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Chris Evans quits Top Gear amidst tumbling ratings

4 July, 2016

You remember Jeremy Clarkson’s fire and brimstone departure from BBC, and Top Gear, last year? Well, this is not about that, but it does concern the show formerly known as Top Gear, which now seems to be known as ‘New Top Gear’ among fans. You see, while Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond went their own way to present their new show, The Grand Tour, BBC forged ahead with Top Gear, featuring an all-new cast of presenters.

As quoted on TopGear.com, “Race driver Sabine Schmitz, YouTube star Chris Harris, F1 pundit Eddie Jordan, and motoring journalist Rory Reid will join Chris Evans, Matt LeBlanc and of course, The Stig” as the updated cast for ‘new’ Top Gear, although this soon drew the ire of fans.

While much criticism can be attributed to long-standing fans of the show being unhappy with the fact that the big three — Jeremy, James, and Richard — are long gone, there was another popular grievance with a lot more direction. Chris Evans, according to the internet, was simply not doing it.

Weeks of public criticism, and rumours of both his being difficult to work with, and co-presenter Matt LeBlanc threatening to quit, all served to put Evans’ neck on the chopping block. But it was the plummeting ratings that acted as the final nail in the coffin. Opening with 4.4 million viewers, Top Gear’s audience fell to 2.34 million by episode four, and last Sunday’s dropped to an unprecedented low of 1.9 million.

It was these falling ratings that finally culminated in Chris Evans’ departure from the programme. This was confirmed via an online message Chris posted on his Twitter account, which read “Stepping down from Top Gear. Gave it my best shot but sometimes that’s not enough. The team are beyond brilliant, I wish them all the best.” The BBC has confirmed that they will not be seeking a replacement.

NZ Classic Car magazine, January/February 2025 issue 397, on sale now

8 December, 2024

Having dominated the world motorcycle championships of the 1960s, Honda had a crucial decision to make in 1969. Would Soichiro Honda heed his engineer’s pivotal advice?
“Very few examples of the early Civic, a car that set Honda onto the path to becoming a giant of the car world, remain road registered in New Zealand.
Retired Tauranga owner of this example, Graham Inglis is thrilled with his classic little Honda Civic, the first of eleven generations built so far by the company. The Civic became a household name.
“It’s quite amazing the number of people who not only wave, but come up to me in the street and tell me how much they like the little Honda and its colour, and then they want to start talking about it. A guy in our vintage car club wants to buy it and he has been pushing me a bit. It’s not for sale,” he laughs.
Graham bought his 1977 Honda Civic from Wellington enthusiast Julian Foster, who was the instigator of its restoration.”

A star in their eyes – 1968 Ford Galaxie 500

6 December, 2024

“Everyone asks that until they take a closer look,” says its owner today, Brent Harris of Auckland. “They also ask if I’ve done the restoration myself, and I have to tell them no, it is 100 per cent original. It’s the paint listed in the handbook.”
It was the original condition of the car that won Brent over from the moment he first saw it — that and the fact “it just looks stunning”.
Brent had owned a 1968 Mark II Cortina for four years. It was in need of some work and the question arose whether to spend the money or get something different. You don’t get much more divergent than Ford’s different approaches to its markets in the UK and the USA.