First Car

TANNER: Now on Top Gear... It's the battle of the first cars. (LAUGHS) We drive our dream first cars. I can't get enough for this car! The Pawn Stars race around our track... There's no way Chumlee is gonna beat me. TANNER: And we find out which one of us had the best first car as a teenager. ALL: Oh! (SCHOOL BELL RINGING) Each of us got our first car when we were in high school and we wanted to find out who had the best. So we each bought versions of the first cars we drove back then and met up at a high school in Los Angeles. This is my first car. 1985 Honda CRX. It's the perfect first car, really. You get 40 miles to the gallon, just about. It's nimble, it brakes well, it's lightweight. It's actually, for a sporty car, got a huge amount of utility. I know for a fact that in the back of this car, you can fit four kegs of...soda, or anything else that you wanted to put back in there. You could fit a lot of it. 1987 Dodge Aries K. That's "Klass" with a K. How great is this for a first car? Are you kidding me? No. This is great. You can't get in any trouble with this as a first car. Suppose you're speeding in this. You know what the cops are gonna think? "The poor guy's probably having a stroke. "I'll just let him go to the hospital." Unfortunately, I know what Rutledge's first car is. -What do you think? -It is him personified in a car. You're not wrong. TANNER: Unbelievable. ADAM: Look at that. TANNER: Wow! With the chrome rims and everything. (ADAM SNICKERING) You are in love with this car all over again, aren't you? I totally am. It's the Barbie pickup. This is a 1981 Volkswagen Rabbit Pickup diesel. Of course it is. TANNER: Is this the exact one that you had in high school, or did you find another one? This is another one. Mine was tan. It was a gift from my grandpa. (ADAM GIGGLING) How did you sneak home with this loud diesel lumbering up your driveway? TANNER: Exactly. Well, that would mean I needed a reason to be out late, which I didn't really have in high school. -You drove this in high school? -Oh, yeah. Loved it. RUTLEDGE: Each of us was sure we had the best first car and no one would back down. So it was time for our first challenge. "The best first car for teens has been debated for years. "To find out which of your first cars is the best, "you will compete in a number of challenges "that will determine which of you made the best choice "all those years ago. "Your first challenge is 60 miles away." 60 miles. 60 miles away? How long is it gonna take this VW to do 60 miles? Are you kidding? I will be riding in style the entire way there. You might want to pack a lunch. -You're gonna need to stop for Geritol in that thing. -Okay. You might have to stop at a truck stop to fill this thing up. I'm gonna go ahead and get on the road. Will see you guys down there? Okay. We'll see you there. All right. Guys, I babied my car way too much, and I always wanted to try this. (TIRES SCREECH) ADAM: The reverse donuts. The man gets style points. Tanner, you know what you need is some trays, man. That's what we used to do, go tray sliding. Gentlemen, I think it's lunchtime. TANNER: Go! Oh, he's crashing. (TIRES SCREECHING) ADAM: There he goes. (BOTH LAUGHING) There he goes. Look at him. Yeah, there we go! This is the pure redneck coming out in him now. -He's gonna turn into butter. -TANNER: Oh, my gosh. He's gonna crash, I think. RUTLEDGE: And even granddad wanted to get in on the action. TANNER: Ready? ADAM: Ready! TANNER: Oh, my God. RUTLEDGE: Oh, oh. TANNER: Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh! Oh, no! How's that? He just crashed into a tree! Don't hit my car! When I was in high school, this was about the time the cops would show up, so I think it's probably a good idea if we leave. Okay. See ya. Fair enough. ADAM: With our first cars nicely warmed up, we headed off to our first challenge. We had plenty of time to reacquaint ourselves with the vehicles that carried us through high school. I am completely in love with the Volkswagen Rabbit Pickup all over again. This really is a perfect first car for a teenager. It's fun to drive, it's cheap to own, and it still slides under the parents' radar. TANNER: Ouch. (THUD) Now, if I was in high school and I had bottomed out my car like that going over an intersection, I