Top Gear magazine in 2000

TopGear Magazine in 2000

Clarkson in 2000: "Last week, I flew in a jet that went out of control at 42,000 feet. I emerged to say that this was the worst thing I'd ever done, only to be told by a photographer, `No, your chat show is the worst thing you've ever done'.''

TopGear Car of The Year: Fiat Multipla

"This remarkable machine has reinvented the family car and kicked it into the new millennium. As a sparkling piece of original thought, it's a worthy winner of TopGear Car of The Year."

Three cars from 2000

BMW Z8

"The speed, though still a thrill, you expect. The handling, and even more so the ride, you don't. Traditional sports cars have choppy rides. This one doesn't. Traditional sports cars have handling that's fun but a bit unrefined. Not this one. And roadsters are as stiff as a wet envelope, flexing and shaking with every bump. Wrong again. A mid-engined car would feel more nimble, but the Z8 has that confident, chuckable feel that comes with a well-sorted front-engined machine." April 2000

BMW M3

"The M3 is an eye-wideningly exciting car. With the DSC off, enter a tightish corner slowly to avoid premature understeer, mash the waaaarrrrgh pedal and get just enough opposite lock on to play with the resulting powerslide. There's that monster engine note to be enjoyed, and the on-limit chassis responses are entertainingly progressive too. Braking power is on the extreme side as well, up to a point. After just three laps I was instructed to drive slowly around the paddock to allow the rapidly cooking brakes to cool." November 2000

Renault Clio V6

The Clio V6 is an exceedingly abuse-resistant car, and far easier to get along with than my prejudices had led me to believe. In short, it's been tamed. The Clio V6 isn't the car I had expected, being far closer in spirit to a Golf 4Motion than a hardcore sports car like a Lotus Exige. For the 500 people with deposits on the 400 per-year destined to come to the UK, I fear it's not the car they've been planning on forking out for either." December 2000

The best-selling car of 2000: Ford Focus

The best-selling song of 2000: Can We Fix It? - Bob The Builder

And elsewhere in the world in 2000: An AirFrance Concorde crashes shortly after takeoff, killing all 109 people onboard and four on the ground; George Bush becomes President after one of the closest-fought elections in recent US history; and the last original Mini rolled of the production line at Longbridge.