Top Gear USA - First Season

Now on Top Gear...

We find out how much car you can get for $1,000,

***

That window doesn't go down.

We welcomed a "modern family's" man on our track.

Unleashed.

*** too bad.

And we go back to the *** of nescar.

Welcome at "Top Gear".

On this show nobody would get a make over,

you will find nobody ***

but if you love cars, you're in the right place.

I'm Ferrara.

That's Faust.

And this is Ruledge Wood.

Now, we all know the economies ***,

*** ***

and that give our producer an idea.

The average cost of a car in the U.S. is just under $29,000.

But what could you get if you spent less, much less?

So they gave us $1,000,

told us to go out and buy the best car we could find.

Then we were all to meet in a small town in north carolina.

They handed us a series of challenges to figure out who got the best deal.

Wood: Our meeting place...

North Wilkesboro, North Carolina,

the heart of the rural south.

Since this challenge was in my backyard, I was the first one to arrive.

This is the 1987 ford thunderbird turbo coupe.

It was motor trend's car of the year for 1987,

and really, it was the first time that we saw the ideas of japanese and german engineering

come together to work in an american car.

And I got it for 1,000 bucks.

Tanner rolled up next.

Is it my high-school science teacher?

What are you driving?

1987300zx...

Nissan's foray into the sports-car world in the U.S.

and the ideal road-trip car.

You know we're in the south, right?

Yeah. That's why I don't want

- to get stuck on the side of... - Pride of america,

and you showed up in a Nissan?

- It's reliable, and that's why I got it. - Is it female?

Because I noticed it's been wearing a bra for a long time.

Maybe it is.

You, on the other hand, are in trouble.

What is in there?

Oh, it's custom. It's a custom interior.

- It was really hard to find like that. - There's, like, a fuel pump.

16-inch after-market alloys.

Foust:... And somebody's sweatpants. Are those yours?

No, but they're nice. They're all cotton.

They've got blood and grease on them.

Oh, no. That's just years of performance and power.

Don't tell me that's what I think it is.

Holy crap, it's a coupe de ville.

Huh?

I worry about adam sometimes.

Wow.

Ah ah.

Wow!

1976 cadillac coupe de ville.

Gentlemen, this is a sign of prestige and class,

as you can plainly see, and the end of an era.

This is the last of the big cadillacs.

In 1977, all the caddies got smaller and elvis died on the toilet.

Wow!

No offense to elvis, but there's a reason both of those things happened.

There's some grandfather wandering around right now lost,

- looking for his baby. - Did you see this?

Real positive.

A full-sized spare.

Oh, and, hey, a rear-view in case you want to look in the...

Yeah, I need that. Yeah. You may want that.

This was the finger pincher that would clip people's fingers off.

Here, close that again.

Wait, wait, wait. Watch where you close it.

You won't pinch your fingers because it has...

- Get your fingers in there. - A motor.

It's probably got... what?... 400 under the hood?

500, my friend. 500.

500 cubic inches.

- 500 cubic inches. - 500 cubic inches?

- Mm. - Really?

Mm.

You better start buying gas cans now.

The smart move was that you brought an american car.

Mm-hmm.

Tanner made the real bad move of bringing that japanese hunk of crap over there.

That's 'cause I wanted to get there. Look at this thing.

- And you paid 1,000 bucks for this thing. - And it's the best value here.

This car weighs 5,000 pounds.

That's 20 cents a pound.

Pretty good deal.

That is terrible logic.

Ferrara: Logic? No, this was strategy.

I knew this caddy could take whatever ridiculous challenge

the producers threw at us.

"To find out which is the best $1,000-dollar car,

"you'll put them through the ultimate test of drivability, durability,

"and maneuverability... moonshine running.

"Back in the day, moonshine runners had to be fast, reliable, and agile

"to outrun the revenuers.

"In their off days, moonshiners would race each other,

which led to the beginnings of nascar."

"Load up your trunks with bottles of grain alcohol

and head across town for your first challenge."

Adam, I'm gonna help you with your hood. It looks funny.

Ferrara: No, don't. No, I know what you're doing.

What are you talking about?

Okay.

- You broke it! - Go, go, go.

Give me that!

I don't have it! I don't have it, man!

Come on! It's a cadillac!

***

Wood: I knew a guy that could get us some grain alcohol.

Along the way, I learned that when it comes to $1,000 cars,

you get what you pay for.

Now, when the turbo kicks in, it sounds fine.

I just...

because the speedometer quit working, I can't tell how fast I'm going.

In '87, a thunderbird set the fastest lap in nascar history...

212.8 miles per hour with bill elliott at the wheel.

My coupe has heritage.

Ferrara: I love this car.

It reminds me of when I was a kid.

My father always had a cadillac.

And that was the car we took on vacation.

We used to camp at lake george, new york,

and it was a five-hour trip from our house on long island.

And I could sleep on the back deck, right below the rear-view window.

So for $1,000, I got a cadillac.

I knew it was gonna be comfortable, I knew the ride would be smooth,

and I knew that it was built like a tank.

But there are a few things that don't work.

The air conditioner doesn't work,

that window doesn't go down, the glove box doesn't close,

and there's a small, tiny exhaust leak.

Foust: My air conditioning does work.

That is a huge bonus 'cause it is hot and humid out there.

Clutch feels pretty good.

Radio's on eternal seek, as it should be.

The dome light is eternally on. Maybe...

A little bit of a vibration up f.

- Transmission... -

... Not so good.

Horsepower...

I don't think we're clicking on all six cylinders,

to be honest with you.

It really wouldn't even climb that last hill.

I don't think we're going anywhere fast.

Foust: Rutledge led us to a shady barn in the middle of nowhere.

- How many we have to pack in? - Man: 100.

100?

That'd be 25 gallons.

Wood: Whoa, adam, you gonna be able to get out of here?

That boat... she's laying anchor, my friend.

Yep, that's the ground right there.

Thanks to rutledge's kinfolk, each of our cars was loaded

with 100 quarts of white lightning.

And at over 50% alcohol,

it was the highest-octane fuel these cars had ever carried.

Oh!

Foust: We were asked to drive 50 miles outside of north wilkesboro

for our first challenge.

Adam, how's that land yacht doing?

It looks like you laid anchor with that hitch back there.

Ferrara: All this weight does not make a bit of difference in this car, my friend.

Oh.

My car drives even better with the weight in the back.

I feel much more secure now.

You keep thinking that.

Tanner, is your car all right up there?

I can hear your bottles clinking every time you key the microphone.

Foust: That's 'cause they're in the car with me.

You guys have the luxury of having all of that flammable liquid contained in a trunk.

You should light up a cigarette. It'll relax you.

If you need a cigarette, I got several thousand butts in this one.

We arrived at our first challenge,

an eighth-mile stretch of woods.

"Legendary moonshine-runner- turned-nascar-champion

"junior Johnson is credited with inventing the bootleg turn,

"where a driver escapes his pursuer

"by putting his car into a 180-degree turn,

"then speeding off in the opposite direction.

"Your cars must go to the marker,

"execute a bootleg turn, and race back to the start line.

Fastest time wins."

J - turns required a hand brake.

This is a perfect challenge for my car,

but the 400 pounds of hooch could be problematic.

If I get on the grass a little bit,

that'll make it kind of nice and smooth for those bottles back there.

Three, two, one, go!

Come on, baby!

First gear.

Oh, he is in the gravel!

Ferrara: Oh!