Top: Gear Botswana Cars

The Botswana Special is consistently rated as the most popular episode in Top Gear history, garnering over 20 million views on YouTube. It defined the "Special" format.

Silence.

Crucially, they were told that if their car broke down beyond repair, they would have to complete the journey in the producers' backup car: an immense, bright orange Mercedes-Benz station wagon. The shame of driving the "Orange Box" was the fuel that kept the trio going. top gear botswana cars

Here is the lineup of the contenders.

The Botswana Special is frequently voted by fans as the greatest Top Gear episode ever made. There are several reasons for this: The Botswana Special is consistently rated as the

The premise was intentionally absurd: prove that ordinary, budget-friendly, are superior to expensive, urban SUVs ("Chelsea Tractors") by driving 1,000 miles across the brutal terrain of Botswana. Armed with a budget of just £1,500 per vehicle , the trio purchased three wildly different cars that lacked any off-road pedigree. They drove them from the Zimbabwean border, straight through the treacherous Makgadikgadi salt pans, across the Kalahari Desert, through the predator-filled Okavango Delta, and finally to the Namibian border. Crucially, they were told that if their car

Jeremy Clarkson chose a 1981 Lancia Beta Coupé, a decision that epitomized his "ambitious but rubbish" mantra. Lancias of this era were notorious for two things: beautiful styling and catastrophic rust. The Gamble