Top Gear (season 2) | |
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Country of origin | United States |
No. of episodes | 16 |
Release | |
Original network | History Channel |
Original release | July 24, 2011 – April 3, 2012 |
The second season of Top Gear began airing on History from July 24, 2011 until April 3, 2012. Adam Ferrera, Tanner Foust, Rutledge Wood and The Stig returned as hosts, with the season consisting of sixteen episodes, which aired on a weekly basis. [1] This was the final season to include car reviews and the Power laps and Big Star, Small Car segment, as they were discarded from the programme before the third season.
Top Gear is an American motoring television series, based on the BBC series of the same name. The show's presenters are professional racing driver Tanner Foust, actor and comedian Adam Ferrara, and automotive and racing analyst Rutledge Wood. As with the original British version, the show has its own version of The Stig, an anonymous racing driver, and a celebrity guest was featured each week for the first two seasons. The show premiered on November 21, 2010, on History. Its most recent season, Season 6, began airing on April 26, 2016. On June 28, 2016, the BBC confirmed that the series had completed its contractual run on the History channel."
Tanner Foust is a professional racing driver, stunt driver, and television host. He competes in rally, drift, ice racing, time attack and rallycross with multiple podium placements, national championships, and world records. He was a co-host of the American version of the motoring television series, Top Gear.
Rutledge Wood is an auto racing analyst employed by NBC. Wood was one of three hosts for History's Top Gear along with Adam Ferrara and Tanner Foust, which premiered on November 21, 2010. Until 2013, he was one of the hosts for NASCAR Trackside. He was also the host of the Speed Road Tour Challenge in 2007. In 2013, Wood won the 2013 Long Beach Toyota Celebrity Race with Adam Carolla winning in the Pro Category who Wood says taught him the course.
Commenting on the second season renewal, UK show host Jeremy Clarkson noted, "Top Gear is our baby so you can understand why Hammond, May and I were anxious about passing it on to the presenters of the US show. We needn’t have worried because Top Gear is clearly in safe hands, even if they do insist on speaking in those stupid accents. Watching an episode from series 1 with Richard and James, we found ourselves in a genuinely heated debate about which of the presenters’ cars was best. We were just three ordinary chaps watching a car show and loving it, which is exactly what Top Gear should be. Bring on series 2." [2] The second season was also the first to include sixteen episodes, as the previous season aired ten. [1]
Top Gear is a British motoring magazine, factual television series, conceived by Jeremy Clarkson and Andy Wilman, launched on 20 October 2002, and broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two. The programme is a relaunched version of the original 1977 show of the same name, which looks at various motor vehicles, primarily cars. While the original format focused mainly on review of cars, the 2002 version expanded on this with motoring-based challenges, special races, timed laps of notable cars, and celebrity timed laps on a course specially-designed for the relaunched programme, with its format developing over time to focus on a more quirky, humorous and sometimes controversial style of presentation. The programme has received acclaim for its visual style and presentation, as well as criticism for its content.
Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson is an English broadcaster, journalist and writer who specialises in motoring. He is best known for co-presenting the BBC TV show Top Gear with Richard Hammond and James May from October 2002 to March 2015. He also currently writes weekly columns for The Sunday Times and The Sun.
The first season of Top Gear began airing on History from November 21, 2010 until January 23, 2011. Consisting of ten episodes, the hosting line-up consisted of Adam Ferrera, Tanner Foust, Rutledge Wood and The Stig. The segments included Power laps and Big Star, Small Car.
No. in series | No. in season | Title | Original Airdate | Viewers (in millions) |
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11 | 1 | "Texas" | July 24, 2011 | 1.96 [3] |
Feature: Tanner, Rutledge and Adam wrangle, haul and race their way across Texas in a crazy attempt to find an alternative to the pickup with 2 doors. The catch is that they only get $2000 to buy a car. Adam chooses a 1975 Ford Maverick and claims it is related to the Ford Ranchero. Tanner chooses the BMW 325e and says it has more technology than a 2011 pick-up. Rutlege chooses a 1991 Mazda Miata and he claims that it is the perfect replacement for a truck.
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12 | 2 | "First Cars" | July 31, 2011 | 2.12 [5] |
Guests: Rick Harrison and Chumlee Challenge: Tanner, Rutledge and Adam fight over who had the best first car (Tanner: 1985 Honda CRX, Rutledge: 1981 VW Rabbit Pickup Diesel, Adam: 1987 Dodge Aries K).
Overall Winner: Adam Feature: Tanner and Adam get to race their dream first cars—the Corvette ZR1 and Ferrari 458. [6] | ||||
13 | 3 | "America's Strongest Pickup" | August 7, 2011 | 1.83 [7] |
Guest: Bill Engvall Challenge: Tanner picks a Ford F450 Super Duty, Rutledge takes a Chevrolet Silverado 3500HD and Adam drives a Ram 3500 HD Turbo Diesel head into the mountains to decide which is the toughest pickup in America.
