Top Gear Middle Eastern Special Instant

It seemed like a good idea at the time. Send three middle-aged men—one who looks like a confused geography teacher, one who dresses like a rejected 90s pop star, and one who is, well, a hamster—into the furnace of the Middle East. Give them three cheap, decaying convertibles. Tell them to find the lost city of Ubar, also known as "The Atlantis of the Sands."

The cars rebelled. Plastic trim melted. Glue seeped out of the windscreens. Hammond’s Golf began to smell like a burning toaster. The production crew, following in air-conditioned Land Cruisers, wore hazmat suits just to hand the boys water. The Rub' al Khali is a beautiful liar. It looks solid. It is not. top gear middle eastern special

And James May? He bought a 1996 Fiat Barchetta. A tiny, flimsy, Italian two-seater that looked like a ballet shoe. "It is the prettiest car here," he noted, peering at the engine. "It also appears to be leaking all of its bodily fluids onto this pristine hotel driveway." The Middle East special is not about driving. It is about survival. As the trio crossed from the UAE into Oman, the ambient temperature hit 48 degrees Celsius. It seemed like a good idea at the time