My dad bought a blue Vauxhall Corsa van in 1998. By the time he sold it for scrap he'd clocked almost 270,000 miles on it. He used to take me with him as a toddler on the passenger seat on work trips up and down the country so I wouldn't be left home alone. He passed three months ago. Cars do tell stories and they can be important memories!
@@ReachForTheSky Well my dad loves cars he his first car was a lada samara he hated it because it spent most of the time on the bed of the tow truck he than bought a chevy caprice the boxy one that's the car he loved it and he changed it for a crown vic which was totaled in a crash he we were fine than he got a mazda 6 me and my brothers loved it and he and mom did too we had for maybe 4 years until he bought a chevy tahoe which he still has and is never going to sell it every car he got he loved it and the tahoe is now being driven by my older brother and we love the tahoe we had tons of road trips and never failed us
Whats weird is that Clarkson's family has deep history and lore, his parents made Paddington Bear plushies, went to court for infringement and his old man happened to meet the writer of Paddington and got permission to make the plushies that got insanely popular. Knowing this and hearing Clarkson's dad splash out on a new car is just so cool.
yeah everyone thinks he was born with a silver spoon in his ass, when actually his parents were quite average till they got the rights for the paddington toy
Still remember my dad coming home in a 67 Mustang coupe. Primary transportation for a man with a family of six! 😆 My mother just glared, went inside, and threw his supper in the garbage. 🤣🤣🤣 He kept it for over thirty years. Miss you, Dad!
@@ultimategmoneyremaber1821 Also you pity him even though it was his dad's car? If people can call Allegro a shitbox, then people can also called the Cortina a shitbox. According to you, all cars are shitboxes. Shitboxes mean you always hate them. I bet you'll cry if someone call your car a shitbox. You probably cried when people called your parents' cars for shitboxes.
James' noted reaction to his first sighting of a tachometer as it appeared in his father's car had me in tears of laughter. I lost my dad early on, but I'll forever be grateful that we always enjoyed a good relationship and had much in common. He is who I developed my own love of cars and motorcycles from.
This is the reason why top gear, the grand tour and Clarksons farm work ,heart, humour and passion. Which other car shows simply do not have. Jeremy is the man. No question about it, could watch them for hours, and have. Thank you. 😊😎👍
My dad was a pharmacist and he worked for a wealthy gentleman who owned a 69 Chrysler Imperial. In 72 he had a problem with the car that the dealer couldn't fix, so he bought a new one and gave my dad the old one! Dad was a superb mechanic and within a few hours had fixed the car, (it was a simple points adjustment!!!), and put 250K miles on that car :-) I love you dad and I sure do miss you!!!
My dad bought a brandnew VW Golf GTI in 1976..I was then 5 years old. All the dads in our street came to watch it and were stunned. I remember when i went to school on monday the teacher asked how are weekend was. I told the class that my dad had a brandnew Golf GTI. They all laughed and asked what in godsname is a GTI..Lol. But i was so proud and we kept it in the family. Sadly my dad died two years ago but i still have the GTI. I completely rebuilded it,still original and a joy to drive. For me nothing but fun and lots of memories.
My dad had the MK3 Cortina Estate in 1973. 2.0L automatic. Pulled the caravan beautifully and broke it's Cambelt while holidaying in Wales. No damage done and £25 to have a new one fitted. Porridge for every meal after that, as no spending money left.
You can get Cortina here in US but its hard to find. Due to compact street corners and road size in UK Ford made the tiny ones for Britain and longer and heavier V8s for US.
@@lextasy786 We had the Mk3 Cortina here in Australia (OZ) fitted with a 250 cu inch straight six! Very front heavy,handled ok- but went like stink in a sraight line !!!
@@jeffkeeley4594 the six cylinders in Australia was a big mistake.When Ford switched to Mazda for it's Telstar replacement come 1983 they learned all along a big 6 was not needed just a well made 4 which is what it got with the change.Of course there was a V6 TX5/Telstar in the nineties but that was a 2.5l via Mazda which by that time was another story.Imagine if you had bought one of the last models with the 4.1 in 1981 but traded it a decade later on the last TX5's AT model the power difference of some 30% was greater but it had the right engine front wheels driving it and the right engine.
Dads 1972 Audi 100 shot a valve through a piston one night on our way back home from Legoland, Denmark, in the middle of nowhere. I still feel like Id like to own a C1 Audi 100 after that.
I remember a similar feeling as Jeremy. I came out of school to see my Dad in a Ford Sierra Ghia. A Ghia! I was so impressed, it had electric windows, a sunroof, alloys, fog lights, and the cool little display in the dash displaying open doors and ice warnings. It was like a spaceship compared to the old Escort 'L' he had before. My friends were so jealous!
Same to me. A light gray Ghia, with all those *fake* chrome lines and 15 INCH ALLOYS!!! ...then one day, I still remeber it like it was yesterday, I heard the beeping sound of a forklift goind backwards. It was my dad, pulling the Sierra put of the ditch right next to our house. He apparently tried to do a slow speed scandinavian flick on the gravel of our backyard. She was almost totaled. Then two days later he came home with a new escort. Estate. Diesel.
Still have one, an ' 89 2.0 Ghia Estate in Tasman Blue metallic, RS wheels and still mint with only 58k miles but now in semi-retirement.Only problem is the ' spaceship ' digital clock is fading away !.If it is outside , there is usually a note under a wiper to ask if it is for sale ? !.
I had 3 Sierra Ghia Estates 2 of which had the same last 3 letters EEV released on a K reg 1 was a 4x4 with a cloth trim the other 2 had full leather the front seat's were like your favourite armchairs they were so comfortable & very soft leather I've had a black edition A4 since & the seats are absolute rubbish
I understand what both Jeremy and James felt about there father's choice in cars when they were boys. Because for me it was my father's 1968 Ford Mustang Fastback in the color red.
Same here. For me and my brothers it was my fathers 1959 Cadillac “Flat Top” Sedan deVille. We grew up in the backseat of that car and it's still in the family. As shiny and beautiful as it was back then.
My dad raised us all well and provided us great education.. but couldn't afford to buy a car. So we never went to school or trips in a car. We never complained and are always grateful for what he has done and sacrificed.. many years later, I bought my first car, a Skoda Octavia MK2, which is a great deal in India. I hope my dad is proud of me..
Knowing Clarksons story about his dad is heart breaking, im 16 now and my dad will be turning 43 soon, and when the day comes when his time comes to a end it will break my heart beyond belief
When I was watching this episode nearly 4 hours ago, I cried,smiled and laughed at the same time. No one has the power to that again unless these trio.
the transition from the emotional stories of james and jeremy to the rage-filled rant of richard just makes this whole thing seem like a really good joke
Here in Canada, we never got the "E" version of the MK2 Cortina. The 1600 GT was the top of the heap for us. And I had a used one as my first car. Those were 5 great years, much of it spent with my Dad teaching me how to fix the things. Wonderful memories, and a legacy that I have passed on too.
We had a Mk2 1600GT two-door. It became my car when I got my driver licence at 18. It didn't last long on salted winther roads. I'm sure I could hear it rust when it was parked in a garage 🙂
"Born in Birmingham" as an ex Brummie that made me smile. Jeremy with all his bluff & blunder is a softie at heart. My dad who was a heavy goods driver had loads of cars but the one that stood out was his Wolseley 6/110 automatic, I nicked the keys one night before I passed my test & took it for a drive, beautiful car first auto I ever drove. I don't think he ever knew I drove it.
