Clarkson: The Specials

Everywhere you look, we’re slowing down. With concorde in a museum, air travel is slower. And even the fighter jets of today would be smashed by the interceptors from the sixties. But what about cars? I decided to find out whether today’s cream can blast the monsters from the power crazed eighties. Are the new breed quicker in a straight line. Do they corner faster. Which are better looking and which can make the best noises. That means the 200 mile per hour Jaguar XJ220 taking on a Pagani Zonda. It means pitting a Mclaren Mercedes SLR against a Porsche Carrerra GT – the first time ever these cares have been brought together. And it means lining up the new Fort GT with the car that spawned it – the old GT40. It means epic head to head drag races. Naturally, the new Aston Martin DB9 is here too, taking on the old warhorses, the V8 Vantages. And the Evo 8? How much faster is it than the Evo 1. The answer might surprise you. Oh and of course, I just had to riddle a Nissan with machine gun fire as I take up the new and dangerous sport of "Clay Car shooting". Why? Why not!

In Supercar Showdown, Jeremy Clarkson travels the planet - from Spain via Strasbourg to Swindon, England - for the Supercar Showdown to beat them all. The aim is simple -find the ultimate Supercar. He starts a fight between a prancing horse and a raging bull as topless versions of the Ferrari 430 and Lamborghini Gallardo slug it out. The Glassardo's big cousin, the Murcielago, weighs in too. The Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano struts its stuff and Audi's R8 faces up to the Porsche GT3 as his special guest, Nurburgring-know-all Sabine Schmitz, takes on The Stig. Jeremy turns into a Formula 1 hero thanks to a Radical SR3, and he has a fantastic time in the Aston Martin Vantage V6 Roadster. Plus there's a new kid on the block in the shape of the stunning Ascari A10. And the line-up would not be complete without the 1000 horsepower, 252 miles per hour Bugatti Veyron. So he blasts off in one of those too. Meanwhile, everything else explodes as he find out if there is such thing as 'too much' turbo power, a Renault Alpine A610 comes to the end of the road and he answers the big question - which is stronger, the electric G-Wiz or a table?

Duel - it's all about challenges and some big questions. Which car makes the most smoke while going sideways - a Lamborghini Murcielago Super Veloce or a Vauxhall VXR8 Bathurst S? What is best at drifting? The Jaguar XKR, the Lotus Evora, Audi's R8 V10 or BMW's M3? To find out, Jeremy globe-trots from sun-drenched Spain to Silverstone via Oxfordshire - and Swindon. There is serious science too. Can The Stig drift a car while wearing wellies? Can Jeremy corner in flippers? Can Formula One ace Anthony Davidson slide a car - in ice skates? Which is faster - a car or a man? Find out as the Aston Martin v12 Vantage sprints against flying rugby winger Tom Varndell in a 100 meter drag race. And at last, The Stig goes head to helmet against The Tiff. The white-suited racing driver and Jeremy join forces against Vicki Butler-Henderson and Tiff Needell. There's carnage in an auto-test and the 190mph Aston Martin DBS Volante is pushed to the limit against Vicki in a œ150,000 Ferrari California. A Ford Focus RS is also picked up for a road race against his Stigness in a Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder, and much, much more.