BBC Top Gear - December 21st 2003

[JamesL]

As you may know from the "Famous Pagoda owners" thread below, BBC's Top Gear did a segment on our cars just before Christmas

We have been trying to get permission for the segment to be hosted here for downloads. However, this week, I have heard back from the Beeb saying that they will not grant this permission

So that leaves either sticking the segment on Filehaven or similar - and I have no great desire to go down that route

or

sending copies of CDs out to folk.

I can't (won't)  email it - it's about 70mb as a .DAT file (Video CD). As video is not my thing, I have no idea what would happen to the file compressed as MPeG. It's about an 8 minute clip and a DAT file will view perfectly well in Windows Media Player

However, I am happy to "lend" CDs out to a few folk for them to have a view, and perhaps let their near neighbours borrow the CD as well.

So if you want to help start this ball rolling, please drop me an email with a mailing address. Perhaps I can "lend" a copy to someone in each of Europe, East Coast, West Coast and Australia to start with.

I suggest that once you're done with your view of the file, you contact a near neighbour through this thread and post it on. Alternatively, if you and a friend have broadband connections, you may want to save postage....

Obviously, because of issues of copyright, we should not reproduce the CDs and I should not let you keep them . I'll be very upset if I don't get them back

[JamesL]

OK

one has gone to Canada
one to Colorado Springs
one to Amsterdam

Any more takers - got two more on my desk

[Gerhard]

Hi Tosh,

Amsterdam means Cees Klumper?

Cees,

Will you be hosting an evening with Jeremy Clarkson?



Gerhard
1965 230SL

[JamesL]

quote:Originally posted by Gerhard

Hi Tosh,

Amsterdam means Cees Klumper?

It certainly does. You should be a detective

[Cees Klumper]

Hey Gerhard (and other Dutchies) - probably Van Dijk will be hosting another tech session again this year. If so, we could view the Top Gear footage at that occasion, maybe with the promotion video that Dick Mentzer put together as well. I can send an invitation to Mr. Clarkson, but I might as well invite Mr. Schrempp; the odds of either showing up are about the same I figure.

Cees Klumper in Amsterdam
'69 white 280 SL automatic

[Peter van Es]

If you invite me, I would turn up!

;-)

Peter

Check out http://bali.esweb.nl for photographs of classic car events and my 1970 280 SL

[kns]

Tosh, I would love to offer one of your 'backup discs' a holiday down under if there's one to be had: I promise solemnly to return it after I have checked on your behalf that the data is not corrupted! Let me know if that's a possibility, in which case I'll email you offline to take care of the minutiae.

Cheers,

kns.
1965 230SL, Manual
[1965 220SEb Coupe, Man.]

[Douglas]

Just received my copy thanks to Tosh.  Thanks very much for sharing.

There were a couple of details in the segment with which I'd like to take issue.

First, the silver Pagoda the narrator drives has silver rocker panel covers. That's just plain  wrong. It's a pity that programs like this could end up confusing present & future owners about these kinds of details.

Second, the narrator vehemently asserts that the W 113 is not a sports car. Rubbish! Tell that to Eugen Bohringer, Klaus Kaiser and everyone else those two defeated in the Spa-Sofia-Liege rally of 1964.

Douglas Kim
New York, NY
280 SL #018260

[Cees Klumper]

Got my copy in the mail yesterday - thanks a million Tosh!
Watched it this morning and loved it. Particularly the part where Clarkson shows us the problem about most sixties cars: "For example, here's an MG: [camera zooms in on a heap of rust] "and, what about this Alfa Romeo Spider [camera shows another heap of crumbled rust]. Then we move to the beautiful silver (of course) Pagoda. Very complimentary piece.

Just one question for Doug - Fintails, Saabs, even Mini's have won gruesome rallies - does that make them sportscars    ?

Cees Klumper in Amsterdam
'69 white 280 SL automatic

[Douglas]

Cees,

I'll concede that some Pagodas are more sporting than others, but overall, I believe the W 113 is a sportscar. My thinking is that whether or not a car rises to the level of "sportscar" is determined by design and performance.

Now, nobody will say the Pagoda doesn't look like a sportscar. Its design is certainly sporting.

That leaves the question of performance and, almost right out of the box, the 230 SL proved itself as a performance car — First, at a press conference in '64 at a track in Montroux when Uhlenhaut achieved a time within .2 seconds of a V12 Ferrari. Then later that year when Bohringer and Kaiser won at the Marathon de la Route and bested Austin-Healeys, Allards, Jags, Ford Mustangs, Triumphs, Lotuses, Porsches, Lancias, etc.

The Pagoda had looks AND performance. You can't say that about a Finnie or a Bug, fine cars though they may be.

To be frank though, I concur with the conventional widom that the Pagoda became less and less of a sportscar every year.

Douglas Kim
New York, NY
280 SL #018260

[Bob G ✝︎]

Tosh:
I would very much like to barrow a copy of the BBC tape on our SL's It doesn't surprise me though that Mercedes-Benz called it a grand tourer but then Enzo called the 250 and 330GTS Ferrari Grant Touring cars with a splash of sports car throughen in for good measure. My opinion is that Mercedes-Benz choose not to call the 230SL a sports car in fear of over stating its performance and the fact that they were after a different kind of customer that the 300SL Gullwing and roaster it replaced.
Bob Geco

[Douglas]

Mercedes did call the 230 SL a sports car. Remember the ad with the headline that said:

"At last, a sports car for grown-ups — the Mercedes-Benz 230 SL."

