Top Gear might have made its mark as one of the best automotive shows in the world, but it is one that should be taken with a pinch of salt. It is well-known that some of the scenes in the show were scripted for entertainment purposes, and we do not really mind since Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May are pretty good in doing what they do.
But a recent confession by Clarkson in a paper that he writes in was nothing short of a bombshell as he revealed that there was a scene that was ‘doctored’ by the Top Gear production team in order to make it look funny. The scene we are referring to here is none other than the reliability of the Reliant Robin.
According to Clarkson, the Robin is one of the vehicles in this world that one could not take around a corner without flipping over as the three-wheeled configuration is just a major design flaw. However, a confession in a column in The Sunday Times revealed that the Robin he drove was actually modified to do so every time he takes it around a corner.
“Well, now’s the time to come clean. A normal Reliant Robin will not roll unless a drunken rugby team is on hand. Or it’s windy. But in a headlong drive to amuse and entertain, I’d asked the backroom boys to play around with the differential so that the poor little thing rolled over every time I turned the steering wheel.”
Come to think of it, this actually makes a lot of sense. If the Reliant Robin is so bad in transporting people from Point A to Point B in one piece, there must be endless stream of news on how this three-wheeler is a death trap and one must stop using them immediately.
And to repair the damage done by Clarkson to the Robin, he even added that the three of them and Andy Wilman immediately bought one each as a company car when they formed their new production company. Since people will definitely find it hard to believe, they even posted a picture on Twitter to prove it!
While the three-wheeled layout of the Robin might not be that treacherous as how Clarkson had portrayed, one would certainly had to be very careful in taking it around a corner at high speeds. I wonder if anyone had actually taken a bunch of Robins and make a one-make race… Oh wait, they have. Looking more like a demolition derby I’d say.
