Top Gear in Bolivia

Top Gear tackles the 'Road of Death' in Bolivia

It may be Christmas, but at least we still get a new episode of Top Gear this Sunday – Episode 6 of series 14. But be warned; it’s on at yet another time slot – 7.45pm BBC2 – but that’s because it’s 75 minutes long instead of the regular one hour.

This week is a Top Gear special with the boys tackling a journey across Bolivia in a quest to reach the coast of Chile. Messrs Clarkson, Hammond and May get to do the trip in a trio of somewhat clapped-out 4x4s bought for a song from the classified ads.

From the depths of the Bolivian rainforest the boys get to experience all the rainforest and Bolivia have to offer, including local wildlife and a road called the ‘Road of Death – El Camino de la Muerte. I’m sure it will be all very entertaining, but I do wonder if maybe Top Gear is edging a bit too close to light entertainment and starting to lose any relevance as a motoring programme.

Wouldn’t it have made more sense to do the trip in a trio of current 4x4s? You could have done variations on a theme –  perhaps a VW one with a Q7, Touareg and Cayenne; or a Land Rover one with a Disco, Range Rover and a Range Rover Sport. Or even, just to show how inept they really are off-road, they could have picked on BMW with an X5, X6 and X3. Just a thought.

Still, I’m sure it will be worth the watch, and a great antidote to the festive programming we’ve had to endure (David Tennant’s outings as Doctor Who and Hamlet excepted).

By Cars UK