An Accurate depiction of the American Stig?

The much anticipated Top Gear USA debuts this fall on the History Channel, and until now, has lacked one important item: The Stig. That is until a new rumor has mention that there will be a Stig and the Stig will drive.

For those who haven’t heard of the Stig, he is an anonymous track driver for the super popular Top Gear on BBC in the UK. He doesn’t say much, and he doesn’t have to, he lets his driving say it all. The USA Stig will most likely be used in the same fashion as the UK show. The Stig will test vehicles on the Top Gear track and grab a lap time for each car, as to assure consistency in the testing.

No names have been clued as to whom the Stig will be, but that’s the point. Hopefully Jalopnik’s sources are correct and a USA Stig is born, it wouldn’t be Top Gear without him.

Meet the Stig-Copter. Mini-helicopters are quite fun, and this product looks to be a pretty high tech version of the breed. The heli is based around an aluminum frame, it’s rechargeable, and it gives you about 8-15 minutes of flight time per charge. The body is based on the design of The Stig’s helmet, giving the helicopter almost supernatural cornering, and the ability to translate Morse code. Now for the bad news; you’ll have to order from the UK, and it’ll cost you about $60, before shipping.

A few days ago we learned that the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport is now the fastest production car on the planet. Pretty exciting, yes. A little bit after that we learned that Top Gear, the very awesome British TV show I watch despite my having zero car knowledge, was involved in the record-breaking in some capacity. Basically, Captain Slow himself, James May, actually broke the record first—but then his record was smashed, too.

I took the liberty of ripping a few minutes of the segment from last night’s episode, embedding it here for you all to see.

My favorite part of the whole segment is that they waited until the air was at its thinnest before attempting to break the record. Science.

Slight problem: YouTube may have blocked the video in some countries. Maybe the BBC would have preferred I linked to a torrent or nzb of the entire episode? I mean, really, who is this hurting?

Some people say… the iPhone 4 is a piece of junk. The latest episode of the greatest show on television, Top Gear, made mention of the issue that has captured the world’s attention: the shoddy craftsmanship of the iPhone 4. You know a story is huge when Jeremy Clarkson and Co. devote valuable airtime to it.

You’ll recall that the iPhone 4 basically dies when held in a certain position. Apple, after initially not saying much, blamed the problem on a software glitch.

That was the story until yesterday, when Consumer Reports, the publication with a bulletproof reputation, published its findings. According to its engineers, yes, there is something wrong the iPhone 4, and it’s a little more serious than a mere software glitch.

Until Apple fixes this mess, Consumer Reports says you’re better off buying an iPhone 3GS.

There goes my theory that Steve Jobs is The Stig.

Now this is exciting. If you visit Top Gear’s Web site, you’ll notice a story about the record-breaking Bugatti Veyron Super Sport. Look closer, though, and you’ll find a not-too-subtle hint that the guys from the best show on TV (well, that and Louie on FX) are somehow involved.

And I quote:

Now, we wouldn’t want to give anything away, but you know how TopGear has always been pretty intimately involved with high-speed runs in the Veyron? Remember, for example, James’s blast to 253mph in Series 9?

Well, let’s just say… it would have been a bit strange for us not to have been part of this astonishing record run in some capacity. We’re not saying any more, but keep a close eye on all things TopGear in the coming weeks…

Here’s my guess: after the Guinness World Records people officially put the car into the record book, one of the guys, hopefully Clarkson, then tried to beat that record.

Or maybe it was The Stig, driving around listening to the vuvuzella.

A major requirement for these funds is that the products be American made. JR Central worked up a plan that involves major parts of the $3.5 billion project would be made locally. This would included infrastructure such as the signals, and track, while just parts of the rolling stock would be built by U.S. companies.