would literally start crying. My mom said, on more than one occasion, that if I put half the effort into school that I put into my car, I'd be president. Now, in high school, I didn't have any aspirations of racing cars for a living. But because I had a CRX and because I thought driving was fun from day one, I've made my living at it. I mean, if I had a Dodge Aries growing up as a kid, every time I thought about leaving the house, it'd be, "Oh, God, I'm gonna have to get in a car and drive." Kind of like Adam does. ADAM: If I went to school with Tanner, I would punch him in the neck every day. Tanner reminds me of all those kids on Long Island. I grew up on Long Island, and all the rich kids used to drive through our town to get out to the Hamptons, 'cause they would summer out there in the Hamptons. And in the winters, we would go out and rob their houses. I know this looks like an old man's car, because it is. I got it from an old man. My grandfather passed away, and I was the next in line. In my family, that was called the "dead relative inheritance program." Rut, you have any jobs in high school? RUTLEDGE: Oh, yeah. Big-time. I worked at a toy store. You're kidding. No. I can juggle, so I was pretty good there. Was that part of the job application? "Okay, can you juggle?" (LAUGHS) Tanner, what jobs did you have in high school? I was a bag boy at a country club. That's great. (SNOBBISH VOICE) "Hmm. Hey, Johnny. "The caddy scholarship's still up, you know. Hmm?" ADAM: "How'd you like to mow my lawn?" Not for the golf thing. It was to drive the golf carts. I learned a lot about driving with those golf carts. You can get those carts up to 45 miles an hour, and then just do 360s down the grass. It was rad. ADAM: We'd arrived at our first challenge. It looked like my high school was having a garage sale. We didn't know what was coming next, but it didn't look good. Perfect. (LAUGHS) Come on, Rut, let's go. Don't dent my car. Oh, I got it. Don't worry about me. Oh, you... Come on, get off! Come on. I've got it! I got it! "Build quality is the hallmark of great cars. "To find out how well-built and maintained your cars are, "you will test their ability to track straight. "You will accelerate to 30 miles an hour "and let go of the steering wheel "before entering the alley of junk." Wow. "The car that hits the least amount of junk wins." I think Tanner should go first. Any seconds? TANNER: What? I second that. All right. It's a Honda. They drive straight. The problem is, I happen to know my car pulls to the left. I think there's a couple old computers in there. There's some wine barrels. If he hits one of these tires, that'll just smash the whole car in half. Here he comes. Okay. Accelerating up to 30. That's 20. -I'm screwed. -RUTLEDGE: This is gonna be so bad. Hands up! Hands up! Hands off. I'm starting to turn. No! RUTLEDGE: Oh, there it is. (BOTH LAUGHING) TANNER: My Honda made it a full 30 feet before veering off into the alley of junk. Not bad for a 25-year-old car, and I'd only lost half of my side panel, so I was still in the game. So funny! RUTLEDGE: Your car is plastic! It just broke off. ADAM: That'll be fun. Wow! Oh, look. You can tell where it first started. Took out a bicycle helmet... ADAM: A disco ball, a fan. That made a real, real mess. (LAUGHING) TANNER: Rut's mini truck was up next. You know how long it's gonna take him to get up to 30 miles an hour? That's true. He has to start all the way back in high school. RUTLEDGE: I'm ready! Let's do this! I loved my car so much, I didn't want to wreck it. Okay, that's 30. Here's what we're gonna do. I'm gonna drive with my knees. I'm gonna lock it on. I know my kids are watching. Don't cheat in school. Only cheat when you need to beat your friends. Here we go. Oh! (BOTH EXCLAIM) Whoo! Oh! He didn't hit a thing! Was his hands up? Amazing! Amazing! I successfully cheated my way through the alley of junk. That was terrible. RUTLEDGE: I wasn't gonna let anything damage my baby. This wasn't just a car, it was like family. Straight as an arrow. All right. What happened? How'd it... -It just felt German, didn't it? -It, um... I don't want to hear about it, to be honest. It's okay. It's okay. Did you see it? I didn't hit a thing. Principal Rooney and his Dodge were up next. Okay. 30 miles an