BBC Top Gear

WORDS JACK RIX PHOTOGRAPHY OLGUN KORDAL & JOHN WYCHERLEY Off-road supercars are for show not go, right? We put Porsche’s ‘tough’ new 911 Dakar through the wringer on two continents to find out T O P G E A R . C O M › M A R C H 2 0 2 3 053

I fully expected to encounter a selection of snakes, scorpions and flubber-lipped camels in Errachidia – a dusty outcrop where sand meets lush oasis, sandwiched between the Atlas Mountains and the Algerian border. What I wasn’t expecting was bumping into a two-time world rally champion called Walter, a man who is quite open about Morocco being his least favourite driving destination. “Rallying here in Morocco, in the dunes, it’s Russian roulette. I didn’t like it. I want a smooth road where the fastest man wins, not the luckiest one,” Mr Röhrl tells me over a thimble of mint tea. “Me, going fast here? You must be crazy.” He’s got a point; the landscape Porsche has parachuted us into is fairly... unforgiving. We’re staying in a bivouac-style camp at the foot of the dunes – heaps of pillowy candy floss as the pinkish first light drips down them, but venture in and they rise and fall like a storm surge, a rolling mass of deep powder intent on burying you, sprinkled with shrubs that seem innocuous, but are hard as granite beneath... desert landmines lying in wait. Fair play to Porsche for green-lighting this location – if you’re going to launch a new rough and tumble 911, lean on your rally heritage and name it after the most gruelling race in the world – best to prove it can do what it says on the bootlid. So we’re here to test the new 911 Dakar in a place no 911 has any right to play in. Later we’ll take it to another, equally inhospitable environment, just to be sure. But this is a Porsche, it still needs to do the meaty bit in the middle – to be tactile to drive, rudely rapid and take care of the daily stuff. Not everyone has dunes on their doorstep. Back to Walter: “I remember in 1996 I drove the 996 GT3 at the Nürburgring, the first production car under eight minutes – 7mins 56secs. You can do the same with this car, on this tyre.” That’s just extraordinary, because the tyres he refers to are the bespoke to the Dakar, standard fit Pirelli Scorpions with their Lego brick block tread and high sidewalls. They’re a key part of why the Dakar looks so damn good, why it can pull grip from soft, sugary sand and why the top speed is limited to 149mph to avoid the rubber ripping 054 M A R C H 2 0 2 3 › T O P G E A R . C O M

PORSCHE 911 DAKAR “WE’RE HERE TO TEST THE NEW 911 DAKAR IN A PLACE NO 911 HAS ANY RIGHT TO PLAY IN” T O P G E A R . C O M › M A R C H 2 0 2 3 055

Best way to get your money’s worth from the supermarket jet wash “RALLYING HERE IN MOROCCO, IN THE DUNES, IT’S RUSSIAN ROULETTE. I DIDN’T LIKE IT” 056 M A R C H 2 0 2 3 › T O P G E A R . C O M

PORSCHE 911 DAKAR Jack’s got his bucket before you’ve taken a brave/stupid pill and played with the and spade in the front but paint, added the roof rack with spotlights imbedded in the didn’t need it in the end leading edge, and the official roof tent. Word of caution, those last two accessories look wonderful out here in the desert... itself apart... a fact that makes Röhrl’s speed claim all the probably a bit much around Brentford. more bewildering. Walter’s bought one too, in dark green, mainly because it’s more comfortable and easier to get in The headlines, then. The Dakar’s basis is the 911 Carrera and out of than any other 911. To be fair, he is 75. 4 GTS, which means a 3.0 twin-turbo flat-six with 475bhp, an 8spd PDK gearbox and 0–62mph in 3.4 seconds on a dry flat Before we get to what the 911 Dakar can do, let’s deal with surface, although a new Rallye launch mode lets you live out the why. There was a time when Porsche bossed the Dakar your WRC fantasies in low grip conditions by allowing 20 rally – first conquering it in 1984 with the 953 and then in per cent more slip. You get rear wheel steering and two new 1986 with the 959 supercar, and up until this point it hasn’t driving modes: Rallye, which sends 80 per cent of the power properly leveraged that success. Now it’s bleeding it for all to the back wheels (and where we shall spend most of our its worth, hence our £18.5k Rallye Design package with its time) and Offroad, which prioritises a more even torque split two-tone paintjob and go faster stripes that pay tribute to for maximum traction and a fully jacked ride height. While the Dakar winning Rothmans 953... although no fag adverts the lift kit, tyres and rear steering add weight over a GTS, the are allowed these days, so it says Roughroads instead. Right. deletion of any active aero, GT3 engine mounts and bonnet, There are other, more affordable retro wraps too, including carbon bucket seats, no rear seats, thinner glass and a lithium- a swirly Martini tribute – a nod to a livery used in the East ion battery all trim things down to a respectable 1,605kg – African Safari Rally in 1978... yours for a smidge over £4k. just 10kg more than a GTS. Long story short, this isn’t a Block colours are also available – Farrow and Ball fans, Friday afternoon job, Porsche has put the work in to justify you’re going to love Shade Green. Porsche’s message the price. Only 2,500 will be built costing £173k before options. is clear; customers are growing tired of aimless extra horsepower, brutal downforce and speed you can’t use in We collect cars at the airport and travel in convoy through 99 per cent of situations. What we want is versatility, plain strict speed limits, endless police checkpoints and villages full and simple fun and stories we can connect to. Amen to that. of cheering kids and nonplussed donkeys. It’s an exercise in willpower, but fascinating too because already it feels every And it looks fantastic, no? There’s been plenty of chatter inch a 911. I was concerned it might float and wobble, but about Porsche not going far enough, that it’s merely a 911 despite spring rates slackened by 50 per cent there’s still a given the Audi Allroad treatment, and to that I say... balls. tautness to the body control, underpinned by an unfamiliar With its arch extensions, towing eyes, those tyres, stainless suppleness. The steering still chatters, the tyres are no noisier steel underbody cladding, unique carbon spoiler, the GT3’s than winters, the exhaust seems a little raspier – that could nostriled carbon bonnet, suspension raised 50mm over a just be in my head. If you already rate non-GT 911s as standard 911 on sports suspension (plus a lift system that comfortable conveyances this is, predictably, even better. can raise it another 30mm for “ambitious off-roading” up to speeds of 105mph) it looks subtly spectacular. And that’s First stop: The Playground. A vast dusty plain sitting in the shadow of the dunes – photography and hooning heaven, and the perfect place to start uncorking potential. Rallye mode, everything off, raise the suspension and go nuts. We pick a cluster of bushes to give us something to aim for and live out every rally/Dakar/drift fantasy I’ve ever had. Sideways has never been so easy, simply pick an arbitrary point and keep your foot in to keep sliding. Back it in with a bit of speed and four wheel drift your way around, kicking up great rooster tails of dirt, the engine pinballing off the limiter in second, then third. Would sir like more angle? Take a tighter radius, give it a flick and you can hold it on the lock stops to your heart’s content. It’s pure video game stuff – silly, pointless but utterly joyous and addictive. Once the deeper

“THIS FRANKENSTEIN SPORTS CAR ISN’T JUST ABSORBING PUNISHMENT, BUT REVELLING IN IT” 058 M A R C H 2 0 2 3 › T O P G E A R . C O M

