Top Gear, the amazing motoring programme that has a magazine version and a TV version is one of the oldest running automotive programmes spanning decades from April 22, 1977 to the present, though the TV version had some periods of stoppages and makeovers, which is in all fairness, not out of sync with the Greek Philosopher Heraclitus’s saying; ‘change is the only constant thing’.

The period of October 2002 to June 2015 saw a rotation of several presenters before finally settling for the perfect ‘bromance’ relationship between three great gentlemen: Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May. These trio greatly brought a new breath of style to the programme that soon catapulted the global viewership to an estimated 350 million weekly viewers in 170 countries at some time.
The end of the contract for these three men ended on a controversial note based on some infractions chalked up by Clarkson but in solidarity, May and Hammond both decided to not continue the programme without Clarkson. Allegations of verbal and physical abuse were levelled against Clarkson hence the termination of his contract with the BBC on 25th March 2025. Though they agreed to do a final episode which aired as a special on 28 June, 2015, with the trio moving on to Amazon to produce a new motoring program.
Days ago, Richard Hammond revealed the deep emotional toll that event had on him so much so that on his final day from the BBC, he cried all the way home and was so lost in his grief that he ran out of fuel (diesel) in his car because he did not want to be seen crying.
In a recent video he narrated; “the very last time I drove this road on the way back from the very last Top Gear studio recording, I was a tear-soaked mess,” he said.
“It was a big moment, and I was driving a bronze Land Rover that I still have now, I love that car, and it was low on diesel.
“But I was so tear-soaked I couldn’t stop to buy fuel because it would have looked a bit odd, which meant I ran out when I got to the end of the M50 at home.”
That was not the end of his woes because this incident presented another issue as a fallout of running out of diesel in the car, because with a diesel car, you can’t just fill up and get back on the road, you have to bleed the system by draining any fuel residue left and then replace the fuel filter, which is kind of annoying.
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