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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.

Motorman – The saga of the Temple Buell Maseratis

30 January, 2026

Swiss-born Hans Tanner and American Temple Buell were apparently among the many overseas visitors who arrived in New Zealand for the Ardmore Grand Prix and Lady Wigram trophy in January 1959. Unlike Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham, Ron Flockhart, Harry Schell and Carroll Shelby who lined up for the sixth New Zealand Grand Prix that year, Tanner and Buell were not racing drivers but they were key players in international motor sport.
Neither the rotund and cheery Buell nor the multi-faceted Tanner were keen on being photographed and the word ‘apparently’ is used in the absence of hard evidence that Buell actually arrived in this country 64 years ago.

Luxury by design

15 January, 2026

How do you define luxury? To some it is being blinded with all manner of technological wizardry, from massaging heated seats to being able to activate everything with your voice, be it the driver’s side window or the next track on Spotify. To others, the most exorbitant price tag will dictate how luxurious a car is.
For me, true automotive luxury comes from being transported in unparalleled comfort, refinement, and smoothness of power under complete control. Forget millions of technological toys; if one can be transported here and there without the sensation of moving at all, that is luxury — something that is perfectly encapsulated by the original Lexus LS400. It was the first truly global luxury car from Toyota, and one that made the big luxury brands take notice.