Was The Grand Tour’s Maserati Destruction Really Necessary?
We’ve touched upon the subject of Clarkson, Hammond and May’s ‘killings’ of modern classic cars before. The motors the trio used - and usually destroyed - for challenges were getting uncomfortably good toward the end of that era of Top Gear, culminating in a Porsche 928, Lotus Esprit and Ford Mustang suffering rather badly on the Patagonia Special, even before the mob intervention.
So, when seeing that the latest episode of The Grand Tour was to going to feature three boxy old Maseratis - one Bi-Turbo and two Bi-Turbo derivatives - I wondered what sort of shape they’d be in by the end of the episode. And with about 5 minutes to go until the end, I was pleasantly surprised.
Other than a few inevitable scraps and the rubber penis being drilled onto the steering wheel of James’ 430, the cars had actually fared quite well. Until that was, Jeremy’s Bi-Turbo S fell off the back of a recovery van, and James’ then de-penised 430 was shot into the water at “the company yacht”, in what felt like a rather gratuitous scene. And it irked me a little.
Yes, this might seem rich given that I write for a publication that deliberately killed an old Mercedes C-Class by starving of oil recently, but it is (or rather was) a generic mass market car that was already dying when we got hold of it. The Bi-Turbo range might represent a low point in Maserati’s history, but it’s still a Maserati, and an enthusiast car that’s on the verge of dying out.
There are only 22 Bi-Turbos left registered on UK roads according to howmanyleft.com, and just six 430s. Of course we don’t know if any of the Maseratis featured in TGT were already at death’s door (Clarkson’s Bi-Turbo seemed particularly ill at the beginning of the episode), but getting spares for cars like these is usually a nightmare, so at the very least you’d hope for star cars to be fit enough to be used for parts to keep other examples ‘alive’, rather than being in bits at the bottom of the English Channel.
Not long ago I was talking to the owner of one of the last Alfa Romeo 164 Cloverleafs in the country. He told me how it was necessary to buy up any 164 spares he saw regardless of whether or not he needed them at the time, just in case. He’d even had bits shipped over from Japan. That’s what it’s like keeping an ‘endangered species’ of a car alive, and he was understandably miffed to see Top Gear hack a 164 Cloverleaf in half and weld it onto Saab 9000 a few years back.
If any of the owners of the few remaining Bi-Turbos have seen the latest TGT episode, I’m sure they felt the same. Cars may get killed for TV and films all the time, but you’d hope a car-loving show would be a little more sympathetic toward the more special cars it features.
Am I being too precious about this? Should you be able to do what you want with a car you’ve bought, free from the threat of some pedantic bloke on the Internet having a moan? I’m curious to hear your thoughts…
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
All aboard the feel train
Because we get excited when there is an explosion of some kind.
Damnit! I haven’t watched it yet, and now I know it’ll be destroyed…
Thanks for the spoiler Matt 👍🏼
Ha, it didn’t really spoil it, trust me - could see it coming from a mile off!
Everything revolving around the trio is neccessary.
To be honest the Bi-Turbos were never that great. Almost all of them have been neglected at some point and need servicing, generally they’re quite unreliable, they’re not pretty (+Interior looks very weird), the engine is a nightmare to work on (Because of how complex the engine bay is), so the cost of getting one sorted out can easily get close to or exceed the cost of the car… do I even need to continue?
Thank you, it’s still really bad despite being a maserati, if it was another rare but sht car, no one would give af, but because it’s a (really bad) MASERATI, shitstorm happens.
Oh I agree they’re poor cars - probably the worst Maserati has ever made. But they’re still Maseratis, and they’re part of the history of one of the coolest car brands ever. Plus they’re dripping with 80s boxy coolness. Shouldn’t that count for something?
Values are on the rise (gone are the days you could pick a tatty one up for a grand), and even though some examples are inevitably going to die, you’d hope the spares argument might make someone think twice about launching even a ratty one into the sea for the sake of a predictable stunt that didn’t really add anything to the show…
I dont think you know very much about the Biturbo when I read you about the engine. you put all engines in the same basket and it’s absolutely not tru.
2.8 is awesome and easy to work on.
by the way, I can tell that this team is bad liar because the 430 is my old car they bought from me without saying anything.
It’s Matt, you don’t have to take him seriously everytime he speaks of the trio or TGT.
No the engines aren’t a “nightmare” to work on, unless you’ve never worked on an engine to begin with. As for the interior, what’s so weird about a beautifully appointed leather and alcantera interior. Just another blathering know-nothing.
It was necessary to get those views.
-Mr. Wilman
That is precisely what they did to the Mercedes , and even though it was not in good shape they could’ve played with it and then donate it or something. That car was someone’s pride and joy and now it’s destroyed because CT needed some views.
You’re right with the rarity of the car, but it wouldn’t be TG, or now TGT, to not have something blowup or break. It wouldn’t be right not to.
Yes…
Was the chucking at yacht scene necessary?
Well if you thought of something that cool and you have the resources to do it, well, you do it. 😉
Lets be honest, if we had to kill a car in a legendary way, we would choose that option to.
Especially if it had a penis on the steering.
that was legendary to have a penis steering wheel laugh so hard, i thought my Appendix were about to go very funny stunt in my view.