Clarkson's wife has been a complete car buff for a long time now. If I remember correctly, I had read one more article written by his wife, which was about driving Renaults through the french countryside. I have that one (I have most of his articles) and will post it if I can find it.
Besides, here are a few snippets from one of the "Classic Clarksons"
"We men have learned over the last few years that it's a good idea to be in touch with our feminine side. If we cry in films, eat lots of salad and read Victorian poetry, it makes us more attractive. But there's a flip side to that argument. Women can boost the magnetism of their pheromones by getting in touch with their male side. This would mean not changing gear until they hit the redline and fancying lap dancers.
My wife is so completely in touch with her male side, I'm surprised she hasn't actually grown a scrotum. This is a woman who uses the C-word as early as possible at dinner parties to save time. Guests that shudder aren't worth talking to, and those that don't are worthy of further bottom sniffing. "
"This is a woman who once said she couldn't see the point of cars with less than 200bhp, who won't drive my Mercedes because it's an automatic and who loathes any car that has even a hint of pliability in the suspension. She thinks an Aerial Atom is too soft and an Evo FQ340, too slow.
When our third child was born, I suggested that her BMW Z1 might not be the most practical car and that she might require more seats. So she went out and bought a Caterham Seven as well. It wasn't quite what I had in mind.
Then came the Elise, which arrived, and after a short test drive, was sent straight back to Lotus to have a louder exhaust fitted. "
"She smiled the smile of a woman who wasn't listening and two days later came home with quite the most remarkable vehicle I've ever seen. It's an F-registered, left-hand-drive Land Rover 90 diesel which means it's old, and so slow it can't climb any sort of hill. That's bad, but according to the vendor it has seen service with the Swiss Army which is good. It means it won't have seen any action at all and the engine will have been turned off at all the red traffic lights.
What's better is that all the military paraphernalia is still in place. That means camouflage paintwork, downward pointing lights that can't be seen by aircraft, four 20ft aerials, a mine prodder, an engine air-intake above the windscreen and best of all... a gun. Yes. My wife is now so in tune with her masculinity, she's bought a sodding tank.
To give it even more playground cred, its metal roof can be unbolted and removed completely, it has super-dark tinted windows and it sits on the widest, chunkiest off-road tyres BF Goodrich have ever produced. This thing, I kid you not, makes Lara Croft's Land Rover look like a Suzuki Vitara. It makes Norman Schwarzkopf's Hummer look like a Nissan Micra. It is butch, and them some. "
And finally :
"But a girl in a car like this looks like she's descended from the gods. A girl in a road-going tank is even more sexy than one in nothing at all. "
I tend to agree.
Last edited by sajo : 20th October 2005 at 19:16.
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