PORSCHE 911 DAKAR Driving the wheels off a car is usually just a saying, but for Jack it’s more of a mantra PORSCHE 911 DAKAR sections start to cut up and the ruts get bigger, you’re slamming into them sideways, wheels bouncing into the Price: £173,000 (+£18,434 for air, but we keep going, keep lobbing, keep abusing this the Rallye Design package) magnificent Frankenstein-fettled sports car that isn’t just absorbing the punishment, but revelling in it. At first it feels Engine: 2981cc twin-turbo all sorts of wrong, but several hours later I’ve made peace flat-six, 475bhp, 420lb ft – there’s nothing I can do to break it. Transmission: 8spd PDK, 4WD Could you use more power? Of course, but you don’t need Performance: 0–62mph it. Speed out here is momentum, linking your slides, keeping in 3.4secs, 149mph it clean and out of trouble and, crucially, having confidence in Economy: 25mpg, your car. It’s encouraging me to throw new and interesting 256g/km CO2 shapes. This is entertainment in its purest form, you’re not Weight: 1,605kg rewarded for accuracy and smoothness, the more liberties you take, the more the car responds. It’s my kind of driving: fast, loose and driving talent is a nice to have, not a prerequisite. The next morning we emerge from our tents (reader, this is not camping as we know it. Tents with flushing ensuite toilets? Where does it all go?) and watch as the sun reaches its fiery fingers across the sky and empties the honey pot over everything. Sheesh, this is beautiful. I look at our photographer Olgun and he’s vibrating with excitement. We grab our unwashed car and head out for an explore and a play. Driving in the dunes versus The Playground is a different ballgame entirely. The key is not to turn too sharply, keep your momentum up and, ideally, don’t stop. If you do, don’t do so on an upslope and don’t brake too hard or sand will build up in front of the tyres. Follow all the above and there’s a chance you won’t get beached. But you probably will. I take back what I said yesterday, this is driving nirvana. Because the adrenalin is cranked up, because the topography makes it so much more extreme, there’s increased satisfaction in getting it right. Offroad mode, everything off and four-fifths aggression is your friend here, you want to surf the surface, not burrow into it, and carve out languid arcs. How can a Porsche 911, the same car capable of morphing into the downforce obsessed, track hugging GT3 RS, be capable of this? The breadth of its abilities are just mad. It’s genuinely T O P G E A R . C O M › M A R C H 2 0 2 3 059

“ IT’S PURE VIDEO GAME STUFF; SILLY, POINTLESS BUT UTTERLY JOYOUS AND ADDICTIVE” 060 M A R C H 2 0 2 3 › T O P G E A R . C O M

PORSCHE 911 DAKAR T O P G E A R . C O M › M A R C H 2 0 2 3 061

unstoppable... until we pop a tyre off the rim, and limp to a Oh well, you just have to muddle flat area with a horrible banging noise from the right rear. through with a 149mph top Well, that’s what you get with tyres deflated down to 1.2 bar speed on the 911 Dakar for grip when you’re smashing around with all the sympathy of an Alcatraz prison guard. Fortunately, it’s no biggie: bit of air, quick jiggle, and it pings backs on. Clearly, there are cars that are tougher and can go further in the dunes (hat tip to the Land Cruisers picking stricken journalists out like buried Hot Wheels models in a sandpit), but are any of them more fun? Not sure they are. Definitely a stage win for the 911 Dakar in Morocco, then, but before we give it the TG seal of approval, and in the interests of thorough product testing, we need to make sure it works everywhere. What we need now is somewhere extremely cold, and some normal roads... C UT TO PORSCHE’S ZUFFENHAUSEN Well, normal for Germans, Neverland for the rest of FACTORY, A FEW DAYS LATER, AND WE us. Maxing out on the autobahn, how original, I hear you HAVE OURSELVES A NEW 911 DAKAR yawn. But wait! There’s science afoot. I shall call this a IDENTICAL IN EVERY WAY TO THE CAR demonstration of the fact being limited to 149mph isn’t a WE DROVE IN MOROCCO (I’D LIKE TO SAY serious handicap. We clock 154mph indicated before bumping into the limiter, while it’s snowing lightly, and nobody this was meticulous planning rather than blind luck, but overtook us. Don’t say TopGear doesn’t do consumer advice. And while we’re here, a moment to appreciate these seats that clearly it was the latter), except for winter tyres instead of are not just lightweight, but lock you in place when you’re pinging around off-road and are relentlessly comfortable. Pirelli Scorpions (a legal requirement in Germany this time I settle in, stick a podcast on and arrive at the hotel several hours later as fresh as the foot-deep powder that’s piled up of year), I’ve had a haircut and we’re on the hunt for snow not sand. Found it! On the grass, next to a bin in the car park. Yeah, it wasn’t supposed to be quite that easy, a lack of precipitation and high temps in Europe have closed a swathe of ski resorts recently and caused the GP Ice Race in Zell am See, Austria, to be canned. So we’re taking no chances and pointing ourselves towards one of the highest passes in Germany – the Rossfeld Panoramastrasse. But first... some normality. STEP AWAY FROM ROOF RACK THE CONFIGURATOR Yours for £4,679... doesn’t include ROOF TENT water canisters and holders (£171 each), sand boards (£233), spade and It’s £4,400 for the privilege of holder (£262) or a carbon roof (£2,517) sleeping on top of your car. Hot water bottle and teddy not included COLOURS Black, white or silver metallic at no extra cost. Shade Green/Shark Blue/ Ice Grey all £1,919 extra, or go the whole hog with ‘Roughroads’ paintjob for £18,434, or one of three retro wraps (below) – £4,209 for the Martini one, £2,946 for the others WHEELS One wheel design – silver as standard, can be painted white or ‘silky’ black for an extra £5,475. Don’t let us sway you, but white for the win

PORSCHE 911 DAKAR Lairy slide, or careful three-point turn out of a snow bank? You decide... T O P G E A R . C O M › M A R C H 2 0 2 3 063

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“WE APPROACH THE PANORAMASTRASSE, PAY €7, AND ENTER OUR OWN WINTER WONDERLAND” T O P G E A R . C O M › M A R C H 2 0 2 3 065

Subs desk rarely gets to enjoy Cabin is comfortable a sentence with something on the whole, but bring a wrong in every word friend for the toll booths... 066 M A R C H 2 0 2 3 › T O P G E A R . C O M around us. More pro planning/blind luck as Europe’s snow drought comes to an end precisely when we need it to. Up before sunrise and the snow’s sheeting down as we approach the Panoramastrasse barrier, pay the €7, and enter our own winter wonderland. Not sure how much panorama we’re going to see today with thick clouds engulfing the mountain, but the strasse is good. Coiling its way up the mountain through dense trees, a mix of well-sighted straights and hairpins, then wide open at the top. The Dakar’s all over it, slithering the entire way up, tiptoeing on the way down, the winter tyres performing tiny miracles at each turn. Grip is this car’s enemy... sliding is its friend. Once again I’m in Rallye mode, everything switched off, and because there’s far less traction here than in the sand, I’m getting similar sensations but in slow motion. And because the speeds are lower, the stakes are reduced, and the lower the risks the more outrageous the angles. Must be honest, on reviewing the pictures I didn’t realise I was quite so close to kissing the barrier with the rear bumper, but this car eggs you on to push yourself a little harder and then responds to whatever you ask of it with crisp, predictable moves. Could I be doing this in a standard Carrera 4 GTS on winters? Probably. Ground clearance and rampover angle (19°, compared with 20-ish in a Cayenne) aren’t as important here as in the desert, but it still offers some welcome leeway and squidge, and in the Dakar, this behaviour just feels right. This is what it was born for. The joy of gliding about in the snow is that – for any European buyers at least – it’s an attainable target. Shipping your car to the nearest desert might be financially ruinous, but pointing it towards some altitude and ice isn’t. But then again, there’s fun to be had in the mud, on gravel and I’ve got a suspicion it’ll be hilarious on a wet racetrack, too. It’s a car that actively seeks out terrible conditions and turns them into opportunities. It encourages you to go places, to use your purchase properly, and even if you don’t you’re left with a hipster-spec Porsche that’s a joy to use every day. You might recall in 2020 Porsche released a coffee table book Unseen that showcased a series of projects and ideas that never made it through boot camp to production. In 2012 it built a ‘Safari’ version of the 991, but it fell on deaf ears in the boardroom. Quite why it’s taken until now to realise this is a slam dunk of an idea is beyond me, because besides a £50k hike over the Carrera 4 GTS it’s based on, it’s a 911 without downsides. If you want to smash lap records then sure, a GT3 RS is going to fit that bill better, but for everything else, the Dakar’s got you covered, including unlocking the sort of fun formerly reserved for tricked out trucks, SUVs and desert racers. It’s also the perfect car for 75-year-old retired rallying legends. Just ask Walter.