A Wolsely 6/110 was a great car. My Dad had a Wolseley 15/60 with which he and Mum took us on a touring/camping holiday in France/Italy/Switzerland in 1960
I guarantee your dad new. My dad did and didn't tell me till years later. He just one day asked where I had driven out of the blue. Probably the biggest grin I've ever seen him have.
Poor Richard. I know exactly how he felt. I realized how horrible my childhood was the day a friend of my parents arrived in a 1965 Pontiac GTO. There it was, parked in the driveway of my house, and I remember how gorgeous it was. Its beauty stopped me in my tracks. Ahead of it, under the carport, where it was usually kept, was our canary yellow 1962 Buick Skylark. My heart sank. I knew I was never going to be as cool as the kids whose parents owned that GTO.
@@sukhdevr3489 Pontiac stylists did what they could with what was essentially a '62 Chevrolet Impala. In '63, stacked headlamps appeared in the the lineup, which gave the cars the look we recognize as "Pontiac".
I'm 41 now. And I still know it as yesterday how it felt when my father bought a new car. He did that every 2,5 year, because than he reached about 100.000km. He had Nissans, Subarus, a Daihatsu Feroza, Ssangyong Korando, A Rover, and much more. And I was so proud every time he bought a new one. In my opinion he always bought the best car existing. Sadly he passed away in 2014 at an age of 68. I miss him every day and would have loved to talk about my cars at the time. I'm thankful that my dad gave me that special feeling with cars, he learned me how to maintain cars, he teached me how to drive when I was 12 years old. Those were the days. I love you dad! Forever!
From memory, my dad's car history was pretty sweet: earliest I remember was a yellow Fiat 131 Mirafiori S, an old W114 Merc E250, then a Volvo 245 GLT, briefly a Jag XJ6, all second-hand. The only new car he ever bought was a mk2 Ford Granada, 2.8i Ghia X, which he traded in the Jag for. Unfortunately, he never dropped me off at school in any of them, I lived close enough to walk!
My dad was a chauffeur. When he wasn't driving around in a Rolls Royce Silver Shadow in the early days or a Jag he would borrow one of the execs cars they had in the fleet garage. My love of cars was born from going for a ride in whatever he bring home that week be it a loads of mercs, Sierra cosworth, astra GTE, e30 BMWs, Renault 5 turbo, Golf GTi, escort RS turbo - then one day a beautiful 205 GTi black with it's red trim. Still remember that moment going for a ride in it and getting pushed into the back of the seat as a 9 year old. Great days. I went out and bought my own as soon as I could afford it and have had it ever since.
You will never find presenters like these three best friends anywhere in the world. I mean I actually dropped some tears at this and we never ever owned a ford cortina. And my dad came home with a Wartburg 1000. It was cheap from east Germany. It was loud with a two stroke engine … I mean unbelievable, but lots of fun and I cried when we had to get rid of it. I also must ad I’m very rarely emotional and my wife tells me I’ve git a heart of stone.
My dad, God rest his soul, bought a Morris Traveller which I was less than impressed with. My mum, now also passed on, told me to go out and say some nice things about it because he was so pleased with it. I am not very proud of my younger self and wish I could go back in time. I would do it all differently.
My Dad had a Moggie 1000 Traveller. We went touring/camping in France/Italy/Switzerland. Later I had a Moggie 1000 2-door, Dad paid for it but my brother and I had to maintain it. The clutch/gearbox was weak but my brother and I could swap them out in a couple of hours.
My mother and father (40 at the time) pulled into our driveway with a 1991 firebird formula, my jaw hit the floor. There rational for purchasing that car was we could never have it while our kids were young. My brother had joined the military and left the house, I was 15. And I’m so grateful that it was the car I learned to drive with. Thanks mom and dad.
I'm age 57 now. I can relate so well with their Testimonials as school kids in the playground. The day my Dad came home with his new (second hand) car put me in super status amongst the other Petrol head kids in the school. The badge on the boot lid read "2.5pi" From that day my Dad was my hero.
When I was a little kid, my dad had a 1982 Toyota Pickup, 4wd. I remember distinctly the interior and the flatbed (ranch truck) and the way it sounded and the blue/green lights on the dash at night. I remember learning to drive standard when I was a little boy. I remember being devastated when he sold it when I was about 10 years old. I was an absolute wreck and I was angry with my dad about it. Now, many years later, he agains owns a 1982 Toyota Pickup 4wd. This time there is no flatbed, but the lighting and gauges and smells and sounds and the way it rattles down the road have brought back a swell of memories. Even now, I am tearing up thinking of that old pickup. Cars have connections with us. They may be bits of metal and rubber and plastic, but I do believe that they have souls.
What a great segment, I still remember the rush that I got whenever my father came home with a new car. Whilst the list was long (he seldom kept cars more than a year and sometimes much less if he didn’t like them), my personal favourite was probably his manual P6 Rover V8S despite it being a rather insipid shade of beige. I loved the sound of its engine, the tonneau roof and that it had a reserve fuel tank (of all things). My mother’s MK II 1600E also left a big impression on me, especially as it came in a much more appealing Light Orchid. Ahhhh those were the days eh?
I was an 18 year old USAF Airman based at RAF UH in Oxfordshire in 1978. My first car was a 1969 Cortina GT, 1600 cc crossflow, 4 branch exhaust, rusty door sills but MOT worthy. Loved that car, used to tear arse around the Oxon, Bucks, & N’Hants countryside, long before traffic cameras, Oh the joy!😂
When I was a child, my father had a 2-door 1964 Ford Galaxy 500XL with a 390 Big Block in it. He inherited it from his grandfather when he passed away in 1989. My father had some restorative work done on it, and it was absolutely gorgeous. I remember cops would stop him on the highway just to look at it. Unfortunately around 1993 or 94, some asshole pushed it down the street one night and stripped the entire car apart. It broke my fathers heart, and he sold it before we moved to another state in the summer of 1995. I never saw it again. I sincerely hope it's still around and rocking somewhere...... I remember going in 1996 as a teen with my father, I was 13 at the time, to a Mitsubishi dealership to look at a twin-turbo 3000GT VR4 convertible. He ended up buying a brand new stock 3000GT non-turbo, but it was red, with a 3 liter 225 hp V6, and it sounded amazing. And it was gorgeous, and we were the coolest people on the street. He took the neighbors for rides in it the day we brought it home. Even years later when I was an adult and went with my father to football clubs, that car was always the nicest thing in the parking lot. He finally traded it in in 2018 for a 2008 Aston Martin V8 Vantage Roadster that he saw at the Portland Auto Show. It had a custom Porsche-Yellow paint job and TSW wheels. Which he then totaled it 6 months later.....no lasting injuries, but the car was fucking toast. I miss the hell out of all three cars. Meanwhile, I drove a shitty Chrysler LeBaron (fun and FAST, but with tons of problems), an awful Kia Rio, a Cadillac SLS (nice, but with tons of problems), and now a 2004 Ford Escape with 200K miles and which needs tons of work. That's the difference between hard work and hardly working. My father worked very hard, pulled himself out of addictions and poverty, and made a better life for himself and my family. You young folks, don't get stuck in shitty jobs like I did.....go to school, get a good education, and move through the ranks. No hourly-wage work in 2022 is going to buy you a Corvette or a Mercedes, so if you want one you need to work for it. Don't wait for anyone to hand you something, it's not gonna happen.
i so so so love when Jeremy speaks of such strong emotional memories, especially about his dad. I remember on Top Gear, the patagonia special, Jeremy speaking on the porsche he had chosen for the special and how he had adored that model because he was able to race home in one to be able to spend the final moments with his dad before he had passed and I swear I could've been in the car with him telling that story that's how connected I felt during that story as a younger person(15) watching the show which now as an older man(34) I cherish hearing other things Jeremy has a strong emotional connection to or even simply a strong knowledgeable connection to given I felt the same way when hearing his narration of "The Greatest Raid of All"
My dad had a 1969 Cortina MK2. It was the car I grew up in so I can definitely share Jeremy's emotions even though ours was a lesser model. Great car for its time!
