James May has fallen back in love with his buggy from The Grand Tour

hello viewers today i'd like to talk to you about the worst car ever made which is of course the original vw beetle but don't worry i haven't got one here to show you yes it's dreadful but there's no denying that it's also the most interesting car ever made no other car has such a story to tell over a pint of petrol and a bag of crisps it began life as an instrument of evil as a cynical contract played against the unsuspecting german people by the nazis it ended as a darling of the hippie movement and an ambassador for flower power for everything that happened in between please see episode one of my series cars of the people which is available from amazon along with streaming music next day delivery and more where was i oh yes the original beetle it's crap unless that is you turn it into one of these [Music] this is a beach buggy and [Music] it's mine piece of love brothers and sisters a beach buggy commends itself in two ways firstly it's a beach buggy and that's bussing secondly it rids the world of another beetle which might otherwise be restored on richard hammond's new classic car show and become a blight on society so that's a win this is the only old car i own and most of it is new i don't really like classic cars to be honest but this isn't one really it's more of a deeply personal effect that flowered unexpectedly and beautifully in the dustbin of automotive rubbish by the way i never actually take it on the beach i mean have you seen all the shiny bits that would be corroded by salt can you imagine what sand would do to those exposed throttle linkages at the back i mean come on take my beach buggy on the beach are you mad don't be wet i think we're ready for that by the side of the road bit actually let's do it in front of this vineyard now to build a beach buggy first you have to find an old beetle but you throw most of it away you keep the floor pan the basics of the engine a few bits of the suspension and steering and so on then you saw the floor pan in half and you remove a bit from the middle and weld it back together and after that pretty much anything goes but in this case it's a pretty faithful replica of the bruce meyers original the myers manx the fiberglass body is a direct copy of the original one it was built for me for the namibia special and then rebuilt again afterwards by crazy dave fisher of kingfisher customs in birmingham and is as they would say boston at heart though it is still a 1950s beetle the engine has bigger cylinders and it now has twin carburetors it makes 100 horsepower you know but it's still a beetle engine and that's why it makes such a bloody awful racket it's air cooled and fashions have approved that there's a warning from history other crap aspects of the beatles survive in the buggy and are actually exaggerated by it the steering was always pretty vague to be honest but on these big balloon tyres it's become purely conceptual above 60 miles an hour this thing is positively terrifying the buggy is even shorter than a beetle and it's even more tail heavy so you have to be very careful if you break late for a bend like this one coming up here because it will lock up like that the gear change is a bit weird and seems to be in the wrong place sometimes i can't find it and of course there is no fifth gear because it hadn't been invented yet even then avon brown couldn't come up with fifth gear doesn't stop me going for it though oh not there there's no roof there's no heater there's no boot but on the other hand i do look extremely good in it now we can't afford proper music on drive drive but what i thought we'd do is have a music sequence of me looking very cool in my beach buggy accompanied by some cheap library tunes that sound marginally better than the engine here we go no there's no fifth gear [Music] i love this thing it's impossible to be miserable when you're driving a beach buggy and i actually gain strength from the joy it brings me and the joy it brings to all the people who point at it and laugh beach buggy is a happy flourish it's a testimony to the triumph that good will ultimately achieve over evil a wonderful coder really to the most incredible car story in history but going back to what i was saying in the beginning what other car has achieved this transformation from icon of oppression to everlasting party on wheels it's amazing this car is great not because of what it does but because it is a coded message of hope to all humanity and i have a message for you too dear viewers like comment subscribe [Music] [Applause] you

Channel: DRIVETRIBE

Views: 1,342,662

Keywords: jeremy clarkson, richard hammond, james may, cars, top gear, the grand tour

Id: nFoY3wfRUj8

Length: 7min 13sec (433 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 22 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/EastAdditional6702]

I think this is the only car he's kept from all the shows.

[u/CoyotePuncher]

I want one of these now. Apparently the kits are $7000? Thats way cheaper than I expected.

A few weeks ago I was out in the Atom and saw a Meyers Manx at a stop light. I tapped my wife on the shoulder and pointed to it excitedly, just to see the lady in the Manx tapping her husband on the shoulder and pointing to us excitedly. Lol.

[u/chucchinchilla]

I never fully considered what cars C/H/M kept from Top Gear/Grand Tour until I watched Clarkson's Farm and saw some old friends (Off-Road Bentley, Off Road Mercedes SL). Then there's Hammond's Oliver, and now this. Anyone know what other cars they kept for themselves?

[u/TrevorArizaFan]

I love when James comes on the Drivetribe channel and does one of these reviews. The specials are great, but no one was as good at making an entertaining car review at the TG/GT trio. I honestly wish they'd keep the season three GT format, they'd really nailed it done and some of their pieces (funeral for a Ford, namely) were some of the best they're ever done.