Top Gear Is Back! Here Are 6 Reasons Why We'll Be Watching

In a couple of weeks time Jezza, Hamster and Slow make a welcome return to our screens in the 19^th series of Top Gear. The big man’s Twitter feed and a few candid photos have given us some clues as to what we can expect come January 27^th – but now the time has come to debunk some of the myths and reveal some of what the boys’ll be up to this winter….

Our first clue surfaced in September, when Eurosport reported that rally ace Kris Meeke had piloted a new Bentley Continental GT Speed around a 15-mile gravel stage of Rally GB – allegedly within 20 per cent of Petter Solberg’s benchmark time – all the while with a nervous May in the passenger seat. At least they didn’t try it in a Roller…

You’ll undoubtedly remember a photo of JC almost wearing what looks like a tiny car. Well, turns out the Peel P50 wasn’t quite small enough for the presenter – with help from the Automotive Design students at Coventry University, and the team of craftsmen behind the Spitfire-engined Bentley from the last series, Clarkson’s Microcar is only just big enough to contain him.

Like Team CT, Top Gear loves a good road-trip. This series, in an SRT Viper, Aston Vanquish and Lexus LFA, the presenters traverse the western side of the US before racing to the Mexican border. The loser will be forced to test the locally-made Mastretta sportscar – before being lynched, probably…

Not since the trio pitted a Bugatti Veyron against a plane has TG featured a mammoth cross-country race. Luckily, this series sees its return – Jeremy in a Mustang GT500 vs Hammond and May on public transport. First to Milan’s San Siro stadium wins. It’s on.

Few cars are better suited to the elderly than Rover 216s. Or so we thought – in an effort to create the ideal old person’s car, Jeremy and Richard took one Fiat Multipla, some wing mirrors from an HGV and a Rover grille and amalgamated them into the perfect car for senior drivers. Allegedly.

Every now and then, TG comes under fire for not featuring enough proper, consumer-focussed car reviews. If you’re one of those people then fear not, as very soon we’ll be treated to another of Clarkson’s patented, all-encompasing road tests. The Ford Fiesta, Skoda Yeti and Renault Twingo have all been given a thorough going over – now it’s the turn of the new Kia Cee’d…

January 27th, 8pm. We’ll be watching…