324:, which they would be crossing through for the next three days en route to the finish line at a border crossing with Namibia. To prepare for the journey, both Clarkson and May had to animal-proof their cars from various materials they could find, with a spare boot lid and rear door found for the Mercedes during the work before it was outfitted with corrugated metal doors, while Clarkson outfitted his Lancia with a wooden gull-wing door, a loudspeaker and handset system and sealed the other door with the drink cans used on the trip at that point. Whilst modifying the cars, Clarkson and Hammond also put a cow bell on the underside of May's car, planted a cow's head in the boot, and stuffed raw meat in various hiding places within the car; behind the scenes, the pair were told off by a local guide for endangering themselves, May and the film crew from an animal attack by attempting this practical joke, after the raw meat was found by them. With the cars modified, the trio began making for the Delta and immediately hit a sandy, dirt trail upon entering the Delta's game reserve, whereupon the Lancia suffered further problems when the throttle jammed open and would not brake properly as a result. Despite this, the trio ended their day by taking a moment to observe a number of animals at a watering hole, before camping for the night with James servicing his Mercedes and a bush mechanic clearing out sand from one of the Lancia's carburettors.
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across where they were; one idea the trio had for getting across, which was not shown in the TV broadcast, was to wrap the cars in some tarpaulin, inflated it with air, and then float them across the river, but this was abandoned after the group spent three and a half hours trying it. While
Clarkson and May were successful in getting across despite nearly getting stuck and having their local guide shoot holes in the floors of their car to drain water that had gotten in, Hammond's attempt to ford the river at a proper crossing point, led to the Opel sinking into the water and stalling, requiring him to get it towed out. Due to the water damage it had received, Hammond was forced to spend the second night fixing his car's engine and electrics with the aid of the bush mechanics from the support team, while the others went ahead to make camp. In the morning, much to his colleagues' surprise, the Opel returned to working condition, with a further bonus being that the horn, which had been rubbish, had been fixed. Heading off for the final push towards the road to the border crossing, the trio managed to make it across the Delta, but by now, new problems emerged—Hammond's Opel wouldn't properly brake unless he de-clutched and used the handbrake, while the Lancia was now veering off to the right and could not be corrected.
283:, the then-vice president of the country, who was impressed with the trio's plans to drive across the pans, but not so with their cars. Crossing the pans on the first of two days travel, the trio's progress was steady, until both Clarkson and May discovered that their cars were digging into the Pan's surface, forcing them to call for assistance from the film crew and support team in getting them out and cleaning out their wheels of "prehistoric gunk", before stripping their cars of further components including the doors and the boot lid. Despite further issues with the surface, it eventually became firmer, allowing them to reach one of the Pan's islands and their next campsite. On the second day, the trio learned that they would encounter a dust storm, which presented a major issue for May and Clarkson, as exposed to it, they were forced to re-dress themselves to avoid choking; much to their annoyance, Hammond had no need to take such measures. After overcoming the storms, despite suffering from it, Clarkson then found his car breaking down twice and having to repair the Lancia
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unable to drive in anything other than second gear. Eventually, the car suffered another breakdown along the road, resulting in much of the support team and film crew choosing to leave it behind after being so fed up with the constant problems it had caused (some of the breakdowns were not aired in the broadcast), leaving
Clarkson with only two bush mechanics staying behind to fix several issues that had developed, including the engine stalling after it started up every time by going into third gear. Miraculously, the Lancia was able to move off again, and reached the border with Namibia, behind Hammond and May. The Lancia was declared as the worst car due to it being a constant source of problems. Despite Hammond's Opel needing only minor repairs, and May's Mercedes having almost no problems at all, Clarkson declared the backup Beetle as the winner as it had no modifications or mishaps along the journey, much to Hammond's surprise.
304:". Prior to heading for the course, the Lancia broke down once again and had to be mended, before it joined the others. On the course, the Opel proved itself a good car and set a time of 1:12, while May's Mercedes did better and achieved a time of 1:06. However, Clarkson's car failed to start after overheating, with the Stig's cousin walking off as a result. Whilst waiting for it to cool down, Clarkson discovered a new problem—both the Lancia and Hammond's Opel ran on leaded fuel, and the reserve supply of it they were carrying had been used up. Because the cars of the film crew ran on diesel fuel, the only option left for the trio was to cut as straight a line as they could through the Kalahari towards the town of
242:. Setting off on their first leg, the trio revealed that each of their cars had some faults to them—Clarkson revealed that the dials and several components were broken, May had a minor number of parts that weren't working, while Hammond had brakes that only worked on one wheel and a smell of petrol in his car, but felt his was good and decided to name it "Oliver" (which he immediately regretted). As they moved off tarmac and onto dirt roads, Hammond's car broke down, whereupon the trio learned that if their car could not be restarted if it broke down, they would have to complete the rest of the journey in their least favourite car of all time—a
308:. During their off-roading, May's Mercedes became stuck in sand, forcing him to get it out by placing stones to give the tyres some traction. By the time night had fallen, the trio found themselves on the road to Maun, whereupon the Opel's alternator stopped working and made it impossible to use the headlights, forcing Hammond to bring one of the film crew aboard and use a lamp to illuminate the road ahead of him. Despite the issues, all three cars arrived at a gas station in the town for refueling before they turned in for the night.
