RACING REFUGEES
Top Gear|April 2023
Racecars don't really work outside the racetrack, so why are the Japanese so obsessed with making 'em road cars?
- MARK RICCIONI
RACING REFUGEES

Back in 2009, Kelly Ann Walz of Pennsylvania met her untimely demise while cleaning her beloved pet, a 160kg black bear named Teddy. For Indonesian Deasy Tuwo, keeping a freshwater crocodile against its will yielded a similar result. As did hoarding 75 species of exotic snake, something New Yorker Aleta Stacy realised while handling her pet black mamba. Whose bite kills within 20 minutes.

The loss of human life is always tragic. But these examples are slightly marred by the five words you'll be thinking right now - what exactly were they expecting? Unsurprisingly, apex predators don't take kindly to being coerced into becoming pets. And we humans are a substantial meal. Most individuals are happy to settle with a Labrador, the doggo equivalent of a VW Golf. It's a safe bet after all - you shouldn't end up dead while doing basic tasks like cleaning, and if you do end up on the six o'clock news it'll be for something genuinely quite surprising.

What about the other side of the fence? Like the world of exotic pets, there's a growing number of enthusiasts who refuse to settle for the safe choice. People who look at TopGear's consumer advice and do the exact opposite. Buy a track-inspired road car? Absolutely not, only a racer with a numberplate will cut the mustard here. A mountain lion with a retractable lead round its neck. What could possibly go wrong?

Road-legal racers aren't a new idea. Many are based on actual road cars after all, and in cases like the WRC they're required to be 'legal' to compete. But there's one country taking this approach that little bit further. A country brimming with car culture that borders on the obsessive. Get your Gulf-liveried kimono ready, we're off to Japan.

この蚘事は Top Gear の April 2023 版に掲茉されおいたす。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トラむアルを開始しお、䜕千もの厳遞されたプレミアム ストヌリヌ、9,000 以䞊の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしおください。

この蚘事は Top Gear の April 2023 版に掲茉されおいたす。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トラむアルを開始しお、䜕千もの厳遞されたプレミアム ストヌリヌ、9,000 以䞊の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしおください。

TOP GEARのその他の蚘事すべお衚瀺
ELECTROMECHANIC
BBC Top Gear UK

ELECTROMECHANIC

Meet the electric restomod that you can create at home it's so easy you can do the conversion in a day, apparently

time-read
5 分  |
January 2025
ALL THE SMALL THINGS
BBC Top Gear UK

ALL THE SMALL THINGS

Word is there's no such thing as a decent, small, simple, reasonably priced car these days. Allow TopGear to investigate

time-read
5 分  |
January 2025
VOLKSWAGEN ID.BUZZ 7-SEAT
BBC Top Gear UK

VOLKSWAGEN ID.BUZZ 7-SEAT

Volkswagen’s new seven seater ID.Buzz is now the family mover it always should have been

time-read
2 分  |
January 2025
BMW M5
BBC Top Gear UK

BMW M5

TO THE POINT: THE NEW BMW M5 IS AN excellent car. It's very fast, confident, endlessly configurable and now offers a not inconsequential 40ish miles of electric-only running for happy tax returns.

time-read
2 分  |
January 2025
VAUXHALL GRANDLAND vs FORD EXPLORER
BBC Top Gear UK

VAUXHALL GRANDLAND vs FORD EXPLORER

These two brands have been the 'pile it high, sell it cheap' kings of the UK market for decades, but their new core models take a very different tack...

time-read
7 分  |
January 2025
CAR OF THE YEAR - 5 STAR
BBC Top Gear UK

CAR OF THE YEAR - 5 STAR

Yep, Renault's retro-chic new supermini with an optional wicker baguette holder Scoops the grand prix...

time-read
5 分  |
January 2025
MEANWHILE... IN THE FUTURE
BBC Top Gear UK

MEANWHILE... IN THE FUTURE

Catching rockets with chopsticks isn't the only autonomous tech going on in Elon Musk's world...

time-read
3 分  |
January 2025
KING OF THE HILLS
BBC Top Gear UK

KING OF THE HILLS

You wait for one 800+bhp super GT, then two rock up at once. It's the Aston/Ferrari showdown we've all been waiting for...

time-read
8 分  |
January 2025
PACKAGE
BBC Top Gear UK

PACKAGE

What better way to test the Hyundai Santa Fe's SUV-ness than hand delivering TopGear magazine to each and every subscriber in... New Zealand?

time-read
10 分  |
January 2025
MYTH BUSTER
BBC Top Gear UK

MYTH BUSTER

\"THE GOLF GTI WAS THE OG HOT HATCH\"

time-read
2 分  |
January 2025