Top Gear (1977 TV series)/Series 26/Episode 13

Episode 13
Clarkson deliberates between two Fronteras.
Prod. code	NBMP053D
No.	239
Runtime	29:32
Prev ep.	Series 26, Episode 12
Next ep.	Series 26, Episode 14
Airdate	12th December, 1991

Series 26, Episode 13 of Top Gear aired on the 12th December, 1991. It was the thirteenth episode of Series 26; the 239th episode of Top Gear overall, including compilations. It was the 230th episode since Top Gear entered national broadcasting in 1978, and was the 23rd programme to air in 1991 out of a total 25. Series 26, Episode 13 was originally broadcast in 576i at a 4:3 Standard aspect ratio on British television channel BBC Two. The episode was presented by Jeremy Clarkson and Janet Trewin, with no other hosts presenting a piece to camera that week.

Synopsis

As narrated by Jeremy Clarkson:

• Vauxhall makes inroads off road: Vauxhall goes off-road to challenge the sports utility market.
• Joyriding without joy; the fatal consequences: How to stop joyriding; the horrors involved in teenage car theft.
• Young Driver of the Year Award: And a new name to remember in the search for successors to Moss and Mansell.

Riding up to the front of a large country house on a quadbike and wearing a stetson, Jeremy Clarkson begins the episode talking about the rise in leisurely lifestyles during the early 1990s, and that companies are now trying to sell cars which complement that lifestyle.

Auto Update

For this week's Auto Update, it is announced that the proposed Aggravated Vehicle Taking Bill will become law by the end of the year to tackle joyriding. Despite some opposition, the bill was rushed through the House of Commons by Speaker Kenneth Baker after just one day.

Trivia

There are some strange parallels between this episode and the final episode of Top Gear's subsequent 2002 reboot which aired 24 years later:

• Both episodes feature Jeremy Clarkson driving a Vauxhall Frontera.
• Both episodes involve Clarkson going off-road across fields in said Frontera, and eventually getting stuck in the mud on his way to a large country house.
• Both episodes involve the Frontera being pitted against the Jeep Cherokee (XJ), which at that point had not even entered the UK market and was an imported left-hand drive example.