Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car (Top Gear)

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Damon Hill appearing as the Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car
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Damon Hill appearing as the Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car

Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car is a recurring segment on the BBC Two motoring programme Top Gear.

During most programmes, a celebrity – usually of British fame – is interviewed by Clarkson. Discussion is normally amusing, and focuses on car-related matters, such as the celebrity's car history. Then Clarkson, the guest and the studio audience watch the guest's fastest lap on the Top Gear test track. For the first seven series of its current incarnation, the car driven was a Suzuki Liana. The car used is stock, except a roll cage and racing seats have been added as safety measures. Each guest first practices with the Stig and is then allowed a number of attempts to make his or her way around the test track in the fastest time. However, the star doesn't learn of his or her lap time until they are interviewed, and guests are often visibly anxious awaiting their results while in the studio. Practice laps, crashes and the drivers' facial expressions are also shown for amusement.

Image:TopGear-Test-Track.jpg
Map of the Top Gear Test track.

The two slowest laps on the Liana celebrity list are held by Terry Wogan and the late Richard Whiteley, both of whom were beaten by completely blind Bosnia war veteran Billy Baxter, who wrenched the Liana through the track under directions from Clarkson in the passenger seat.

The Liana endured considerable abuse from the stars when undertaking their laps, often to the delight and amusement of the hosts and the audience. In one famous incident actor Michael Gambon clipped the final corner almost rolling the car. It was done in such a spectacular fashion that the corner was henceforth named "Gambon Corner". When Lionel Richie drove the car, one of the front wheels fell off. Trevor Eve also lost a wheel, invoking Clarkson to coin the term "pulling a Lionel." British transport minister Stephen Ladyman added further injury to the Liana by denting the boot when he lost control during practice and slid backwards into a tyre wall. David Soul managed to destroy the clutch of two Lianas during his time on the show due to his unfamiliarity with manual cars. Christopher Eccleston was the only celebrity to use a Liana with an automatic transmission, because a hesitant Eccleston admitted he was "only qualified to drive an automatic." To accommodate his needs, Top Gear succeeded in borrowing an automatic Liana, of which only 40 existed in the UK. As a reference to his role in Doctor Who, the automatic Liana was shown materialising onto the racing track, with a TARDIS materialisation sound effect played over it.

The Liana has also been modified on several occasions. David Soul's Lianas featured a red police light and a white stripe in reference to his Starsky and Hutch days. Johnny Vegas was provided with 'L' plates as he hadn't passed his driving test at the time. When Justin Hawkins came on the show, the Liana he drove had flame decals pasted on it. Actor Sanjeev Bhaskar had an ornate tissue box placed in the back, as a homage to Asian drivers.

In its service, the Liana covered 1600 laps of the circuit, and its tyres and brakes were changed 400 times.

In July 2005, a Formula One driver appeared on the show for the first time as the star. All Formula One drivers are put into their own list with regard to lap times because of their exceptional skill level. In addition, the Liana was pulled out from retirement to allow Jenson Button to make a time, and Clarkson noted that the Liana would be pulled out for use by Formula 1 drivers in the future.

Both Stigs, the original black Stig and the current white Stig had done laps around the track in the Suzuki Liana. Topping the list for the Liana was the white Stig (1:44.4) who took the car out during the 2nd episode of series 8.

Liana leader board:

