Driven to Distraction (book)

• Ascari A10 - "daft for sure, and not at all relevant in the modern world"

• Alfa Romeo Brera Coupe V6 - "you've bought something for one reason only: because it's beautiful"

• Aston Martin V8 Vantage Roadster - "it's a car you simply have to buy. Just so you can look at it"
• Aston Martin DB9 Coupe - "perfect"

• Audi R8 - "one of the truly great cars"
• Audi S3 - "woolly and cumbersome"
• Audi TT Mk2 V6 Quattro - " the normal 2-litre version offers just as much, for £5,000 less"
• Audi S6 Avant - "everything is overshadowed and ruined by the suspension"
• Audi RS4 Convertible - "perfect...I'm genuinely struggling to think what might be wrong with it"
• Audi TT Mk2 2.0 Turbo - "I did enjoy driving it"

• Bentley Continental GTC - "kick back and cruise"

• BMW 135i coupé - "the best car BMW makes"
• BMW X5 - "next time the road ahead is closed could you escape up the embankment and across the fields in an X5? I think not. But in a Range Rover you could. I know, because I've done it"
• BMW 335i Convertible - "get the big boy (the M3) instead"
• BMW M6 Convertible "the speed. Oh my God. The speed. It's hyperspace fast"
• BMW 335i Coupe - "as a driver's car, then, this is yet another winner"
• BMW Z4 M coupe - "probably the first disappointing BMW M car I've ever driven"
• BMW Z4 M convertible - "a fast and comfortable cruiser"
• BMW M3 CS - "get a CS? Or go for the Audi RS4?...one of the most delicious choices in any corner of the motoring universe"

• Chrysler 300C diesel estate - "God it's a wallowy old hector"

• Dodge Grand Caravan - this chapter is really an account of an unhappy experience hiring vehicles in Canada.

• 1964 Ferrari 275 GTS - "a ton and a half of style, heart and soul"
• Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano - "gratifying...sorted...sensational"

• Fiat Bravo 1.4 Turbo - "not quite as good as a Golf. Except for a couple of things. The way it feels and the way it looks"
• Fiat Panda 1.4 - "you're better off with the Suzuki Swift Sport"
• Fiat Grande Punto - "the biggest car in its class but... the least powerful"

• Ford Mondeo Titanium X - "refined and comfortable. It feels...like a Volvo"
• Ford Focus Coupé-Cabriolet 2.0 - a refined, elegant, comfortable and remarkably well priced tool"
• Ford S-Max 2.5 Titanium - "it's an MPV you buy because you like it"

• Honda Civic Type R - "slower and slightly less economical than the old one"

• Jaguar XJ-R 4.2 V8 Supercharged - "Makes you look a little bit cool. Cool, and when you're stuck at the lights surrounded by a million Mercs, a little bit smug as well"
• Jaguar XKR 4.2 litre V8 Supercharged - "wonderfully soft and compliant....a car you can dream about"

• Koenigsegg CCX - at that time the fastest car to go round the Top Gear track

• Lamborghini_Murciélago LP640{{Broken anchor|date=2024-06-13|bot=User:Cewbot/log/20201008/configuration|target_link=Lamborghini Murciélago#LP640|reason= The anchor (LP640) has been deleted.}} - "a mad, expensive, preposterous waste of money, the sheer force of its personality knocks the techno-Ferrari into a cocked hat"
• Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder "for the first time ever (I think I might) buy a Lamborghini)" (he later did indeed buy one)

• Land Rover Defender Td5 90 station wagon - "it's rubbish: uncomfortable, slow, impractical and ... not that cheap"

• Lexus LS 460L - "unbelievably comfortable and quiet"
• Lexus GS (Third generation 450 hybrid) - "Does this mean it's saving the planet? hmmm I'm not so sure)
• Lexus_IS Second generation - "a pretty car and we know from every single survey undertaken that no other vehicle on the planet is quite so well made"

• Maserati Quattroporte Automatica - "The way it drives. It is absolutely horrible"
• Maserati Quattroporte V Sports GT - "of course it looks absolutely wonderful"

• Mazda CX-7m- "looking good and having fun"
• Mazda 2 1.3 - "in the cut and thrust of modern driving....it is terrible"
• Mazda6 MPS - "when you turn the key and go for a drive it's...it's...it's just amazing"
• Mazda MX-5 Third generation - "slightly more practical, slightly better looking version of something you loved anyway"
• Mazda RX-8 - "jolly good if you don't mind spending as much on oil as you do on petrol...."

