Fast Marina Magazine

Did anyone else see the Top Gear Preview for this series? They had 3 BL cars under "test". One was a Wedge Princess (series 2 I think), Dolomite and an SD1.

I think we can all guess what will happen to them in a Top Gear "Test". I know the Dolomite chaps are worried that the car will have been scrapped but what about the Princess? They seem to be in smaller numbers than we are? Is any publicity good publicity for old BL cars?

What are your thoughts?

Ben

I think I would have to see how destroyed they got.

It may be good if they did total them as then we could possibly get something in maybe PC about destruction of British heritage. Get the other clubs together and bombard the press as much as we can. We could even maybe link it in to "car cannibalism" and how old classics are being ripped apart for other - possibly not as rare - cars and how at this rate these cars could be lost for ever etc etc etc

Wish I could still get to see the recent Top Gear's still, even though Clarkson is a p***k - the one I watched last night was the one where Richard Hammond just got out of hospital. I don't think they will do anything bad to the SD1, I seem to recall they had some good things to say about that car in previous episodes. I would like to see this episode, let me know when it is on.

Top Gear did enough to cannibalise British motoring when it was still alive, all they are doing is continuing it.

I think it is a case of wait and see....

No point in getting to worked up at the moment, some if not all of the cars could have been "tidied up" for the show, remember Vinnie Jones and the P6 head bashing film.....

I am a Dolly owner too, and it is amazing just how much you can hide with a little camera work!

The cars aren't getting destroyed so dont worry chaps and chappies

Damn I had my soapbox out and everything

Thats because your a Woman

Running as fast as poss in the opposite direction now…

Interesting Sean. What have you heard then?

Hi Ben,

I herd at the start of the year that Top Gear were going to be doing a thing on the old cars but can’t remember what but when folk found out that they had bought a Wedge there was supposed to be a flood of complaints to the BBC as Top Gear usually kill our BL cars and the BBC said that they would not be getting destroyed. I will ask my mate who knows more about it as I wasn’t really paying attention at the time as I had my head buried under a car when he was talking about it to some other guys at the garage.

Lets put it like this...IF TG do f* the cars up, there will be a hue and cry of the sort never heard before. Every old/classic/retro car forum I've been on has had a thread like this and basically they are just waiting for the morons at TG to put a foot wrong. Lets just wait and see.....

Whenever the words Top Gear and British Leyland are mentioned in the same line I start to worry.
I worried more when watching the preview clip and seeing Hammond jump out of the Dolomite whilst the car was halfway up a very steep slope leaving it to roll back down by itself.....

Yes there has been much anger at the initual announcement that they would be needing three old Leyland vehicles for a special feature on their show. In days gone (pre internet it must be mentioned...) many of us would sit there and believe that we were in a minority thinking such things.
How times have changed! I think even Clarkson is waking up to the fact that his Leyland bashing days are behind him now, partly because a big chunk of the audience don't even know what British Leyland was and the other chunk are sitting there wanting to cut his family jewels off.
Part of me is thinking that they might actually say 'you know what, BL cars were actually quite good', which would be nice, especially if they then turn around and slate some modern tosh, yes the Princess is roomier than most modern cars in the same class and above, yes the Dolomite Sprint is just as quick as some 'hot hatches' and yes the SD1 is a superb piece of British engineering.
Ventilated sills? I don't see the Germans trying to better that....

I hope I am wrong but when I saw a clip the Triumph Dolomite was rolling down a hill as the driver (could not make out which one of the three it was!) got out!
So I am not sure that the Triumph will be in one piece