Feature: Tanner travels to the Atchafalaya Swamp in southern Louisiana to race the Local Motors Rally Fighter against an 800 horsepower supercharged airboat. [8] | ||||
14 | 4 | "Death Valley" | August 14, 2011 | 2.23 [9] |
Challenge: What's the best 4x4 you can buy for $5,000? Tanner (1983 Jeep CJ7 Renegade), Rutledge (1989 Chevrolet K5 Blazer) and Adam (1994 Ford Bronco XLT) compete in an epic 400 mile journey from the Mojave Desert to Las Vegas in an attempt to find out. Adam wins the speed contest but breaks his rear axle on the rock-climbing contest, reducing his Bronco to a two-wheel drive, Tanner does well in the other contests of off-road driving, and keeping his trailer intact, but loses to Rutlege's Chevy Blazer when his Jeep runs out of gas. Winner: Rutledge | ||||
15 | 5 | "Luxury Car Challenge" | August 21, 2011 | 1.81 [10] |
Guest: Arlene Tur Challenge: New Jersey is home to more luxury cars than anywhere else in America. Tanner (Jaguar XJ-S), Rutledge (Ferrari 308 GTBi replica) and Adam (Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow) head to the Hamptons to see if they can pass off these cars to locals. Feature: Tanner puts the new 911 GT2RS through its paces. [11] | ||||
16 | 6 | "The $500 Challenge" | August 28, 2011 | 1.97 [12] |
Guest: Adam Levine Challenge: Tanner, Rutledge and Adam race along the Pacific Coast Highway to see whose $500 clunker is best. Rutledge chooses a Ford Festiva, Tanner takes a 1989 Mercedes 190E while Adam drives a 1994 Crown Victoria.
Feature: Rutledge reviews the new Cadillac CTS-V family and tries to convince an unbelieving Adam that their performance is on par with supercars by drag-racing a CTS-V Wagon against a Ferrari California. | ||||
17 | 7 | "Beating Tanner" | September 4, 2011 | 1.67 [13] |
Guest: Bridget Marquardt Challenge: Fed up with Tanner always showing off on the show, Rutledge and Adam put Tanner through a series of tests to see if there is anything he can't do in a car. Feature: As part of the challenges, Tanner attempts to break the indoor world speed record (set in Series 8, Episode 6 of the British Top Gear). | ||||
18 | 8 | "Hollywood Cars" | September 18, 2011 | 1.52 [14] |
Guest: Steve Schirripa Challenge: The presenters construct replicas of their favorite Hollywood cars. Rutledge takes a 1995 Pontiac Trans Am which he disguises as KITT by adding switches and a front radar, Tanner buys a Nissan 200SX disguised as the DeLorean time machine as he puts gullwing doors on it and fits large metal plates on the back of it and Adam gets a 1973 Plymouth Duster which he recreates as The General Lee by painting orange with an 01, welding the doors shut and giving a loud horn. They put them through various challenges to see whose is best. On the way to the first challenge Rutledge enjoys driving his Trans Am, Tanner's Nissan gets mistaken for the actual time machine and Adam's Duster only attracts the attention of homeless people, one of which gives him a tip. Once at their destination Adam and Tanner fail to get out of their cars.
In the End: Despite Adam raising budget issues and Tanner's claims about his victory, Rutledge points out that the challenge was to build the best budget movie car which was easily the Trans Am KITT. Overall Winner: Rutledge Feature: Tanner reviews the new Subaru Impreza WRX STI and races the car through a ghost town against X-Games dirt bike champion Cam Sinclair. | ||||
19 | 9 | "Big Rigs" | February 14, 2012 | 2.07 [15] |
Guest: Edward Burns The hosts must learn to drive big rigs in one afternoon, then must complete a series of challenges in their trucks.
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20 | 10 | "Muscle Cars" | February 21, 2012 | 1.64 [16] |
Guest: Patrick Warburton The hosts each select a modern day version of a classic American muscle car to see if they're deserving of the muscle car name. Rutledge chose the 2012 Dodge Challenger SRT8. Adam chose the 2012 Ford Mustang GT. Tanner chose the 2012 Chevrolet Camaro SS.