hour. Hands up. I don't know. I saw his car on the freeway pulling to the right a little bit. Hands up. How much stuff is he gonna hit? TANNER: Everyone remembers their first car. Mine was a Honda CRX, Rutledge's was a VW mini truck, and Adam's was a Dodge Aries. But who had the best? We were about to find out. Okay. 30 miles an hour. Hands up. Here we go. How much stuff is he gonna hit? I don't know. I saw his car on the freeway pulling to the right a little bit. Oh! RUTLEDGE: Easily, he took out half of the stuff. Look out. Look out. Look out. Really? Oh! You picked up my boxers. There's a slight drift. That was worse than mine for sure. We should go measure that. Where's my mark? Your mark is right there. ADAM: Yeah. And where's Adam's first hit? I'd say that's where you started. Look, it looks a lot worse than it really is. I think it's safe to say that you lost, Adam. What is this? Your best yearling ***. RUTLEDGE: What does it say? ADAM: "Best yearling ***, first place." You couldn't make that up. Yeah, look. See? 2007, that's a... It's a vintage ***. Okay. (AUDIENCE CHEERING) You cheated. I merely protected my Volkswagen Rabbit. You disgust me. I can't even look at you. I would much rather look at this. This is the ultimate fantasy first car, a Corvette ZR1. Am I right? (AUDIENCE AGREEING) I always thought, growing up, that Corvettes were kind of creepy. For me, when I was a kid, the dream first car was a Ferrari. (AUDIENCE AGREEING) What's wrong with you? This is a supercharged American beast, am I right? It's no Rabbit. Okay. We couldn't agree, so we decided to settle it once and for all. My gosh. Once again, you have brought a dull spoon to a gunfight. Are you kidding me? That's a night at the opera. This is a bar fight. How fast do you go? 202. Yeah. 202? Really? 205. Three miles an hour. That's great. No, it's three miles an hour faster. Yeah. There's no denying the Corvette is fast on paper, but... No, no. It's fast right here. It's got a big engine and a nice blue paint job, -some chrome wheels for your divorcee. -Okay, I'll give you that. That is a little Jersey Shore, like the chrome wheels. Oh, yeah. Okay. So those are Snooki wheels. Snooki wheels. I agree with you. It's a little much. You know what? This has so much more technology in one wheel compared to the entire car. And yet it's slower. Whatever. I think we should probably race them. I think you're right. I think we have to have a drag race. A drag race. A dra... I'm not gonna drag race a Ferrari. A straight-line drag? You've got 100 horsepower more than I do. Say it again. All right, fine. Strap in there. Wear some necklaces. I'll take you on in a drag race. No problem. Drag race. Drag race! ADAM: Finally I got Tanner to agree to a race I could actually win. Now, normally, American cars struggle against the Euro elite, but the ZR1 is something special, which has been 60 years in the making. The 'Vette was born in the '50s. And has been roaring through the ages ever since. In the '60s, they were the height of cool. The astronauts drove them, so if you had the right stuff, you had a Stingray. Through the years, they've had some growing pains with body styles, but in the '90s, they began working towards a vision. A car that would stand toe-to-toe and slug it out with Ferrari and any other European supercar. This is that car. TANNER: This is the 2011 Corvette ZR1. A carbon-fiber-shell, supercharged battering ram. This is the culmination of that vision. But, is it a supercar? It has a 6.2-liter aluminum-block V8 with a supercharger. That puts out 638 horsepower, making it more powerful than a Porsche GT2. It is the fastest production car GM has ever made. And it can go zero to 60... (ENGINE REVS) ...faster than a Lamborghini Gallardo. And it's American-made. I know, the rest of the world thinks Americans are arrogant, and, to be fair, (BEEP) you. So, it's a supercar on paper, but does that make it a supercar? Well, all that glitters is not gold. Is it fun to have all this horsepower? Yeah. But if I needed a daily driver, I wouldn't buy this car. I mean, you can't see the edges of the car. You can't go a lot of places. Like, to go over speed bumps you have to come in at an angle, and then everyone's honking at you. And the interior feels more Shavette than Corvette the dashboard's