Paddy bought a Porsche Cayman S for £5,500, Freddie acquired a Maserati Quattroporte for £5,750, while Chris purchased a Ford Focus RS for £5,000. Hammond later revealed that he had suffered brain injuries from the crash as well as loss of memory and depression. In preparation, Matt stripped the Mercedes to make it quicker, Chris repainted the Volvo so it resembled the Volvo 850 BTCC and installed a 'high-mileage fuel tank' - a 55-gallon oil drum - while Rory did nothing to his London black cab. This one saw the boys take on the great American road trip. Tasked with building a stretch limo to drive celebrities to a local awards show, it seemed the producers had run out of fun things to do. Both surviving cars made it to Lo Manthang where Paddy's Peugeot passed the city gateway with a very small margin and the Hulas being unable to clear it. Hold on tight and turn it up for a banzai lap of the TG track, 16 contenders, 8,553bhp and a festival to remember: welcome to Speed Week. Following the previous challenge[nb 3] the presenters were sent to buy coupes that weren't Porsches for £1,500 and report to Millbrook Proving Ground. It was later revealed in a rolling road challenge that it was only producing 80 bhp. Clarkson "accidentally" set the caravan and its neighbour on fire while trying to cook chips. Clarkson travelled the shortest distance, but was injured after driving his lorry through a brick wall. This feature was directly followed by the Man with a van cheap car challenge. Sounds easy enough right? Next, they headed to a farm to see if the Track-tor is as useful as other tractors, specifically the New Holland T7 tractor, driven by Robert Neill, winner of the 2017 Farmer of the Year. Let's take a look at 10 Top Gear challenges that blew our minds and 10 that failed miserably. All three made it to the Namibian border. Clarkson decided to respray his car in Skoda Green, a colour he used on his Fiat Coupe in the Police Car Challenge. The team worked through the entire day and night to get the job done. The trio then conclude that you can go motor racing with less investment than golfing (all the cars, including race modifications, costs less than £2000, whereas golf costs more than that). The challenge included driving from London to Brighton, fuel economy, using the car in a lonely-hearts column, lap time, selling the car, and using the change from the £1,500 modifying the cars for judging by the Porsche Owners' Club. The first challenge, named "Spring", was held at Spring Mountain Raceway, where they have to complete a lap of the track with the roof down at the beginning and finish with the roof up. The episode failed to live up to expectations and seemed like more of a filler than an actual fun and exciting challenge. May was unable to sail the Herald out of the harbour, sinking twice and damaging the vehicle beyond repair. Clarkson constructed a three-storey Bauhaus inspired campervan on a 1988 Citroën CX chassis. The catch was that they had to buy the vehicles from the internet without inspecting them first, causing a number of hilarious moments. In this episode, Clarkson, Hammond, and May were given the challenge of building their own motorhomes from scratch. Hilariously, Clarkson initially made his too long and was ordered to remove 7 feet in order to make it road legal. Rory didn't fare much better, as his Rolls-Royce lacking grip, slow, having no working gauges, and poor fuel consumption. Perhaps that's why people when they get back from this place always say the same thing, Vietnam: You don't know, man! All three cars were subsequently displayed at the British Motor Show 2008. Clarkson decided to use the brand new, 1001 PS (736 kW/987 bhp) Bugatti Veyron supercar, whereas Hammond and May opted to fly the whole way in a Cessna 1982. Now dubbed "The Overtaker", the presenters have to do a family holiday in Wales. Paddy, thinking that he can find the ultimate family car on the cheap, set out to buy a 1995 Daimler hearse for just £1,300. In the end, it was Clarkson's Bugatti Veyron that won, with Clarkson calling it the "the greatest car ever made and the greatest car we will ever see in our lifetime.". Challenges included determining their cars' top speed on an unregulated autobahn, interior space (by carrying a German Oompah band), and an ADAC evaluation of the cars. During the race, James was initially left far behind, but caught up later due to his finding a farm track that enabled him to overtake Clarkson and Hammond, who were bogged down. Jeremy, with his drum kit placed behind his lorry, was successful as his vehicle had a crawler gear, although May and Hammond promptly ran over and smashed the drum kit. On the journey, the threesome visited a Castle and did what any other petrol heads would do in that situation, timed how fast they could do laps! Hammond eventually freed himself from the mud, and Clarkson, upset for not being able to climb the riverbank after fording a small river, had to cut the Frontera in half. Hammond was the most successful of the three, finishing third in two heats and coming second in the final, ahead of Clarkson. The presenters were challenged to create their own electric car that would rival the G-Wiz. The conditions damaged both Freddie and Chris' cars, causing Freddie to lose his extra cooling fans, and Chris had his first mechanical breakdown of the journey. Clarkson bought a 1981 Lancia Beta Coupé, which was the most unreliable car of the lot. Several entries were made, including one stating while the Scirocco wasn't fast it was economical, a rehash of a previous Golf ad, and one detailing a funeral (slightly spoiled by Clarkson). These mostly took place at the MIRA proving ground, though the last one was at the Top Gear test track, where they tried to see how much of the track they could complete whilst their cars were full of water. The car, dubbed "Anne Hathaway's Cottage", featured a wood-burning stove, kitchen chairs, a flagstone floor, and wood with a cement base (weighing approximately two tons), even plastering the door trim. May fitted a 1962 Triumph Herald with a mast and sails. Next the cars were examined by a forensics team to test the condition of their interior. The Africa Special saw Clarkson, Hammond and May challenged with finding the true source of the Nile River. Upon arriving in Mallorca, the presenters discovered that they were almost two days late for the rally, which was a five-day event, and thus had no chance of winning. Hammond bought a tan Toyota Land Cruiser, which had been converted into a soft top convertible by a previous owner. The Africa Special saw Clarkson, Hammond and May challenged with … Hammond won most of the challenges, and May's Urraco was a constant source of problems due to its poor electrics - it arrived in Bristol on the back of a tow truck, and broke down on almost every leg of the trip. Despite his early lead, Paddy only scored 15 laps, fewer than Chris and Freddie's 18 laps respectively; Paddy revealed that all of their cars were outperformed by the much newer rivals. After all the challenges, Clarkson summed up the money and declared May the winner of the challenge, as not only did he get back all that he had paid, he made a £20 profit. James and Jeremy were given the challenge to create a simple, but effective, TV advertisement for the new Volkswagen Scirocco TDi. Loser: Hammond, Evans, Sabine and Matt were given a maximum budget of £3,066 - the price of an Orient Express ticket - to buy something equally luxurious, while Eddie boarded the Orient Express itself.