Race: Tanner and Rutledge head to the old west in souped up Mustangs to have a relay race against two riders on horseback from Dead Horse Point State Park to the Colorado River. Rutledge chose the 2012 Roush Stage 3 Mustang and Tanner chose the 2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302. | ||||
21 | 11 | "Dangerous Cars" | February 28, 2012 | 1.74 [17] |
Guest: Joe Mantegna The hosts try to discover which car was the most dangerous to drive. Rutledge drives the Chevrolet Corvair, which was known for its tendency to oversteer. Adam drives a 1974 Ford Pinto, which had a history catching fire when rear-ended, and Tanner drives a 1988 Suzuki Samurai, which would roll over at speeds over 40 mph.
Feature: Adam is challenged to improve his driving speed and safety in an Ariel Atom. After Adam sets his time, Boris Said teaches Adam the fundamentals of car control. Adam wins the challenge by beating his initial time by 23 seconds. | ||||
22 | 12 | "Continental Divide" | March 6, 2012 | 2.07 [18] |
Feature: The challenge is to follow a pioneer trail through the Rocky Mountains by using the modern equivalent of the covered wagon: the minivan. Rutledge chooses a 1999 all-wheel drive Chevy Astro. Adam drives a 2001 all-wheel drive Chrysler Town & Country. Tanner picks a rear-wheel drive Ford Aerostar with manual transmission.
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23 | 13 | "Supercars" | March 13, 2012 | 2.21 [19] |
Feature: The hosts are given the challenge of driving three high-end cars from New England to New York City and presenting them to a mysterious celebrity buyer. Rutledge gets a Lamborghini Murcielago Roadster, Adam gets a Bentley Continental GTC and Tanner gets a Porsche Turbo S Cabriolet. The winner would be the one whose car was picked by the mystery celebrity. The challenges presented clues to his/her identity.
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24 | 14 | "Limos" | March 20, 2012 | 1.72 [20] |
Feature: The hosts are challenged to create their idea of the perfect limousine and drive a celebrity to the Emmy Awards. Rutledge decides to resurrect his 1981 VW Rabbit Pickup Diesel, and join it back-to-back with another one, creating a twin-cab vehicle in which he hopes will eliminate the need for reverse driving. He adds a barbecue grill and safety seat in the co-joined cargo bed. The main design flaw is that he cannot use both engines at the same time, and with two cojoined vehicles, he had doubled the weight and cut the horsepower in half. Tanner takes a 1987 Chevrolet Corvette and turns it into a 35-foot stretch limo, with high performance but little attention to the interior, aside from a racing chair on rails for the guest. This gives the car a huge turning radius, and prevents it from climbing over any speedbumps or slopes without scraping its underbelly. Adam converts a 1969 Lincoln Continental Mark III into a version of the Popemobile, with a couch sitting high in the rear, encased in a glass cage. This makes it top-heavy, unstable and braking difficult.
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25 | 15 | "Rut's Show" | March 27, 2012 | 1.60 [21] |
Guest: Lake Bell Feature: To celebrate the 25th episode of the U.S. version of Top Gear, Rutledge is given full control over the show. The features include his dream to take part in an official race, compete with Adam in a challenge to collect the most tips with a designated driver program, and try to solve the problem of charging an electric car while on the road. This is also an episode in which Tanner does not take part in any of the challenges.
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26 | 16 | "Worst Cars" | April 3, 2012 | 1.58 [22] |
Guest: Kal Penn Feature: The hosts are challenged with deciding the worst car in America. They are given $1,500 to buy a car for another host to determine which is the worst. Tanner purchases a 1977 Mustang II, to be driven by Adam. Adam purchases a 2001 Pontiac Aztek, to be driven by Rutledge. Rutledge purchases a 1988 Yugo GV, to be driven by Tanner.
Review: Tanner travels to England to test the new Noble M600. Noble has not yet determined the top speed of the M600 and Tanner is tasked with determining the top speed of the vehicle. He races a Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera and an Audi R8 V10 in half-mile drag race. The M600 comes in first, beating the Superleggera in second and the R8 in third. Tanner then takes the M600 to an American Air Force base to determine the maximum top speed. Tanner drove the M600 to 215 MPH. Tanner gives a generally favorable review of the M600. He praises the car for its large power to weight ratio and calls it "...one of the purest driving experiences around," due to its lack of driver aids. At the conclusion of his review, Tanner states, "The M600 has proven itself to be a member of the supercar elite." |
The season was aired from July 24, 2011 until April 3, 2012 on History, airing on a weekly basis. [1] In the United Kingdom, the season was aired on BBC Three under the name Top Gear USA from January 13, 2012. However, the season halted airing on January 27, before continuing its run on June 29, 2012.
BBC Three was a British television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation. Launched on 9 February 2003 as a replacement for BBC Choice, the service's remit was to provide "innovative programming" to a target audience of viewers between 16 and 34 years old, leveraging technology as well as new talent.
The season 2 DVD was released on February 19, 2013. [23]
Season 2 at the Internet Movie Database