Ranking The Best Classic Top Gear Specials Worst To Best

11. Winter Olympics Special

Technically this was the first special that Clarkson, May and Hammond made. Though this wasn't some stress-filled 1000 mile slog through deserts and jungles, this was a simple series of challenges to see which cars fared best in winter conditions.

The idea sprang to them after the Winter Olympics that took place that same year in 2006, so they packed their bags and headed to Norway to put some cars to the test.

Though the episode was hardly a bad one and is still enjoyable to watch, the issue with it is that the cars they tested have got old and most of the challenges are quite redundant now. When they had a tiny budget to get an older car anyway and take it on a long journey, those episodes play better on the re-watch because those cars were still old at the time. Therefore nullifying the effect and realisation that you're now watching an old piece of television.

Hammond's absence is another issue, he was busy hosting The Paul O'Grady Show (forgot all about that one? So did we) during filming and could only make it back for some of the challenges.

The easy highlight of the episode is the race between the skeleton bobsled and the Henning Solberg driven Mitsubishi Lancer in Lillehammer. Unfortunately, this challenge was a rerun from a previous episode of the show, so doesn't really count.