Top Gear Classic (1977) 1989 eps 4

in tonight's top gear not one but three mazda3 to threes the latest and the winner of our Ronnie Quest competition and we joined the celebrations for 30min ears hello and welcome to this week's top gear we're going to be spending a fair bit of time this evening talking about Japanese cars and their car industry so Ritz Swindon at the site of the latest Honda Transplant transport being the industry's current jargon word to describe Japanese assembly plant overseas on this site had already invested about sixty million pounds in a new engine factory they're in the process of injecting another 300 million pounds to build an ultra-modern car assembly plant so by any measurement it's a big deal even though it's just a tiny fraction of the total amount invested over the past 10 years overseas by the Japanese car industry in the UK and the USA particularly and now just about one in four cars but anywhere in the world carries a Japanese badge we're going to start this evening with a road test on the latest of them the new Honda Accord launched in Frankfurt many people thought it was far too conservative Chris cop has been driving it although almost every part of the latest Honda Accord is new the car seems very much like an enlarged version of the old model wheelbase goes up by 5 inches and height by an inch and a half also inflated is the price under seem to be capitalizing on their reputation for quality reliability and design with a definite move up market for what was there sea air arriving although the base model is 12,000 pounds this 2-liter EXI is expected to be the most popular it's priced of just over 15,000 that's nearly 1500 more than the old model but it's still a bargain compared with the 19 thousand pound top of the range model with four-wheel steering for Japan the Accord can be ordered with five cylinders but all cars sold in Britain are 16-valve fours the 2-liter injection now gives a hundred and thirty-three horsepower and there are more sophisticated engine mounts for quietness and headlights are interesting clear lenses with complex moulded reflectors as you'd expect the increase in exterior dimensions has been reflected in the interior and this new Accord is now a very roomy car indeed in particular there's very good Headroom and that's something that the early models were criticized for in fact there's even room to use the power seat to take you well up in the world rear passengers get lots of legroom the the whole cabin gives a a feeling of quietness and solidity that's in part due to a new floor construction using a honeycomb structure and the dashboard is also a new idea they put the heating and ventilating ducts molded inside it and the whole lot is then clamped to the front of the car and that means there's nothing inside to shake about and rattle very high level of standard equipment you get cruise control you get air conditioning you get anti-lock brakes very nice stereo radio electric windows as you'd expect and electrically controlled and heated door mirrors however the legendary quality control isn't infallible in this Japanese built car we found one tiny area of poor paint finish already going rusty despite that the new car is most impressive handling is tidy but more noticeable is the improvement in the ride which could be rather coarse on the old car performance is excellent and delivered with great smoothness the car remains squires up to very high speeds and the engine readily spins round to high revs with absolutely no fuss Honda have also developed their speed sensitive power steering system to remove its tendency to color the light at lower speeds or over heavy after breaking at cavalier prices the Honda Accord was always a strong competitor in its market sector but is it up to competing with cars like BMWs 520i who are 100 dealer we speak to maintains that the people who bought their first Accord five years ago and now that much better off and he thinks they'll stick to the car they value so much well back here at Swindon Honda can of course lynnie international scale be reckoned as a major manufacturer but they've already earned themselves a reputation for being ruthlessly competitive in motorsport for example so the saying goes whatever Honda wants Honda gets in the States they're all ready and I'm the one Japanese seller here in the UK they've bought themselves a 20% slice of Rover in fact these concertos have brought at Longbridge they come off the line with a Honda badge on they come down hit a Swindon for their pre sale quality inspection they expected within four years to have a hundred thousand new Honda cars rolling out of this park here for sale in the UK and on the continent that's just the final ad of course in a wave of Japanese investment spread while across the UK Nissan were first their plant in Sunderland opened in 1986 and will produce two hundred thousand cars a year by 1993 employing three and a half thousand people its product the Bluebird is now superseded in Japan but exposed to continental Europe have already started a new blue bird and Micra are promised Toyota were next they intend to make a replacement for this car the korrina at a plant in Derbyshire by the early 90s engines will come from another Toyota plant that shot Anand Eastside Honda however chose a different route they chose to collaborate with Rover Rover gain new designs to adapt and build in their own plants Honda had the security of a partner what was just as important and assured market for their components the end use in the plant here at Swindon currently supply the production line at Longbridge they're going to the concerto as well as into some verses of the system model the new rover 200 eventually of course they will also supply Honda's own assembly plant here but only production volumes of around a hundred thousand cars a year rather small from modern assembly plant have the Japanese revealed their entire hand they traditionally take a step by step approach they put in a small investment they make a hundred thousand