plasticky, the steering wheel's a bit cheap. Look, something had to give. At 115 grand, it's half the price of the average supercar, and the money went into one thing only. Performance. This car is perfect for me. It's got plenty of power. Just hit the throttle and hold on. It's like this car was built on a dare. "Put a supercharger on it. I dare you." And they did. This is one of the best Corvettes ever made. It's taken them 60 years to develop the ZR1, but Corvette has finally got themselves a supercar. TANNER: Supercar? This is a supercar. This is the Ferrari 458, and it's quite possibly the best supercar ever built. Welcome to the future. This car is an absolute technological marvel. There is no other car on the planet that brings together form and function with such an exclamation point. Ferrari has taken all the technology they've gained from over 31 formula one titles and put it together into one positively flawless package. There's no manual transmission, which, for someone like me, is a source of bitterness. But this twin-clutch system is so good, so good that I think I get it now. So, is all this technology crammed under the skin of a prancing horse really worth it? Well, if you've got $250,000 to spend, prefer a steering wheel to look like a video-game controller, have a constant craving for the sweet sound of a mid-engine... (ENGINE REVVING) And the ability to go zero to 60 in 3.4 seconds, then I'd say, yes, it's absolutely worth it. (TIRES SCREECHING) Oh, my God, I can barely talk driving this car. It's all-encompassing. I mean, the emotional experience is unreal. This is one of the few cars I have ever driven that feels like it's really pushing the limits of what is technologically possible. These carbon brakes supposedly can work at almost 1,000 degrees centigrade, which is the temperature of molten lava. (SCREAMING) I can't get enough of this car! 9,000 RPMs! I love it! Oh, my gosh, this is relentless. No fun. No fun. I'm working. I'm working. I'm professional. Okay. I'm gonna do an upshift. Watch the incredible shock load on my finger when the next gear hits. (GEAR SHIFTS) Unbelievable, how smooth the shifting is. There's something about this car that makes you realize that the impossible is possible. The 458 is not just a supercar, it's one of the best supercars ever made. And somebody needed a lesson in what that meant. Slippery little ***, ain't you? So you're loving that big, blue marshmallow, huh? Oh, are you kidding? This is a battering ram. TANNER: What is that color blue called? Is it "I'm trading in my 40-year-old wife for two 20-year-olds" blue? Really? You're really gonna talk about a mid-life crisis driving that? I can respect the fact that that car has over 630 horsepower, but it is just a poor man's Ferrari when it comes down to it. ADAM: This wasn't made in Maranello. It was born in Kentucky, it's been drinking bourbon, and it's looking for a fight. Oh, look at you with the horsepower now. ADAM: We traded punches on the mountain road, but the warm-up was over. It was time to race. TANNER: It's the ultimate showdown. Technology versus tradition. Italian engineering versus American brute force. And only one shall emerge victorious. Tanner's a professional race driver. That's why I wanted to drag race, so I don't have to worry about turning. Oh, it's on. Oh, it's on. I'm gonna get smoked. Let's be honest. That Corvette is made for this. The magnetic suspension on the Corvette, it squats like a drag car. I mean, the people at Ferrari would... Do that. ADAM: All right. See that sign down there? That's the finish line. You'll see my taillights, then you'll see the sign. All right, let's do this. (ENGINES REVVING) Ready. Three, two, one, go! Wheel spin. Okay. Here we go. See ya! Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on. Damn, he's good. Hundred and twenty, Hundred and thirty... Yes! (BEEP) I have no explanation for that. Ah, don't get cocky. I think that was more me than the car. I thought that you were gonna dust me on that one. What happened? Did you get too much wheel spin? Yeah, a little bit. You had a burnout right there, American style. It looked good. Looked good, though. ADAM: My plan had failed. Race boy won again. For now. Coming up, the Corvette gets one more shot at the Ferrari, and the Pawn Stars come by. And what do you drive now? A Maserati and a Range Rover. TANNER: Adam and I had each picked our dream first cars and gotten the chance to shake them down on the open road. The Ferrari 458 and Corvette ZR1 are pretty evenly matched on paper, but how do they really compare? There's only one way to find out. A good, old-fashioned drag race. Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on. Damn, he's good. Yes! (BEEP) That settles it. The Ferrari is better than the Corvette. (ALL CHEERING) No, no, no, no. All that settles is you're a race-car driver and I'm not. You put a race-car driver in that Corvette, it's gonna beat the Ferrari. Okay, okay. We're all about fairness here, and when we want to compare cars with scientific precision, we give them to the best test-driver on Earth. Is he a robot? Is he a man? Even we don't know. MAN ON RADIO: We are 30 seconds from drop. 30 seconds and we're 1.5 miles from the drop zone. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Clear to drop. Top Gear headquarters, The Stig has landed. TANNER: The Stig is the fourth member of our team. His sole purpose is to drive every car we review around our 1.6-mile track, designed specifically to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of any car. So it's time to see what kind of time he can put down for the Corvette ZR1. As it leaves the line, not much wheel spin. Very good launch from The Stig as he rows through the gears towards over 100 miles an hour on the first straight. First corner there, keeping it very tidy. Oh, I spoke a little bit too soon as he gets a little bit of opposite lock. That's gonna cost him time, but very difficult with this car to keep it in a straight line. It just wants to slide. As he comes into the teardrop, now, this is the critical section of the track. Will he get a good exit with minimal wheel spin? Wow. He is really pushing it there. A little bit of wheel spin, but he fights it and gets the power down. Good gosh, this could be one of the fastest straight-aways we've ever had on this track. 135 miles an hour as he passes the tires, and that's 100-mile-an-hour drift. The Stig is earning his kibbles today for sure as he comes into camera-man corner. The ZR1 should be in the top five or so as he comes through the S's and into the last corner. Little bit of a wobble as he crosses the line. (AUDIENCE CHEERS) Okay, so, he lapped the Ferrari after the ZR1, and The Stig did a lap time of 1:23:3. (AUDIENCE CHEERS) Okay. A tenth of a second faster than the 12-cylinder Murcielago SV. Pretty impressive. Okay. I know. I'm stunned. Keep going. We did lap a Corvette. Yes, we did. Who thinks the Corvette was faster? (AUDIENCE CHEERING) Well, it was. 1:22.4. (LAUGHS) Yes! Which proves, undeniably, that, yes, you were right, Adam. It was your fault. Yes! I knew it! There's a problem, though. This car is on 22-inch wheels, which are not factory wheels... Blah, blah, blah, blah... Which makes it a little bit slower... Which makes the Corvette faster. It's a sad story. Please, tell it to somebody else. The Corvette won that, and I am gonna win our first-car challenge. Okay. "A great first car should be easy to drive." Like the rabbit. It's hard to look at, though. Okay. "To find out which of your cars "is the easiest to learn in..." Mmm-hmm. "You'll teach unlicensed high-school students "to drive around this course. "The fastest time wins." Unlicensed? That's bad news. Like, never having driven before. Where are these students? ADAM: Oh, my God. RUTLEDGE: Holy (BEEP) They look just like us. Are skinny jeans cool? -TANNER: Gentlemen, how you doing? -How are you, fellas? That's close enough. (LAUGHS) If we were in high school right now, that's what we would look like, clearly. TANNER: He has more facial hair than I do. ADAM: That's true. Did you learn to drive in that car? I did. When I was 13 years old, my grandpa taught me how to drive on a dirt road in New Mexico. Easiest car in the world to learn to drive. Just let the clutch out, it'll just pull itself. Automatic, my friend. Automatic. Do you really think you're gonna convince a high-school student to get in that car? Would you rather ride in a bus or that? Uh, a bus. Do high school kids know how to drive stick now? Not at all. I don't know. All right, are we