Top Gear Botswana Cars !!link!! 🔖

The Mercedes comfortably made it to the finish line. Like the Lancia, it was left behind in Africa. The production team donated it to a local community in Botswana, where its legendary W123 durability likely kept it serving as a local transport vehicle for years afterward. The Back-Up Car: The VW Beetle

The Lancia was expected to die within the first ten miles. To survive the extreme African heat, Clarkson's car underwent aggressive weight reduction. The crew stripped out the doors, the hood, the rear seats, and the interior trim to keep the engine cool and reduce weight on the salt flats.

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Clarkson, always the romantic, chose a 1981 Lancia Beta Coupé fitted with an automatic transmission. His reasoning was rooted in nostalgia and motorsport glory; Lancia had a legendary history in rally racing, and Clarkson seemed to believe some of that Italian panache would rub off on his African adventure.

The 2007 Botswana Special (Series 10, Episode 4) is widely regarded by fans and critics as one of the show's greatest achievements. The challenge required Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May to cross 1,000 miles of rugged terrain—from the Zimbabwean border to Namibia—using only two-wheel-drive cars bought in Africa for less than £1,500. The Cars and Their Performance The Mercedes comfortably made it to the finish line

May’s logic was flawless. The W123 Mercedes is legendary across the African continent for its bulletproof reliability and over-engineered build quality. While Clarkson and Hammond mocked the car for being boring and slightly premium for the budget, the Mercedes proved to be an absolute tank. A Submarine on Wheels

The Beetle was used during the challenging salt pan crossing, proving to be surprisingly capable in the soft, muddy terrain where the heavier 2WD cars struggled. The Challenge: Surviving the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans The Back-Up Car: The VW Beetle The Lancia

Detail the specific modifications made to each car for the trip. Provide more details on the "Oliver" restoration journey.

While it was heavy and sometimes struggled in the thick mud of the Okavango Delta, the Mercedes proved to be a tank, often providing the most reliable transportation of the group.