I guess JC needed a "filler" story between Xmas and New Year http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,12529-2515678,00.html
"You only need crawl along at 20mph in first and listen to that hollow, plaintive cry from the exhausts. You only need prod the throttle from time to time and feel the surge from that Enzo engine. You only need sweep through a really lovely, well-cambered bend. And youll know you are driving something so utterly magical that saying no because the lights dont work properly is like saying no to Cindy Crawford because she has a mole. After just three days the power and the excess that had originally caused me to question this car were now causing me to drool and dribble. Because, as a piece of automotive engineering, the 599 is biblically, stratospherically, crushingly brilliant. Even at normal speeds on normal roads you know that youre in a thoroughbred. You can feel it straining. You can hear it working. You know that if by some miracle you are presented with a piece of road which is wide and open and free from Rovers and speed cameras, it would deliver a hammer blow big enough to knock down the doors of Fort Knox. It accelerates with a savagery known only to silly mid-engined supercars or plastic bathtubs from Caterham. It rides on its tall tyres with a composure thats almost diplomatic in its smoothness. And believe me on this: it looks a trillion times better in the flesh than it does in the pictures. Its not pretty but it has the brooding presence of a mafia hitman. Yes, Aston Martin can sell you a better looking two-seat GT car for half the price. Yes, Porsche can sell you a wilder ride and yes, in the current climate, a helicopter would be a better long distance tool. But none of these things feels quite so gratifying, or sorted, or sensational as the 599. One day cars like this will be outlawed by a combination of laws and dirty looks. But until that day comes, put up with the many, many foibles and irritations. And just get one." I thought this was first rate Clarkson. Trash the car before drooling over it. Classic lines that could only come from JC: - saying no to Cindy Crawford because she has a mole - brooding presence of a mafia hitman
+1 "Its not pretty but it has the brooding presence of a mafia hitman. Yes, Aston Martin can sell you a better looking two-seat GT car for half the price. Yes, Porsche can sell you a wilder ride and yes, in the current climate, a helicopter would be a better long distance tool. But none of these things feels quite so gratifying, or sorted, or sensational as the 599." I think he's right. Get past the looks and this is the money-no-object ride. Glad to see the elves who did the 308/328 lighting are still employed in Maranello.
I don't think it's ugly at all. The thing is gorgeous. Funny that they still can't make decent headlights or wipers though! Birdman
If by "Jackass" you mean "eloquent, astute and a talented master of wit, a wonderful artist of the English language", I would agree fully, though this is rather a non-standard usage of the word. Jeremy Clarkson is cast from the same great mo(u)ld as other talented writers such as Mark Twain, Oscar Wilde and HL Mencken. I may not agree with everything he says or writes, but he is never dull or unopinionated about anything -- exactly how I like my authors to be...
As an automotive journalist, I can simply say that I wish newpapers and magzines based in the US had the nuts to allow this type of writing. He is creative, funny and usually dead-on correct in his reviews. Go read through a typical newspaper Auto section, or even Automobile, Car and Driver, Road and Track, or Motor Trend and you'll see the need for critical auto journalists like Clarkson. I just about spewed my Apple Jacks reading the "Car of the Year"-esque awards in the different magazines over the last week. American automotive journalists sound like they've spent too much time at parties with manufacturer PR parties, because the writing by and large all sounds like a press release for each different product, with little criticism to keep the manufacturers honest and striving to create better products. I'm always running the risk of being censored by my client editors...wouldn't want to upset those advertisers!!! BTW -- I miss Clarkson's television show -- not on cable here anymore. Top Gear and the other British shows are so much fun to watch than Motorweek.
Clarkson is a buffoon, in the best sense of the word. He is larger than life, highly opinionated and masterful with the sledgehammer put-down analogy. Yet when he chooses to praise something he does it so well and so crisply that you are never left fumbling for an image in your mind. He is good. Plain and simple. Good. Really good.
buffoon, in that very english sense. he enjoys pushing the envelope & dancing on it. The irreverance, the US press appears to stand up when Bush walks into the room. in the UK, are you kidding? you can see Clarkson racing a 612 to Switzerland against a plane here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpvpJ5QeIqw & some more, where he says about a 430 "makes an Aston Martin or a Porsche feel like a Canal Boat" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s64zn1WRCXs Merry Xmas all "There is transportation, then there is FERRARI" woof
Full version http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8L0D36ojCU&mode=related&search= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3M2VtX9HlA&mode=related&search= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kL6oHIsWd7U&mode=related&search= enjoy...
I was just thinking exactly this. The only guy who comes remotely close is the LA Times guy, Dan Neil, but it's extremely rare to hear anyone really spill it. And even Neil caused a flap when GM pulled its ads from the paper. It might have been when he pointed out the obvious fact that the Pontiac GTO was dull looking and wouldn't sell (?)
Funny article, and good to see someone slobbering over the 599, but giving it a thumping on its rotten spots as well.
I think it was a well written piece, makes for enjoyable reading but he sure was critical about some aspects of the car....