ready to do this? Yeah. Let's do this. Yeah. How are you, fellas? Fellas, let's go. ADAM: For this challenge, our teenage look-alikes would have to navigate our first cars between cones, parallel park them, and get them back to the starting point as fast as possible. We needed to break the ice, so we talked about the only thing teenage boys care about. The CRX is actually an amazingly good car for meeting girls. -You got a girlfriend? She broke up with you? -Mmm-hmm. For women, Halloween is basically an excuse to wear sexy stuff. Exactly. You will never figure girls out. No. No? The cool thing about these is you can actually take one of these and swap in, like, a Jetta TDI swap. That's a turbo direct-injection, so it's a turbo diesel. ADAM: Rutledge had no chance in this race. Not only was he boring his giant mini-me to sleep... I don't know if you've ever seen this before. This is a cassette player. They had these before iPods. ADAM: But he and Tanner both had stick shifts. Have you driven a manual? No. Never driven a manual? No, not really. Um... Okay. So, clutch is on the left, brake's in the middle, gas on the right. Does that make sense? Okay. Okay. No. I appreciate your honesty. How are you boys feeling about the clutches? Think we got this thing won over here. Adam, you ready over there? ADAM: Ready when you are, my friend. -TANNER: Okay, let's count it down. -One second. Put the clutch in. Okay, foot on the brake so we don't take off. Okay. Let's start it up. Clutch in, clutch in. (ENGINE REVS) Okay. Three... I'll be completely honest. TANNER: Two... We're probably not gonna win. Right. Let it out. One. Go! ADAM: All right. Take it easy. There you go. That's it. All right. That way. There you go. Where am I going? TANNER: Go, go, go, go, go. And faster. Oh, my gosh, this is dangerous. Right into this box right here. Stop. Perfect! Straight into that and stop in the box. Good. Take your foot off the brake. Uh-huh. And then slowly ease your foot off the clutch. Yes, give it a little gas. Look, we're rolling. Okay, great. Great. Now put it in drive. I love it! Let's ease up this way just a bit. -Okay, that's a stall. You did great. -Sorry, man. ADAM: Easy, easy, easy. That's it. You're a very impressive, young fellow. You know what? I got an idea. These guys aren't paying attention. Let's just drive right through that. So just take your foot off the clutch. Foot off the clutch. Great. We parallel parked. Now, go that way. Crank it, crank it, crank it. Turn, turn, turn... And stop. Ow! ADAM: Now go right back into the box! Okay. Stop! Put it in park! (LAUGHING) How'd you feel? That was great. Great. Whoo! RUTLEDGE: Hard turn. Clutch out, clutch out! Slowly! Look, you're doing great. Don't panic. Whatever you do, don't panic. Crank it in there. Go, go, go. You got it. And stop. Yes! That's what I'm talking about. There you go. I'm on the cones. Keep your... It's okay. No one can tell. That was a shocking amount of effort, but we did it. Okay, clutch in now. Perfect. You nailed it. Oh, look, the softball team's here. Whoo! TANNER: How was that? What did you stop for, Melissa Etheridge tickets? Don't listen to them. That's a terrible reference. Could you use a reference from this century, like maybe Katy Perry or Taylor Swift? These kids don't know who Melissa Etheridge is. Kid, get out now. Every instinct that tells you to dress like him, get out. This is what losers look like, okay? So, then, just pay no attention to them, all right? Just don't let it happen to you. Dairy Queen? Could you go for a sundae? TANNER: Coming up, the Pawn Stars take it to the track. There is no way Chumlee is gonna beat me. Now it's time for something we call big star small car, and, you guessed it, it's where we put celebrities in our Suzuki SX4 and send them around the test track to see who's got the fastest time. Now, today we've got not one, but two celebrities, Rick and Chumlee from the hit show Pawn Stars. (AUDIENCE CHEERING) So, fellas, I got to ask, who's the better driver? Obviously, me. I am. You see, the thing is, all things being equal, I weigh 100 pounds lighter, so... Oh, that's... Don't listen to that. He's got a bum knee, and he drives like a grandma. It's gonna help me. That should help you. All right, Rick, you're gonna go first. I'm gonna