Top Gear Botswana Cars Guide

Oliver lives on. The Lancia was scrapped. The Mercedes probably still starts on the first turn of the key.

Here’s a write-up on the iconic Top Gear Botswana Special, focusing on the three cars chosen by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May. In the pantheon of Top Gear adventures, the 2007 Botswana Special (“Africa Special” Part 1) stands as a masterclass in cheap-car endurance. The challenge was simple yet brutal: buy a second-hand car for £1,500, drive it 1,000 miles across the harsh salt pans, scrubland, and unforgiving terrain of Botswana, and end at the Makgadikgadi Pan. No backup, no fancy 4x4s—just questionable engineering and stubborn British will. top gear botswana cars

While Clarkson bought drama and Hammond bought heart, May bought a bank vault. His 1979 Mercedes-Benz 230E (W123) was already old, beige, and terminally boring—exactly how May likes it. But the W123 is widely regarded as one of the most over-engineered, indestructible cars ever built. Oliver lives on

But Oliver became the star of the episode. Hammond treated him like a beloved pet, talking to him, fixing his failing fuel pump with a rock, and nursing him through floods and heatstroke. Oliver never broke down catastrophically. He just kept going. The little Opel finished the challenge with its dignity intact, and Hammond was so attached that he shipped Oliver back to England, where he still owns it. No other Top Gear car has ever received that honor. “The Dignified Survivor” Here’s a write-up on the iconic Top Gear