For any fan of adventure, comedy, or automotive suffering, finding the complete, uncut version of the Top Gear Bolivia Special is like finding the director’s cut of a classic film. It is longer. It is stranger. It is harder to watch. And it is infinitely better.
| Feature | Standard TV Edit (45-58 mins) | | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Opening | Starts in La Paz market. | Starts with the trio arguing on a cargo plane. | | The Corkscrew Road | 30 second montage. | 4 minute uncut Go-Pro footage from Hammond’s roof. | | Altitude Sickness | Mentioned once. | A 10-minute sequence of Clarkson vomiting while trying to change a tire. | | The Ending | Fades to black on beach. | Clarkson’s voiceover about "the three amigos" over the credits. | | Ratio of May-Fixing-Stuff | 15% | 45% |
What made this episode better than almost any other Top Gear outing was the sheer variety of extreme environments. The trio had to hack through dense jungle, navigate the terrifying Death Road (Yungas Road), climb the oxygen-deprived Altiplano at over 16,000 feet, and cross the barren Atacama Desert. Why Bolivia is Top Gear's Best Special 1. Genuine, Unscripted Danger
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Each vehicle is specially prepared for the challenge. The Toyota Land Cruiser, driven by Jeremy Clarkson, is equipped with a snorkel and a winch. The Land Rover Defender, driven by Richard Hammond, features a roof rack and a spotter's camera. The Mercedes-Benz Unimog, driven by James May, boasts a raised air intake and a chunky suspension system.
Finding the file is step one. Watching it is step two. To replicate the magic of 2009, do this:
The Bolivia Special was conceived as a once-in-a-lifetime trip for the three hosts, who had been presenting Top Gear for several years. The show's producers wanted to create a special that would push the boundaries of what was possible on the program, and Bolivia was chosen as the destination due to its diverse and breathtaking landscapes. The hosts were tasked with driving from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, across the Andes, in three very different vehicles. For any fan of adventure, comedy, or automotive
The Bolivia special is probably the best of the original specials
A Toyota Land Cruiser (which, ironically, was the most unreliable).
The cars in the Bolivia special are perhaps the most iconic collection of unreliable junk the show ever featured. All three were purchased sight-unseen, and each came with its own unique flavor of mechanical disaster: It is harder to watch
The premise is deceptively simple and perfectly disastrous. The trio is dropped deep in the Bolivian rainforest and tasked with driving over 1,000 miles (1,600 km) to the Pacific coast of Chile. To make things interesting, they have to do it in second-hand 4x4 vehicles they bought from a local Bolivian classifieds website for no more than £3,500 each, without even inspecting them first. Unlike previous specials, there is no support vehicle; the three budget off-roaders are on their own.
From Hammond stealing Clarkson's dry roof space to Clarkson repeatedly ramming May's car, the episode perfectly captured the "brotherly hatred" that made their dynamic work. A Cinematic Triumph