The peoples' democratic blog of Matt Hayward

Stop ripping on these guys. They might just get good. I give them till season 3. If they suck then, drown them in brake fluid and diff oil.

Well we’re back to reheated episodes of UK Top Gear (or new for some without UK connections :p). That means the first series of Aussie Top Gear has ended. Sure there were moments of suck, but they did end on a high.

On the last episode (episode 8?) they found something truly Australian to compare: utilitarian Aussie sixes. Finally no bush, no amphibious cars, no aboriginal trackers. Just good content. For where else in the world can you find a full sized, 4 litre six for $30K. Absolutely nowhere. And no you Americans, the Ford Crown Victoria doesn’t count. Even the US Police finally realised it was a brand new 30 year old car about a year ago.

So in perfectly mundane Aussie fleet cars, they’ve finally found something vital, topical and unique to review and managed to come up with an opinion. A real, insightful opinion! Blimey! Unlike their FPV vs HSV comparison which was an unmitigated waste of celluloid and tyre smoke that left people (well me) fuming. They found something unique in Aussies that I think we take pride in the basic stuff.

Also the Tassie road trip was great viewing too. It’s good to see that sure we don’t have the French Riviera or the Swiss Alps, but world class roads are only a ferry ride away. Well a bloody long ferry ride.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s still plenty of dead wood in the show. It’s ethnic tinged with a designer fluff beard and uses too many superlatives (especially when testing new GTRs) to try and sound clever. And despite being chosen to fill the ‘fully sick’ bracket, he’s somehow tragically disconnected from the zeitgeist. But even this guy’s got potential. He clearly can drive and hopefully one day will lose the thesaurus.

Clearly the team are still working on the chemistry, in the content, scripts and er relationship. But has improved in the 480 odd minutes they’ve been on air. I for one believe the guys are on the way to a winning formula. If only SBS and the Australian public can let the tall poppies grow for once. Roll on season two.