clear all these people out, we're gonna meet you guys both back at the hanger. When you're done, Chumlee's gonna run. Sounds like a plan. RUTLEDGE: Track is clear and Rick's off. (RICK LAUGHS) (TIRES SCREECHING) Not a bad start. Needs to pick it up a little, though. There is no way Chumlee is gonna beat me. Just don't break the car. RUTLEDGE: Oh, that trash talk is starting early. Not bad. I think I could have done that one better. Turn off that AC, I'll get a little more power. RUTLEDGE: Oh, learning a trick of the trade there. Nice. RICK: Well, as long as I'm not in last place, I'm cool. There is no way he's gonna beat me. RUTLEDGE: Oh, trash talking is thick, and he's across! Now Chumlee's up. All right. Let's get this started. And there he goes. (ENGINE GRINDING) -Now, that noise means you need to shift. -(CHUMLEE GROANS) Looks like he could use a little practice with the stick. Wouldn't say he's comfortable behind the wheel. CHUMLEE: Damn it. RUTLEDGE: Yeah. Okay. Looks like Rick's trash talking paid off. That seems to be my trouble spot. Oh (BEEP) (BEEP) RUTLEDGE: Come on, Chum. I've seen faster laps in a kiddie pool. Little bit of brake. Slow down, slow down, slow down. Come on. RUTLEDGE: And he's across! Yay. RUTLEDGE: Bubbling with enthusiasm. Chumlee, everyone! Come on up here, guys! Rick and Chumlee, everybody! What's up, brother? Have a seat, guys. So, fellas, how was it out there? It was fun. It was good. Um... Fast? Sort of. A little. So, does anybody ever bring any weird cars in to pawn? Yeah, a 1932 Lincoln Lebaron. What is that? Um, it's a pretty neat car. They only made 112 of them, and it has a V12 in it that puts out a whole 150 horsepower. Wow. Pretty serious. Do you guys ever buy any of the cars that people come in to bring? Do y'all ever keep them? Yeah, I got... My '40 Coupe came in the pawn shop. Paid $4,000 for it and then spent $100,000 to fix it. Makes sense, yeah. We probably all do that at home. Chum, what about you? You ever bought any of the cars that come in? Yeah, the Buick Regal. I put hydraulics on it, you know. Did it have hydraulics on it when you bought it? No. It had Daytons on it, and, you know, it was ready to go, but... Where do you get your car style from? The 'hood. (ALL LAUGHING) There's nothing like popping a wheelie down the street 90 inches in the air in traffic. In a car. Oh, I love it. I love it! So, what were your first cars? 1973 Volkswagen Thing. (LAUGHS) Really? Not a particularly attractive car, but a real cult classic. In your opinion. (LAUGHS) Chumlee, how about you? What was your first car? Mine was even worse. I had a... I came home one night to, like, a '93 Geo Metro in my driveway. (AUDIENCE CHEERING) Wow! I left it on the side of the road three months later. You left it on the side of the road? (LAUGHING) Perfectly running. It was just that bad. It just had to go. I didn't want it anymore. And what do you drive now? A Maserati and a Range Rover. (BOOING) That seems like a natural progression, right? Geo to a Maserati? What's your daily driver? I have a Porsche Panamera. Nope, just the "S." It's a turbo? Really? ALL: Aw. He's a family man. RUTLEDGE: I know. Okay, yeah. The family truckster. And, Chumlee, yours is a Maserati. What kind of Maserati? The Gran Turismo. Nice. (AUDIENCE CHEERING) And what made you want that car? I mean, it's fast, it's sexy, it's got a lot of room inside. What's the fastest you've been in that Maserati? Let's just say anytime I go about 140, my gas-pedal foot starts to get wobbly. Just a little natural shake. Probably about 160, though. How fast you been in the Porsche? The legal limit. Sure. Sure. Mmm-hmm. What's your favorite car? Of all the ones you've ever owned, what's the coolest? Got to be my Volkswagen Thing. I mean, I don't know if it was the coolest car I've ever owned. It was the one I had the most fun in, though. I mean, you're 16 years old, it's your first car. He has a lot of first memories in that car. (LAUGHING) Yeah. All right, so, what do you guys think about the Suzuki SX4? How was it out there? RICK: Um... It's no Maserati. (ALL LAUGHING) Who do you guys think did better? AUDIENCE: Rick! Really? WOMAN: Chumlee! Yeah! -All right. Rick, you went first. -Okay. Rick, you did it in 1:48.1. (AUDIENCE CHEERING) Not a lot of guys get to say