I remember my dad and my younger brother in the early early 2000s bringing home a Red 1988 fiero GT 5 speed from Texas that he had bought on eBay, drove all the way back to California. We love that car. Need a little bit of work but it do every bit of what the speedometer said 120 and it handled good too. The recession and the housing market crash of the 2000s, I was not in the financial situation to buy it my dad had to sell it we both cry about it to this day
Always loved the Mk 3’s. Straight from school I went to Australia on my own for a new life. Mk 3’s came with a 4.1 litre engine! Worked my rear end off and bought one in 1977 - 4 speed ‘toploader’ gearbox? Brilliant!
Brilliant, heartwarming and funny. My dad (bless him) had a Marina; same colour as the Allegro. I miss my dad so much... but not the Marina.... This video just reinforces what we are missing on current Top Gear. Nothing touches Clarkson, May and Hammond.
My dad also had a Marina, worryingly brown with a pitiful 1.3L engine. My first car was a Datsun Cherry, but my second car was a well lived in 1600E. I thought I was Steve McLean in Bullitt, for a good year...
Errrm, we still have it on The Grand Tour. Top Gear's a different show these days but still very watchable imo. Basically we gained a car show, what's not to like?
This made me smile in recollection. I, too, had my moment, back in the 1970's, when our family car was a maroon, poverty spec Vauxhall Viva. One glorious day, my father arrived home in a brand new, blue, Mk1 Vauxhall Cavalier 2.0 GLS. With such luxuries as a passenger side door mirror, a light in the boot, and a velour interior. Pure decadence..........
Not just an Austin Allegro, which would have been crushing, but an Austin Allegro Estate, that must have been utterly soul destroying. Never forget the day in 1979 my dad picked me up from school in a new Ford Capri MK3 3.0 S, I could hardly believe my eyes, my dad driving such a cool car.
Like Jeremy and James, I remember very vividly the first car my dad bought, I remember catching the bus to go and collect it, a beautiful bright red ford Cortina mk3 2000E (AWE328M). I even remember the garage, the smell of the car and how amazing it was. Some memories you never want to forget and this is mine.
My dad has had many many cars, from a yaris t-sport (i loved that), a kia cee'd diesel when it was the 2008 financial crisis, then a fabia vrs 1.9tdi (i also loved that) and now a new skoda Octavia vrs and a vw transporter t5.1 camper. I can't wait to start my own motoring journey soon.
Wish i could do this.. my dad always just bought crap second hand trucks until i was well past adult stage i have no fond memories of family vehicles. my story is more like Richards, with one embarrassing clunker after another. i cant tell you how many unheated horrific bumpy rides i had to endure in the bed of the pick going places with my parents ( because kids didnt belong in the front because adults were smoking..) i envy Jeremy and James so much for these memories im glad they shared them with us. showed us a moment of genuine weakness and love
@@douglasgreen437 nah, i mean i had some fun cars.. i guess in the end i got my revenge, as i had to take care of my dad at the end of his life so he had to climb in an out of my low slung sports cars.. when he would moan about it, id offer the trunk instead, like he gave me. LOL! the look i got was priceless.
My Dad's first company car was a 1971 Cortina 2000 GXL, then three years later this beauty was replaced by a signal orange 2000E. For 6 long, wonderful years we had the coolest car in the street. Sound of scratched record. And then it went progressively downhill. I still remember the last ride in it to school, listening to that sweet engine as he pulled away...and the tragedy that showed up 9 hours later: a beige Vauxhall Cavalier 1600 GL. Still better than a 3-door Allegro estate though.
When I was very young my dad always had work trucks and most were white base model trucks. One day he came home in a lowered, customized (beyond factory), red f150 lightening. I still remember hearing it come into the driveway, sprinting outside and being amazed. 20+ years later. I still have it and its glorious 354k miles of memories.
I have the same memories of my Grand dad comming home with his Chrysler 180 and the whole family inspecting the car with big eyes.. omg, it's a 2 liter😯 I didn't have my dad anymore but my uncle was like a new dad for me and my brother.. he came over our house with a Opel Kadett c coupé gte in the black and yellow colorscene..i was blown away,like Jeremy said,my knee's blocked and just stared at that car for almost 1hour. What a machine!😳🤤 That car was amazing and so beautiful.. my uncle drove like a maniac with that car and we loved it. Good Times and the best memories 😌❤️
Ahhhh!! My dad had a Hillman Avenger 1.6(?)GL - quad headlights, rev counter (round dials!), fabric interior and bronze paint. A significant upgrade from the summer back burning black vinyl seats and strip style speedometer.
I still remember walking out of primary school, and seeing my dad stood with a beaming smile. Next to his shiny new Mondeo Si 4x4. his previous car was a rusty mk2 Orion. So was like going from a row boat to a star ship
I can totally share that feeling, but with an American accent. I remember my Irish 6' 4" tall father in his two-tone green 1971 Lincoln Continental sedan. It was the last high compression year for the 460, and that car could haul or tow anything. And it was so wide that I could stretch out and sleep across the back seat coming back from Lake Tahoe...
My dad was a rep, first he got Escorts 1.3 L, early ones might have even been 1.1L had a new one couple of years, then he changed companies, and the company car there was a Cortina 1.6GL I remember the excitement every 2 years when he got a new one to see what upgrades they'd been over that time. Used to look through the Ford brochure he bought home, glossy photos of the Ghia spec in some stately home setting, always something with more spec to aspire too, Ford's Marketing was on fire in the 70's.
The first car my dad had when I was born soon after, was a 1974 Ford LTD P5 in Dark Green with a vinyl top and a 351 V8 Cleveland engine, producing over 250 hp. We loved that car. He regretted selling it till the day he died and we made him a picture frame collage of it as a gift he would often look at and just remember. We never owned a better car than that one and never another V8 in our lives.
The way this video makes me feel is the exact feeling I had when in 2006 my dad picked me up from school in his brand new Subaru WRX, I was like the biggest kid at Christmas.
My dad used to have a 1962 Vauxhall victor deluxe , grew up around it and always loved staring at it and now it’s nothing less than my all time dream car
Our family here in NZ had a Cortina very similar to Jeremy's Dad's one - great little car! Being a teen in the 70s, the cars I remember most are the Cortina, Escort and various Holdens - all great cars!
About once a year I have a recurring dream that I go out to an old abandoned garage I never knew I had, hidden behind overgrown vines and weeds. When I push my way inside I find my old R33 GTR and realise I never actually sold it. I feel so warm inside and full of excitement. Then I wake up and realise it was a dream. I lie there with pang of nostalgia pretty much the same as missing a person you no longer see.
My Dad worked for Ford, and he was a parts manager. So, he got to pick out a car from the lot as his "demo". It was the 70's and he would normally pick up a Station Wagon for the family because there were six of us kids. my brothers and I completely understood what the "Badging" was back then. It molded us into car the enthusiasts that we are still today. This episode really hit home!!
