove it.

I don't know.

Like, I think it was a good move, but I don't necessarily know if it was

without really delving into all the stats and driving it.

It's not like the IX3.

I didn't see it go game changer.

I just went, Oh, cool, Electric Cayenne.

But why is the IX3 a game changer?

Is it the looks? Is it the range?

Is it the tech?

What, you know, why is that jumped out so much compared to an Electric Cayenne?

Because if you shut your eyes and get in both them cars,

the feeling that you will get will be exactly the same.

I would agree.

I think they'll be very, very similar.

And whilst some of the people in the room were like drives like a BMW.

I'm like, yeah.

You know, so yes, inherently, they will feel very similar in terms of driving experiences

and weight balance, you know, what's called balance of weight.

The ranges are probably quite similar.

Yeah.

You know, 300 and what basically 400 miles for the kind of electric 500 miles for the IX3.

There'll be a certain amount of weight in that.

I just think.

Walmart business is in the business of helping your business,

regardless of whether you're building bridges, building spreadsheets or building lesson plans.

Oh, that looks fun.

Walmart business can help save you time, money and hassle.

So you can focus on what you're building instead of what your supply closet is missing.

In short, we take care of business so you can do more with yours.

Where are the Walmart you love now for your business?

Learn more at business.walmart.com.

The Cayenne.

It's the price point.

It always, I think the IX3 is more because it's more approachable.

It's still a very expensive vehicle, 60 grand vehicle.

Yeah.

But it, I don't know.

I don't know.

You know, there is for a bit of consumer advice for you.

When you, if you are considering an electric car,

there is one real fundamental thing that you need to really consider.

And it's something that will need to be changed a lot.

And that's tyres, mate.

Big electric cars absolutely eat tyres.

Really?

Like eat them.

Like the big mercs because of how heavy they are and the torque and the power.

Like my mate run a big merc.

I think it was one of the big SUVs.

6,000 miles, tyres were done.

No way.

Yeah, yeah, swear to God.

Needs new tyres.

Wow.

Yeah, never thought about that.

And they're really expensive compared to a combustion car.

Yeah, yeah, they're more expensive.

So, okay, he's not doing the tyres.

The tyres, you mean?

Yeah, the tyres.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So, okay, he's not doing loads.

Is that going to factor that, by the way?

No, no, no.

They're more expensive.

Tires on electric cars are more expensive.

Okay, definitely.

Definitely.

100%.

Mate, it's my job.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, but do they need to be a...

Why?

I don't know why.

But I'm telling you, they're more expensive.

So, because the sun...

Yeah?

Because what?

I don't believe you.

What?

You don't think they're more expensive than a petrol car?

Because is it not as size specific?

Are electric tyres for electric cars

inherently bigger or unique sized?

They're sometimes a bigger world.

Yeah, of course.

But they're more expensive.

I don't know why, but they are more expensive.

On the plus side, brakes way less.

Because they're all the regeneration.

They don't go through brakes anywhere near as much.

Okay.

So, yeah, you can go 70,000 miles

before you even consider changing brakes.

Whereas most combustion cars, especially SUVs,

are like 25, 30,000 miles.

Okay.

Well, I will believe you because I like to.

No, no, you have to.

No, no, no, no.

They are more expensive.

No, no, I don't.

Right, but they are more expensive.

From the matter of fact, like,

if you went on black circles,

shout out black circles.

Hashtag not an ad.

Or another quick fit or whatever.

I'm putting your tyre sizes.

Yes.

You think they're more expensive

if they're going on an electric vehicle?

Car for car, yes.

So, yes, it does make a difference.

So, if you've got a GLE and then one of them EQE things,

you know, the equivalent electric car.

So, GLE, sorry, I was like,

make that more back to back.

Again, A6 combustion versus A6 e-tron.

The e-tron tyres are going to be more expensive.

Yes, they'll be more money.

Million percent.

Because they must be a different size.

They're either a different size

or they've got a different rating on them or something.

I don't know, but they're more expensive, for sure.

All right.

Anything else?

I just, I just, I mean, I get the idea,

you know, like if they're K-marked or anything,

you know, the tyres specifically

designed and created for that vehicle,

you're buying the, you know,

but I'm just like, I don't know, I don't know.

But why don't you fact-check it and update me next week?

Yes, okay, cool.

All right.