PORSCHE 911 DAKAR “THE 911 DAKAR SLITHERS THE ENTIRE WAY UP AND TIPTOES ON THE WAY DOWN” Now go and watch the video on topgear.com T O P G E A R . C O M › M A R C H 2 0 2 3 067

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Put four great performance car minds in the same room, toss in some random topics and you have yourself a conversation for the history books

Gordon arrives first, a little early, catches us off guard. Not “You know, I originally thought your that he cares, he’s casual and confident, happy to strike up a cars went so fast because they chat with whoever’s nearest – hands in pockets, loose-fitting blazer over colourful untucked shirt. His punctuality makes were powered by French brandy...” sense, the other three have a combined 6,761 miles of travel to get here, Surrey based Gordon has 28. Mr Hennessey barrels Can an EV ever be more exciting to drive than a combustion in next – big smiles, even bigger handshakes, thick Texas engined car? And if so, how do we get there? charm. He and Gordon gravitate towards each other, I flap about trying to find them both a glass of sparkling water – John Hennessey: In a straight line, yeah. But with weight, bit too early for a cocktail. battery technology and fast charging there’s still a lot left to come. You’re going to drill everybody in a drag race, but if we Things are going well. Two of our four star guests have go to the Nordschleife, it might be a different story. arrived, brawling between rival factions of the performance Gordon Murray: At the moment, the answer is categorically an car elite has yet to materialise, and despite Masterchef final electric car can’t give you all the emotional stuff. For somebody levels of stress there’s hope we might pull this off. my age or even down to 30- or 25-year-olds, it’ll never give you the emotional experience of a lightweight dynamic motor car Christian von Koenigsegg rocks up with a small TV with the noise and the rest of it. However, there will be a time crew in tow. They’re filming a documentary on the great when people of a certain age are not here anymore, and the hypercar entrepreneur for Swedish TV and thought this people left won’t remember that stuff. Electric cars will become might be interesting to include. We shall see. More handshakes, the norm. And then companies will build sporty ones that nods, introductions, another sparkling water. A lock-in is handle properly, it’s just a timeline. You can’t just draw a looking unlikely. line now and say that’s it. It’ll change. Christian von Koenigsegg: I don’t think we’re looking at So it’s Mate Rimac bringing up the rear – not a power move combustion engines being replaced by electric motors. from the 34-year-old whippersnapper, his PR assures us, but Imagine if you could run on a CO2 negative fuel, there would sticky traffic on the A40. In he comes, suit, no tie, trainers and be no environmental detriment, in fact the more you drive, orders... a pint of IPA. He’ll go far this Rimac chap. So that’s it, a full complement, four of the biggest and most influential names in the car industry, in one place. Later tonight we have the TopGear.com Awards ceremony to attend, but for now the rules are simple: there are no rules. We want an open debate, four great minds swapping ideas and opinions on various subjects, chosen at random from the golden tombola of topics. Release the balls... 070 M A R C H 2 0 2 3 › T O P G E A R . C O M

BOSS LEVEL “I’m MATE RIMAC, founder of Rimac Automobili and CEO of Bugatti Rimac. I’m still in my first job, and sitting among many of my heroes today, so thanks a lot for the invitation. Oh, and I’m 34. Sorry, Gordon.” “THE COMBUSTION ENGINE WILL REMAIN IN THE FUTURE” T O P G E A R . C O M › M A R C H 2 0 2 3 071

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Now go and “LIFE IS NOT watch the ONLY ABOUT video on PROBLEMS topgear.com WE NEED TO SOLVE TO SURVIVE” the less CO2 there is there because you pay an environmental tax when you produce the fuel. Having said all of that, most likely, an electric car will be lighter than a combustion in around 10 years. But will it be more fun and more emotional? We will see. Mate Rimac: So in the future all normal cars should be electric, and there will be exciting cars on the road that are electric, but the combustion engine will remain for enthusiasts – future Bugattis will still have a combustion engine. You don’t want to hear a diesel Golf on the street, you want that to be silent. But to hear a V12 is something entirely different, I hope that still happens for decades to come. I think there’s space for both combustion and electric. Maybe also a bit of encouragement for the enthusiasts here – I don’t see any legislation that will stop us from making combustion engine supercars or hypercars in limited volumes beyond 2035. What is the future of top speed and performance figures? Does anyone really want or need to go faster than 300 miles per hour? MR: Well, nobody needs to go 300mph and nobody needs a hypercar, but life is not only about problems we need to solve to survive. If you apply that to everything, nobody should have any pleasure in life. You should have one pair of shoes, one pair of pants. You shouldn’t watch TV. You shouldn’t do anything that’s beyond survival. When a rally with 50 hypercars comes into a city, the city stops. There are tens of thousands of people on the roads, little kids touching these cars, taking photos, sitting in the car, being inspired by it. Which other product in the world can do that? What else can you put in front of people to cause that fascination? I always say cars are the accumulation of human ingenuity and knowledge. You have everything there, material sciences, fluid dynamics, simulations, electronics, software. T O P G E A R . C O M › M A R C H 2 0 2 3 073

