World of Top Gear

Top !!!! Gear!!!!! Need I say more? I virtually went to petrolhead heaven!! 

Since my parents had indulged my sister's love for Harry Potter, they were guilt-stricken into taking me somewhere that I liked too! MUAHAHAHA! And boy did they surprise me, by taking me to Beaulieu (pronounced as BEW-LEE), which is where the National Motor Museum and World of Top Gear are located. WOW!!!!  

We began with a monorail ride to get an aerial view of the entire estate! After that, of course we headed straight to World of Top Gear which featured all the memorable cars from the series! For a diehard Top Gear fan like me, it was simply an eye-popping experience! 

Check out my pics! The top picture is the TG12, which is a train Jeremy Clarkson made from a Jaguar to race Hammond and May in a commuter train to transport officials to the finish line in Series 17 of the show.  The middle picture is the Rover James which was built so that elderly people could drive it easily, which was originally a Fiat Multipla, but had its name changed as Jeremy thought that the brand Rover was an old people’s car and it had the model name changed to James as James May looked the oldest of the Top Gear team. This episode is in Series 19 of Top Gear.
                                                                                                                             

The bottom picture shows the amphibious cars the Top Gear team used to cross the English Channel to beat the record of the fastest time to cross the English Channel, where each presenter built their own amphibious car to see which one was the best in the sea. James’s vehicle sank twice and was damaged beyond repair, while Richard’s vehicle’s engine became damaged in the middle of the ocean. In the end, Clarkson’s vehicle reached the end of the English Channel but did not beat the world record.

Who can resist a picture with the rocket the Top Gear team made with a Reliant Regal ? They even attached it to a snow plough and used it to clear snow on roads during winter!

Just me and the Top Gear team hangin' out!  

Some antique cars which are collector’s items and probably worth A LOT OF MONEY! 

A motorcycle and a Volkswagen Beetle.

Besides World of Top Gear, the National Motor Museum was another amazing experience! There were countless classic cars including a Citroen 2CV (below), a car built in 1981 which was a big hit when it was launched. Over 1 million of these cars were sold. 

Here is a picture of the chassis of the car with all the car’s parts next to it. The average car is made out of more than 30,000 parts. Can you count them all?!?!? 

Some old cars at the motor museum, including a blue BMW Isetta (below).  It was an old car BMW made and you entered it through the door in the front of the car. Cool eh?

Besides car, cars and more car, Beaulieu also had a fascinating Secret Army exhibition and also a charming castle that used to house the family that owned the estate. 

To complete the tour, we visited the gardens that had lots of nice plants and vegetables but no cars though.... YAWN! 

We rate Beaulieu a whopping ten Poo-Poo Rockets!