BBC_Top_Gear_South_Africa_June_2017
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
TOPGEAR TOP 9<br />
WORST MOTORSPORT<br />
SPECIAL EDITIONS<br />
ASTON MARTIN<br />
RED BULL VANTAGE<br />
CITROEN<br />
C4<br />
AUDI R8<br />
SELECTION 24H<br />
Proving lazy special editions are a<br />
modern malady too, Aston has just<br />
unveiled some energy-drink-inspired<br />
Vantages signed by F1 drivers<br />
Ricciardo and Verstappen. Nice<br />
spec, but a pensionable car<br />
celebrating F1’s most youthful team.<br />
In 2007, Citroen heralded the fourth of<br />
Séb Loeb’s eventual nine WRC titles by<br />
phoning in a tarted-up hatch with zero<br />
mechanical mods. Four hundred cars<br />
got red and black leather, but only<br />
134kW when a Focus ST mustered<br />
168kW.<br />
Audi’s endurance racing record is<br />
beyond reproach. Thirteen Le Mans<br />
wins, a debut win at the N24 for the<br />
R8 LMS, and then to celebrate… an<br />
R8 V10 Plus with a tiny stripe on the<br />
side. Where’s the race aero, or the<br />
stripped cabin?<br />
DARIO’S CARS<br />
Fiat Uno Turbo<br />
RENAULT TRAFIC<br />
FORMULA EDITION<br />
Proving no inappropriate vehicle is<br />
safe from an attack of ill-considered<br />
F1 marketing. In 2015 Renault’s Dutch<br />
market was treated to a van with an<br />
Alcantara steering wheel, 17-inch<br />
rims, stickers, bucket seats… and a<br />
103kW diesel engine.<br />
MERCEDES A-CLASS<br />
PETRONAS MOTORSPORT<br />
Needing a stopgap before the<br />
F1-engined hypercar arrives, Merc hit<br />
on the idea of slapping some<br />
Petronas green wings and stripes on<br />
an A-Class diesel. You couldn’t even<br />
spec the kit on the ballistic AMG A45.<br />
Not very #blessed.<br />
ROVER<br />
200 BRM<br />
Rover’s 200 supermini, company car<br />
of the elderly, got a Sixties F1-inspired<br />
pep up with orange nosecone and<br />
quilted red seats in 1997. Originally<br />
priced at around R270 000, Rover<br />
slashed it to R240 000 in a bid to shift<br />
the colour-clash mess.<br />
Peugeot 205<br />
Ferrari F40<br />
Ferrari F355<br />
Porsche Carrera GT<br />
FIAT STILO SCHUMACHER<br />
Michael Schumacher won<br />
consecutive F1 world titles from<br />
2000 to 2004. In 2005, as his<br />
domination came to an end, Fiat<br />
woke up and did a hot-hatch tribute,<br />
using a 2.4-litre, five-pot Stilo.<br />
It wasn’t fast or fun, and only 200<br />
were made.<br />
INFINITI FX VETTEL EDITION<br />
Tenuous link ahoy: Nissan owns<br />
Infiniti, which is in bed with Renault,<br />
which makes Red Bull F1’s engines.<br />
Hence the monstrous 309kW<br />
über-SUV with a 5.0-litre V8 and Seb<br />
Vettel’s name on the boot. Cost? Over<br />
R1.5million. Instant recognition as a<br />
tasteless tool? Priceless.<br />
MG 6 BTCC EDITION<br />
As MG chased the 2012 BTCC<br />
title, it cooked up a bestriped<br />
hatchback with an “electronically<br />
limited top speed of<br />
193km/h”. Gordon Shedden’s<br />
Honda Civic won the<br />
championship, and MG has since<br />
gone icy cold.<br />
Honda NSX<br />
JUNE <strong>2017</strong><br />
35
Change language