#fictional events

[aiautos]

In this alternate universe, the events that led to Clarkson being fired from the BBC did not occur...Yet. And for Series 25 of Top Gear, still with the original 3, Clarkson built a flying car, and James and Richard built amphibious cars (again) for the "Top Gear: Wings, Wheels, and Water Special!" The challenge was to build an "unorthodox automobile," as the hosts put it. Clarkson, despite not having a pilot's license, alongside a team of engineers, built a ground effect vehicle using components from a Caterham 7. James built a miniature amphibious vehicle using a quadbike, with Hammond building his using a skid-steer tractor. Clarkson wound up crashing the "Flyterham" (it was more of a rather bumpy landing, but the landing gear did come off), Hammond wound up getting his floating skid-steer bogged down in mud, having to escape it sinking into the mud, and James built the only fully functional vehicle of the trio, able to carry 3 adult men (the trio) down the Mississippi river. Due to interdimensional rate-limiting, we weren't able to record the whole episode, however we were able to catch a few memorable quotes:

---------------------------------------------------------------------- Clarkson: "Tonight...I fly an aeroplane, James drives a boat, and Richard...also drives a boat." ----------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------- Clarkson: "I'll tell you what you've made, you've made a sinking metal death trap." Hammond: "Well, it's not going to sink because I've engineered it not to." Clarkson: "It's still a death trap, then." ----------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------- May: "Now, what we're doing here is essentially, we're mounting this outboard boat motor onto the back of this quadbike." (A loud crash occurs, followed by a long pause.) May: "Bollocks." ----------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------- Clarkson: "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" ----------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------- Clarkson: "And on that bombshell, good-" (A loud explosion can be heard) Clarkson: "...goodnight."

----------------------------------------------------------------------

[aiautos]

Top: Jeremy Clarkson's "Roving" Block of Flats Middle: James May's Space-Age Capsule Golf Bottom: Richard Hammond's Bizarre Bazaar Cottage Truck

In this alternate universe, new episodes of Top Gear featuring the original trio were not the only thing differentiating it from our universe. Certain episodes of the original series also went slightly differently one of which was the popular "Campervan Challenge" episode from season 15. While the events of the episode followed a largely similar path as the ones in our universe, the cars the hosts built used some wildly different bases. Clarkson decided to stick with his "Block of Flats" idea, but he used a Range Rover instead of a Citroen. The car was wildly unstable and back-heavy, and he ended up having to fill the front with sandbags and rocks to keep the front suspension on the ground! James went with his "Space-Capsule-Thing" similar to the one in our universe, but with a VW Golf instead. This time, he actually managed to get some professional engineers to help him with the construction, and the capsule on top actually had a sturdy construction and features like windows and not covering up the fuel flap. Finally, Hammond built an "Expanding Cottage," but out of an imported American Cadillac Bazaar! He managed to get the cheapest running and driving one he could find, but at the expense of a giant rusty hole in the floor, as well as as broken A/C (some things never change, do they?). Our interdimensional Wave-O-Matic can’t record full broadcasts, so we weren't able to record the episode. However, like last time we were able to capture some great quotes for you to enjoy:

---------------------------------------------------------------- Clarkson: "Tonight...I wear a jacket...Richard wears a jacket...and James wears a jacket." ----------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------- May: "You've got a bloody hole in the bottom of it! How are you going to drive it with that tetanus pit down there?"

Hammond: "It's...weight reduction." ----------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------- Clarkson: "Look at us, cruising down the motorway, our home right behind us. Nothing could be more convenient than thi-

(The whole car begins to tilt backwards. In a panic, Jeremy slams on the brakes.)

Clarkson: "As I said, nothing could be more convenient than this." ----------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------- Hammond: "Clarkson get out of the waaAAAYYYYY!!!"

(A loud crash can be heard)

Clarkson: "Oh my god, HAMMOND! YOU BLITHERING IDIOT, YOU'VE RUN INTO MY HOME!" ----------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------- Clarkson: "And what's going to happen when you need to take a poo?"

May: "Well, I've got this."

Clarkson: "That's a plastic shopping bag, James."

May: "I know." ----------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------- Clarkson: "And on that bombshell,"

(A gust of wind comes by and blows all of the panels from Richard's Cottage off of the cliff and into the sea.)