they're above Michel, so that's a nice... That's a nice treat for you. Chumlee. Oh, just go ahead and move Tony Hawk down. Okay. Okay! That's what we like to hear. You did it in 1:51.5. (CHEERING) It was close. So close. So, as far as first cars go, coolest first car ever, Volkswagen Rabbit Pickup, true or false? BOTH: False. Well, I'm gonna try to prove you wrong as we get back to our "first cars face-off." It was time for our last challenge. This does not look good. "Teenagers are twice as likely as adults to get in an accident. "A great first car will protect its occupant in a crash "and be resilient enough to drive away. "To see which of your cars is the safest, "they'll be pulled towards each other at 25 miles an hour "for a combined crash-speed of 50 miles an hour." TANNER: What? RUTLEDGE: "The winner will be the car that can drive away." This is not good. I don't want to do this. This is stupid. That truck is beautiful. ADAM: It's not beautiful. I don't want to see it smashed. I mean, this car sucks. That car's a piece of (BEEP) That car's gonna survive, okay? That's already falling apart. I'm really kind of getting a little attached to this car. You shouldn't. My Rabbit is in great shape. I would drive that right now. That's gonna be like a beer can. Just glass blowing out of it, just a big fire. Just a mess. Just really bad. I'm ready for some explosions. Let's pull the trigger. ADAM: Here we go. (LAUGHS) RUTLEDGE: We were getting reacquainted with the cars we each drove as teens, and to prove who had the best first car, we were putting them through a series of challenges. I had won the first, Adam won the second, and now we are facing the last test. Let's pull the trigger. ADAM: Here we go. (LAUGHS) ALL: Oh! TANNER: I think I got the worst of that. Oh! It knocked your hazards on. That is a completely destroyed Honda. RUTLEDGE: You have three wheels on the ground! I protected your two cars. Oh, that's what you're going with? Look, you t-*** me in the driver door! I protected your car from getting damaged. Is this yours? Oh, just put that in the truck. (GRUNTS) That's good. TANNER: Two seats are on top of each other. RUTLEDGE: Why do we destroy everything that is good? Okay, I will say this. If that is how safe the CRX is, I certainly wouldn't want my kid driving it. Right. See? And what about this? Would you put your kid in this thing? If they didn't ride in the back, yes. No. No. So, that leaves the Dodge. Yes, the Dodge, my friend. This is the safest car. ADAM: That's what a 50-mile-an-hour crash looks like. The hit was violent, but to succeed in the challenge, we had to be able to drive away. Well, I'm taking my Honda home. You want to put it in the back of Rut's truck? TANNER: You think it'll drive? Mmm-hmm. I think you should try it. (ENGINE REVS) ADAM: Great. Now pull away. Stop! Stop! Stop! (RATTLING) Perfect. I think I'm gonna leave it here. That's good there! (SIGHS). RUTLEDGE: I can't believe it drives on three wheels! Oh, God, I'm crying. Oh, God, that was awful. (LAUGHING) Tanner had killed his CRX. Now it was down to either me or Adam. You know what? Let's mount up. I hope it starts. (ENGINE STARTING) And you started? She's alive! What's the matter? Is that it? I don't know. I think I've run out of gas, maybe. You need a lift? I do need a lift. All right. Well, good luck getting one. Let's go, Adam! Can I hop in there? Guys? Seriously? (AUDIENCE CHEERING) Dodge Aries K, best first car ever! No. That's not true. Yes, it is. How do you think you won? Because we both drove out side by side. That would make it a tie. Yeah, but you cheated. And the only reason the CRX didn't win is because it was simply too fast. Yeah. What? It got to the crash too early, it was waiting there patiently, and by the time you got there, you hammered it from both sides. I'm just saying. I know this is hard for you, but this is what losing feels like. ADAM: Yeah. You lost. If you have any problems about losing, just talk to Rut, 'cause you lost, too. What? I didn't. Yes, you did. I won teaching the kids how to drive. The alley of junk, I did. I didn't chicken out 'cause, "Oh, we don't want to damage the paint on this." So I win. So that makes the Dodge Aries K best first car ever! That's all we have time for! See you next time! (AUDIENCE CHEERING)