BOSS LEVEL Plus, it’s a piece of art. With performance, we are lifting the to do these things to push people, to make them look up and be bar higher and higher, and showing what’s possible. And it’s excited. Having said that, I can honestly put my hand on my an interesting competition that has been going on, well, since heart and say when I did the McLaren F1, I had no performance Gordon’s McLaren F1. We are now at a point, close to 500kph, targets in mind, it just happened to go fast. The only reason I where both Koenigsegg and Bugatti have said they will never calculated the top speed was to choose the gear ratios, it just do a car that’s faster than the current ones. happened to do 240mph. It’s absolutely valid to have targets like CvK: I think you’re onto something. What is the biggest lap times, top speeds or 0–100mph because it’s inspirational, contribution Koenigsegg is giving to society? We’re supplying but in our particular company, we don’t focus on that at all. We very few expensive cars to the wealthy car enthusiast, but focus on just the driving. If anybody thinks a 1,000kg car with we invent and create interesting technology that can trickle 650bhp isn’t going to feel fast... well, you don’t have to measure down. We show you can live your dream, show that stuff it. It’s going to feel quick. out of the ordinary is possible, we lift spirits and make people believe. How important is failure? JH: I think we’re all living our dream, to some degree. I hear it on a regular basis, the inspiration that we give to others, GM: I think it’s fantastically important, and I’ve had plenty primarily young people, and 30 years ago it was me standing – you learn so much more from your mistakes than you do from on the side of a test track watching Mario Andretti in a doing things correctly. My biggest mistake in F1? It was the McLaren F1 go by at 220+mph in West Texas, and that’s one Swedish GP in ’78 and we had just got the fan on the BT46 of my inspirations. There’s definitely more to it for me, my not to explode with five days to go by casting the blades in family and our business than just selling cars and growing. magnesium. We’d finished two fan cars and we had a third I feel like we touch lives in a certain way. monocoque and all the parts, but the car wasn’t assembled. So I said to the guys, just chuck it in the back in case we have Back to your original question, I think performance an accident and we can build up a third car. We won the race validation is always important. People always look at the and they came and sealed the car, it was legal, but the other numbers, but ultimately, when our clients are driving manufacturers talked Bernie into withdrawing it. I agreed a car, the feedback I get is about the sensation, the because it was for the good of F1, but I was so upset, we could experience. Having said that, I always want to climb have won every race by half a minute. About a week later the a higher mountain. mechanics came to me and said, “We’ve got this third car in the CvK: There is a price to pay for top speed, though, because corner of the workshop and it’s taking up space. What are we everything else in the car has to cope. You have to bleed going to do with it?” I said, “Take it outside and chop it up.” off your downforce, you have to have certain tyre technology, CvK: Life is full of mistakes and I have a very simple philosophy. suspension technology, gear ratios... it all adds weight. So If you managed to get two out of three right, you have a chance given what the road system looks like, it doesn’t make sense to move forward. So I’d say I’m wrong 33 per cent of the time. to go any faster. If you want to go faster, you can go out into JH: I could talk all night about failure. I got a PhD in failure. the salt lakes with a rocket car. Failure is not final. The only real failure would be to give up. GM: I agree with these guys, particularly what you said Mate... There have been many points where I’m like, “Man, is this really you need to be inspirational if you’re in this business. We need a good idea? Should I really keep going?” We kept on going. So failure’s not final, failure’s an opportunity to learn. “So a doctor, a vicar MR: There’s so many things coming into my head from very and an engineer were public things like when Richard Hammond crashed the car and playing a round of golf...” we were on the brink of bankruptcy anyway, we should have gone under at that time and then that happened. One thing I’d do differently: if you are too public about your plan and then you don’t do exactly what you said, there’s public scrutiny. So I now don’t want to show what we are doing too early, in the future I will be more careful about communicating plans that are not a hundred per cent bulletproof. TG: Apart from with us, you can just tell us all your plans. 074 M A R C H 2 0 2 3 › T O P G E A R . C O M

“I THINK WE’RE ALL LIVING OUR DREAM” “I’m JOHN HENNESSEY, founder and CEO, Hennessey Performance from Houston, Texas. We make fast cars and trucks go faster. We also build the Venom F5. Hope is my wife, I’ve got five kids all in the business, and I’m just glad to be here with you guys.” T O P G E A R . C O M › M A R C H 2 0 2 3 075

“I’m CHRISTIANVONKOENIGSEGG from Sweden, founder and CEO of Koenigsegg Automotive. I’ve dreamt about building cars ever since I can remember. When I was 19 I started my first company – buying something for X, selling it for Y – it ended up being plastic bags, pens, frozen chickens, whatever. Three years later I said to myself, “What was it I wanted to do again?” It took me a lot of blood, sweat and tears to deliver the first car to a customer in 2002 and I’ve just kept on going ever since.” “WE SHOW THAT STUFF OUT OF THE ORDINARY IS POSSIBLE” 076 M A R C H 2 0 2 3 › T O P G E A R . C O M

QUICK FIRE ROUND Scoresoutof10from the TG team are final, no arguments GORDON MURRAY CHRISTIAN VON KOENIGSEGG MATE RIMAC JOHN HENNESSEY An Alpine A110 My Miata from when WHAT Everything, I’m a car Tesla Model S Plaid I was 19, a Tesla, a Koenigsegg DO YOU guy. I don’t just drive 8 DRIVE? Rimacs or Bugattis 7 or a Lotus Excel from 1988 WHAT CAR A Lotus Elan DID YOU WANT 6 Porsche 911 Turbo 9 TO OWN AS A KID? 8 WHAT’S THE An E30 M3, a Carrera GT 7 A Lotus Esprit FASTEST YOU’VE and a McLaren SLR... 225mph EVER DRIVEN? I just bought all three 242mph 8 WHAT’S THE 6 BEST SOUNDING 10 8 382kph (237mph) CAR EVER? GMA T.50 WHAT’S THE Close to 400kph Hennessey Venom F5 7 BEST ROADTRIP (249mhp) Hot dog SNACK? In Buc-ee’s stores there Koenigsegg Jesko AWD 9 are these praline pecans. 3 OR They’re pretty ridiculous Chewing gum RWD? Porsche Carrera GT RWD BEST 9 2 CAR 7 5 COLOUR? RWD RWD for steering WHAT’S THE Nothing. You Lotus Pistachio Green precision and fun RIGHT AMOUNT don’t want to make 5 OF BHP? 10 5 CAN your car dirty Silver YOU Enough to have Silver... boring DRIFT? 0 3 fun with HAVE YOU 3 BEEN CAUGHT RWD, every day Too much 7 SPEEDING? If you can burn WHAT’S THE 5 8 Absolutely your tyres, you have LAST CAR THAT MADE YOU SMILE? Black Barely 8 more than enough IF YOU COULD ONLY DRIVE ONE CAR FOR 2 Many times Multiple times, yes 7 THE REST OF TIME? ONE OTHER CAR There’s no right 3 3 I can, but I wouldn’t COMPANY YOU amount, it can say I’m an expert REALLY ADMIRE? never be enough My ’69 Oldsmobile GMA T.50 ARE YOU A 442 convertible 5 GOOD 8 1 PASSENGER? 5 I have Absolutely 10 8 4 8 Used to be Lotus Porsche in the old days, but My Lotus No I’d never do in modern times... Mazda Excel that *looks guilty* 6 8 6 7 Noooo No, not at all My Mazda Miata Every car I drive 7 – most cars have 7 6 something special 85 Tesla 7 7 Something with a lot of horsepower and rear wheel Pretty good, yes drive – a BMW probably 2 7 I admire lots, I draw inspiration from all sides 4 No, good drivers are never good passengers... I hope I’m a good driver 8 72 << TOTALTGPOINTS >> 88 78

“I’m GORDON MURRAY, chairman of the Gordon Murray Group and I’ve been in racing and performance cars for 55 years. I’ve only had three jobs: 17 years running and designing Brabhams in F1, three years at McLaren in F1 and then I started McLaren Automotive. Fifteen years ago, we started our own business at Gordon Murray Group. I’m still enjoying it just as much now as I did way back in the Sixties.” “ELON MUSK IS PROBABLY THE MOST DRIVEN GUY I’VE EVER MET” 078 M A R C H 2 0 2 3 › T O P G E A R . C O M