cars then they take another step and make it two hundred thousand then they make another plant and eventually they produce something like five hundred thousand cars and I think the same pattern will happen in the UK but remember that the Japanese always like to understate what they're going to do and therefore if they say they're going to make a hundred thousand cars in Honda's plant in Swindon then you can be quite assured that that is the absolute minimum Honda's track record in America shows what may be in store for Britain under have for transplants they're away from the old industrial centres with all their deeply rooted problems already American but Honda's like this Accord Coupe a are actually being exported back to Japan the other Japanese companies to have American transplants raising the Japanese share of the American market to fully twenty five percent back in Europe the new Japanese offensive is undoubtedly causing concern among the established European makers as a feeling that the British government is only welcomed the Japanese because of the relative weakness of Britain's domestic car industry and if the degree of commonality between the new Honda concerto over 200 is anything to go by could Robo lose its ability to develop independent designers I think increasingly Rover has to depend on Honda for its design and its development work that doesn't mean that Rover won't have a contribution to make it certainly will but in order to compete effectively in the marketplace it has to plug into the economies of scale of a larger manufacturer and therefore the rover group will increasingly be making Honda designs Rover might hotly dispute that but the proof of the pudding perhaps is in the new Rover 200 which is launched this week we test it in next week's program now from the concerns of the present the celebration of the past namely Rovers continuing celebration of the mini its 30th birthday party was held this summer Becky Adam was invited along 120,000 people and 25 thousand minis converged on silverstone where it must have been the biggest gathering ever to pay homage to a single mark they were here to celebrate the minis 30th birthday the little car that revolutionized sixties motoring within six years of its introduction in 1959 a million people had bought one and the enthusiasm continues unabated at Silverstone mini clubs mushroomed arriving from all parts of the country they were joined by old and young alike from all corners of the world mini appeal has spread across generations as well as the globe this neat little Continental model is certainly easy to park and the modifications were completed in an afternoon all enthusiasts seem to agree that small is definitely beautiful it was very far ahead of its time I don't think there's any car that's 30 years old today it's as nice to drive as the mini was so I'm still is Japanese car is a so complicated many things working by electric but many very simple actually I got addicted to them because my husband was addicted to me it's just a disease that we have it they're just so cute everybody gets attached to them they're like that you like the hugging take home the Icicle my car mins min 1 min 2 min 3 min 4 min 5 6 7 8 9 and 10 by 80 I should be on 2 min number 29 29 mins books suddenly an hour everyone remembers those early minis with an 850cc engine 10 inch wheels one at each corner and those famous pull-string doors they sold for under 500 pounds later changes in design included a radically different front end on MINI Clubman for 1969 and on the 1275gt initially mini sales were slow as people got used to this odd little car but the craze soon caught on it took a while to get underway because the car was so unusual and people had to get used to this idea of a car designed to look small but be big inside to have a transverse engine and where you recep much nearer the front that normally you would be and once people accepted the idea that this car could perform that this car had style this car had economy and this car was safe then the whole thing started to bang bang and it's never looked back from that many attempts at many derivatives were stopped at the prototype stage this one designed by Mitchell knotty was an early attempt at something sporty you can see why it never made production the minis birthday celebrations certainly weren't just a time for serious admiration of museum pieces the occasion was a weekend of fun often very energetic for club enthusiasts this group of American mini owners and yes they're into them too traveled over 5,000 miles to release some surplus energy and join in the fun and the minions came in all shapes and sizes proving that smaller isn't necessarily better larger appears to be even worse and some don't even bear talking about it appears is he gonna Scott it right first time John Cooper was the man who persuaded BMC to let him develop the first hot mini all the raising boys had minis when they first came out and I thought it was about time they put more power into it and I went to see AC governess and we went to see George Harriman and he said take one way and do it we took one away and put one of our racing engines with the car disc brakes and took it back and he thought it was fantastic and I said you've got to build a thousand of them to get you to Ma legate he said when never sell a thousand anyway they sold 150,000 a year and Cooper are still in business you supply the 1989 model and they supply the boost in performance from 43 to 64 HP plus a new grille and set of alloy wheels it may not be the original Cooper S but it's quick unleaded and perfect for today's traffic and I want one the ER a turbocharged version comes with a modified a series engine upgraded front and rear suspension and improved brakes for around 12,000 pounds to get a mini that does not to 60 in 7.8 seconds with a claimed top speed of 115 that's not too bad and the car would probably appeal to the new enthusiast British racing automobiles have developed this supercharged 1,300 CC limited edition it has a