Top Gear: The Perfect Road Trip

It's a normal Tuesday in Britain.

There's a hint of drizzle in the air

and traffic is at a standstill.

We know that driving is meant

to be more fun than this.

We know that cars are meant

to be more fun than this.

So we decided what we'd do is

give you an hour or so of escapism,

of perfect roads and perfect cars.

Yeah. So, what we're going to do is

strip away all the things

that drive us mad,

roadworks, Peugeots, speed cameras...

- James May.

- Yeah, we'll get rid of him.

He's always holding us up.

And then we will end up with

the perfect road trip.

Strangely, Jeremy insisted

we should start here, in Venice,

where all the streets are full of water.

Why are we in Venice?

Because I wanted to drive

the Riva Aquarama.

Why?

Because it's the most

beautiful thing ever made

and because it's got two V8s.

Okay, we are starting in Venice because

he wanted to drive a... What is it?

- Riva Aquarama.

- Riva Aquarama.

- The most beautiful thing ever made.

- The most beautiful thing ever made

and it's got... Two V8s?

- Two V8s.

- Two V8s!

And we're going to set off from here

on a journey across Italy,

across France, to... Where are we going?

- Pau.

- To Pau... Pau?

Why are we going to Pau?

Because that is where the first ever

Grand Prix was held.

- Pau?

- Yeah.

- Never heard of it.

- The track's still there.

We're going to drive the very first

Grand Prix track.

Whatever. Between here and there,

we're going to be on motorways,

mountain roads, rally stages,

racetracks and cities.

And in every place, we are both going

to pick what we believe

is the perfect mode of transport.

It's going to be the perfect week.

Perfect weather, perfect start,

perfect boat, perfect everything!

- Perfect.

- And no James May.

That's better than perfect.

Over the next seven days,

our quest for perfection

would take us from Venice

towards the Italian Lakes.

From there we'd head south

to the Mediterranean,

for a drive along the French Riviera

to Saint-Tropez.

Then we'd swing inland again

towards the finishing point at Pau.

Do we look like Tubbs and Crockett?

Or Tubby and Crotchety?

- No, seriously. That's perfect, though.

- Tubby and Crotchety.

Venice Vice.

Having docked

the L200,000 speedboat,

I switched to an even

more expensive car.

The new, grown-up, less tail-happy

Black edition of the SLS.

In Victorian times,

people would come through Venice

on what was called "the grand tour",

so that's why

I've gone for the Mercedes,

because it is the ultimate grand tourer.

Mmm-hmm. Except, it isn't the ultimate

because this is, the Ferrari F12.

No, no. That's too powerful.

- Too powerful?

- It is too powerful.

I said that... It is!

You did say it on the programme

and I thought then...

You see this?

I will be able to use all of the power.

Yes?

In that, you will not

be able to use all of the power

because you'll end up

halfway up a telegraph pole.

No, I'll be able to all of the power

but there will be more power than

you've got, that's all that's about.

A grand tourer should be powerful

- and creamy and grunty and...

- Uh...

Six hundred and twenty-two horsepower,

it's not a wheelbarrow.

- Seven hundred and thirty! It's more.

- I know.

Hammond!

Let's just go across Italy, shall we,

in our grand tourers?

Yes. Yes.

I'LL go quickly, you big girl.

Oh, God!

Oh, that's a lot of power!

Maybe that's too much!

No, it's not too much.

Jeremy's being a wuss. It's just enough.

It's just I don't need

to use all of it right now.

I'm going to use a bit Less.

Maybe this much of it.

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