LOBTOUSSSELMEVIREAL GM: I think 20 years in F1 teaches you a lot about failure, too. Because you’re there, you cannot miss a Grand Prix because you’re out of the season. So you’re fundamentally at war every two weeks and you’re back at base for six or seven days to make 30, 40 changes to the car and it’s just relentless. Whether you like it or not, you are measured every two weeks. JH: In front of the whole world. GM: The famous year in ’88 where the MP4/4 won 15 out of 16 races... I used to go down every morning and talk to the entire shop floor. And after that race in Monza that we lost, people were totally shell shocked. It was just... they had got so used to success. CvK: It was time to lose. Elon Musk, what are your thoughts on the man? Is he a good or a bad thing for the car industry? CvK: I mean, he’s otherworldly in many ways. What that man Behold! The golden tombola has managed to achieve... if you made it up as a story, no one of topics, filled with the ping would believe it. If anyone has proved you can do anything and pong balls of destiny multiple things simultaneously, it’s Elon, right? Of course he’s a character, but what he did to the car industry, he just shook he wants, he is committing his life and working day and night it up completely. A few years ago, people said the electric car to push the world forward. is never going to happen. Now, it’s the only thing, and without TG: I think this is probably the right moment for me to Elon and Tesla that would never have happened. I think that’s introduce our special guest... please welcome Elon Musk! a good thing for the planet and for the automotive industry. Actually, sorry, he was washing his hair today. Couldn’t make it. And it’s pretty cool that one day we can go to Mars as well. GM: I’ve met him a couple of times, one of the meetings You’ve got one last tank of fuel (or one full charge of was about potentially working together a few years back, electricity), what car are you putting it in and where and he is incredibly driven... he’s probably the most driven are you going to drive it? guy I think I’ve ever met and that’s saying something because I’m a bit single minded at times. The brave thing for me was GM: Series 3 Lotus Elan and the Highlands of Scotland. there weren’t start-ups in those days in high volume car TG: Probably the quickest answer all day. You’ve thought manufacturing, to be a start-up with a brand new powertrain, about that one before, haven’t you? I mean... you have to admire the man. GM: Well it’s still, in my opinion, probably the best handling MR: I also met Elon a couple of times and we wouldn’t be here sports car that’s ever been made. if it wasn’t for him. I was following it from day one, when Tesla CvK: I’d have the modern version of that... my Mazda Miata stocks were $20 flat for a long time. He gets lots of criticism, from when I was 19 around Iceland. I drove a Koenigsegg there saying he’s just an investor, that other people are doing all the once, it was pretty cool. It looks like you’re on Mars, there are work, but the one thing that’s different with Tesla to everybody no other cars and fun roads. else is Elon, just Elon; the way he runs the business, his bold MR: For me, probably an E30 M3. It was always my dream car visions and then the execution. He has this big global picture, and I got lucky enough to buy one a couple of years ago. I would a drive to make life multiplanetary, but can also drill into the drive it towards my hometown of Livno in Bosnia where you details like few others. Five, six years ago, Tesla was being have this amazing road which is still undiscovered, until now. ridiculed – it had bad panel gaps, it doesn’t make good cars... I think it’s the best driver’s road in the world, it has wild horses JH: They still have bad panel gaps. running around you, it’s incredible. MR: Yeah, but now everyone is chasing it. He’s a human, he JH: So I just turned 60 a few weeks ago. My wife and kids bought makes mistakes. He might have announced things that didn’t me a better version of my first car, which was a 1969 Oldsmobile happen or happened too late, and made early promises about Cutlass 442 convertible, an old school muscle car. I’d drive it on self-driving cars, but he has accomplished lots of things and the Pacific Coast Highway somewhere between Carmel and Big changed the industry completely. Sur. Yeah, that’d be one good tank of gas. JH: The more he fails, the more he succeeds. I love his courage and I’m proud that he’s a fellow Texan now – he lives up the road in Austin. Whether it’s Tesla, SpaceX, now Twitter, I love that he’s a free speech libertarian kind of guy. Again, he’s human and he fails like we all fail. And when he fails, it’s in the public eye, but just think of the value, the jobs and the technology that he’s created. As an entrepreneur, I have huge admiration for this guy, he’s the king of the double down. You’d have to literally bury him in a hole to stop him from doing whatever he’s trying to do. MR: He’s also worth billions and billions, like hundreds of billions. So it’s admirable that while he could do anything T O P G E A R . C O M › M A R C H 2 0 2 3 079

080 M A R C H 2 0 2 3 › T O P G E A R . C O M

BMW M3 TOURING At last, an M3 estate. We put its touring and dog carrying abilities to the test with a 1,500-mile roadtrip... to Barryland WORDS OLLIE KEW PHOTOGRAPHY RICHARD PARDON T O P G E A R . C O M › M A R C H 2 0 2 3 081

REGULAR TOPGEAR READERS AND SEMI- PRO CAR NERDS: TALK AMONG YOURSELVES FOR A MINUTE. Excuse me while I welcome the sometime car appreciator. you a tidy line in bolshy SUVs,” was the party line. Meanwhile, Perhaps you plucked out this fine title to kill time while Audi and AMG gleefully vacuumed up the modest sales (but waiting for a train, or it’s now 2026 and this was the least inestimable cool factor) of rocket-propelled estate cars. dog-eared title in the dentist’s. How are the self-driving cars and Mars-based timeshares working out for you? Ah. There’s an irony in BMW finally offering nerds the car Thought not. we’ve yearned for attached to a face that seems to satirise the worst stereotypes of BMW drivers. I don’t know about you but For you, the Perfectly Normal Person non-fluent in the Halloween beaver mask hasn’t grown on me. The rear works engine codes and model year updates, the fact BMW’s though: swollen haunches, a subtle 3D-printed roof spoiler, and sped up 3-Series is now available as an estate car is unlikely the usual quad-tunnel exhausts which are (unusually, these days) to register on your potential highlights of 2023-ometer. genuine pipes rather than imitations. Volkswagen made a Golf R estate last year. You didn’t catch us taking that on a 1,500-mile European adventure. Ironically the noise a turbocharged direct-injection emission controlled straight-six spits out is underwhelming, so the noise is What you must get your head around is the sense of faked inside, not all that convincingly. It’s a more barrel chested destiny in waiting here. In the 37 years the BMW M3 has soundtrack than the new hybrid 4cyl AMG C63 at least. existed – steadily morphing from spartan homologation racer to deluxe tech-infested turbobrute – BMW has never offered it Tuesday is the delivery job: get the M3 to Switzerland. in a Touring body style. Two-door coupes, yes, and four-door Besides a minor detour to the ghostly Reims grandstands and saloons. Floppy, overweight cabrios were deemed a worthy more fuel stops than ideal (a 59-litre tank simply isn’t enough extension of the brand, but the humble wagon? Nein. And in when average economy is sub-25 to the gallon), the M3’s progress fairness to BMW, you can see why. is uninterrupted, come rain, snow or more rain. I suspect the winter tyres have added a dollop of extra plushness to the ride, The two previous occasions upon which M has ordained and photographer Richard and I express amazement at the lack to give us a super-tourer: the early Nineties E34 M5 and of backache from the skeletal fixed-back chairs. 2007–2010’s V10 E61 M5 (sorry, keep your model codes glossary handy) flopped harder than Matt Hancock’s literary But I’m unconvinced. Having to explain the carbon groin career. “If you want M Power mit a ginormous boot, we’ll sell mound muscling its way between your legs to a Normal Non-Car Person is going to make friendly lifts awkward. The illuminated 082 M A R C H 2 0 2 3 › T O P G E A R . C O M

