Top Gear: Complete Season 13 [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

If you like cars, and have any sense of humor, this show is a must. I only wish more were available. The BBC is missing the boat by not offering more of this series to American audiences.

We discovered the BBC show Top Gear during a recent cruise to Europe on our cabin TV. There was no better way to pass the transatlantic seasick time than watching the fabulous banter of these 3 witty hosts. I was reminded of the simplistic joy of childhood pranks and the sheer excitement of a fast car. I loved their clips of a "celebrity in a well-priced car" stints and their realistic reviews of cars I can only dream of owning and driving some day. My husband, 12 year old daughter and I all quote the show regularly and can't wait to order other seasons on dvd, too!

One of the funnier episodes. The last episode for season 13.

The show opens with Richard talking about all the boring businessman cars, bland and the same. So he chooses an Australian Vauxhall VXR-8 Bathurst supercharged car. It makes the wildest strangest noises ever. As Hammond says, this car goes to 11. He then backs it up with another Australian car, The Maloo R8, a sort of El Camino. But it is blindingly fast. The Stig drives both cars.

They break away to do the news. Lots of Ferrari news as usual.

The big segment is James and Jeremy making a commercial for Volkswagen. On a serious side, it's not too far off from the corporate world with how executives decide what will and will not see the light of day. This was a great challenge to leave out Hammond. May and Clarkson are such polar opposites, it makes for a very funny segment.

They go back to the car board - something that is gratefully removed in later seasons. In the end, this should just be called the Jeremy board; he puts the cars where ever he wants. There is an excellent joke with Hammond about his height. Be sure to watch through to the end of this segment.

The star in a reasonably priced car, this week is Jay Leno. Now I kind of dislike Jay Leno, but he is excellent on this show. The interview is outstanding. Jay has 150 cars, and Jeremy is mostly speechless.

The closing segment is of Jeremy driving an Aston Martin Vantage with a V12 all over beautiful hilly countryside. There's ethereal music that makes me think of having a massage. Probably one of the most beautiful segments they have ever aired.

Oddly, there's no awards part of the show this year.

Nov. 11, 2012 Update: This series of reviews was published when Amazon allowed each episode to be reviewed individually. They are now lumped into a single product listing. I have added the Episode Number to the title.