From a Smart in Russia to a Ferrari over the mountains of Ecuador, this rollicking combination of bravery, jeopardy, and yes—stupidity, will take you across polar planes in a pick-up truck; up sand dunes in a Toyota Land Cruiser, along remote and rugged coastlines, into the Australian outback; and through the gates of Dracula’s castle in a Mercedes-Benz. You'll drive in fast cars, cool cars, inappropriate cars, tiny cars, and some very expensive cars in Top Gear ’s road trips of a lifetime. Twenty spectacular behind-the-wheel adventures will be irresistible to anyone who dreams of heading for the horizon with a scorch of the tires in a cloud of dust.
I was hoping for a guidebook to road trips but really this book is about fancy cars on unique adventures. Great book but difficult to emulate, unless you have a stable of Ferarris and Aston Martins. Great, entrancing stories though.
This book pulls a lot of stories from the Top Gear magazine. So aside from a Foreward by Jeremy Clarkson, and the first story by James May you won't find anything from the show inside. That being said, the book is filled with some great stories. The writers take some amazing cars to some amazing locations and write about the experience. Highlights include driving an Ariel Atom to the Arctic Circle (google a picture of an Atom to see what's crazy about that), driving a Ferrari 599 across the Andes Mountains, a Ford Falcon Typhoon across the outback of Australia, and a Ferrari 430 to the longest tunnel in the world, in Norway, just so you can hear the roar of the engine. Interspersed through the stories are some great pictures of the cars and the locales. Great for any Top Gear fan.
Loving this book. It's a trip around the world and the photography is tremendous. Get the book only for that and get it cheap from a charity shop, like I did.