BMW M3 TOURING When folks first pestered BMW for an M3 Touring, this place was brand new ‘Alpin5’ winter tyres smooth the edge off the M3’s taut ride, but barely dent its epic handling T O P G E A R . C O M › M A R C H 2 0 2 3 083

Turns out dog really is man’s best friend here, because there’s no one else around Drop the windows to hear the noise? And let all the heat out of the cabin? Are you insane? Like an M3 cockpit, only now it’s ever so slightly worse. Driving position is spot on at least 084 M A R C H 2 0 2 3 › T O P G E A R . C O M

BMW M3 TOURING Now go and Would have scraped the snow off watch the the roof, but always good to have a video on topgear.com reserve for the next snowball fight M3 legends in said ‘lightweight’ chairs are risibly gauche, and why Today’s M3 is a phenomenal piece of automotive engineering, exactly would you equip a utilitarian estate car with gloss carbon- but requires massive restraint on the driver’s part. Somehow that fibre backrests? Hardly screams “load me up with a mountain bike/ seems more appropriate in an estate. This is an unselfish car. The fresh lumber/rubbish for the tip”, does it? mega-wagon’s image is less thrusting than an M4’s. It says you may have other priorities. Further interests beyond powaahhh. If an M4 Mind you, neither does an as-tested price of £103,000. An M3 CSL is one of those ludicrous trussed-up show poodles, the Touring Touring starts life as an £80,000 machine, but this car’s £22,500 is a police-issue German shepherd. Obedient and useful, but of optional extras – including the carbon seats and £8k of ceramic disrespect it and it’ll dislocate your shoulder. Or put you in prison. brakes – take it into the realm of exotica. The Great St Bernard pass is shut. To spare you the false We arrive in Martigny after dark, a typically tidy but jeopardy, we knew it would be: it’s routinely closed until April, architecturally anonymous Swiss city nestling in the Rhone valley. despite a record-breakingly mild Alpine winter, with several Swiss The M3’s matte paintwork is encrusted with salt. Stubborn icicles ski resorts hastily rebranding themselves as mountain bike trails. cling to the diffuser. I think it looks tremendous. Richard agrees This corner of Switzerland got its first meaningful white stuff 48 once I reassure him we’re not going to clean it for each photo. Cars hours before the M3 deposited us here. get dirty. Fast cars look cooler dirty. And 700 miles of grime covers the worst of BMW’s crimes against styling. Only the first quarter of a mile is cleared, and provides a handy dead-end playground for testing the M3’s rear-wheel-drive wild We’re up at dawn, and so are the snowploughs: when you get up to 400mm of snow a year, you need to invest in the equipment to “DISRESPECT THE keep life moving. This isn’t Heathrow airport, you know. Every TOURING AND IT’LL other vehicle on the road at half past seven in the morning is a PUT YOU IN PRISON” plough, scuttling about creating neat piles of roadside powder. Heading south toward Mont Vélan and the Italian border, we’ve finally arrived on roads where the M3 can show off more than its solid grand touring credentials. Sorry if this is an anticlimax, but you simply can’t tell it’s the Touring. On paper, there are sacrifices: this version weighs 85kg more than an M3 saloon with four-wheel drive: 25kg of that is invested in stiffening gussets to counteract the lengthy roof and gaping hole in the rear, plus there are the usual caveats of extra glass and a taller centre of gravity. No carbon roof here either, because BMW couldn’t find a supplier that’d stamp a big enough panel without it adding another zero to the price. But on the road – specifically the glassy smooth E27 that snakes its way up through the Alps towards the Great St Bernard pass – this just feels like an M3. Mighty. Limitless torque, outrageous pace, and the occasional fumble from the eight-speed gearbox, which never quite delivers the urgency and impact of the old twin-clutch, but is admittedly more polite when merely mooching. The steering’s weighty and has an oily, reassuring sturdiness – this isn’t super light, super fast modern car steering with the associated video game connotations. Metal and rubber are being manhandled, and it feels good. Steering wheel’s still too thick – why does M insist its drivers yearn to grip something girthy? One wonders. If you’re The Stig, or you’re driving without any sense of self-preservation back-to-back with an M3 saloon, you might detect where the wagon loses a percent or two. But in isolation, in the real world, nope. This is a monstrously capable wagon. And therein lies a trait it absolutely shares with the two- and four-door versions of the current M3: that even once you’ve locked down your ideal engine, gearbox, steering, exhaust, brake and traction control settings, you only really unlock the depths of reserve in this chassis once you’re way beyond socially acceptable speeds. T O P G E A R . C O M › M A R C H 2 0 2 3 085

BMW M3 TOURING Price: £80,550 (£103,155 as tested) Engine: 3.0-litre twin-turbo straight-six, 503bhp, 470lb ft Transmission: 8spd auto, AWD Performance: 0–62mph in 3.6secs, 174mph Economy: 27.4mpg, 231g/km CO2 Weight: 1,865kg

BMW M3 TOURING Missing, presumed buried: photographer. Last seen crouching behind BMW M3 Yep, you can fit a St Bernard in the boot. Closing the door with it still in there is the tricky part T O P G E A R . C O M › M A R C H 2 0 2 3 087

BMW M3 TOURING Wait, did Ollie go to Switzerland at all or has the whole thing been green screened for budget reasons? “THERE’S A STRANGE FETISHISATION OF FAST DOG WAGONS” side. Frankly, the rear-biased default setting is so well balanced, I’d mutt wagons, even though you’d never countenance driving question the need to ever pension off 50 per cent of your traction. even remotely swiftly with a four-legged pal in the boot. Or It gives the handling depth, if that’s not too hopelessly pretentious: anything back there, frankly. Except someone else’s cameras. there are levels to explore. And you’d never say that of an Audi RS4. BMW took its damn time giving us the car to end all cars, but So our final stop is Barryland. The official breeding waiting for this generation – with a world class AWD system and facility, visitor centre and museum of the St Bernard dog. The freakish duality of character – is probably the optimum time to underwhelming name comes courtesy of the most celebrated green-light a Touring. Especially as it’ll have to be electric within mountain rescue pooch of them all, a male named Barry credited a decade, and the C63’s already amid a hybrid identity crisis. with tens – perhaps hundreds – of rescues in the 19th century. St Bernards were originally kept for this noble purpose by the The light’s beautiful now but the photographer whinges monks in an eponymous hospice atop the St Bernard pass, something about needing to feel his fingers or he’s contacting the ready to aid stranded travellers attempting to cross the border. union, so we drop back down towards Martigny. Half an hour north, right at Aigne and you’re onto the Col du Pillon, which doesn’t close The dogs haven’t done any rescuing since the Fifties – a for winter. It’s no well kept secret – there are trucks, tourists and helicopter is more versatile these days it turns out – and like demonically committed locals defending the honour of quattro- me you’ll be dismayed to learn they never in fact carried a barrel drive Audis at every switchback. of brandy around their collar on duty. That factoid comes from an 1820 painting. In the tighter, meltwater-drenched hairpins the M3 could’ve felt cumbersome. Instead, it churns through technical stuff But since these gentle giants are as Swiss as Toblerone, holey with a staunch refusal to understeer, and the ceramic brakes cheese and secretive banking, the descendants of the rescuers get offer sensational feel even when your toes have gone black with their own petting zoo, museum and gift shop. Tearing ourselves frostbite. I should note too that this whole time, the 505-litre boot away from the puppies getting their first literal taste of snow, I is teeming with camera cases, squashy overnight bags and snacks. invite seven-year-olds Barry (obviously) and Janga to board. The Most photoshoots you’ve ever seen in TopGear magazine – whether quantity of hair and slobber deposited means this particular M3 you’re a veteran reader or a newbie – have required a support car to is no longer worth a hundred grand, but two of the world’s largest cart around the kit. The Touring swallows the lot with a shrug. dogs in one M car is an important parameter to benchmark this four-wheel Swiss army knife. Casual reader, thanks for sticking For the first time with the current M3, I’m experiencing a around. Only TopGear brings you tests this thorough. strange and disarming pang: desirability. Despite the hideous bodywork, the needlessly complex new touchscreen interface, the naff digital instruments, and that eye-watering price that makes a £60k M340i Touring (secretly the best car BMW makes) look a total steal, the combination of right car, right shape in the right place has the M3 gelling at last. It’s not all the car you could ever want. It’s more car than you’d ever need. We descend towards base camp one more time. The M3 is fast, comfortable, entertaining, commodious, technologically overqualified and feels solidly built from improved materials. But we couldn’t bring it all this way and not subject it to trial by dog. There’s this strange fetishisation of fast estate cars as hellbound 088 M A R C H 2 0 2 3 › T O P G E A R . C O M

