The Nissan Micra was one epic troll, given how it confuzzled Jezza enough to significantly delay his reaction.

I will give Clarkson one thing. The Very Hungry Caterpillar is an all time banger. I love that book. It’s almost as good as Harold and the Purple Crayon.

Fun fact: when James debuted in 1999, the first car he reviewed was the Rover 75.

Good old top gear where the music was louder than the engine 🤣

Love how Richard said that the Noble was a calculator. Damn thing didn’t even have ABS. Oh how times have changed

Hearing Fatboy Slim come in while Clarkson was driving the Noble really sold it for me.

“It’s a car they forgot to stop making” 😂 May is a savage

Jeremy trying to finish reading the little caterpillar as fast as he possibly could, to beat Richard in a race, is my favourite thing he has ever done

"A car they forgot to stop making", damn, I didn't expect this from May 😭🤣🤣🤣🤣

''It's 2003''. If only it still was - for many reasons. For me, the Golden Era of Top Gear was 2003/2004-2010. And every now and then you stumble across and old gem like this. Love your work!

Even Morgan have now sold out to the Italians

This episode is very indicative of all 3 presenters personalities and styles, it's so spot on

When I was in the Marines, a buddy went on to the naval academy at Annapolis. His sponsor family was British, headed up by retired royal navy captain. The cpt had imported a couple cars when they moved to the former colonies. One was a little mg convertible that his wife drove in the summer. The other was a white Noble M12. The first time I visited we spent at least an hour talking about and poking around in the car. It was on a 4 post lift in the carriage house above a half disassembled wooden chris-craft. The M12 also needed a service and new tires. The next time I came to town, the boat was finished and in the water, and the M12 was on the ground and in running condition. The first thing the cpt asked me was if I wanted to go for a ride. We spent the rest of the afternoon racing around rural parts of the Eastern shore at well above felonious rates of speed. It's still one of, if not the best, car I've ever driven when it comes to pure driver engagement and excitement. I once heard someone describe it like putting body panels and a steering wheel on a cheetah. Fast as all get out. More nimble and agile than the laws of physics should allow. Attempts to take down much larger prey, with varying degrees of success. And can only be run at the limit in short bursts before needing to rest otherwise it will melt itself from the inside out. Oh, and we got to take the chris-craft out on the Severn and into downtown Annapolis. Pull up to Dock St in Annapolis on a Saturday summer afternoon, in a vintage chris craft piloted by a royal navy officer smoking a cigar and wearing an ascot. You feel like an absolute g.

“Come on, this is a bathroom appliance.” That just made be chuckle. Classic James May.

I love how all 3 chose the cars they most resemble with, Richard likes classics with a bit of modernity hence the Morgan, Clarkson is brash and all about "Speed and Power", and James's priority has always been a comfortable ride 😂

"Make sure it doesn't eat your chassis" 😂🤣

Somehow I knew before I ever watched this that James would roll up in a Rover 75, England's Buick Park Avenue.

I went in a rover 75 2 years ago for the first time. Can't believe that Rover went bust. The ride was better than anything I've experienced in a Mercedes, BMW or Audi.

7:35 this is probably one of the best genuine arguments of Top Gear history.

The rover 75 was a brilliant car it was a looker and the top of the range was pure luxury. I think it still looks good today

Meep! Meep! "Get out the way" - I remember crying with laughter when I heard James say this when I was a kid, and it's still hilarious now.

Richard: Went with heritage, tradition. James: Wanted practicality, comfort. Jeremy was just... Jeremy, all he ever wanted was THE SPEEEEEEEEEEED.

For anyone wondering, the song is called right here right now by fat boy slim.

9:55 i think i've seen that gesture somwhere ah yes, the old indicating method

3:50 genuinely, the first book that popped into mind when he said he could read a book in the time left was the hungry caterpillar. At least that’s the shortest book I remember reading.

Any channel: I want subscribers and loads of views. Ok unseen old Top Gear clips! Me: i'll take any of that.

I love the fact that they even entertained MG Rover's marketing bollocks regarding the MG SV and it's upgradability, in reality, yes, the engine could take the mods but you would need to completely re-engineer the transmission to actually be able to deploy them, that's why a fully loaded SV never returned to the track to "give the germans a bloody nose"!

Rover made some cracking cars when they partnered with Honda. The 200, 400, 800 etc. They made a huge mistake dropping Honda for BMW. Look what happened after the Germans took over. And look where the Mini is today. That should have still been Rover's baby. They could have made a new little MG sports car for the 21st century. How about a new Triumph Stag? So many missed opportunties.

"You could get into this after your dog had died and all would be well" hahaha! Gotta love Clarkson.

James's: "They've brought the wrong cars" entrance is 🔥🔥🔥🔥

2:50 i have never seen a more evil laughter than that

I had a red Morgan in 1968. It was a series 2 , a Morgan special with modified engine , rev counter , overdrive that didn't work. Bought it for 250 quid , sold it in 1970 for 350 quid. I was 21 years old , a great car for the best of days.

Everyone is on about the "Right it's 2003" quote but nobody talking about the IBM ad line when stig was taking the MG around

When I was in Chicago somebody imported the Noble m12 and I would see it once and while north of the city. Beautiful car

Well naturally Hammond's not worried about falling out of a car, he's got a much lower center of gravity than Jeremy.

I believe the engine in the Morgan is really a Buick aluminum V8

I love the Noble M12! I got to drive one through the auction block for Mecum back in the day. So cool!

I know it's not in this clip but I will always say an E-type is a masterpiece!

