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Top Gear - Vietnam Scooters

Two of the scooters used in the Top Gear Vietnam Special have recently been purchased by the UK’s National Motor Museum. The 1967 Piaggio Vespa 150cc VBC Super used by Jeremy Clarkson and the rather inappropriately decorated c.1973 Honda 50cc Chaly will be added to the museum’s permanent World of Top Gear exhibition.

Prior to being sold at auction by Bonhams the scooters were on display at the Saigon Scooter Centre. Now, the two-wheeled exhibits will join the many four-wheeled icons from Top Gear at the Beaulieu attraction.

For more check out www.beaulieu.co.uk.

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Top Gear

Top Gear – Series 12, Episode 8 (Vietnam Special)

Top Gear - Series 12, Episode 8 (Vietnam Special)

The last episode of Series 12 was the highly anticipated Vietnam Special. News of Top Gear filming in Vietnam was revealed exclusively right here on AUSmotive back in early October. At 75 minutes, this episode is the longest Top Gear special to date.

The challenge set to the Top Gear trio was to get from the south of Vietnam to the north in just eight days. They had 15 million Vietnamese dong each to fund their purchase of suitable transport. Turns out all those millions don’t go very far, and the lads were left with no choice but to go for motorcycle power, despite Jeremy’s protestations. The usual hijinx followed, with the added comedy value of seeing Clarkson struggle on two wheels.

As an overall episode, though, it didn’t reach the highs of the USA or African specials, for example. That said, the Vietnam Special was a thoroughly enjoyable journey to watch, with the usual standards of Top Gear cinematography doing a great job of capturing Vietnam’s inspiring scenery.

A few captures from the episode are shown below. Australian readers beware—the pics below may be considered spoilers if you want to wait until this episode airs on SBS in a couple of months time. I just want to know what happened to the Red Stig?

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News Top Gear

Top Gear confirms date for Vietnam Special

Top Gear in Vietnam - Series 12, Episode 8

Revealed exclusively on AUSmotive back in October, Top Gear have filmed an hour long a 75 minute special in Vietnam. A few teasers from this episode were given in week 1 of the current series, it looks good! At the end of last night’s episode, Jeremy Clarkson confirmed AUSmotive’s speculative airing date for the Vietnam Special of Sunday 28 December was correct. Should be a cracker of an episode and we’ll know for sure in just under two weeks!

For all the latest discussion on this episode before it goes to air, keep an eye on FinalGear.com

Update 27 December: This episode will be a 75 minute special, as confirmed in THIS POST by Andy Wilman. Even more about this ep from TopGear.com can be read HERE.