Douglas Kim
New York, NY
280 SL #018260

[n/a]

quote:Originally posted by Tosh

As you may know from the "Famous Pagoda owners" thread below, BBC's Top Gear did a segment on our cars just before Christmas

We have been trying to get permission for the segment to be hosted here for downloads. However, this week, I have heard back from the Beeb saying that they will not grant this permission

So that leaves either sticking the segment on Filehaven or similar - and I have no great desire to go down that route

or

sending copies of CDs out to folk.

I can't (won't)  email it - it's about 70mb as a .DAT file (Video CD). As video is not my thing, I have no idea what would happen to the file compressed as MPeG. It's about an 8 minute clip and a DAT file will view perfectly well in Windows Media Player

However, I am happy to "lend" CDs out to a few folk for them to have a view, and perhaps let their near neighbours borrow the CD as well.

So if you want to help start this ball rolling, please drop me an email with a mailing address. Perhaps I can "lend" a copy to someone in each of Europe, East Coast, West Coast and Australia to start with.

I suggest that once you're done with your view of the file, you contact a near neighbour through this thread and post it on. Alternatively, if you and a friend have broadband connections, you may want to save postage....

Obviously, because of issues of copyright, we should not reproduce the CDs and I should not let you keep them . I'll be very upset if I don't get them back

[n/a]

Hi Tosh,

I am very sad that I mist the Top Gear segment about the pagoda.
Can I get a copy on CD from you?
Let me know the costs for shipping.

Greetings,
Rob Buijs 280SL 1970.

[Cees Klumper]

Rob - from your name, I am guessing you live in Holland. Anyway I do - if you want you can contact me off-line and I can forward you the CD. Just watched it again this evening and it's great.

Cees Klumper in Amsterdam
'69 white 280 SL automatic

[n/a]

Hallo Cees,

Off-line kan ik je in onze eigen taal mailen, neem ik aan.

Je zou me een grote dienst bewijzen door mij een CD met het bewuste item uit Top Gear. Ondanks het feit dat ik elke zondag voor de tv zit als Top Gear wordt uitgezonden heb ik van deze aflevering het begin gemist en dat was nou juist het Pagode bericht.

Laat me even weten wat de kosten zijn om mij de CD toe te zenden.

Mijn adres is :

Rob Buijs
Frederikslaan 12
7316 DP Apeldoorn

280SL rood 1970,

rob.buijs@classicpic.com

quote:Originally posted by cees klumper

Rob - from your name, I am guessing you live in Holland. Anyway I do - if you want you can contact me off-line and I can forward you the CD. Just watched it again this evening and it's great.

Cees Klumper in Amsterdam
'69 white 280 SL automatic

Download Attachment: 280SL.jpg
21.57 KB

[Cees Klumper]

Speak English !!  

Yes I will forward you the CD Rob. BTW (which, for non-native English speakers, means "By The Way" and not "Belasting Toegevoegde Waarde") we will be organizing some events this summer in The Netherlands, and I hope to maybe see you at one of them.

Cees Klumper in Amsterdam
'69 white 280 SL automatic

[Joe]

I got a cd from Tosh, but can't get it to play. Tried it on four computers. Can someone advise me on what program I need to upload for this? I tried PCs with Windows ME and XP.
Joe

[Jonny B]

Joe,

I used Windows Media Player, that is standard on Windows 2000. The .DAT format is not recognized as a standard format, but if you click file, open, and then go to wherever you have the file stored (or on the CD) change the default file type to 'all files' and the .DAT will show up. Then you should just be able to double click on the file and have it play. At least that is what I did when I got the CD. I copied the file to the hard drive, and then mailed the CD on to Bob Geco.

Jonny B
1967 250SL Auto

[Douglas]

For Mac folks, it will also play on Quicktime.

(Thanks again, Tosh. It was a lot of fun to watch.)

Douglas Kim
New York, NY
280 SL #018260

[Cees Klumper]

I opened it by right-clicking on the file, then selecting Media Player, and off it went.

Cees Klumper in Amsterdam
'69 white 280 SL automatic

[Bob G ✝︎]

Hello : all. I just received the famous BBC CD Top Gear perhaps I should mention it is stuck in gear . How do you play it? When I put it in my computer in the DVD side opened it up it opened as a Word Pad strange you can not read any of the text although I though this was a small movie program done by the BBC ?
any Help would be appreciated?
Bob Geco

[Douglas]

Bob, Try starting you video/movie program first, whether it's Real Player, Quicktime,  Windows Media, etc., THEN opening the file.

Your program should be able to translate it into the proper language to read it.

Douglas Kim
New York, NY
280 SL #018260

[Bob G ✝︎]

Thank You Tosh for sharing with us that wonderfull BBC CD. Tell me who next is in line to receive it.

Bob Geco

[JamesL]

Where are they now?

Anyone else want a look before the discs head back to the UK?