Top Gear fans: why not honor the show's spirit with a meaningful drive?

This morning was the first time I pulled my tweaked Integra from the garage and lifted it’s cover since hearing that TG will likely never return as we know it.

The NorCal air was brisk and full of performance giving oxygen. As usual I sat still at the controls and took in deep breaths. Hands flat on my thighs I meditated as the temp gauge gradually indicated operating temperature.

When the internals were doused fully in warm 5W30 dino juice I started toward the Napa hills, slowly at first as the gearbox heated. As I ascended I savored every audible snap from the shifter, every grunt from the stiffened rear suspension. The leafy canopy streamed by overhead.

As I stuffed the Honda into the bends I remembered that aside from Hammond’s cardboard eating antics, May’s encyclopedic knowledge and Clarkson’s scalpel wit Top Gear was about the love of driving, not millionaire broker or boy racer posing, but rather the joy of car/human symbiosis and an unforgettable chunk of road.

I considered getting into the politics of Clarkson’s dismissal on this post but decided against it. We already know that the greatest part of his appeal was his talent for conveying conservative American concepts in an utterly British manner. Is anyone surprised that the state owned BBC despises it?

As a longtime road cyclist I understood that cycling, like sex, is much more gratifying accomplished as opposed to watched (apologies to every armchair quarterback out there). The activity of driving is no different. TG might be gone forever but you still have your machines and talent.

Drive forth all.