Top Gear USA - Fifth Season

Ferrara: Now on "Top Gear"...

Aah! Aah!

We test three great American muscle cars.

Ohh!

But only two of us get a chance

to face off in a real drag race.

Wood: Muscle cars... Aggressive, stylish,

and built to race.

What you need to win a drag race

is a great car with a lot of horsepower...

Insanely quick acceleration...

And a perfect reaction time.

See ya!

Oh, my God, that Camaro's fast!

But Adam's just a little too much on the right!

Come on! Oh, damn it!

How insane was that?

I am so glad that road was closed.

We could never do that normally.

I know.

We have to write gainesville a thank-you note

for letting us do that.

Wood: Muscle cars have been

at the heart of American car culture for decades.

Designed as Detroit's response to the hot rod,

their purpose to this day is simple...

To go fast in a straight line and to look cool doing it.

We were told to pick our race-worthy muscle cars

and meet in gainesville, Florida,

home to some of the fastest car racing in the world.

And to pack in even more muscle, we all chose resto mods

that have been upgraded with as much power

as modern technology could provide.

Ooh!

These are fast.

- Big girl can run. - Oh, yeah.

I mean, that's what makes a resto mod so great.

You know, it's restoration and modification.

It's making an old car

better than it ever was at the beginning.

Absolutely. I mean, look at this.

Foust: 1967 g.T. 500 mustang,

immortalized by nic cage in "gone in 60 seconds."

This beauty was immaculately restored and modified

for a mere $149,000,

sanctioned by the late and great carroll shelby.

It's got a brand-new fuel-injected

5-liter coyote motor, bringing it from 350 horsepower

up to a monstrous 500 horsepower.

Doesn't have a key fob,

but it still looks bad... In its '67 skin.

It's purdy.

I mean, how about the '72 dodge charger s.E.?

Originally came with 280 horsepower.

Now a little more.

Wood: They chose a charger for the bad guys

in Steve McQueen's "bullitt," probably because

of the menacing hammerhead front grill.

This one was lovingly built

by a guy named Bill from Tennessee for 90,000 bucks.

It's got a 6.4-liter fuel-injected hemi

that bumps the horsepower from 280 to 560,

not to mention the insane road-hugging 18-inch tires,

and my favorite part...

What's under the hood of that?

You mean under this beautiful '68 Camaro?

Ferrara: A red-hot Camaro.

I wouldn't have it any other way.

This was Chevy's ultimate muscle car.

And this little heart-breaker

was restored to the tune of 150k.

Originally, if you got it with the 396... 350 horsepower.

This has an lS2 in it. Guess how many horsepower.

You're never gonna guess.

I'm gonna tell you... 720 horsepower.

What?

661 pound-feet of torque.

It has a roll cage in it.

Yeah. You're gonna die.

Why should this episode be any different?

Look, gentlemen, the point is this...

We all picked resto mods, so we all kind of cheated.

I just cheated better, that's all.

So, what are we doing?

"You've been entered in a professional-level drag race,

taking place tomorrow..."

Good God.

"...driving the quickest production vehicles ever made,

capable of zero to 60 in less than two seconds."

That is really fast. And dangerous.

"On your way to the race,

"you'll compete in a number of challenges

"to determine which of you has the skills it takes

to be a successful drag racer."

Reaction time.

Just like that. That's it right there.

"Only two of you will have the chance to compete.

Your first challenge is 10 miles away."

Oh. It's a knockout race.

Only two of us get to drive.

What do you do to prepare for that?

Drive fast?

Okay.

I can do that.

Yeah. I can do that, too.

I got a pretty good reaction time.

You've seen me at Taco Tuesday.

I know. I dropped a cheetah once.

He grabbed it before it hit the floor.

We were on our way to the first challenge

just 10 Miles away,

but in these cars, we would have happily driven 100.

Wood: Have you ever seen a better-looking '72 Charger

that didn't have the number 43 for Richard Petty on the side?

I don't think so.

They told us to show up with cars that were race-ready,

and that's why I picked this charger.

It's perfect to do almost any kind of racing...

Drag racing, road racing, you name it.

This car could do it all.

Ferrara: This is the best of both worlds.

I get a cool-looking car that works.

It's got 720 horsepower.

It's got 14-inch brakes. It handles.

Recaro seats, six-speed transmission.

It's a racecar!

Foust: This is a great car. It's fast.

It's got the right gear ratio.

It's got good engineering in the differential,

good reliability in the engine.

And it sounds freaking awesome.

Yeah!

Gentlemen, I really want to start talking trash

about your cars, but I love them both.

But Adam's car is wicked-fast.

Wow!

That Camaro has 220 horsepower more than this car.

It's unbelievable.

Listen to this.

It sounds like Chewbacca.

What is it, chewy?

Our first challenge had brought us to a place

that had seen more than its fair share

of powerful machines moving quickly...

The keystone heights airstrip.

Yeah. Check this place out.

Vintage power and vintage muscle together.

How great is this?

I feel pretty American. What are we doing here?

Wood: We were going to test our reaction speed

by racing a quarter-mile runway

while stopping and starting three times.

A red light would tell us when to stop,

and after a five-second interval,

the green light would appear.

If we were to run the green light,

we'd get shocked by an electrified steering wheel.

Fastest time would win.

Electrified steering wheel?

So if we jump the light, we get a shock.

When you're at a drag strip with a pro tree,

if you leave early, you're gonna get a red light

and your time won't count.

It's all about getting the fastest reaction time.

Condition us. Like pavlovian dogs.

You're the closest thing to a St. Bernard we have,

so you go first.

Gladly.

I'm gonna show you guys how a man does it.

Okay. You gonna go pick one up on your way?

Tanner and Adam were equipped with a remote control

to signal when I had to stop.

But avoiding electric shock... That was all up to me.

Feels weird holding a steering wheel

that has bare wire exposed on it.

So I've got a box in front of me with a green light,

a red light, and a huge red light.

I'm gonna go on the green, stop on the little red.

If the big red's going off, that means I left early,

and I'm gonna get electrocuted.

The question is how tight on the green light can I get

without being shocked?

Ferrara: The first shock hits him...

He's gonna pee in his seat.

And then the second shock hits worse, right,

if you're sitting in liquid?

Everything's just gonna come out of him.

What I don't know is how bad this shock is gonna be.

By the third time, the beard's gonna fall off.

You think? It'll just flake.

Everything just comes right out.

It'll turn gray, and then, poof, down.

Adam, I don't think, has ever seen a drag strip.

Tanner's probably been around some before,

but I really think this is my event right here.

All right, you ready, pal?