When it comes to gearhead entertainment on television, it really doesn’t get any better than the BBC’s Top Gear. The show has a lot going for it: the personalities of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May, their access to some of the most incredible vehicles ever built and equally incredible places to drive them, and, perhaps above all else, the massive budgets required to properly execute their outlandish ideas.
And it’s certainly not up for debate as to whether or not the formula works – with over 350 million viewers in more than 170 countries, Top Gear is one of the most popular TV shows… in the world.
Part of that equation involves destroying cars – a lot of them. With 21 seasons of motoring carnage behind them, the gang has caused more than their fair share of automotive destruction. But how much did it cost? How and where did it happen? Who was to blame? All this and more has been compiled by the folks at Defensive Driving into graphical form for your perusal.
Some of the results might surprise you, while others will just remind you of some truly memorable events, like the time The Stig put a Koenigsegg CCX through a tire wall at the follow-through on the test track while attempting to set a Power Lap time. That incident resulted in Koenigsegg revising the aerodynamics of the CCX for more rear downforce using what they dubbed the “Top Gear Wing”.
Get your scroll wheel finger ready and peruse through this cool looking chart below: