My Five Favorite “Top Gear” Stunts
By David Castro
“Homemade Ambulance Challenge” (Season 22, Episode 3)
In an effort to provide alternatives to English medical ambulance services, the lads develop their own and mayhem ensues. Clarkson used a Porsche 944, painted it in Gulf Racing colors and added a large metal ram that could swivel from it holding spot above the middle of the car down to the front of the bumper. The ram resembled a
and when put in its holding position it provided 50/50 weight distribution.
Clarkson further modified it with a hydraulic handbrake for patient delivery services. The patient would be placed in the trunk and the driver would use the break to swing the car out and the stretcher would exit the rear of the car and roll into the emergency room. It failed.
Hammond modified a 1980’s GM van to resemble toxic waste disposal vehicle, to scare traffic out of the way. He ultimately cooked the brakes to the point where a fire extinguished was necessary to subdue the flames.
James May modified a Ford hearse. Predictably it was slow but had a sense of class on the inside.