BMW satnav graphics have come a heck of a long way since the original iDrive Spice up date night with some legit dog wine. Nothing sets the mood better than Barry white Can’t think where we last saw such an ornate pair of nostrils and massive jowl combo...

WHEELS Fancy some go-faster practicality for the cost of the optional extras on our Swissbound M3 Touring? With a £22,500 budget, we hit the classifieds WORDS OLLIE KEW Audi RS4 Avant WHAT TO PAY £18K–£24K In the mid-Noughties, fast Audis found a purple patch. The RS6 hit on the bi-turbo V8 AWD recipe now favoured by all the big super-saloons, the R8 rewrote the entry level supercar rulebook, and we were treated to possibly the finest driving four-door Audi ever: the second RS4. Its rare late Nineties predecessor used turbocharged V6 power, but the B7 RS4 employed a naturally aspirated 4.2-litre V8, sending 414bhp to all four wheels. Naturally. No S-tronic paddles here, only an absolute peach of a manual. As a package of handling, speed, noise and quality, this is one of the all time great wagons. WHAT TO WATCH OUT FOR Thieves. RS4s are rare, desirable and pondlife will even try to swipe their handsome alloys or Recaro bucket seats. Insurance might be hefty, so make sure that dog you’re transporting is a faithful sentry. 090 M A R C H 2 0 2 3 › T O P G E A R . C O M

USED BARGAINS Seat Leon Cupra ST 300 WHAT TO PAY £18K–£26K Fast Seats really found their stride with this supermarket own brand Golf R – the spec list held few surprises: 2.0-litre turbo four-cylinder engine good for just shy of 300bhp, a rapid fire DSG and 4WD. But in that strange ghost in the machine way that certain cars just gel into more than the sum of their parts, the Cupra was an unusually peppy bit of kit – lither than the more po-faced Golf, and capable of giant killing pace with the Abt tuning pack added on. Available as a three- or five-door hatchback too, the estate has a certain undercover motorway response unit appeal. WHAT TO WATCH OUT FOR Beware any hint of DSG clutch slip – a previous owner may have dabbled with the heavy handed launch control. Ask if the water pump has been replaced too – some Cupras have suffered with blockages from anti-corrosion sealant particles. Alpina B3/D3 Touring Mercedes CLS63 AMG Shooting Brake WHAT TO PAY £8K–18K WHAT TO PAY £22K–£37K The E9x-series B3 (petrol) and D3 (diesel) This was one of the final death throes against the twins were fabulously subtle sped-up expresses inexorable onset of SUV-kind: Mercedes taking which offered a more thoughtful turbocharged the E-Class’s more seductive (and less spacious) alternative to the contemporary high-revving CLS cousin, and grafting on an estate rear end. M3 V8. Unfortunately, they’re exceedingly rare. Although a proper five-door (not a strict shooting brake) the result was effortlessly more elegant WHAT TO WATCH OUT FOR Usual BMW N54 than an A6 Avant or 5-Series Touring. Plus, engine woes, coked-up engines from urban- because Mercedes couldn’t resist AMG-ing dwelling cars, and Alpina’s trademark intricately everything (R63 anyone?) it was also treated spoked wheels are susceptible to buckling if to two V8s: first the 6.2-litre nat-asp monster, subjected to pothole abuse. and later the 5.5-litre bi-turbo treatment. WHAT TO WATCH OUT FOR The engines are bulletproof so long as they’ve not been over- tuned, but be vigilant for clunking gearboxes or tired valvetrains on high mileage cars. T O P G E A R . C O M › M A R C H 2 0 2 3 091

KEN BLOCK 092 M A R C H 2 0 2 3 › T O P G E A R . C O M

The motoring world has lost one of its true greats in Gymkhana pioneer, professional rally driver and all-round hero Ken Block. Chris Harris shares his memories WORDS CHRIS HARRIS ILLUSTRATION THE RED DRESS PHOTOGRAPHY HOONICORN ARCHIVE 1967 – 2023 T O P G E A R . C O M › M A R C H 2 0 2 3 093

A doting dog father, Block was often pictured with his Siberian huskies Yuki and Bentley

“Ken was a KEN BLOCK visionary, a pioneer and an KEN BLOCK icon. And most importantly, SUCCEEDED a father and husband. He will WHERE THE be incredibly MAJORITY missed” FAILED. HOONIGAN INDUSTRIES He transformed a trade and reinvented it in his own vision. The evidence is all around us and cemented by the immutable fact that his name and his “What an Gymkhana franchise have become a generic term for any film that eviscerates incredible person tyres. Or as he called them, tires. to learn from, To most of us Ken just appeared out of nowhere in 2008 sliding a Subaru, battle with and but his life was already remarkable. He’d founded DC Shoes with two partners to admire over in 1994, sold it to Quiksilver in 2004 and was looking for ways to enjoy himself when he happened across motor cars. A huge rally fan, it quickly transpired the last two that Ken had exceptional car control and so his journey began. But like decades. Ken’s everything he did, he boxed clever. influence on Rather than throw money at trying to become the next Loeb, he and some the automotive buddies shot a video with his Subaru rally car, adopting the gymkhana name from Japanese autotesting. It exploded on the internet with most established world cannot car video makers, myself included, thinking – why the hell didn’t I think be quantified. of that? Perhaps without realising it Ken and his small team had forever In addition to altered the relationship between content, sponsorship and brand advocacy. And like all the most profound changes to established practices, it happened pioneering a accidentally – with a healthy dose of direction and skill. Next came the roadmap for follow-up, the cleverly named Gymkhana Two. For many this was the real the rest of us gamechanger. Remember seeing that Scooby scrunch through the flourescent to follow in the tubes in slo-mo? Surely that’s the moment when many marketing budgeteers marketing of said “I don’t care about print advertising any more, spend what we have being motorsport — a part of this madness”. And they did. Ken Block was, above all else, What most people didn’t know is that Ken won his first North American Rally in 2006 and was known to be very handy behind the wheel. The car a devoted control we saw in those first two films made sense to those who knew him, family man” T O P G E A R . C O M › M A R C H 2 0 2 3 095 TANNER FOUST “I grew up watching Ken Block, he and the Hoonigans shaped my personality and interests in cars. The automotive community and world of motorsports are hurting” RYAN VARGAS