Well my uncle was the one with the cool car when i was a kid. getting to ride with him in his E30 325 was so much fun. but later my parents got a mk2 golf from a relative, which sadly ended life with the gearbox exploded due to hitting a badger. and to this day the mk2 is one of my absolute favorite cars.
It's amazing to me that even at a young age all three of them were so invested in the family car, and seemingly their families were as well. I know when I was growing up I didnt give a single care in the world about what kind of car my family had, as long as it ran and I knew which one I was getting into after school. I couldnt even tell you what half of the cars my parents owned were.
My father had a Mk 3 in red but he bought it used in about 1983. I was around 5 years old, he brought it home and it was the shiniest thing I’d ever seen. One of my favourite childhood memories ❤
I love when Clarkson drops the mask for just a moment and we can see the real him. Not the lumbering man burdened by 40 years of tv and ego, but the funny man with a love of cars and stories.
My dad, one year-old Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. _Almost_ fully loaded. This was back before leasing had been invented. Business men would actually have to BUY luxury or near-luxury cars. They'd drive around in them for a year or two, then sell them; privately. This was 1982, also before Pre-Owned vehicle sales were a thing. My dad got lucky. It was big, powerful, comfortable, had the most incredible brakes ever put in a car! Dad had it for about 16 years. It ran well most of the time, even though he barely took care of her. Those last three years or so.... Just ran her into the ground. My first car was a Ford. 1998 Escort sedan. Only two years old. Didn't know she already had 2 previous owners until after I bought her. Ran fine. But 0-60mph was a horrendously slow 13.5 seconds. Definitely avoid the expressway. And the cheap bean-counters at Ford decided it didn't need anti-lock breaks. Yeah, they were wrong. I'm lucky to be alive. Idiot driver collided with me. Brakes locked up. I will NEVER buy another Ford for the rest of my life.
I've watched this episode ' a funeral for a ford' a few times, cried every time, it reminds me of all the cars my dad had when I was a kid... wish my dad was still here...
What a beautiful moment shared by all. Oh yeah, and Hammond’s thing happened, too haha! Great content as always, much love from Texas to three of my greatest childhood heroes!
I'm the same age as Jezzer, my father arrived home when I was 8 with the only new car he ever purchased.... A 1600 GT MK2 Cortina. Still love you dad. The Twincam Escort a couple of years later was the cherry on the cake of life. Nearly halved the travel time to Hayling Island on hols. Lol
I remember when Jeremy recalled meeting his father for the last time while test driving a Porsche while taking a chicken casserole and making it in time thanks to the car
I missed my dad’s old Datsun 120Y. I didn’t liked it during my younger self, but now it looks better than most cars nowadays. I know my brother is searching for it. I really wish we can have it back
Dreamed of? Probably a Porsche. What did (in reality) we have ? A day-glo yellow Allegro. Oh. And it had a black plastic interior that scolded your legs if the weather was warm And it had an automatic gearbox. Which changed gears at a time and place of IT'S choice. Ho-rendous
I had a white one that went OK on the flat with one person, but if you even looked at a hill, its knees buckled and it went and hid under a bucket. I feel your pain, man...
Cars evoke emotion. This is why I drive my kids to school every day in my old 911, while they are surrounded by new SUV’s. Nobody will be talking about their Dad dropping them off in a 2018 Tahoe when they are 50. My kids however will be talking about a cold Colorado morning that Dad shoved them into the 1980 911SC to go to school. I love that thought.
I had an extremely similar experience to Clarkson except it was a friends white 1600E Cortina parked in a college car park. Just jaw dropping not an ordinary day it was one for the memory. 50 years ago also.
Gone are these moments that all of us can relate to. No one will ever have these feelings for EVs or Hybrids unless it's a super car. The world has further pushed itself down the rabbit hole of boring.
What car did you really want when you were younger? 🤔
As a 15 year old in 2005 I always wanted a Carrera GT ❤️
Alfa brera 😄
Peel p50
Toyota Camry
Still want one
I was more interested in trains back in the day
I still am, but I remember wanting a pet elephant at one point
The story of jeremy's dad is just wholesome remindes me of my dad god bless him
Same with mine. Miss him
Ohhhh 😌😌❤️❤️ beautiful story
My dad bought a blue Vauxhall Corsa van in 1998. By the time he sold it for scrap he'd clocked almost 270,000 miles on it. He used to take me with him as a toddler on the passenger seat on work trips up and down the country so I wouldn't be left home alone. He passed three months ago. Cars do tell stories and they can be important memories!
@@ReachForTheSky mmmmm, true! ❤️👏👏
@@ReachForTheSky Well my dad loves cars he his first car was a lada samara he hated it because it spent most of the time on the bed of the tow truck he than bought a chevy caprice the boxy one that's the car he loved it and he changed it for a crown vic which was totaled in a crash he we were fine than he got a mazda 6 me and my brothers loved it and he and mom did too we had for maybe 4 years until he bought a chevy tahoe which he still has and is never going to sell it every car he got he loved it and the tahoe is now being driven by my older brother and we love the tahoe we had tons of road trips and never failed us
Whats weird is that Clarkson's family has deep history and lore, his parents made Paddington Bear plushies, went to court for infringement and his old man happened to meet the writer of Paddington and got permission to make the plushies that got insanely popular.
Knowing this and hearing Clarkson's dad splash out on a new car is just so cool.
Clarkson learnt his presenting skills as a traveling salesman of Paddington Bear plushies.
It's also why his only practical skill is sewing
I thought he was also very useful with a hammer?@@HALLish-jl5mo
yeah everyone thinks he was born with a silver spoon in his ass, when actually his parents were quite average till they got the rights for the paddington toy
@@HALLish-jl5moHAHAHAHAHAHA that's actually hilarious.
Old Man Clarkson flexing those Paddy pounds in his new Mark 2
Still remember my dad coming home in a 67 Mustang coupe. Primary transportation for a man with a family of six! 😆
My mother just glared, went inside, and threw his supper in the garbage. 🤣🤣🤣
He kept it for over thirty years. Miss you, Dad!
there you have a man that bought his dream.
Your dad was a man worth his salt, an untamed feller. Way to go.
Too funny
Your dad is living his dream in heaven rn,may he rest in peace
The three of them make an astounding team, full of wit, knowledge and passion. Quite simply, other car shows cannot compete.
What would you say is your favourite moment from The Grand Tour?
@@thegrandtour The Excellent.
@@thegrandtour one that hasn't been shown yet. 😁 we need more of these three!
@@thegrandtour
Which season & episode was this from?
@@thegrandtour James may talking about le mans race
Tonight:
I'm having nostalgic
James having nostalgic
And Richard having PTSD
😂😂
Lmfao
Ep no on grand tour..?
Richard hammond I pity him he deserved a Cortina but he got a British shitbox of a estate car
how does one _have_ nostalgic?
@@ultimategmoneyremaber1821 Also you pity him even though it was his dad's car?
If people can call Allegro a shitbox, then people can also called the Cortina a shitbox. According to you, all cars are shitboxes. Shitboxes mean you always hate them.
I bet you'll cry if someone call your car a shitbox. You probably cried when people called your parents' cars for shitboxes.
James' noted reaction to his first sighting of a tachometer as it appeared in his father's car had me in tears of laughter. I lost my dad early on, but I'll forever be grateful that we always enjoyed a good relationship and had much in common. He is who I developed my own love of cars and motorcycles from.
He came
huioohgffffdddcvgfggghfg
These old Cortinas are absolutely beautiful.
