Top Gear: Just like Milli Vanilli, says Elon Musk

The Top Gear boys do their best Milli Vanilli impression

The ongoing spat between Top Gear and Tesla – mainly in the form of CEO Elon Musk – is still rumbling on. In fact, it’s starting to get a bit silly.

You know the background; Top Gear did a review of the Tesla Roadster and implied it had a range of just 55 miles (although they did say that was on the Top Gear track), said that the motor overheated and reduced power (which they ‘illustrated’ with the Tesla slowing on a darkened track) and said the brakes broke (when a fuse had gone).

Now all this was two years ago. And on the face of it we can see nothing wrong with Top Gear’s piece and we do wonder if Tesla are just working on the principle that suing Top Gear will stick the Tesla Roadster in front of 350 million Top Gear fans worldwide at almost no cost?

Earlier this week we had Top Gear producer Andy Wilman defending the Top Gear piece and pointing the finger at Tesla and accusing them of publicity-seeking. And now Elon Musk has weighed back in with the accusation that Top Gear is ‘Completely Phony’ and compares a Top Gear episode to a Milli Vanilli concert.

For those too young to remember – or who have had the sense to forget – Milli Vanilli are the duo who, it eventually transpired, managed to not sing a single word on any of their records.

Quite how that analogy fits the Top Gear spat we’re not sure. Is Elon suggesting the TG boys don’t drive the cars? Or is he instead suggesting that Top Gear opinions are placed in the mouths of the presenters by a higher force? Can any of us imagine Clarkson allowing that?

It all smacks a bit of publicity-seeking hissy fits.

By Cars UK