sumptuous hide interior and performance is comparable with the ER a mini but with the dubious body kit and a horrendous price tag of 30,000 pounds this one's surely destined for export this 1959 prototype failed the Army's tests so they sold it as the Moke and it passed with flying colors now 30 years old we're all here celebrating this historic occasion and the world's biggest mini traffic jam 5,000 cars stretching as far as the eye can see is agonies we've been proud little car happy birthday it's excellent later now differently feel tonight's program it's worth underlining packs the mini is one of the few British cars to go down a bundle in Japan they really loved it now apart from their success with cars the Japanese have had several fruitful collaborations to produce like vans like these General Motors went in with Suzuki to produce the rascal here and with Isuzu to turn up the midea they're now selling several thousand these every year in the UK and continental Europe the big gap so far has really been with big trucks the name Kino isn't instantly recognisable in this country we're more used to familiar european truck names looming large in our rearview mirrors but he no is number two truck maker in the world and the chances are that if you go to a construction site you'll see some he know trucks the reason well there's a sudden growth in the construction industry and the demand for eight wheelers couldn't be met by the European manufacturers so operators went for these Japanese trucks currently assembled in Ireland complete with chrome grilles and roof lights so why did the operators like these trucks when in the first place they were available off the peg they also liked the simplicity and the ruggedness of the truck it's got a floor made of lino now European truck manufacturers might scoff at that but the lads up on the sites will tell you it means you can hose the mouse at the end of a muddy day and they're ready for work the next morning on the mechanical side they weren't too happy about the fuel consumption now this is a naturally aspirated 13 and a quarter liter 6-cylinder engine modern European trucks tend to be turbocharged and intercooled and that means they're a little bit more economical cause he no say they're also more liable to break down and withstanding charges of around a hundred and fifty pounds a day for a rig like this before you even start it up days off the road are absolutely critical at 49,000 pounds it's good value and there are plans to assemble a full range of vehicles in the UK soon the Hino is a very easy vehicle to drive inspired steering is light it's very easy to maneuver in confined spaces and the Japanese have applied their car expertise in switchgear instruments and gear changing to a trap Europeans say there's nothing to fear from me no but we heard that line before about motorbikes and cars right from trucks to rallying because rally crest is back for the second time rally question may remember is the competition we run together with the radio time to select someone to take part in the Lombard RAC rally winning this year is Liz Jeffers from Bracton Northamptonshire she's done so well in the qualifying rallies since she's now got an international license we'll definitely take part in the Lombard RAC Tony Mason went to see how she was coping with the pressure when Liz won from the thousands of rally quest entries back in the spring she was somewhat surprised if not flabbergasted thermal is what did you do after you won rally quest well I panicked for a while then I came home and when I saw realised what I'd actually won I was very excited so how's it affected your day-to-day life well obviously I'm doing these rallies I've had to have a fair bit of time off luckily as I'm self-employed farm secretary I can work a bit harder the week before and make up the time and then I can have the odd day off what I do is I travel round visiting various farms I'd do anything from bookkeeping v80 wages there's one place I go where we have a computer that we keep all our health and fertility records and I also draw carves there draw them well don't actually draw them we have a sketch card and we have to fill the black and white bits in and that's for pedigree so then we can actually recognize them well that's a far cry from the infamous keel the forests in the borders where Liz competed in August unfortunately she went off on a bend in the early stages and had to leg it for help although she got again she ran out of time perhaps some extra tuition wouldn't go amiss so who better than top rally driver Louisa Kim Walker to give us some help I don't go for the lesson I think we don't think I need this lots of Chris my husband uh-huh that's his former motorsport he leaves all the rally in to me oh and how is your confidence building up anyway it's gained in each time I do another rally and how do you feel the drive-ins going and I've got a lot more you know I think I can handle it bit better now I've got a bigger engine so it goes a bit faster how are you going to attack the LEC well after not finishing on the cumbria I realize our disappointing it is not to finish one so I think we'll take it a bit steady for the first couple of days and then see how it goes I'm just praying it doesn't snow or rain or obese icing well come on we'll go and have a practice Android okay lately it's your problem and I break tons will grind and see if we can do one right I'll never run separately our chance to have a good practice out there but this is nice and flat no trees so so here's the ball end up here or keep it in first gear I'll pull it out don't put your food on the clutch when you do a handbrake turn so you're enjoying all this attention it's great about so much notes is taken to me for ages I'm gonna do here to stick you through some ice bins and hopefully it's gonna be effortless to steer the car because you're gonna have the car that well-balanced yeah it's gonna maneuver itself nuna Goosen will dis Chinese see what you think what game will you stay first now the