413:, Clarkson spots both cars on the side of the road. Both are identified as the originals; the Lancia because of "Lite Bite Cafe" written on the left side of the car and the Mercedes because of the five-speed knob on a four-speed gearbox. The Lancia has wheels but is still missing its headlights (one of them being in Clarkson's bag because he originally took it as a souvenir in 2007 and now brings it on every trip with him). The Mercedes is reassembled but both of the cars have clearly not been used for a long time.
400:. The Beetle was donated to one of the bush mechanics in the support team, and the Mercedes to an adviser who had helped during filming. The Lancia, originally believed to have been scrapped following filming, was discovered to still be in Maun, as of 2020, partially reassembled though missing its wheels and headlights. The following year, the Mercedes was also found to still be in Maun, albeit also with parts missing.
279:
Clarkson removed seats, interior trim and panels, along with the windows and other components, until their cars were reduced to being basic shells, while
Hammond, who had grown attached to his car, was reluctant to do so, and instead chose to remove only the spare tyre it carried and an unspecified part. Prior to leaving, the trio received an informal visit by
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The next day, after
Hammond had to fix the Opel's steering after the underside of the car hit a tough tree root on the road, the group found themselves encountering a river that they had to cross over. While Hammond opted to find a crossing point further along the banks, his colleague chose to wade
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After finally making it out of the Delta, Clarkson and May removed their animal protection from their cars, at which point the Lancia suffered another problem—the starter solenoid had packed in and thus had to be repaired for the car to start up again. Although it was able to move off, it was now
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Upon arriving before the
Makgadikgadi, the trio soon learned that the following day they would be travelling across it for two days, and were thus advised to strip and lighten their cars as much as possible to avoid them breaking through the thin top crust of the salt pans. That night, May and
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to film in the
Makgadikgadi pans following the broadcast of the special, claiming they had damaged the environmentally sensitive salt pans, adding that they had been shown "leaving scars across the Makgadikgadi salt pans by driving vehicles across them". In response to this, the
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by professional guide, Clinton
Edwards, with further logistical and filming support supplied by Letaka Safaris and AfriScreen Films, the latter having done extensive work with the BBC's Natural History Unit on various nature films and segments.
344:, Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1984, the end credits replaced each crew members first name with the words "Archbishop Desmond" (e.g. "Archbishop Desmond Clarkson, Archbishop Desmond Hammond, and Archbishop Desmond May...").
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crew working with environmental experts on the planning. Throughout the journey, the team were followed by a support team of bush mechanics who provided assistance with the repairs of their cars, and were assisted in the
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Arriving at a small village in the
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238:(which at the time, banned the BBC from filming within its borders), the trio learn that their cars would be taken on a journey of 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometres), to Botswana's northern border with
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dismissed the claims by stating that the cars had not gone anywhere near to any conservation areas, and that they had followed the advice of environment experts, with the government of
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can get up "leafy lanes" with something other than a 4x4 SUV, the producers challenge
Clarkson, Hammond and May to drive across Botswana in the used cars bought within
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533:"Private Pro Safari Guide | Filming Guide | Botswana & Zimbabwe"
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On 23 March 2009, the BBC released a two-disc box set entitled
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for less than ÂŁ1500, to prove that they can be better than
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was released as part of a 2-disc DVD boxset alongside the
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16:Episode of the British television show Top Gear
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665:"Top Gear 'damaged African plains'"
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564:. 14 January 2021. Archived from
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266:"Oliver" (left), Clarkson's 1981
612:Acoba, Paulo (12 January 2021).
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312:Fourth leg: Okavango Delta
164:. The special sees hosts,
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513:. Botswana. 18 July 2007
270:(middle) and May's 1985
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176:, travelling across to
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1174:South Korea
466:Andy Wilman
446:DVD release
411:Kubu Island
264:Opel Kadett
232:Opel Kadett
90:66 minutes
79:Andy Wilman
1298:Categories
1210:Fifth Gear
1203:Extra Gear
1074:Test Track
978:US Special
944:Challenges
623:14 January
597:14 January
572:14 January
542:14 January
472:References
348:Production
120:2007-11-04
88:60 minutes
70:Production
1196:Wheelbase
1111:Australia
649:23 August
417:Criticism
384:Series 12
281:Ian Khama
225:automatic
174:James May
162:Series 10
52:James May
1258:episodes
1158:episodes
1152:Top Gear
1116:episodes
1086:The Stig
1072:Top Gear
1064:Top Gear
963:Specials
937:Segments
721:Top Gear
677:17 April
670:BBC News
517:17 April
458:and the
440:Top Gear
436:Botswana
427:Top Gear
358:Top Gear
285:en route
236:Zimbabwe
178:Botswana
153:Top Gear
134:Top Gear
75:Producer
56:The Stig
240:Namibia
202:Summary
158:BBC Two
128:Related
118: (
113:Release
107:BBC Two
103:Network
1143:Russia
1138:France
1122:China
756:Series
390:show,
217:Africa
213:Surrey
182:Africa
1179:Italy
1051:Other
954:Races
1131:2014
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679:2019
651:2023
625:2021
599:2021
574:2021
544:2021
519:2019
421:The
388:CBBC
318:Maun
306:Maun
186:SUVs
172:and
432:BBC
148:BBC
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