1. Amphibious Cars. Again
In series eight the presenters were tasked with converting normal road going cars into amphibious vehicles. Clarkson simply put an outboard motor onto a pick up truck, Hammond converted a VW campervan into a canal barge, and May produced a sailing dinghy from a convertable Triumph Herald, and none of them were overly capable at performing the needs of being amphibious. Because of this, sometime later in series ten, they were asked to modify (read: improve) their designs, and were given an even bigger challenge: cross the English Channel to France. Needless to say, all three had engine problems before they even reached Dover. After quite a few attempts at trying to leave Dover, it didn't look much better. May never made it out of the harbour before sinking, and breaking his boat beyond repair. Hammond did make it out of the harbour, but into waters that were far too choppy and headed back. Upon finding out his steering was broken, he also had to be towed back to dry land by Clarkson. Despite this however Clarkson's Pick up truck/outboard motor combination, this time with added barrels for buoyancy, was doing rather well. On the third day, with all three clambered aboard a single craft, the intrepid presenters finally actually headed for France. Crossing the busiest shipping lane in the world didn't scare them, and they even attempted to beat Richard "Beardy" Branson's record of crossing the Channel in an amphibious vehicle: One hour, forty minutes and six seconds. With a good luck blessing from the coast guard they set off and didn't look back. Through rough waters, navigating around ferries and cargo ships, and even coping with leaks, the three actually managed more than you would have thought possible compared to their earlier attempts. Considering the simplicity of their amphibious vehicle, and the stretch of water they had just crossed, with a tight but successful landing at Sangatte, just 5 miles from Calais, their actual achievement of travelling from London to France in an amphibious vehicle was a surprising success. And on that bombshell, good night!