If you go through the small ads in the back of car magazines,
you'll find they're stuffed full of ads for supercars,
which cost less than a two-year-old Mondeo.
Now, this sounds incredibly tempting,
but what are cars like this going to be like to live with?
So, to find out, we were each given £10,000 and told to buy a supercar
that's mid-engine and Italian.
Yes and then we were told to take whatever we'd bought to Bristol,
where we would be set a series of challenges.
I think you can probably see where this is going.
Here's what happened.
I was the first to arrive.
I've just bought a Ferrari for ten grand. It's a 1979 308 GT4.
It's yellow. It's got an engine in the middle.
It's got everything. Right.
Wait for the others, see what they've got.
Jeremy was next to roll up.
-Behold, the Maserati Merak. -It's a Maserati!
-Maserati Merak! -Merak?
-Yeah! -Right!
Possibly the prettiest supercar ever made.
-Potentially. -£7,000.
Three grand less than me!
-And you've bought... -I bought a Ferrari.
No, you haven't.
-It is a Ferrari! -It isn't a Ferrari.
What Richard had bought was never originally called a Ferrari.
It was slow and wet, it was actually called the Dino.
There's no point going: "I bought my shirt at George."
It's from ASDA. You've got a George car.
-What's this? -It's a spare wheel!
-Hang on, they're V6, aren't they? -Yeah.
But it's brilliant. Engine in this, honestly, the guy I bought it from
just spent 10,000 quid rebuilding that engine.
Sold the whole car for seven. Shows how much the rest of it's worth.
Watch the headlamps. They work brilliantly.
Ready? There you go. The headlights are on.
-But they're... -No, no.
You can see they're on if you get down here.
-There they are. Look, can you see them? -Yeah.
Oh, that's a shame.
-There you have it. -Let go of it.
If I let go...
You may have noticed we're waffling a bit
and that's because we're waiting for Captain Sense-of-Direction,
who we assumed had got lost.
You fancy some lunch?
But we were wrong.
James has bought an AA truck!
He's bought a...
At least he made it to the end
of our last one of these before getting on one!
Right.
James, we said a mid-engine, Italian supercar, not a truck.
Is that the best you two can come up with?
Yes, it is. What is your car?
That, gentlemen, was... is, a Lamborghini Urraco. Look at it.
-Not a very good example! -It's superb!
But, James, let's cut to the chase. It's on a lorry.
It's an electrical problem. The Italians invented electricity, as we know.
James decided the best form of defence was attack.
I know about old cars and I can look at this and with my trained eye,
I can tell you immediately that is a pup.
You've got a trained eye and you bought that?
So, what had the production team got in store for us?
-Have a look. -Don't do that to my car!
"Your '70s supercar mission for today is to drive from Bristol
-to Spearmint Rhino in Slough." -That's a lap-dancing club.
Is it?
-Oh, you don't know! -That's what these cars are about! Okay.
You may not use the M4 itself.
So, we've to go along the M4 corridor on the wiggly road.
-Swindon, Reading... -Maidstone...
Your sense of direction! You mean Maidenhead.
-Oh, yeah. -Maidenhead.
As long as he's got a sense of direction, he can get there!
As usual, points would be lost for unforeseen stoppages
and naturally, there would be a series of challenges along the way.
Fine.
What I love about this particular Merak is that it is the SS,
one of the later ones, very rare.
They only made 652 of them.
Now, this is kind of heavy A-road traffic through town, stop-start stuff.
I'd expect it to overheat, frankly, and nothing!
Water temperature, oil temperature, oil pressure, all perfect!
I wonder if James has got his alternator going yet.
He had...
sort of.
Right, the battery is discharging.
The oil temperature is very high. The oil pressure is very low.
The engine temperature is off the end of the scale.
I'm running out of petrol, but the clock is correct.
Right, we're out of Bristol. No mechanical maladies to report!
There's smoke coming out of the back of that thing! That's smoke!
Eh? No, it's not a kit car. It's a Lamborghini!
Philistine.
I've noticed my speedo is a bit... optimistic.
We were stuck behind a tractor earlier on that was doing 50, according to this.
Never mind! Could be worse!
Yes, James had run out of electricity again.
I just can't believe somebody's put a Ferrari badge on that when it isn't one.
Well, there you are. It makes you happy.
How can he say "not a Ferrari"?
It was named after Enzo Ferrari's tragically dead son...
and built to fit old man Ferrari himself!
What a marvellous day. Sun shining...
Maserati to drive,
endless scope for laughing at Hammond for buying the wrong car
and James for buying one that doesn't work.
Actually, I'd got my car working and what a car!
Of course, in its day, the Urraco was one of the fastest
and most exciting four-seater cars you could buy, 142 miles an hour,
nought to 60 in about six and a half seconds...
It was ever such a long time ago, though.
Meanwhile, Jeremy and I were nearing our first challenge.
Castle Combe Racing Circuit.
You've got to be kidding!
Racetrack?
That's where we see the Maserati come good!
I'm feeling confident.
So, why was Hammond nervous?
You see, my car has a bit of a secret. At the back is a subframe,
which on a 308 holds the engine in and the wheels on
and keeps them attached to the body and... it's just made of rust.
Still, could be worse.
Yes, James had broken down again.