Top Gear go Ice-cream van crazy..

The presenters of the BBC’s Top Gear are well known for their crazy stunts and their bizarre road trip challenges, and it looks like this years’ Xmas special is going to be no exception. Over the last few years Top Gear has gone from strength to strength and its rating have soared, making it one of the BBC’s biggest shows. Recently in the news the identity of the Stig, Top Gear’s masked driver in white, was voted one of the top 10 biggest TV mysteries of all time.

Some of Top Gears greatest challenges have consisted of 3-4 crazy middle aged men converting clapped out old fords and used vans into channel crossing boats or rally cars. In my opinion the most impressive challenge was the attempt to cross the English Channel in 3 old motors. Having modified the cars, to various degrees of success Clarkson, May and Hammond set off from Dover across the Channel, only Clarkson’s boat/car managed to get past the breakwater and in the end, both Hammond and May were forced to join Clarkson on his Ute style boat. Another classic episode revolves around the crew from top Gear crossing Africa in a bunch of used cars and VW Beetle

For this years Christmas special Hammond intends to turn an ice-cream van into a hovercraft. It’s not like a lot of companies do ice-cream van hire, so the first part of the challenge is to find a range of vans for sale, after Hammond and the Top Gear crew have located and purchased a suitable vehicle the next step is to convert the van into a hovercraft. This involves ripping the bottom part of the van off and then fitting it with a new engine, powerful fans, and a skirt to create an air cushion. In order to fulfil the challenge the Top Gear presenter has been receiving lessons from 2 hovercraft pilots from the Hovercraft Museum in Lee-on-the-Solent, Hants. The two museum pilots reported that “Richard was a bit worried to begin with but he soon got the hang of it.” Looks like it’s going to be a good one, tune in at Xmas for the hover ice-cream van special.