Motorworld

Informationen zum Autor Jeremy Clarkson began his career on the Rotherham Advertiser . Since then he has written for the Sun , the Sunday Times , the Rochdale Observer , the Wolverhampton Express & Star , all of the Associated Kent Newspapers and Lincolnshire Life. Klappentext Why, for instance, is it that Italians are more interested in looking good than looking where they are going? Why do Indians crash a lot? How can an Arab describe himself as 'not a rich man' with four of the world's most expensive cars in his drive? This title deals with these questions. Zusammenfassung Jeremy Clarkson invites us to Motorworld , his take on different cultures and the cars that they drive. There are ways and means of getting about that don't involve four wheels, but in this slice of vintage Clarkson, Jeremy isn't much interested in them. Back in 1996, he took himself off to twelve countries (okay, eleven - he goes to America twice) in search of the hows, whys and wherefores of different nationalities and their relationships with cars. There were a few questions he needed answers to: Why, for instance, is it that Italians are more interested in looking good than looking where they are going? Why do Indians crash a lot? How can an Arab describe himself as 'not a rich man' with four of the world's most expensive cars in his drive? And why have the otherwise neutral Swiss declared war on the car? From Cuba to Iceland, Australia to Vietnam, Japan to Texas, Jeremy Clarkson tells us of his adventures on and off four wheels as he seeks to discover just what it is that makes our motorworld tick over. _ Praise for Jeremy Clarkson: 'Brilliant . . . laugh-out-loud' Daily Telegraph 'Outrageously funny . . . will have you in stitches' Time Out 'Very funny . . . I cracked up laughing on the tube' Evening Standard ...

Autorentext

Jeremy Clarkson began his career on the Rotherham Advertiser. Since then he has written for the Sun, the Sunday Times, the Rochdale Observer, the Wolverhampton Express & Star, all of the Associated Kent Newspapers and Lincolnshire Life.

Klappentext

Why, for instance, is it that Italians are more interested in looking good than looking where they are going? Why do Indians crash a lot? How can an Arab describe himself as 'not a rich man' with four of the world's most expensive cars in his drive? This title deals with these questions.

Zusammenfassung

*Jeremy Clarkson invites us to *Motorworld, his take on different cultures and the cars that they drive.

There are ways and means of getting about that don't involve four wheels, but in this slice of vintage Clarkson, Jeremy isn't much interested in them.

Back in 1996, he took himself off to twelve countries (okay, eleven - he goes to America twice) in search of the hows, whys and wherefores of different nationalities and their relationships with cars. There were a few questions he needed answers to:

• Why, for instance, is it that Italians are more interested in looking good than looking where they are going?
• Why do Indians crash a lot?
• How can an Arab describe himself as 'not a rich man' with four of the world's most expensive cars in his drive?
• And why have the otherwise neutral Swiss declared war on the car?

From Cuba to Iceland, Australia to Vietnam, Japan to Texas, Jeremy Clarkson tells us of his adventures on and off four wheels as he seeks to discover just what it is that makes our motorworld tick over.

Praise for Jeremy Clarkson:

'Brilliant . . . laugh-out-loud' Daily Telegraph
'Outrageously funny . . . will have you in stitches' Time Out
'Very funny . . . I cracked up laughing on the tube' Evening Standard

Leseprobe
Fly Down to Reno The P-51 Mustang was America's answer to the Japanese Zero. Powered by a US-built Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, it delivered 1500 horsepower and a knockout blow to the flying machines of the Pacific Rim. However, the P-51 in which I flew was churning out 3000 horsepower and could deliver a knockout blow to my central nervous system - which was very nervous indeed. You see, if a 1940s' car breaks down, and let's face it they do, a lot, you coast to the side of the road and await the AA. But if a 1940s' plane breaks down it doesn't so much as coast but plummet. And that's a normal plane. But the one in which I went for a ride had been tuned and fettled to turn it from war plane into a 1990s' racer. The cockpit canopy had been lopped off each of the wings to reduce drag, and the engine had been tweaked to the point where it was a bomb. And the clock was ticking. In the back, it was noisy and hot and as the thermals rose to buffet our undersides, there were moments of queasiness, though thankfully they stopped short of becoming the spectacular outpourings that occurred in the F-15. There wasn't time to be sick anyhow. You see, an F-15 struts its stuff in the stratosphere, but the Mustang was designed for low-level performance. So I now know what it's like to do 500 mph 50 feet from the deck. It's bloody good fun right up to the moment when the pilot decides to turn. This of course means you stay 50 feet up but one of the wings does not. From where I was sitting, it seemed like the tip was actually pruning the bushes. The pilots need to be familiar with ultra-low flight because in a race they may need to get among the weeds to overtake. But we weren't in a race. So there was no need to be down there so pleeeeease Mr Pilot, can we go back up again. Pretty please? With bows on? The answer was no, and for an hour we charged about in the undergrowth, flicking left and right to avoid small mounds and molehills. Death, had it come, would have been mercifully swift and I knew the organisers had a standby act to keep the crowd amused while they hosed me down a drain somewhere. Last year, after a fatal accident, a wing walker was despatched to keep everyone occupied but that went wrong too. As a finale, the pilot flipped his plane upside down so his wing-walking passenger was dangling underneath. However, he misjudged it a bit and took the guy's head off. Air racing is under threat in America because its dangerous - and over there, dangerous is a dirtier word than . However, even before the legislators move in, there's a very real possibility that the supply of old planes will dry up and that will be it. I'm just glad that I got to have a go before they face the final curtain.