Yes, everyone can let us know in the comments.

I just did a whole big tyre order

for winter tyres for the GT3 and the Project 8.

And what happened?

So, we're all set.

So, 1,600 quid a set for both, I think,

which isn't too bad.

Yeah, mate.

All right.

Michelin Alpins for the GT3, pilot Alpins,

and then Continentals for the Project 8.

Oh!

Yeah, which is great, because I did Continentals

for the Boxster across America.

No, pretty good.

So, well, I haven't driven my cars at all.

Come on, hurry up.

No, I've got no need to.

No, you don't.

Like, are you on the Range Rover, aren't you?

Yeah, yeah, but when I come back from Portugal,

I think I've driven the Turbo S once.

Really?

Yeah, yeah, I haven't, hasn't moved.

I don't need it, yeah.

It's fine.

We'll get some winter tyres on and come for some adventures.

Where are we going, mate?

You said Bruce is going somewhere in January.

Yes, well, I am.

The two of them, hard to get hold of winter tyres, though.

If you haven't pulled your finger out yet, you know,

they're hard to get hold of, you've got to think ahead.

I don't know, mate.

What's been going on?

What's the plan?

What's the vibe?

What's going on this week?

What's going on?

All of you in three weeks.

Oh, my God.

Less than three weeks.

Yeah, well, it's Christmas in half a minute, isn't it?

Yeah.

What are you doing for Christmas?

Nothing really.

It's just Christmas things.

Christmas.

I booked the Paddington Experience today.

I hope that's not a let down to take my doors or two.

Oh.

Yeah, Paddington Bear, you know.

I sure like that, mate.

Well, I hope so, but I don't want it to be like a scam.

Do you remember there was no scam or something up in Scotland

where you just turned up and it was like an empty industrial unit?

Yeah, fair.

But I think it looks quite good.

I booked that.

I want to start booking.

We're going to go meet Father Christmas at London Zoo.

Yeah.

I'll just do that kind of stuff.

Yeah, nice.

You know, fun, Father Christmas-y type of things.

I love Christmas.

Do you?

I love Christmas, mate.

And I most of all love the New Year, but anyway, keep going.

I do love Christmas, but I don't think I love it as much as I used to.

I don't know why.

That's because I'm getting old.

Yeah.

That's why I like to go on holiday, mate.

Why not?

It's because your door's wide open.

You've surely been spending-

She's nine.

Yeah, but isn't that not fun?

But you know what, I broke my heart the other day

and lots of dads will, you're going to get this.

My daughter said to me the other day,

Daddy, please be honest with me and tell me the truth.

Does Father Christmas actually exist?

And I, she knows, mate, and I had to lie to her.

I had to say, yes, Don, it does it.

Yeah, but actually, she said, are you sure?

Because she's not silly now.

She's like nine, because it doesn't really make a lot of sense.

So she's figured it out or someone said it at school.

I've got a hack.

Oh, I believe he's real.

Yeah, that's what I said.

And I said, darling, I said, we saw him a couple of years ago

at Lapland, because we took her to Lapland.

I said, we met him.

Yeah, I believe he's real.

Yeah.

Screw your friends at school.

What are they like?

So this is the last year where, and it's already gone, mate,

because she already knows.

So, and she's going to see a Santa at the weekend with one

of my sister's little friends, because he's a little boy.

And I said, you must, because she knows that's not the real

Santa.

She understands that.

And she said, I promise I won't say nothing to the little boy.

I'll make out that it's the real one.

Do you, do you call him a Santa or Father Christmas?

Overall.

How weird.

Yeah.

I always thought Santa was very American.

Yeah.

And but there's confusion now in our house.

What my daughter was like was a Father Santa.

Yeah.

Which I quite like.

But I think, I think if you're riffraff, how I grew up.

Right.

It was Father Christmas.

Okay.

I think Nick.

I think if you're like middle or upper class, I think it's Santa.

No, Father Christmas.

Yeah, Father, really?

I think Santa is American.

Santa is 100% American.

Fine.

I think it's always been Father Christmas,

but Santa is crept in over the last few years.

Yeah.

Anyway, I don't think either of our Christmas is going to be as good

as Landon Norris is.

Oh.

We're not going to get in.

We're not going to do a whole thing.

No, no, no.

We don't need to.

We did the whole thing.

Let's do it next week.

Yeah.

And next week we'll know.

So.

Is he going to win or not?

Or am I Claren going to lose it for him?

Again.

I mean, can I just say, did call that, didn't I?

Yeah, you did.

Yeah.

Yeah, you did call that.

But anyway, well, let's wait and see.

We'll do it.

Just wait till next week.

We want to do an F1 special next week,

because I think people will be really bored and turn off,

but we want to definitely discuss it next week.

Oh, my God.

Okay.

Well, thanks for tuning in, people.

And that was our breakdown.

Oh, no, no, no, no.

No.

What's our car of the year?

Oh, yeah.

Oops.

So that's what I have to now do is go through.

You're going to have to go through what you've been.

What I've driven.

It's pretty embarrassing, isn't it?

Can I do it like this?

Oh, I'm back in 2021.

What is something I've driven?

My no, something you've driven or say,

ah, okay.

I know what I sort of know.

What a leading contender is for me.

It doesn't have to be something you've driven.

I would put Okta up there for me.

Okta, I would put up there.

Okay.

Let me rattle this.

This might spark something.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

New GTS, I think people know,

didn't necessarily set my world on fire in the way that...

Well, anyway.

Okay.

Dodgy Trilindry, for me, is right up there.

So Dodgy Trilindry, I put that as my number one so far.

Mm-hmm.

A-12 Competizione, but I don't think we can classify that as...

That's maybe one of my cars of the year.

But I don't think it's fair to say as actual car of the year.

Well, that, yeah, I mean, yeah, fair enough.

Because I don't really know what you're going off.

Is it just cars that you've driven or cars that have been released?

It's supposed to be cars that have been released.

I'm going through cars that I've driven.

Like, what is my car of the year?

And to try and think, I'm looking through photos of reminding myself what I've driven.

I say, for me, it's between Octa and Dodgy Trilindry, I think.

I drove 99.

That was this year?

992.2 GT3.

I wouldn't put down as car of the year.

New Turbo S, I wouldn't put down as car of the year.

Oh, Bentley Continental GT.

I wouldn't put down as car of the year, but fantastic.

RS6 GT.

And then?

Not as car of the year.

Oh, 9-Eleven ST.

Okay, so ST.Dodgy Trilindry.

You've got to pick one, mate.

Oh, no, just pick my top three.

I wouldn't put vanquish down.

I'm going to say Dodgy Trilindry.

Okay, well, that's fair enough.

That's a big hit, huh?

God, I've driven some cool cars this year, haven't I?

Well, you do every year, no?

Yeah, but I've forgotten that my brain is such a poo that I just...

You just forget.

I just forget.

Right, tell me.

All right, so there's two that come to mind that I've spent a bit of time in.

Go on.

One is the Vantage that I drove.

Yeah.

And the Range Rover that I'm in now, the current Range Rover.

I love that car.

Anything newer that you've caught your eye on line?

Yeah, there'll be plenty of stuff online, but I've not driven them.

So how can I say that...

Or fine, but theoretically, if those are the top two that you've driven,

because I think they're both...

I mean, the Range Rover's five years old, and the Vantage...

It's not five years old, it's three years old.

When does it launch?

2022, 1, 22, yeah.

Really?

Yeah, but I drove one back then, and then I haven't driven one since.

But something that you...

Okay, what can you not wait to drive in 2026?

Renault 4?

No, I drove the new Renault 5.

Yeah, but that's all right.

It's just a milk float.

Yeah.

Looks great.

Just a milk float.

Yeah, there's nothing electric that catches my eye.

I don't really drive anything really leery anymore,

because obviously I don't sell leery cars anymore.

They're all like normal Mondays.

Temarario?

No.

I can't...

I can't figure it out.

They're the two that stand out.

I know one that we can speak about off-camera,

but we're not going to talk about it now, so there we go.

Because we will be sued.

Anyway, catch up with us next week when we will be debriefing on the F1 champion.

Whoever that may be.

Whoever that might be, and it is maybe a bit wide open.

And discussing our plans as we run into the end of the year.

Yeah, that's about it, right?

Okay, see you next week.

Bye-bye.

See ya.

0:00

53:18

[S8, E11] Our Car Of The Year, Top Gear Awards & Yang Wang

Porsche 718 Cayman GT4

Porsche 718 Boxster

Ferrari F80

Aston Dbxs

About this episode

Original notes