Look at these cars today. Which one aged the best? In my humble opinion, the Noble looks like it comes from 2003, and not in a good way, the Rover looks like it's from the 90's, and the Morgan looks like... well, like it's from the 1940's. Honestly? I'd take the styling of the 40's over early 2000's anyday.

"A car they forgot to stop making in the 40's" what a great line from James.

God the 3 wipers on the Morgan look so nice!

Surprised they didnt pick the lotus cortina.

Have to agree with James.

Miss the ol TG, from a time when i didnt have anything to care about in the world.

This was in 2003, you think the guys ever guessed 20 years later they'd still be doing this together? Bless these men!

Wasn't the Rover 75 out of a time when BMW and Honda invested in Rover (and BMW a little later owning it outright, before dumping it unto MG)?? Also, the Noble M12's engine is a Ford made V6. And the Rover V8 is basically a Buick 215... "out of a boat", as James put it. So... the "best" out of Britain are made by foreigner or with core technology from overseas.

Bloody nearly fell out of it!

"van inhaling" is the most outrageous und funniest KZfaqr name I've ever seen. Well done mate! 👌🏻

Some years after, only the Morgan resists muahaha

James was hilarious in this clip

This was good’ol British television. Miss this show. Go ❤!!

9:53 BRAVO ROVER 75 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍 👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑

Clarkson at 9:08 - "I bloody nearly fell out of it!" 😄

I haven't seen this segment before, but I'm not surprised Hammond went with a Morgan, since he now owns one.

At 11:00 that MG SVat the end looks like it inspired the design for the front of the Bugatti Veyron though

That is some garage! A Rover 75 daily, a Morgan plus eight for fun, and a Noble M12 for the occasional kick in the backside!

2:58 Hammond looks like Stuart Little pulling up

James is Allways Sensible, He Select proper Car this time Also.

Nearly fell out if it 😂😂😂

These three had lightning in a bottle. This show was SO good with them . I miss it.

The rover was clearly the best of the 3. The only car you would want to drive daily. Imagine having to drive the other 2 cars on a rainy day in a traffic jam during your daily commute...

I love the 75 We had one for a couple of years

i'm with May , luxury, comfort, style, elegant

Well I know which I’d have, Noble hands down 👌, I’ll admit it looks a bit wonky but the drive and the noise is everything.

Wish they struck this balance of entertainment and information/passion going forward from early top gear.

My favourite was Rover 75 for some reason

I like the noble, but its engine is a ford v6 which got a couple of turbos. I have to say that rover is a beauty!

Random fact, the MG-SV was available with a ludicrously priced 1000BHP package, however the package didn't actually exist it was just done for PR purposes, however because this wasn't properly communicated internally by MG they accidentally let somebody order it xD

Damn Im old, in the real world ( with potholes) I would actually choose the Rover. It seems nice

4:29 Oh, wow. They picked the right soundtrack for this bit.

May: "This is a bathroom appliance!" 🤣🤣

talking about an IBM ad dated this even more than jeremy saying the year itself

This aired 20 years ago, i feel old now.....

Soo many new great cars

9:52 is the bedt bit 😂

I am now older than the James May in this clip.

Morgan is owned by Investindustrial, an Italian private equity firm. Rover stopped existing as its onw entity in 1967 when it was merged into British Leyland, then it was sold to BMW in 1994 and was then sold on to an investment firm. The last Rovers were built in 2005, the Chinese turned the scraps into Roewe, Land Rover went to Ford and then to Tata in India. Noble was bought in 2006 by Dyson. The purely British car industry is dead. All car manufacturers in Britain are owned by non-British companies or investment firms.

MG metro gti or the 6r4, also love the mgb gt and ofcourse the mini cooper clubman and the rover P5 and sd1

Love an MG SV!

I looked for this vt for years

I dont know about a rover giving you peace! I had a 45 and was worried about it breaking down everyday! I did enjoy it though!

Daily, Sunday driver and a track car. They were all right.

I'm 1m 22 in and I'm suggesting the best British car is the Mazda MX5 using the "full English breakfast cooked in Buenos Aries is still a full English breakfast" theory.

id have to side with Richard as a NON UK citizen.. the Morgan represents what i think of when i think of Britain.. Hand crafted a bit quirky but damn good fun.

This was the golden age for Top Gear

I was 2 years old. What a childhood to be proud of.

10:42 that launch!! 🤤

I forget how old the aerial atom is sometimes.

I always wondered why they never mentioned Louts

The Morgan isn't a car, it's an wardrobe with an engine. An engine that was designed by Buick. So it's not really british. The Noble also uses a Ford duratec from a mondeo, which was originally designed by porsche, so again, not really British. Now onto the Rover 75, most of which were diesel engined. Using BMW engines. So. Which of these cars is the best British car? The best British car is and always will be the mgb (v8 excluded) its lightweight, agile and fun, not to mention its the car everyone thinks of when you mention classic cars. Not to mention that around a quarter of those built are still running. A record that many high end supercar manufacturers of the same era would be jealous of

Still waiting for the nitrous rematch that never happened

2021 Update. Sadly, none of these car companies are completely British anymore. MG Rover went into liquidation in 2005, Morgan is now owned by the Italians and Noble (whilst still being owned by the British) often use engines from other car companies like Volvo and Ford. I think McLaren is one of the few fully-British ones left.

Jeremy forgot to mention that the Noble was built in South Africa. He must still think we a colony...

this was 2003...oh man...

Jag is an exception now

2002 lotus esprit v8 enough said

James brought something luxurious Jeremy brought something sporty Richard brought a church

One of the few times where James May speaks perfect sense, with music to match the appropriate driving style of the everyday commuter.

The Rover 75 was built when BMW owned Rover, so it was a German car

8:40 made my day