Clarkson's Car Years (2000)
Clarkson's Car Years was a television series presented by Jeremy Clarkson and first shown during June and July 2000 on BBC Two. Over the series, Clarkson discusses six different topics relating to motoring, looking at the defining moments of each. The show was produced by BBC Birmingham and executively produced by Richard Pearson. Car Years was the first of two series involving Clarkson which were filmed during his hiatus from Top Gear, and his third documentary series for the BBC, following Motorworld and Extreme Machines. The show was first shown on UK television channel BBC Two, before being shown to an international audience on BBC World. As of 2008, it has regularly been repeated on various UKTV channels, most recently being Dave.
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Episode 1 - The Rise and Fall of the Supercar
Release Date: 2000-06-01Jeremy takes to the wheel of some luxurious vehicles including the charismatic but highly expensive Ferrari 355, the Bugatti EB110 with its incredible engine, and the McLaren F1 - the world's fastest and most expensive supercar!
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Episode 2 - How Japan Took Over the World... And Then Lost It
Release Date: 2000-06-08In this show, our favourite motormouth reveals how the Japanese car industry has boomed over the last 50 years, to the extent that the country is now producing the most advanced vehicles on the planet. But he argues that although Europe may have learned from Japan about reliability, Japan still needs to learn how to make cars with heart and soul.
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Episode 3 - Why Do People Like British Sports Cars?
Release Date: 2000-06-15Jeremy Clarkson sets out to solve the mystery of why people like British sports cars. With their rich tradition and romanticised image, in some cases its easy to see why. But on the other hand there's the discomfort of open-top motoring to consider. His quest naturally involves road-testing the latest models, and then he concludes that the best one is not British at all, but Japanese!
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Episode 4 - Who Killed the British Car Industry?
Release Date: 2000-06-22Sad but true, the British car industry has been in steady decline over the past 50 years. In this show, Jeremy Clarkson laments the demise of our once treasured and highly respected ability to produce quality vehicles and looks for answers as to who's responsible.
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Episode 5 - Motoring and the New Romantics
Release Date: 2000-06-29Motormouth Jeremy Clarkson investigates the rise of the 'hot hatchback' in the 1980s. This was the decade of the 'must-have', and in the show Jezza looks at some of the famous models that rolled off the production lines including, the Volkswagen Golf GTI, the Ford XR3, the Peugeot 205 GTI and the Escort Cosworth.
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Episode 6 - Family Car 2000
Release Date: 2000-07-06In this bumper show, he considers current and recent family cars. Not satisfied with the Ford Focus which he finds too small, Jez moves on to MPVs, such as the Renault Espace, and finds them to be no more than vans with windows. Then it's on to some huge off-road vehicles which he opines to be anti-social, but fun!