• Mercedes-Benz CL-Class 600 - "as a car it beats all of them (Porsche, Aston Martin and Maserati)"
• Mercedes-Benz C Class - "There was a time, I agree, when Mercedes stopped taking such care, but they're back in business now"
• Mercedes-Benz R-Class 300CDI - "a 4x4 and not a very good one... the larger-engined R500 at least has a burbling V8 to have some fun with"
• Mercedes-Benz S 500 - "the most jaw-dropping piece of technology to be fitted with four wheels"
• Mercedes M-Class W164 - "efficient and good fun but... too expensive"

• Mini Cooper S Clubman - "torque-steers like a wayward horse and has no boot, no rear visibility, a silly door and a ridiculous cruising speed"
• Mk II Mini Cooper S - "the biggest drawback is the price"

• Mitsubishi Outlander - "reliable and practical but unutterably boring that you never feel inclined to open it up anyway"
• Mitsubishi Evolution IX FQ 360 - "unbelievable, seamless barrel of torque and power"

• Nissan Qashqai 2.0 Tekna - "gives you a sense of wellbeing, a sense that while you may live in a normal house with two normal children, at least the car you drive makes you look a little bit interesting"
• Nissan Micra C+C Convertible - "Someone, at some point in this car's development should have had the courage to pull the plug"
• Nissan D40 Navara - "not bad....a torquier diesel engine than any of its chief rivals and a bigger load bay"

• Overfinch Supersport (customised Range Rover Sport)- "(the performance enhancement) is worth every penny"

• Peugeot 207 GT - "not as much fun as it should be"
• Peugeot 207 - "overall I sort of liked it"
• Peugeot 407 Coupé - "nothing to make you feel special...big diesel... heavy...smooth and comfortable"
• Peugeot 607 - "surely the most dreary and underwhelming device in the history of mechanised transport."
• Peugeot 807 - "would be the nastiest car in the world were it not for the aforementioned 607."

• Porsche 911 (997 Series Turbo) - "smooth and unruffled...comfortable and controlled"

• Renault Clio III - "it's actually very good fun to drive"
• Mégane Renaultsport 230 Renault F1 Team R26 - "you can't put this much power through the front wheels and hope for the best"
• Renault Clio Sport{{Broken anchor|date=2024-06-03|bot=User:Cewbot/log/20201008/configuration|target_link=Renault Clio#Clio III .282006–present.29|reason= }} - "fitting a 2 litre hatchback with all this pseudo-F1 stuff is like fitting your washing machine with a front wing"

• The REVAi (known as G-Wiz in the UK) - "too small, too dangerous and I'm sorry but it runs on juice from a power station, hardly a flower in the big green scheme of things"

• Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupé - arriving in a drophead at the Oscars or at the casino in Monte Carlo would be more impressive, I suspect, than arriving in Keira Knightley"

• Škoda Roomster - "Yes it's wobbly and rough but it's extremely clever (and) well-equipped"

• Subaru Impreza WRX - "it's no looker either, and the fact of the matter is: the next Evo is"

• Suzuki Swift Sport - "a great little car"

• Vauxhall Corsa VXR - "an enjoyable, charismatic car that's fun to drive, reasonably priced"

• Volkswagen Golf Mk5 GT TSI - "where's the power?"
• Volkswagen Polo 1.8 GTI - "if I wanted a fun little car I'd rather have a Mini"
• Volkswagen Phaeton - "better than any of its rivals from Mercedes, Audi, BMW, Jaguar and Maserati". However regarding the diesel version Clarkson says "It is a car designed to be as silent and as efficient and as focussed as a contract killer. So putting a diesel under the bonnet is like putting James Bond in a pair of wellingtons"
• Volkswagen Transporter TDI 174 Sportline - "bloody hell it's quick"

• Volvo C70 Second generation - "well-priced...looks great...weird to drive"
• Volvo S80 V8 - "at £48,150 for the SE Sport model...it is exceptional value for money"
• Volvo XC70{{Broken anchor|date=2025-05-10|bot=User:Cewbot/log/20201008/configuration|target_link=Volvo XC70#Third generation .282007–present.29|reason= }} - "unless I really needed the Volvo's vast boot I'd save £14,000 and buy a Subaru Legacy Outback"
• Volvo XC90 V8 Sport - "as a piece of design has always been the best school-run car"

One chapter is a wish-list of Jeremy's favourite cars, his "dream garage" as follows:

• Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder - "noisy and shouty mid-engined drop-top supercar"
• Aston Martin V8 Vantage - "savage"
• BMW M5 - "all that power, all that handling, all that comfort"
• VW Phaeton 6.0 W12
• Rolls-Royce Phantom
• Corvette C6
• Vauxhall Monaro
• Porsche Carrera GT
• Pagani Zonda F
• Alfa Romeo Brera
• Audi RS4 - "astonishing 414BHP V8 motor"
• Bugatti Veyron - "the engineering summit, man's hobnail boot in the face of nature"

Part II of the book consists of a small number of Clarkson's articles other than his regular automobile column on topics including travel, restaurant reviews and an account of his trip to Iraq.

{{Jeremy Clarkson}}

Category:2009 non-fiction books

Category:Books about cars