In Australia you could get 6 cylinders in them too. 3.3 and 4.1 litre engines
I wish mainstream cars nowadays were as amazing as then
Until you see those old Capris
This is the reason why top gear, the grand tour and Clarksons farm work ,heart, humour and passion. Which other car shows simply do not have. Jeremy is the man. No question about it, could watch them for hours, and have. Thank you. 😊😎👍
My dad was a pharmacist and he worked for a wealthy gentleman who owned a 69 Chrysler Imperial. In 72 he had a problem with the car that the dealer couldn't fix, so he bought a new one and gave my dad the old one! Dad was a superb mechanic and within a few hours had fixed the car, (it was a simple points adjustment!!!), and put 250K miles on that car :-)
I love you dad and I sure do miss you!!!
Dealer couldn't gap the points what lol, which if you brought one in now adays that would be believable that they wouldn't know how to
My dad bought a brandnew VW Golf GTI in 1976..I was then 5 years old. All the dads in our street came to watch it and were stunned. I remember when i went to school on monday the teacher asked how are weekend was. I told the class that my dad had a brandnew Golf GTI. They all laughed and asked what in godsname is a GTI..Lol. But i was so proud and we kept it in the family. Sadly my dad died two years ago but i still have the GTI. I completely rebuilded it,still original and a joy to drive. For me nothing but fun and lots of memories.
"I suddenly became aware that my body could produce semen" is 1000% the best phrase I've ever heard.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 Facts
😂
I’m a boy and I approve of this message😂😂😂😂
My dad had the MK3 Cortina Estate in 1973. 2.0L automatic. Pulled the caravan beautifully and broke it's Cambelt while holidaying in Wales. No damage done and £25 to have a new one fitted. Porridge for every meal after that, as no spending money left.
Great memories
You can get Cortina here in US but its hard to find. Due to compact street corners and road size in UK Ford made the tiny ones for Britain and longer and heavier V8s for US.
@@lextasy786 We had the Mk3 Cortina here in Australia (OZ) fitted with a 250 cu inch straight six!
Very front heavy,handled ok- but went like stink in a sraight line !!!
@@jeffkeeley4594 the six cylinders in Australia was a big mistake.When Ford switched to Mazda for it's Telstar replacement come 1983 they learned all along a big 6 was not needed just a well made 4 which is what it got with the change.Of course there was a V6 TX5/Telstar in the nineties but that was a 2.5l via Mazda which by that time was another story.Imagine if you had bought one of the last models with the 4.1 in 1981 but traded it a decade later on the last TX5's AT model the power difference of some 30% was greater but it had the right engine front wheels driving it and the right engine.
Dads 1972 Audi 100 shot a valve through a piston one night on our way back home from Legoland, Denmark, in the middle of nowhere. I still feel like Id like to own a C1 Audi 100 after that.
I remember a similar feeling as Jeremy. I came out of school to see my Dad in a Ford Sierra Ghia. A Ghia! I was so impressed, it had electric windows, a sunroof, alloys, fog lights, and the cool little display in the dash displaying open doors and ice warnings. It was like a spaceship compared to the old Escort 'L' he had before. My friends were so jealous!
Same to me. A light gray Ghia, with all those *fake* chrome lines and 15 INCH ALLOYS!!!
...then one day, I still remeber it like it was yesterday, I heard the beeping sound of a forklift goind backwards. It was my dad, pulling the Sierra put of the ditch right next to our house. He apparently tried to do a slow speed scandinavian flick on the gravel of our backyard. She was almost totaled. Then two days later he came home with a new escort.
Estate.
Diesel.
Still have one, an ' 89 2.0 Ghia Estate in Tasman Blue metallic, RS wheels and still mint with only 58k miles but now in semi-retirement.Only problem is the ' spaceship ' digital clock is fading away !.If it is outside , there is usually a note under a wiper to ask if it is for sale ? !.
My dad gad the sierra ghia. G reg. i fell off my bike and scratched his front wing. He still talks about it 😂😂😂
My dad bought a Maestro. I feel Hammonds pain.
I had 3 Sierra Ghia Estates 2 of which had the same last 3 letters EEV released on a K reg 1 was a 4x4 with a cloth trim the other 2 had full leather the front seat's were like your favourite armchairs they were so comfortable & very soft leather I've had a black edition A4 since & the seats are absolute rubbish
The absolute love and knowledge the 3 of them have for cars is truly something very special.
Yep and Jeremy talking about his dad you can tell
How much he misses him and
How much he loves his father. Probably the best man in his life :)
I understand what both Jeremy and James felt about there father's choice in cars when they were boys. Because for me it was my father's 1968 Ford Mustang Fastback in the color red.
Same here. For me and my brothers it was my fathers 1959 Cadillac “Flat Top” Sedan deVille. We grew up in the backseat of that car and it's still in the family. As shiny and beautiful as it was back then.
@@gundalfthelost1624 same but my dad bought a used Pontiac g6
But holy shit despite being used the engine roared beautifully and was fast as heck
My dad raised us all well and provided us great education.. but couldn't afford to buy a car. So we never went to school or trips in a car. We never complained and are always grateful for what he has done and sacrificed.. many years later, I bought my first car, a Skoda Octavia MK2, which is a great deal in India. I hope my dad is proud of me..
Ladies and Gents. Let me tell you something you already know; Every show or any video with these three men in it is a Masterpiece.
Jeremy: “My dad had a Cortina 1600E”
James: “My dad had a Mk3 Cortina GXL”
Richard: “My dad had an Allegro estate…” 😔
"IT DOESN'T EVEN HAVE 4 DOORS!" 💀
Some random kid
"My dad has diabetes"
My Dad had a Fiat Uno. How cool is that?
My dad had a Merc. Don't know what your fuzz is about.
My dad had a NEW 1984 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Quadrofoglio. Now that makes a Cortina look like a Trabant.
Knowing Clarksons story about his dad is heart breaking, im 16 now and my dad will be turning 43 soon, and when the day comes when his time comes to a end it will break my heart beyond belief
I lost mine this year and it kills you a bit inside😢❤ hope yours lives to 100
Charlie. He will want you to live a full happy life, that alone will make him content.. So... Dont dissappoint him... 👍
When I was watching this episode nearly 4 hours ago, I cried,smiled and laughed at the same time. No one has the power to that again unless these trio.
the transition from the emotional stories of james and jeremy to the rage-filled rant of richard just makes this whole thing seem like a really good joke
Here in Canada, we never got the "E" version of the MK2 Cortina. The 1600 GT was the top of the heap for us. And I had a used one as my first car. Those were 5 great years, much of it spent with my Dad teaching me how to fix the things. Wonderful memories, and a legacy that I have passed on too.
We had a Mk2 1600GT two-door. It became my car when I got my driver licence at 18.
It didn't last long on salted winther roads. I'm sure I could hear it rust when it was parked in a garage 🙂
@@agskytter8977 yes, so true. Mine was killed by rust also.
"Born in Birmingham" as an ex Brummie that made me smile. Jeremy with all his bluff & blunder is a softie at heart. My dad who was a heavy goods driver had loads of cars but the one that stood out was his Wolseley 6/110 automatic, I nicked the keys one night before I passed my test & took it for a drive, beautiful car first auto I ever drove. I don't think he ever knew I drove it.
A Wolsely 6/110 was a great car. My Dad had a Wolseley 15/60 with which he and Mum took us on a touring/camping holiday in France/Italy/Switzerland in 1960
I guarantee your dad new. My dad did and didn't tell me till years later. He just one day asked where I had driven out of the blue. Probably the biggest grin I've ever seen him have.
