Castle Combe is 20 miles from Bristol and most of us got there.
It's a fierce track, this...
one of the fastest in Britain, a real car-breaker.
Can we have the challenge? Find out what it is.
-He can pick up later on. -Yeah.
-I know what this is going to be. -Go on.
Stig'll drive them round the track, points for the winner.
No, it isn't!
It's: "Your supercars were built in the '70s.
How super are they today?
To find out, the Stig's going to set a lap time in...
a Vauxhall Astra diesel.
You will then attempt to beat his time in your cars.
You lose points for every second over the Stig's time
and gain points for every second under it."
The Stig was really on it...
but a diesel hatchback?
Come on!
-A Lamborghini, a Maserati... -And a Ferrari! I could see that coming.
...are easily going to be able to beat it.
And across the line in one minute, 35 seconds.
Well, actually, I'd say we stood a... Hello! He's...
May! May has joined us.
Hang on. Have you come by bus or in your car?
-I'm in my car. -Is it on a truck?
-No, it's not. It's fine. -Did it break down on the way here?
No, I just had to stop and fill it up with electricity.
Given that James's car was actually running,
we decided to make hay and send it out first.
Three, two, one, go!
This is a piece of cake.
Oh, hang on.
Smoke.
Oh, my God!
I got so excited I wet myself.
Your car's done a wee.
Do you think if we get this going again, you will be able to do one lap?
Yes, I do. And a...
And a good one at that.
Go!
It's a right-hander. I'm turning into the apex, snatching third...
One minute, 18, he's not even in sight.
I'm... Oh, shit.
He's going to make it!
And the V8 Lamborghini is...
-Stig was one minute, 35. -Yeah?
-One... 58. -Rubbish.
Next, it was my Ferrari, so far the most reliable car of the day.
Oh, my mirror's just come off!
Three, two, one, go!
And with 255 horsepower, it was also the most powerful.
It's indicating 100 miles an hour.
This is probably about 50.
-He's very competitive. -He is very competitive.
He's taking it very seriously.
It rolls!
Hammond gave his all, but he was still slower than the Stig.
How long before Hammond blames a misfire?
One minute, 43 seconds.
The problem is it rolls. I thought I'll have to make up time on the straights.
-The engine sounded healthy. -And then it developed a misfire.
-I knew! I knew you'd say... -It did! It did!
Finally, it was the turn of the mighty Merak.
Go!
V6.
It may only be a V6, but remember,
this is the SS version with 220 horsepower.
Four thousand rpm!
And that's all the rebuilt engine has to give!
Nicely balanced, though.
Why won't you rev?
An appalling heap of junk.
Come on!
Come on, car!
I've got it. Don't say.
I've got no brakes.
Oh, the excuses are coming. Here we go. Oh, he's not stopped.
I've got no brakes!
I also had no coolant.
Do you know what would cure that? Spending £10,000 on an engine.
-Yeah. -Oh, somebody has!
It's a bit steamy. I've no brakes. Oil pressure has completely gone.
So, do you want to know or...?
Well, tell me what I did with no brakes.
One minute... 54!
-Fifty-four. That is brave. -Slower than...
To find out why our lap times were so woeful,
we were given another challenge.
This is a rolling road which you use to measure power.
Now, what we're going to do is put the cars on it
and find out how many of the horses that were put into their engines
when they were new have escaped over the years.
And obviously, we lose points for every horsepower that's gone missing.
Now, we weren't covering our ears
because of the noise from Hammond's fake Ferrari,
but because James was boring us to death.
Yeah, it measures the wheel horsepower and then by letting it run down,
it converts the mechanical drag into the extra horsepower
-at the flywheel. -Good.
Remember, the Dino had 255 horsepower when it left the factory 30 years ago.
-So, what's he got? -How much have you lost?
It said 194. That's not bad!
So, 194 brake horsepower is what it's actually producing.
-Sixty-one rampant Italian horses just... -Sixty-one horsepower have escaped.
-That's how many a year? -Think of it another way.
That's a VW Lupo has escaped from your engine!
Now, will the Lambo run long enough for the machine to take a reading?
This machine goes up to 450 brake horsepower.
-Oh, well, I hope we're okay, then. -I think we might be.
See? V8, 2.5 litres.
-220 brake horsepower to beat. -It's lost... 103.
So, it's got 117 left!
Is there enough power to get it off?
Then it was the turn of the Maserati.
But first, I'd discovered something worrying in the service history.
Note, please, item two, badge.
"Badge SS."
£38 for an SS badge!
I've bought a car that's got a 38 quid badge on it.
There was some good news, though.
Because it turned out I only had an ordinary Merak,
it meant I only had to reach 190 horsepower, not 220.
Oh, yeah, here we go!
Come on, what is it?
-Eighty. -What?
-Eighty. -Eighty!
They've all got away! There must be a big gate open on the back
and all your horses just got out!
Your car is garbage.