But the company is proposing two different types of trains: the common 205 mph shinkansen or the 361 mph magnetic-levitation train. Both would probably be welcomed additions to travelers, but not many would want to have one of these trains in their backyards. The shinkansen is regulated to less than 70 dB in Japan within a residential area. They often can reach a lot higher levels when at full speeds, though. That’s something environmentalist will probably yell foul at if the train’s route is anywhere near a wildlife zone. So yeah, don’t expect these things anytime soon.

Hopefully one of the companies gunning for the cash can blow through the red tape quickly. I, for one, am tired of dealing with over-stuffed airplanes and rude airline staff. I would much rather give up the speed of an airplane for the leg room on a high-speed train. [WSJ]

Oh, and enjoy the video below. It gives a great explanation of the shinkansen Top Gear-style.

It only makes sense for Top Gear to be filmed in HD. Not only is the show widely entertaining, but the cinematography is top notch. The boys behind the cameras really know what they are doing. The show is shot around the world and now that it will be shown in HD, should be up to par with high-def classics like Planet Earth. I can’t wait. The new season starts on November 15th.

New to Top Gear? Let me suggest Season 12 Episode 8 – the Vietnam Special.

What a shame. The LEGO house has been demolished just weeks after completion for James May’s other show, Toy Stories. (He’s known as Captain Slow on Top Gear, too)

Legoland didn’t want it due to the high cost of transporting it and it was never intended to be permanent, so down she came. At least some good will come of it as the used LEGO blocks will be donated to charity. Hit up Telegraph for a photoset showing the completed inside and the demolition.

We’re normally not too keen on Lego stuff, but we’ll make an exception in the interest of camaraderie. Plus, it involves James May from Top Gear, a show we can all get behind (even if I don’t know a darn thing about cars!). Right, so architect Barnaby Gunning designed a real house out of Lego. No, not a “Lego house,” that is, a Lego house for Lego people, but a real, human-livable house made out of Lego. Indeed.

The story goes that James May, the shaggy haired Top Gear presenter, put the word out the he wanted a Lego house built; he’d then live in it. That’s where Mr. Gunning comes in, bringing his University College London knowhow to the project.

A highlight from a recent Oobject interview:

Oobject: One of the problems with giant Lego structures we’ve seen before is that they look nasty because the designs are literal and figurative, like something from a model village. How did you manage to get the Lego house to actually look interesting architecturally?

BG: Largely that was a result of James May being on the same page as us. James realized the kitsch potential from the get go and specifically asked that we didn’t just build an overgrown standard model.

That’s the key, I guess. Not to build a merely shoddy Lego house, but to live up to James May’s infatuation with kitsch (and driving slowly and prudently).

Top Gear is out to show the world that you don’t need a brand new hybrid car with a $25k price tag to be eco friendly. Their goal: Build a car that can get 70 mpg for only $7,000 and can hit 60 MPH in under 7 seconds. It’s called…The Sipster.

 http://www.topgear.com/us/players/topgear-embedded-v3.swf

The Top Gear.com American team choose a 1981 VW Rabbit. Classy and classic that Volkswagen is. The project just started but we wish them the best of luck out smarting a Toyota Prius while keeping the price in a recession friendly range. The blog will be updated with pics and the progress. We’ll be keeping a close on this one.

ElectricAid.org via Jalopnik

While Clarkson seems pretty straightforward about the cars both failing in some way or another, Tesla says that neither car got below 20% charge at any time and the other problem was a minor fuse issue that was fixed without delay.

Okay, it has to be said now that Top Gear is an entertainment show. I have no idea just how much is staged and how much is made up on the spot, but it sure isn’t journalism. They played lawn darts with cars, for god’s sake. They dramatize the strengths and weaknesses of the cars to make a better show, and when the Teslas slow down or fail, they make that into a segment. So the car was up running again in five minutes? Lucky they’re on TV and have engineers ready to replace a fuse! It’s a real problem if you’re on the highway. And unless Tesla is prepared to say that the Top Gear writers and editors fully made up the other Roadster running out of juice, they’re really in no position to complain at all.