Poor Richard. I know exactly how he felt. I realized how horrible my childhood was the day a friend of my parents arrived in a 1965 Pontiac GTO. There it was, parked in the driveway of my house, and I remember how gorgeous it was. Its beauty stopped me in my tracks. Ahead of it, under the carport, where it was usually kept, was our canary yellow 1962 Buick Skylark. My heart sank. I knew I was never going to be as cool as the kids whose parents owned that GTO.
The later ones looked like Gran Torino or Chevelle but the 62 one looks poor.
@@sukhdevr3489 Pontiac stylists did what they could with what was essentially a '62 Chevrolet Impala. In '63, stacked headlamps appeared in the the lineup, which gave the cars the look we recognize as "Pontiac".
@@miketype1each Do Pontiac still even make cars? The GTO was cool but they haven't made a good car for ages.
@@sukhdevr3489 No. They were brought to an end in 2010.
@@miketype1each Shame. Do you like any modern cars? I'm only 20 but my favourite cars are in the 60s, 90s and early 2000s.
I'm 41 now. And I still know it as yesterday how it felt when my father bought a new car. He did that every 2,5 year, because than he reached about 100.000km.
He had Nissans, Subarus, a Daihatsu Feroza, Ssangyong Korando, A Rover, and much more. And I was so proud every time he bought a new one. In my opinion he always bought the best car existing.
Sadly he passed away in 2014 at an age of 68. I miss him every day and would have loved to talk about my cars at the time. I'm thankful that my dad gave me that special feeling with cars, he learned me how to maintain cars, he teached me how to drive when I was 12 years old. Those were the days.
I love you dad! Forever!
Those days!! I too have a ton of fond memories with my dad.
He sounded like such an amazing Dad, bless him, and great to see his love of cars has passed down through you :)
but 100,000km isnt a lot... may he rest in peace
@@xenolithhh 100,000km in 2 years is a hell of a lot, some cars don't do that much in 5 or more
@@quimystic bro?
From memory, my dad's car history was pretty sweet: earliest I remember was a yellow Fiat 131 Mirafiori S, an old W114 Merc E250, then a Volvo 245 GLT, briefly a Jag XJ6, all second-hand. The only new car he ever bought was a mk2 Ford Granada, 2.8i Ghia X, which he traded in the Jag for. Unfortunately, he never dropped me off at school in any of them, I lived close enough to walk!
There is no "w114 e250" , there was tze regular 250 which had carbs and the 250ce which had bosch d-jetronic analog efi
@@288gto7 It was 44 years ago, and I was six, FFS. But thanks for correcting my heartwarming memories.
@@malcolmjcullen no problem :)
@@malcolmjcullen- FFS, why must you say FFS?
@@friendlypiranha774
Ffs
Ffs
Ffs
My dad was a chauffeur. When he wasn't driving around in a Rolls Royce Silver Shadow in the early days or a Jag he would borrow one of the execs cars they had in the fleet garage. My love of cars was born from going for a ride in whatever he bring home that week be it a loads of mercs, Sierra cosworth, astra GTE, e30 BMWs, Renault 5 turbo, Golf GTi, escort RS turbo - then one day a beautiful 205 GTi black with it's red trim. Still remember that moment going for a ride in it and getting pushed into the back of the seat as a 9 year old. Great days. I went out and bought my own as soon as I could afford it and have had it ever since.
You will never find presenters like these three best friends anywhere in the world. I mean I actually dropped some tears at this and we never ever owned a ford cortina. And my dad came home with a Wartburg 1000. It was cheap from east Germany. It was loud with a two stroke engine … I mean unbelievable, but lots of fun and I cried when we had to get rid of it. I also must ad I’m very rarely emotional and my wife tells me I’ve git a heart of stone.
My dad, God rest his soul, bought a Morris Traveller which I was less than impressed with. My mum, now also passed on, told me to go out and say some nice things about it because he was so pleased with it. I am not very proud of my younger self and wish I could go back in time. I would do it all differently.
My Dad had a Moggie 1000 Traveller. We went touring/camping in France/Italy/Switzerland. Later I had a Moggie 1000 2-door, Dad paid for it but my brother and I had to maintain it. The clutch/gearbox was weak but my brother and I could swap them out in a couple of hours.
Remain steadfast...You were right. Ghastly cars.
My mother and father (40 at the time) pulled into our driveway with a 1991 firebird formula, my jaw hit the floor. There rational for purchasing that car was we could never have it while our kids were young. My brother had joined the military and left the house, I was 15. And I’m so grateful that it was the car I learned to drive with. Thanks mom and dad.
When I was a kid, I felt the 1600E was the perfect car. My history teacher had one and it was head and shoulders the best car in the staff car park.
I'm age 57 now. I can relate so well with their Testimonials as school kids in the playground. The day my Dad came home with his new (second hand) car put me in super status amongst the other Petrol head kids in the school. The badge on the boot lid read "2.5pi"
From that day my Dad was my hero.
When I was a little kid, my dad had a 1982 Toyota Pickup, 4wd. I remember distinctly the interior and the flatbed (ranch truck) and the way it sounded and the blue/green lights on the dash at night. I remember learning to drive standard when I was a little boy. I remember being devastated when he sold it when I was about 10 years old. I was an absolute wreck and I was angry with my dad about it. Now, many years later, he agains owns a 1982 Toyota Pickup 4wd. This time there is no flatbed, but the lighting and gauges and smells and sounds and the way it rattles down the road have brought back a swell of memories. Even now, I am tearing up thinking of that old pickup.
Cars have connections with us. They may be bits of metal and rubber and plastic, but I do believe that they have souls.
What a great segment, I still remember the rush that I got whenever my father came home with a new car. Whilst the list was long (he seldom kept cars more than a year and sometimes much less if he didn’t like them), my personal favourite was probably his manual P6 Rover V8S despite it being a rather insipid shade of beige. I loved the sound of its engine, the tonneau roof and that it had a reserve fuel tank (of all things). My mother’s MK II 1600E also left a big impression on me, especially as it came in a much more appealing Light Orchid. Ahhhh those were the days eh?
I was an 18 year old USAF Airman based at RAF UH in Oxfordshire in 1978. My first car was a 1969 Cortina GT, 1600 cc crossflow, 4 branch exhaust, rusty door sills but MOT worthy. Loved that car, used to tear arse around the Oxon, Bucks, & N’Hants countryside, long before traffic cameras, Oh the joy!😂
When I was a child, my father had a 2-door 1964 Ford Galaxy 500XL with a 390 Big Block in it. He inherited it from his grandfather when he passed away in 1989. My father had some restorative work done on it, and it was absolutely gorgeous. I remember cops would stop him on the highway just to look at it. Unfortunately around 1993 or 94, some asshole pushed it down the street one night and stripped the entire car apart. It broke my fathers heart, and he sold it before we moved to another state in the summer of 1995. I never saw it again. I sincerely hope it's still around and rocking somewhere......
I remember going in 1996 as a teen with my father, I was 13 at the time, to a Mitsubishi dealership to look at a twin-turbo 3000GT VR4 convertible. He ended up buying a brand new stock 3000GT non-turbo, but it was red, with a 3 liter 225 hp V6, and it sounded amazing. And it was gorgeous, and we were the coolest people on the street. He took the neighbors for rides in it the day we brought it home. Even years later when I was an adult and went with my father to football clubs, that car was always the nicest thing in the parking lot.
He finally traded it in in 2018 for a 2008 Aston Martin V8 Vantage Roadster that he saw at the Portland Auto Show. It had a custom Porsche-Yellow paint job and TSW wheels. Which he then totaled it 6 months later.....no lasting injuries, but the car was fucking toast.