Clarkson: "Goodnight." ----------------------------------------------------------------

[aiautos]

Top: 2017 Ferrari Toro magazine ad

Bottom: 2023 Ferrari Toro IDERC entry

In 2016, after getting their asses handed to them by Ford a SECOND time, Ferrari decided to poke the hornet’s nest by designing and releasing a UTE-style vehicle, of all things. Built off of the chassis and bodywork of one of their existing cars, the Toro was set to be a fusion of a sporty supercar and a robust UTE. And it was!…in the worst way possible. The pitiful performance for a supercar coupled with the hideous design drove away the sports car crowd, and the fairly high price tag for a car with an abysmal carrying capacity alienated the pickup truck crowd. Less than 20 units were sold, with the excess inventory being disassembled for parts or recycled. The car was by all means a failure in every facet, but for the engineers and designers, the experience of designing something new and out-of-the-box was…exhilarating. Ferrari would soon re-use the Toro name in their 2023 IDERC Manufacturer’s Division entry, which took the form of a high-powered dune-buggy like vehicle designed to be both comfortable and powerful. Who knows, maybe they’ll finally beat Ford this time? Only time will tell…

[aiautos]

Hold on 1/20th of a second, this isn't a car! Well, that's right, it's actually the Interdimensional Wave-O-Matic, a device used by us to look into the car culture of another universe! Built by an engineering student and a college dropout, the technology behind it had so many potential use cases, but they decided to use the tech to observe and catalog the cars and car-related media of alternate universes. In particular, the Wave-O-Matic is able to pick up broadcast waves sent by conventional television stations, meaning it can be used to capture and view audio and video from shows from other universes (such as Top Gear). Due to some quirks that we're not quite ready to divulge, we can't actually record anything using it, we can just view the broadcast. However, we can capture screenshots and we can write down quotes, so that's what you're going to get when it comes to car-related TV shows on this blog.

[aiautos]

Oh? It appears that Camp Wanwanaca wasn't the only camp resort to preserve the legacy of their amphicar fleet. Here we have a selection of preserved amphicars from camps and resorts across the country. As you can see, they've got all sorts of different designs, which is a byproduct of their in-house nature. My personal favorite is the blue-and-orange trike-style model sitting in front of the fireplace.

[aiautos]

In 1901, Antonio Ziegelbauer, an Austro-Italian inventor, would unveil the Ziegelbauer Amphibious Motor Vehicle, (ZAMV), which would be demonstrated to the people of Venice, Italy, on January 02, 1902. He would let his wife drive the vehicle among the canals of Venice, and despite intrigue, he would be forced to leave Venice for, "Disrupting the peace." Ziegelbauer would shop around central Europe, looking for buyers, but unfortunately would never sell a single unit, leaving the ZAMV to be the only vehicle built by his death in 1912 due to unknown poisoning. His warehouse would burn down, but the ZAMV would mysteriously be stolen, its whereabouts unknown to the general public from 1913-1999. In 1999, it was found in a warehouse in Austria that had been raided for smuggling stolen goods throughout Europe. The Ziegelbauer would be donated to the Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci by the Austrian government, and would be restored in time for the 100th anniversary of the expulsion from Venice that Ziegelbauer became famous for.

[aiautos]

This here's a collection of Solar Roadsters from various years of the Utah Solar Racing League, a competition held on the Utah salt flats to see who can built the fastest, most efficient, and most stylish solar-powered vehicle. These particular vehicles are from the Roadster-class, meaning they can reach speeds of up to 140 miles per hour on a single charge. Racers are allowed one large main panel and one auxiliary panel to power the motors and electronics. The cars get one 8-hour charge during the early morning, which is when the style judging portion of the contest takes place. During the noontime, the cars finally get to speed across the salt flats, where their speed and efficiency are measured by stations along the straight course. The large main panel must be disengaged from the battery or covered up, however the auxiliary panel can be connected to the battery or the electronics to power them during the race. These roadsters are currently on display in the Petersen Automobile museum in California.

[aiautos]

The SoCal Speedster 5500, built in 2009 by Team SoCal was a high-powered, three-wheeled, super-aerodynamic Amphibious Racer designed for the 2009 California Amphibious Racing Circuit. This particular iteration managed to score a sponsorship by Castrol, hence the red-white-green color scheme. It took the podium the first year it was unveiled, and performed well in all subsequent races until 2013 when it suffered a terrible wipeout in the last turn, badly injuring the crew. Team SoCal sat out the 2014 race while they re-engineered the vehicle, and came back in 2015 with an updated design (not shown) which ended up actually winning the 2015 circuit.