‘Top Gear’ Recap: ‘Nepal Special’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the ‘Nepal Special’ episode of ‘Top Gear.

Let’s be honest, buying a new car can be quite the painstaking experience. Simply because, there are so many choices out there, and it is so difficult to know exactly which vehicle will not only meet all of your everyday needs, but go above and beyond if necessary. After all, you want your investment to be ready for anything in the city or if you decide to take a drive out to the mountains and the countryside, and reviews don’t always help; and that’s why we turn to shows like Top Gear to get the right kind of advice on such matters. Because Freddie, Paddy and Chris do a fine job of testing out not only the most incredible rides out there, but the practical ones as well. And it just so happens that last night’s special episode of the show, took the time to explore what kind of ride would benefit all of us, by way of a grand competition to uncover what vehicle would serve best as the ultimate city car.

Or rather, that was the idea. Because in reality, the ‘Nepal Special’ really didn’t pinpoint the ultimate city car for the audience in the slightest. Instead, this story quickly evolved into an incredibly wild road trip. One that saw a city car of the lads’ choosing, traverse impossible obstacles in the hostile landscape of the Himalayan mountains, as the trio worked to travel from Kathmandu to the forbidden city of Lo Manthang and it is the vehicles that our intrepid drivers chose, that made this special so worth our while. For Chris stepped behind the wheel of a Renault 4, a durable and feisty economy car that he believed would be versatile enough to traverse the hostile landscape no problem. Whereas Paddy selected the Peugeot 106 Rallye. A plucky hatchback that Paddy expected to fly over the route, and their choices stood in stark contrast to Freddie’s selection of the Hulas Mustang; a mysterious SUV that no one even knew existed until it pulled up with Freddie inside of it. 

If anything, this was quite the diverse selection of cars to make this treacherous trek and while one would think that the ride up the mountains would start off smoothly, since the lads were kicking off this voyage inside the city, it didn’t take long for us to realize that this was going to be one difficult journey indeed. Because the 106 got stuck often on its way out of Kathmandu and needed a few tows to properly get started and well, things only got tougher from there. Because a lot of the roads in Nepal aren’t paved and the harsh mountain weather, they encountered made those roads difficult to navigate, to the point where damage was incurred. But believe it or not, this trio of value rides continued along as best they could and for a time it seemed as though nothing, not even a touch of flooding, could stop this convoy from reaching its destination. 

But alas, the final leg of the journey proved to be too much for the Renault to deal with. For the incline to Lo Manthang was more than its engine could handle. Which meant that Freddie spent most of this part of their drive, towing that vehicle and while that sounds uneventful, the fact that this had to happen on narrow roads; made for one intense segment. Because the edge of the mountain was quite literally inches from their tires and on several occasions, we saw the entire trio take a moment to breathe over how terrifying an experience, being that close to the edge, turned out to be. But thankfully, they made it through this treacherous part of their journey and eventually two of the three cars made it to the forbidden city. Because sadly, the Renault’s hand brake failed at the wrong time and that sent the car rolling and eventually careening down an incline and that forced the lads to leave it behind in an honorable manner.

Because that little ride accomplished impossible wonders in this tale, and it brought Chris within a mile or two of Lo Manthang and really in the end, this was just an incredible special episode of the series. For it went from being something that seemed like the norm to an epic road trip, one that you easily got lost within, thanks to the incredible sights we were treated to as Freddie and Paddy and Chris traversed a forbidden and beautiful land. And as an added bonus, this particular episode offered up a lot of laughs as well. For our favorite trio found themselves in some quirky and hilarious situations along the way and really, in the end, this was just an amazing way to kick off Season 28. For you simply cannot go wrong with an episode that provides you with an incredible sense of adventure, and cool value cars that can take a beating and keep on kicking and all this does, is get one excited for more adventures on the road and that will make the wait for next week’s episode, a difficult one indeed. Until next time.

---