I miss the hell out of all three cars. Meanwhile, I drove a shitty Chrysler LeBaron (fun and FAST, but with tons of problems), an awful Kia Rio, a Cadillac SLS (nice, but with tons of problems), and now a 2004 Ford Escape with 200K miles and which needs tons of work.
That's the difference between hard work and hardly working. My father worked very hard, pulled himself out of addictions and poverty, and made a better life for himself and my family. You young folks, don't get stuck in shitty jobs like I did.....go to school, get a good education, and move through the ranks. No hourly-wage work in 2022 is going to buy you a Corvette or a Mercedes, so if you want one you need to work for it. Don't wait for anyone to hand you something, it's not gonna happen.
Man, that 1600E is such a beauty. Almost as beautiful as Jeremy's story about it. It's experiences like that which make you love cars.
i so so so love when Jeremy speaks of such strong emotional memories, especially about his dad. I remember on Top Gear, the patagonia special, Jeremy speaking on the porsche he had chosen for the special and how he had adored that model because he was able to race home in one to be able to spend the final moments with his dad before he had passed and I swear I could've been in the car with him telling that story that's how connected I felt during that story as a younger person(15) watching the show which now as an older man(34) I cherish hearing other things Jeremy has a strong emotional connection to or even simply a strong knowledgeable connection to given I felt the same way when hearing his narration of "The Greatest Raid of All"
My dad had a 1969 Cortina MK2. It was the car I grew up in so I can definitely share Jeremy's emotions even though ours was a lesser model. Great car for its time!
I remember my dad and my younger brother in the early early 2000s bringing home a Red 1988 fiero GT 5 speed from Texas that he had bought on eBay, drove all the way back to California. We love that car. Need a little bit of work but it do every bit of what the speedometer said 120 and it handled good too. The recession and the housing market crash of the 2000s, I was not in the financial situation to buy it my dad had to sell it we both cry about it to this day
Always loved the Mk 3’s. Straight from school I went to Australia on my own for a new life. Mk 3’s came with a 4.1 litre engine! Worked my rear end off and bought one in 1977 - 4 speed ‘toploader’ gearbox? Brilliant!
We had a 4.1 GL wagon in brown - the next model TE series, or mark 4. Could light up the rear tyres no problem!
Brilliant, heartwarming and funny. My dad (bless him) had a Marina; same colour as the Allegro. I miss my dad so much... but not the Marina.... This video just reinforces what we are missing on current Top Gear. Nothing touches Clarkson, May and Hammond.
My dad also had a Marina, worryingly brown with a pitiful 1.3L engine. My first car was a Datsun Cherry, but my second car was a well lived in 1600E. I thought I was Steve McLean in Bullitt, for a good year...
Errrm, we still have it on The Grand Tour. Top Gear's a different show these days but still very watchable imo. Basically we gained a car show, what's not to like?
This made me smile in recollection. I, too, had my moment, back in the 1970's, when our family car was a maroon, poverty spec Vauxhall Viva. One glorious day, my father arrived home in a brand new, blue, Mk1 Vauxhall Cavalier 2.0 GLS. With such luxuries as a passenger side door mirror, a light in the boot, and a velour interior. Pure decadence..........
Not just an Austin Allegro, which would have been crushing, but an Austin Allegro Estate, that must have been utterly soul destroying. Never forget the day in 1979 my dad picked me up from school in a new Ford Capri MK3 3.0 S, I could hardly believe my eyes, my dad driving such a cool car.
Like Jeremy and James, I remember very vividly the first car my dad bought, I remember catching the bus to go and collect it, a beautiful bright red ford Cortina mk3 2000E (AWE328M). I even remember the garage, the smell of the car and how amazing it was. Some memories you never want to forget and this is mine.
My dad has had many many cars, from a yaris t-sport (i loved that), a kia cee'd diesel when it was the 2008 financial crisis, then a fabia vrs 1.9tdi (i also loved that) and now a new skoda Octavia vrs and a vw transporter t5.1 camper. I can't wait to start my own motoring journey soon.
Wish i could do this.. my dad always just bought crap second hand trucks until i was well past adult stage
i have no fond memories of family vehicles. my story is more like Richards, with one embarrassing clunker after another.
i cant tell you how many unheated horrific bumpy rides i had to endure in the bed of the pick going places with my parents ( because kids didnt belong in the front because adults were smoking..)
i envy Jeremy and James so much for these memories
im glad they shared them with us.
showed us a moment of genuine weakness and love
I hope you made up for those days by treating yourself to a fancy car...
@@douglasgreen437 nah, i mean i had some fun cars..
i guess in the end i got my revenge, as i had to take care of my dad at the end of his life so he had to climb in an out of my low slung sports cars..
when he would moan about it, id offer the trunk instead, like he gave me. LOL! the look i got was priceless.
My Dad's first company car was a 1971 Cortina 2000 GXL, then three years later this beauty was replaced by a signal orange 2000E. For 6 long, wonderful years we had the coolest car in the street.
Sound of scratched record. And then it went progressively downhill. I still remember the last ride in it to school, listening to that sweet engine as he pulled away...and the tragedy that showed up 9 hours later: a beige Vauxhall Cavalier 1600 GL.
Still better than a 3-door Allegro estate though.
When I was very young my dad always had work trucks and most were white base model trucks. One day he came home in a lowered, customized (beyond factory), red f150 lightening. I still remember hearing it come into the driveway, sprinting outside and being amazed. 20+ years later. I still have it and its glorious 354k miles of memories.
This has and will always be the only "Top Gear"! I don't care what they call it now. These three are perfect together.
I have the same memories of my Grand dad comming home with his Chrysler 180 and the whole family inspecting the car with big eyes.. omg, it's a 2 liter😯
I didn't have my dad anymore but my uncle was like a new dad for me and my brother.. he came over our house with a Opel Kadett c coupé gte in the black and yellow colorscene..i was blown away,like Jeremy said,my knee's blocked and just stared at that car for almost 1hour. What a machine!😳🤤
That car was amazing and so beautiful.. my uncle drove like a maniac with that car and we loved it. Good Times and the best memories 😌❤️
Excellent clip. Jeremy Clarkson is an absolute joy to watch.
Ahhhh!! My dad had a Hillman Avenger 1.6(?)GL - quad headlights, rev counter (round dials!), fabric interior and bronze paint. A significant upgrade from the summer back burning black vinyl seats and strip style speedometer.
Richard gets so angry at his car 🤣
Hammond's segment in this is just so damm hilarious
I still remember walking out of primary school, and seeing my dad stood with a beaming smile. Next to his shiny new Mondeo Si 4x4.
his previous car was a rusty mk2 Orion. So was like going from a row boat to a star ship
I can totally share that feeling, but with an American accent. I remember my Irish 6' 4" tall father in his two-tone green 1971 Lincoln Continental sedan. It was the last high compression year for the 460, and that car could haul or tow anything. And it was so wide that I could stretch out and sleep across the back seat coming back from Lake Tahoe...
I still drive my dad's good old Peugeot 405, he reminds me of my sweet childhood memories.
Lovely gentle rustling of the leaves above the amber gold 1600E...
My dad was a rep, first he got Escorts 1.3 L, early ones might have even been 1.1L had a new one couple of years, then he changed companies, and the company car there was a Cortina 1.6GL I remember the excitement every 2 years when he got a new one to see what upgrades they'd been over that time. Used to look through the Ford brochure he bought home, glossy photos of the Ghia spec in some stately home setting, always something with more spec to aspire too, Ford's Marketing was on fire in the 70's.