  1. 1:44.4 – The Stig (Current White Stig)
  2. 1:44.6 – Nigel Mansell5
  3. 1:44.7 – Jenson Button5
  4. 1:46.3 – Damon Hill5
  5. 1:46.7 – Ellen MacArthur
  6. 1:46.9 – Jimmy Carr
  7. 1:47.1 – Simon Cowell
  8. 1:47.1 – Mark Webber3,5
  9. 1:47.3 – Ronnie O'Sullivan
  10. 1:47.8 – Ian Wright
  11. 1:47.9 – Chris Evans
  12. 1:47.9 – Rory Bremner
  13. 1:48.0 – The Stig (Original Black Stig)
  14. 1:48.0 – Justin Hawkins
  15. 1:48.0 – Jodie Kidd
  16. 1:48.0 – Jay Kay
  17. 1:48.0 – Paul McKenna
  18. 1:48.0 – Trevor Eve
  19. 1:48.0 – Patrick Kielty
  20. 1:48.6 – Rob Brydon
  21. 1:48.8 – Stephen Ladyman
  22. 1:49.0 – Neil Morrissey
  23. 1:49.6 – Roger Daltrey1
  24. 1:50.0 – Jeremy Clarkson
  1. 1:50.0 – Patrick Stewart
  2. 1:50.0 – Martin Clunes
  3. 1:50.0 – Jamie Oliver
  4. 1:50.0 – Gordon Ramsay
  5. 1:50.0 – Lionel Richie
  6. 1:50.0 – Cliff Richard
  7. 1:50.7 – David Walliams
  8. 1:51.0 – Sanjeev Bhaskar2
  9. 1:51.0 – Ranulph Fiennes
  10. 1:51.1 – Timothy Spall
  11. 1:51.2 – Carol Vorderman1
  12. 1:51.3 – James Nesbitt
  13. 1:51.4 – Christian Slater
  14. 1:51.5 – Omid Djalili2
  15. 1:51.5 – Joanna Lumley
  16. 1:52.0 – David Dimbleby
  17. 1:52.0 – Eddie Izzard
  18. 1:52.0 – Jordan
  19. 1:52.0 – Rick Parfitt
  20. 1:52.4 – Christopher Eccleston
  21. 1:52.7 – Tim Rice
  22. 1:53.0 – Steve Coogan2
  23. 1:53.0 – Vinnie Jones
  24. 1:53.2 – Johnny Vaughan
  1. 1:53.2 – Denise van Outen
  2. 1:53.3 – Fay Ripley1
  3. 1:53.4 – Bill Bailey2
  4. 1:53.5 – Jack Dee
  5. 1:54.0 – Alan Davies2
  6. 1:54.0 – Stephen Fry1
  7. 1:54.0 – Rich Hall
  8. 1:54.0 – Martin Kemp2
  9. 1:54.0 – Ross Kemp2
  10. 1:54.0 – Tara Palmer-Tomkinson2
  11. 1:54.0 – David Soul
  12. 1:54.1 – Trinny Woodall3
  13. 1:55.0 – Michael Gambon2
  14. 1:55.4 – Geri Halliwell
  15. 1:55.6 – Susannah Constantine3
  16. 1:56.0 – Boris Johnson
  17. 1:57.0 – Anne Robinson
  18. 1:57.0 – Jonathan Ross
  19. 1:57.1 – Davina McCall3
  20. 1:58.6 – Johnny Vegas6
  21. 2:01.0 – Harry Enfield
  22. 2:02.0 – Billy Baxter4
  23. 2:04.0 – Terry Wogan
  24. 2:06.0 – Richard Whiteley

1 Moist track 2 Wet track 3 Very wet track 4 Blind 5 Formula one driver 6Unlicenced

Starting with the eighth series, the Liana replaced by a Chevrolet Lacetti, with a new blank scoreboard. The format was changed so that each star would have five practice laps, and then a final timed lap, with no allowance being given for mishaps.

As a starter for the new car and format, an open day was held for any celebrity who wanted to take part. Seven stars recorded times that day: James Hewitt (who the presenters failed to recognise and called "well spoken man") comedians Alan Davies and Jimmy Carr, rock stars Rick Wakeman and Justin Hawkins, footballer Les Ferdinand, and actor Trevor Eve who topped the time at 1 minute 47.0 seconds. Jimmy Carr, who held second place in the Liana behind Ellen McArthur, spun out while doing his timed lap and got the slowest time ever around the track at 2 minute 8.91 seconds.

Lacetti leader board:

  1. 1:46.38 – Gordon Ramsay
  2. 1:47.09 – Trevor Eve
  3. 1:47.41 – Les Ferdinand
  4. 1:47.69 – James Hewitt
  5. 1:48.00 – Ewan McGregor
  6. 1:48.44 – Justin Hawkins
  7. 1:50.30 – Michael Gambon
  8. 1:50.53 – Alan Davies
  9. 1:50.90 – Steve Coogan4
  10. 1:51.40 – Ray Winstone4
  11. 1.54.35 – Philip Glenister2
  12. 1:55.26 – Rick Wakeman
  13. 2:01:00 – Brian Cox
  14. 2:08.91 – Jimmy Carr

1 Moist track 2 Wet track 3 Very wet track 4 Hot weather

Note: Aside from driver ability, the Top Gear hosts estimate a wet track as yielding an average time four seconds slower than a dry track surface. "Moist" and "very wet" can be estimated accordingly. Most drivers drive the car alone. However, Clarkson carried his co-hosts, Hammond and Dawe during his timed run. Trinny and Susannah were both present in the car for the other's lap, as were Johnny Vaughan and Denise Van Outen. Clarkson also rode along with Billy Baxter, navigating for him. When Nigel Mansell came on the show, it was covered up in magazines and on the internet by saying that the Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car would be Alan Titchmarsh, making Mansells appearance a surprise to the audience.

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Top Gear
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Presenters
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Previous: Jason Barlow - Steve Berry - Julia Bradbury - Vicki Butler-Henderson - Brendan Coogan - Jason Dawe - Noel Edmonds - Chris Goffey -

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Episodes and Broadcasters
Top Gear Episode List - Top Gear Broadcasters and Video Releases
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Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car - The Cool Wall
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Top Gear Magazine - Jon Bentley - Fifth Gear
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