Top Gear: Season 1, Episode 9

1 - 9: The Stripped-Out Jaguar XJS

On a family-friendly Top Gear, we picked the ultimate family car, a celebrity chef was in our reasonably priced car, and the Stig met his match on the Top Gear test track. As parents buy even more ridiculously large vehicles to chauffeur their tots to playgroup, we decided to find the best one out there. The conclusion was a little confusing, but the Land Cruiser was a favourite, as was the Volvo XC90. Back in the studio, Jeremy decided to treat Gordon Ramsay to some automotive cookery, namely three dishes: Salmon Liana, Lamb á la Twin Cam, and Turkey Forester. We can't broadcast or publish Gordon's reaction to the taste test. Suffice to say, he didn't really like it much. We also noticed all the fastest cars around our track had been lightweight. So what if you stripped some of the weight out of a heavy car? How much quicker would it be? We bought an old Jag for £500 to find out. The good news was that we shaved seven seconds of the Jag's laptime. But by that point it wasn't road legal either. Which was a shame.