My dad had a 1972 Mercedez Benz 220E. I loved polishing that car's chrome on Sundays! I am so sad that we do not have that car anymore!
Damn!! Those dials at 3:06 angled towards to driver do look good.
The first car my dad had when I was born soon after, was a 1974 Ford LTD P5 in Dark Green with a vinyl top and a 351 V8 Cleveland engine, producing over 250 hp. We loved that car. He regretted selling it till the day he died and we made him a picture frame collage of it as a gift he would often look at and just remember. We never owned a better car than that one and never another V8 in our lives.
The way this video makes me feel is the exact feeling I had when in 2006 my dad picked me up from school in his brand new Subaru WRX, I was like the biggest kid at Christmas.
My dad used to have a 1962 Vauxhall victor deluxe , grew up around it and always loved staring at it and now it’s nothing less than my all time dream car
Our family here in NZ had a Cortina very similar to Jeremy's Dad's one - great little car!
Being a teen in the 70s, the cars I remember most are the Cortina, Escort and various Holdens - all great cars!
About once a year I have a recurring dream that I go out to an old abandoned garage I never knew I had, hidden behind overgrown vines and weeds. When I push my way inside I find my old R33 GTR and realise I never actually sold it. I feel so warm inside and full of excitement. Then I wake up and realise it was a dream. I lie there with pang of nostalgia pretty much the same as missing a person you no longer see.
My Dad worked for Ford, and he was a parts manager. So, he got to pick out a car from the lot as his "demo". It was the 70's and he would normally pick up a Station Wagon for the family because there were six of us kids. my brothers and I completely understood what the "Badging" was back then. It molded us into car the enthusiasts that we are still today. This episode really hit home!!
And some people say it doesn’t matter which car you drive. Love from Birmingham.xxxx
Well my uncle was the one with the cool car when i was a kid. getting to ride with him in his E30 325 was so much fun. but later my parents got a mk2 golf from a relative, which sadly ended life with the gearbox exploded due to hitting a badger. and to this day the mk2 is one of my absolute favorite cars.
Fucking badgers!
It's amazing to me that even at a young age all three of them were so invested in the family car, and seemingly their families were as well. I know when I was growing up I didnt give a single care in the world about what kind of car my family had, as long as it ran and I knew which one I was getting into after school. I couldnt even tell you what half of the cars my parents owned were.
3:19 Didn't need to hear that, James!
Yes, we did! It's hilarious, and most likely true!!
My father had a Mk 3 in red but he bought it used in about 1983. I was around 5 years old, he brought it home and it was the shiniest thing I’d ever seen. One of my favourite childhood memories ❤
I love when Clarkson drops the mask for just a moment and we can see the real him. Not the lumbering man burdened by 40 years of tv and ego, but the funny man with a love of cars and stories.
My dad, one year-old Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. _Almost_ fully loaded. This was back before leasing had been invented. Business men would actually have to BUY luxury or near-luxury cars. They'd drive around in them for a year or two, then sell them; privately.
This was 1982, also before Pre-Owned vehicle sales were a thing. My dad got lucky. It was big, powerful, comfortable, had the most incredible brakes ever put in a car! Dad had it for about 16 years. It ran well most of the time, even though he barely took care of her. Those last three years or so.... Just ran her into the ground.
My first car was a Ford. 1998 Escort sedan. Only two years old. Didn't know she already had 2 previous owners until after I bought her. Ran fine. But 0-60mph was a horrendously slow 13.5 seconds. Definitely avoid the expressway. And the cheap bean-counters at Ford decided it didn't need anti-lock breaks. Yeah, they were wrong. I'm lucky to be alive. Idiot driver collided with me. Brakes locked up. I will NEVER buy another Ford for the rest of my life.
That Allegro estate is actually really nice looking, also I think it's technically a shooting break because it has 2 doors.
I've watched this episode ' a funeral for a ford' a few times, cried every time, it reminds me of all the cars my dad had when I was a kid... wish my dad was still here...
Is this video part of a bigger segment on the grand tour?
@@Lar308 yeah, the full episode is called 'funeral for a ford'
the Allegro (especially the estate) was a criminally underrated car!
What a beautiful moment shared by all. Oh yeah, and Hammond’s thing happened, too haha! Great content as always, much love from Texas to three of my greatest childhood heroes!
Jeremy is somehow the most offensive yet most precious person on Earth.
I agree, his WWII Documentary on the greatest raid is very emotional..
I'm the same age as Jezzer, my father arrived home when I was 8 with the only new car he ever purchased.... A 1600 GT MK2 Cortina. Still love you dad. The Twincam Escort a couple of years later was the cherry on the cake of life. Nearly halved the travel time to Hayling Island on hols. Lol
I remember when Jeremy recalled meeting his father for the last time while test driving a Porsche while taking a chicken casserole and making it in time thanks to the car
I missed my dad’s old Datsun 120Y. I didn’t liked it during my younger self, but now it looks better than most cars nowadays. I know my brother is searching for it. I really wish we can have it back
Jeremy: Meanwhile…
Camera: cuts to Richard…
Hearing this story about Jeremy's dad shows how much he loved him and how much being able to say goodbye to him meant everything to him.
Dreamed of? Probably a Porsche. What did (in reality) we have ? A day-glo yellow Allegro. Oh. And it had a black plastic interior that scolded your legs if the weather was warm
And it had an automatic gearbox. Which changed gears at a time and place of IT'S choice.
Ho-rendous
I had a white one that went OK on the flat with one person, but if you even looked at a hill, its knees buckled and it went and hid under a bucket.
I feel your pain, man...
Cars evoke emotion. This is why I drive my kids to school every day in my old 911, while they are surrounded by new SUV’s. Nobody will be talking about their Dad dropping them off in a 2018 Tahoe when they are 50. My kids however will be talking about a cold Colorado morning that Dad shoved them into the 1980 911SC to go to school. I love that thought.
One of my absolute favourite episodes of TGT. Everything just clicked into place.
Can you tell me which episode it is, please?
@@manuelsimoes174 Last episode of season 3.
Funeral for a Ford
I had an extremely similar experience to Clarkson except it was a friends white 1600E Cortina parked in a college car park. Just jaw dropping not an ordinary day it was one for the memory. 50 years ago also.
When Jaguar bought Ford there was a joke that their next model was going to be called the XJ Popular Plus.
When did jaguar buy ford?
@@FordForTheWin - A quick check on Wikipedia shows that Ford owned Jaguar from 1990 until 2008 when they sold it to Tata Industries of India.
That 1600E is absolutely beautiful, and what a beautiful story!
Gone are these moments that all of us can relate to. No one will ever have these feelings for EVs or Hybrids unless it's a super car. The world has further pushed itself down the rabbit hole of boring.
I still can remember the day in 1986 when my dad showed up in our brand new black Saab 900 Turbo combi coupé. It was beautiful.
That Allegro Estate probably stunted his growth.
The little dickens...
This reminds me of the connection I shared with my fathers 68 cougar. Cars compound the bond between father and son.
It's amazing how cars evolved from a tool to a full on status symbol
I feel you. In '72 my dad came home with a yellow/black roof Ford Taunus GXL 2000 Coupe (which he traded in for a 75 Mustang Mach 1 later)
Dang. All my dad had was a ‘71 Dodge Charger.
I’m no close to my Father but he had a 3.0 GXL Capri in orange with a black bonnet - awesome car