Top Gear/Season 10 Episode 4

Season 10 Episode 4
Season 10, Episode 4
Airdate	November 4, 2007
Written by
Directed by	Brian Klein
← 10x03 Season 10 Episode 3	10x05 → Season 10 Episode 5
Top Gear — Season Ten

Episode Four of the tenth season of Top Gear, and is episode eighty-five overall.

Guest Stars: None

Information

Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May leave the Top Gear studio and head to Botswana. They're given just £1,500 (about $3,100) to buy a normal two-wheel drive car. May chooses a 1985 Mercedes 230E, Clarkson a 1981 Lancia Beta Coupe and Hammond goes with a 1963 Opel Kadet. Hammond decides to name his car "Oliver". The trio then discover their challenge: drive their cars on a 1,000-mile safari across the spine of Africa, from the Zimbabwe-Botswana border to the Namibia-Botswana border. But should their car break down beyond repair, they will be forced to continue the journey in an old, white Volkswagen Beetle.

Challenge: Makgadikgadi Pan

On their way across Botswana the boys encounter the Makgadikgadi Pan, the largest salt flat complex in the world. It is almost completely lifeless and about the size of Portugal. Due to there only being a thin layer of crust on the flat, the group have to shed as much weight from their cars in order to not get stuck in the muck and die. They eventually make it out, but encounter the Kalahari Desert and its choking dust. Making it through that, they arrive at a village for their next challenge.

Challenge: Power Lap

The group's cars are tested on a rally special stage with The Stig's African cousin behind the wheel. African Stig takes Hammond's Opel Kadet around in 1.12.0 and May's Mercedes 230E in 1.06.0. Clarkson's Lancia Beta Coupe, however, fails to start and African Stig decides to walk off into the wilderness. After fixing the Lancia, the group realize they are almost out of fuel and their film crew are all running diesel engines. They're forced to drive as the crow flies to the nearest gas station to fill up.

Challenge: Okavango Delta

The next day the group discover they must drive through the Okavango Delta, the world's largest inland delta. There they will encounter many deadly animals and so must reinforce their cars with added protection after they stripped them down for the Makgadikgadi. Inside the delta they come across a swamp they must cross. Clarkson and May want to cross it, but Hammond believes their crossing point is no good. He leaves them to find another crossing point. Clarkson and May barely make it across, albeit with some flooding. Hammond, on the other hand, finds his perfect spot and promptly floods the entire car as he attempts to make the crossing. Working through the night, Hammond is able to revive his Opel Kadet and rejoins the group. They eventually make it out of the Okavango, but Clarkson's Lancia dies again. He's eventually able to revive that car and all three make it to the Zimbabwe border.

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