Car-crazy road show wraps up in Top Gear

THE BRASH, unapologetic love affair with big, powerful cars that is Top Gear Liveconcluded its 10-gig Irish run at the RDS in Dublin yesterday.

As three open-topped, red Ferraris roared at seemingly impossible speeds at each other, at the wall and the audience, and dodged a similarly speeding and spinning London Taxi and a red bus, the crowd screamed its appreciation with an enthusiasm that would take years off the life of an environment minister.

As if to underscore their contempt for eco-friendly vehicles, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May brought on an electric car, the G-Wiz, mainly, it seems, to insult it. "It has six-and-half horsepower and a top speed of about 40," sneered Clarkson. "It really is s**t, isn't it."

Co-presenter Richard Hammond, sitting in a shopping trolley, was to be pushed by the electric car as a human bowling ball, into a giant set of skittles. "Who wants to see Richard Hammond being killed, again?" asked Clarkson, before making a last minute switch of the G-wiz for a Mustang GT sports car.

The audience, who had queued down the street in near-freezing temperatures, loved it. So much so that at one stage Clarkson had to ask those in tiered seating to stop banging their feet. "You will be killed," he explained, "and we will get into trouble with the newspapers." The audience laughed until it looked like they needed oxygen.

An England v Ireland soccer match with the players all driving Smart Cars provided another spectacle, and this time the cars did crash. Damage was, however, much lighter than looked possible and confined largely to bumpers and wing mirrors. "It is three bloody nil," said Clarkson.

"That's not proper ref talk," admonished Hammond.

Outside there was the "Top Gear Hall of Fame", with a line-up of cars most people can only dream of owning, from Ferrari to Lamborghini, and Maserati to the Aston Martin beloved of James Bond.

On a Rolls Royce Mansory Phantom, a price tag proclaimed: "€lots", confirming the old adage that if you have to ask the price you can't afford it.

In the next area, a Volvo C60 was demonstrating off-road capabilities, while at the main Simmonscourt entrance the queue for the next show was stretching to the traffic lights.

Some 50,000 people attended the 10 shows, with the most popular tickets at €95. Eight corporate sponsors paid an undisclosed amount to be associated with the show.