[VIDEO] Toyota UK Pays Tribute to Axed Top Gear Presenter, Jeremy Clarkson
Yesterday’s news about the BBC firing Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear elicited a number of responses from people across the interwebs. Some people were happy, and thought that the BBC had finally done the right thing regarding a controversial figure who was always getting in trouble.
It’s truly amazing, even for the internet, to see so many people say “it’s okay to be abusive and awful because I enjoy you on TV.” #TopGear
— Lamya (@LamyaAsiff) March 25, 2015
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Others were devastated, fearing the end of the long-running motoring show.
And on that bomb shell, I thank u @MrJamesMay @JeremyClarkson @RichardHammond for making me laugh over the last decade #TopGear — Harold Cooper. (@H_Cooper8) March 26, 2015
Still others made light of the situation that was taking over the Twittersphere.
BREAKING NEWS: Zayn Malik has left One Direction… to replace Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear. #ZaynMalik #RIPTopGear pic.twitter.com/szOHIVbMII
— Virgin Media (@virginmedia) March 25, 2015
But one response stood out amongst the others: that of a tribute video posted on Toyota UK’s YouTube channel.
This video will come as a surprise to many, as Jeremy Clarkson rarely had a good thing to say about a Toyota. During his tenure on Top Gear, which totaled 25 years, he compared a Corolla to a refrigerator, wrecked many a Hilux truck, and intentionally crashed a Yaris hatchback. Yet the Japanese automaker decided to make a compilation video highlighting Jezza’s best Toyota moments, and managed to find enough content to fill a whole minute and 16 seconds!
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There was the time he tried to kill a Hilux by bulldozing it, drowning it, dropping it off a building, and setting it on fire… but still, the truck lived. Then there was the time he drove a GT-86 (Scion FR-S/Subaru BRZ) and declared that it would “put a smile on the face of every motoring enthusiast in the world”—a rare compliment from the presenter (which spawned one of the most-used gifs on the internet).
Another time, Clarkson and fellow presenter James May drove a Hilux to the north pole from Northern Canada, while Richard Hammond raced them on a dog sled (spoiler: the Hilux won).
So while Clarkson might not have had a lot of love to spare for Toyota vehicles, it would appear that Toyota had plenty of love saved up for the both of them. Hopefully this will help Jezza get through this tough time while he decides what he should do now that Top Gear is over.
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