KEN BLOCK but the majority wanted to know how good he really “I will forever “I’m was. It was around this time that I first met Ken – cherish the almost devastated when he was at M Sport to test his new Focus WRC to hear of Ken car that he would use for selected rounds of the 20 years of Block’s passing. championship. He was nothing like I’d expected – friendship and fun He was such calmly spoken, modest and a listener. He was also very all over the world an amazing clear about what he wanted to achieve in a top level we shared enjoying person, always rally car – he basically wanted to have fun. He was lived life to there with his wingman Brian Scotto, the creative our passions. I the fullest. force behind the Gymkhana franchise, and the man will forever be I remember often charged with saying things when Ken would grateful for the rather not. They went on to become a fearsome constant inspiration, our first commercial and artistic partnership. opportunities and time working advice that you together and What he did was turn the sport on its head. There offered. Thank how positive he were many negative voices around his involvement in was. So much the WRC. Some didn’t like the way he’d bought into you for what talent behind a team (that’s the way most motorsport works, it’s you brought to the the wheel. Years for rich people) and the emerging keyboard warrior world that created ago we had an community said he wasn’t that good behind the wheel. so many smiles and amazing time They were of course wrong on the latter, but none of heliskiing and them, including shamefully the FIA, spotted that Ken’s inspired masses” snowboarding was the most photographed and publicised car on in Canada. We every event. Despite this the Rally Commission never VAUGHN GITTIN JR held so much seemed keen to hear his thoughts on how rallying – respect for a sport that was already in trouble back then – might “Such a talent one another. appeal to a younger audience. So Ken competed for that did so much He will truly be a few years, grabbed a notable seventh place finish for our sport. He missed and my in Mexico 2013 and then called it a day in 2014. was a true visionary thoughts and with his own unique prayers go to It’s at this point I should mention the Ford vs style and infectious his beautiful Subaru online war, but I can barely bring myself to. smile. Our sport lost family. Gone too Suffice to say, Ken’s switch from Scooby to Ford – one of the best but soon. Rest in where he was deployed as a full-fat brand ambassador more importantly peace Ken” – had the partisan car community muttering about him being a Judas. Much of it was unpleasant. The a great man” LEWIS HAMILTON only person who seemed quite unperturbed was Ken. He just let the viewing figures roll in. JENSON BUTTON By now he was already a star. An appearance on TopGear terrifying James May in 2009 pushed him into the mainstream and the numbers kept increasing. 096 M A R C H 2 0 2 3 › T O P G E A R . C O M

Would love to see the risk assessment forms for this one... There’s precision driving, there’s millimetre perfect... and then there’s Ken T O P G E A R . C O M › M A R C H 2 0 2 3 097

KEN BLOCK “Ken was a visionary, so There was something magnetic about the way Brian passionate and and Ken did things. I can’t define or describe exactly inspiring. He what it was, but the effect it had on me was to just knew like no other want to be there when they filmed. I can remember how to combine driving to a disused racetrack south of Paris to motorsport and see them shoot Gymkhana Three – it might have a big show. He generated a little story in some magazine, but I just lived his life to wanted to see it all happen. I became quite protective the fullest and I’ll of people’s criticism of the driving too – knowing what never forget his I did about sliding a car, Ken was taking on some very smile and laugh” technical challenges and the way he could execute them with very little practice made me realise he was SÉBASTIEN OGIER working on a higher level to most of us. “Ken was a Now the Gymkhana brand was flying, Ken and trailblazer in Brian turned their attention to launching Hoonigan – the automotive an apparel movement aimed at the auto community industry. When but suffused with some grungy SoCal anarchy. It took he released a while, but once they found the right voice and Gymkhana in content output Hoonigan flew and, again, Ken had 2008 he had the another huge commercial success on his hands. More entire TopGear than anyone I’ve met in the world of cars, he seemed office wide eyed to have the Midas touch – everything turned to gold. in amazement. We had the pleasure to On a personal note, he showed me great kindness work with Ken on when I was in a pickle. In 2014 my YouTube funded several occasions channel DRIVE was dropped and it left me low and over the years and rudderless. He and Brian got in contact and asked me his contributions to come over and watch the filming of Gymkhana were always so Seven in Los Angeles, and they’d pay me to make a memorable and short film about the new Mustang he’d be driving. exciting for our They didn’t need me, and they didn’t need to pay audience. We were me, but it was a shot in the arm that I’ll be forever honoured to have grateful for. The Hoonicorn went on to become had the chance to Ken’s most recognisable tyre destruction machine, work with him and and in twin-turbo guise flung Matt LeBlanc around learn from him” London in that amazing TopGear film from 2016. ALEX RENTON, EXECUTIVE I think very few people really knew Ken, me included. He was a private man who was completely PRODUCER TOPGEAR devoted to his family. A friend of mine who worked with him recently described him as “a real gentleman, but above all he must have been the greatest dad of all time”. And that’s what makes this loss so awful – the car community is in mourning, but all of our thoughts are with his wife Lucy and their children. Ken’s life was lived larger than most and, accordingly, his legacy will endure, much like his hero Colin McRae. THANKS TO RON ZARAS AT HOONIGAN FOR SUPPLYING EX TRA IMAGERY 098 M A R C H 2 0 2 3 › T O P G E A R . C O M

KEN’S TOP GYMKHANA THREE FIESTA 5 WILDEST If you’re not as old as us, there’s a fair chance that a Fiesta, not a WRX was the first machine you saw flung about the place as if physics was BUILDS taking flexi time. In fact, statistically speaking, this is the car you’re most likely to have seen – six appearances in the Gymkhana series, As well as a tyre-shredding supremo, and five where it was the lead, rather than part of an ensemble cast. Block was a master of the monster build, as the following examples illustrate WORDS CRAIG JAMIESON ILLUSTRATION PETER GREENWOOD HOONICORN HOONITRUCK You’ll remember it as the carbon-bodied Mustang that gave Matt The Hoonitruck featured Ford’s 3.5-litre twin turbo, as per the LeBlanc a smoky taxi ride around London. In fact, this 845bhp Le Mans-winning Ford GT, making more than 900bhp and 700lb version was just taster of things to come, with a V2 arriving later ft. Installed in your average 1977 F-150, this would usually result in a that Block called “the most frightening thing I’ve even driven.” game of Which Bit Will Break First, but the Hoonitruck sidestepped Yeah, a pair of turbos, methanol injection and 1,400bhp will do that. that issue by running a custom 4WD set-up complete with 6spd box. HOONITRON HOONIPIGASUS Block joined Audi with the brand on something of an electric kick, A proper silhouette racecar, based on an old 912, with a livery with the Hoonitron featuring a twin-motor AWD set-up and a sound reminiscent of Porsche’s 917/20 ‘Pink Pig’. But while the Porsche eerily reminiscent of the Tamiya cars we had as kids. And probably that Block took to Pikes Peak didn’t feature in a Gymkhana video, the the same instant-on acceleration. It was proof that how wheels are specs feel up to par – a mid-mounted flat-six from Porsche’s GT3 R spun means much less than the fact that wheels are spinning. racer, twin-turbocharged to 1,400bhp and powering both axles. T O P G E A R . C O M › M A R C H 2 0 2 3 099

The new Honda Civic Type R won our Car of the Year crown last December – barely three months on, it’s already time to defend it WORDS PAUL HORRELL PHOTOGRAPHY JONNY FLEETWOOD 100 M A R C H 2 0 2 3 › T O P G E A R . C O M