roles are reversed with Liz at the wheel and Louise's passenger give it going keep it going because I'm gonna sit this new car I often fail the cars driving me and not I'm driving it but let's take the car but the scrap for the name can you at the bottom it like a perfect well done so what do you think of Louise is an instructor she's really good I've learnt a lot great well we'll be watching you put it into practice on the next event right of course the car Liz drives is a 1300 model with 108 brake horsepower Louise is on the other hand is a 2-liter model and produces 210 horsepower come on Louise shows how you handle this one we shall of course be following business presence as part of our build after the big rally in November now part of the Western response to the Japanese onslaught on the International car market has been to follow the principle if you can't beat them join them so for example we have General Motors buying into Isuzu and Fort of America buying fully 25% of Mazda so ambassador redesigned their major up medium-sized contend over three to three it wasn't entirely inappropriate they should choose America to reveal it to the press thus it was that two weeks ago I had the opportunity to drive the new car the European car makers are under increasing pressure from the Japanese and their continued pursuit of excellence to mid-size master three to three is no exception new range with an old name or number smell of a three-door hatchback 4-door saloon and this 5-door coupe pain or is it a hatchback or even a fastback of course one man's fastback is another man's coupe a but certainly the tie it seems to have turned against the stream of boringly similar hatchets we've had over the past few years towards this somewhat neglected form as for the looks of this particular car well they grow on you with increasing familiarity looks good from most angles from the low front end compete with sporty pop-up headlamps the nicely hand-holding perfectly rounded rear end moves well with its 16-valve engine nothing hearts irritable stomach churning but a crisp nought to sixty eight point two seconds top speed of 25 miles an hour with nobody's going to do that kind of speed with a family on board I can't imagine it's also remarkably quiet even at speed on these bumpy mountain roads because they've managed to knock out a lot of the wheel Rumble you get with smaller cards indeed the changes under the skin or as importance of the new shapes themselves for example they've managed to achieve a 40% improvement in torsional stiffness nipple better Road holding and handling by beefing up the dorsal sections on the front and rear cross members the fit and finish or the build cons they say is a very high standard indeed so too is this paint finish they claim to designed a new way of putting on the paint it gives me this near Mercedes like paint job 5 doors rather than three important that I think in a family car I wonder how long before Vauxhall for example brings out of 5-door calibra the back end shades of the Sierra X are four by four and the Celica that's that's because the wind tunnel of course doesn't they're a master of my Mars bar as for the boot itself well I think somewhat disappointing couldn't get more than a couple of suitcases in there inside the overall effect is sporting but Spartan with the chunky gear leaver and the instruments in a binnacle behind the steering wheel very functional plenty of legroom in the front adequate in the back of either you haven't got ostrich legs and a very high specification from the tinted glass and the electric sunroof to the central door locking and that really is the strength of the other two cars in the range this is the middle of the range the classic four-door family saloon totally unexcited in terms of design once again a very carefully put together very competitive package of performance in terms of the 16-valve engine interior space and it's very high specification finally the bottom the range the 1.3 litre three-door hatchback comes in a 1.8 litre form as well with a performance very similar to that of the GT very similar in appearance to the Peugeot 205 larger of course more space more legroom more Headroom neither the golf or the Civic and once again very highly specified they believe this will be the best seller of the lot as to drivability will all the models benefit from the stiffening of the chassis and the breed example suspension the power assisted rack & pinion steering is nicely precise well they carp against well the so-called sports seats on this model and nothing special the interiors although they use the space very well a rather unaccelerated on this GT version and you put the foot hard down in fourth say is somewhat underwhelming but that having been said it feels tight and steady it doesn't skip around even on these bumpy mountain roads it doesn't wander from the line and I would say that the undoubtedly first class engineering of these cars and their very high specification will put Mazda very well back in the front row well that's about it for this evening we can't leave Honda without at least a mention of their Motorsports prowess for the past four years or more Honda engines have dominated Formula One racing for the past two years they powered the McLaren team to victory in all but a couple of the Formula One Grand Prix's well you've got to be tough to be at the top that's a level of reliability not to mention power that Ferrari and all the rest would give their eyeteeth for well that's it next week you've got all the stars of motor fair we road test the new Jaguar folly to end the rover 200 we look at the behind the scenes preparation of a racing Porsche so see you then until then drive safely good night you

Channel: Anarchy

Views: 34,432

Keywords: Old Top Gear, Top Gear, Classic Top Gear, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May, William Woolard, Chris Goffey, Tiff Needell, U.K., UK, Top Gear UK

Id: exR59yd2Q5s

Length: 28min 3sec (1683 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 01 2012