The guest
Chris Harris: British automotive journalist and TV presenter, former host of BBC's Top Gear, known for his car videos and the Chris Harris and Friends car podcast
What this episode covers
Chris Harris joins Joe Rogan for a wide-ranging conversation centered on cars, the car industry, and his career. He speaks publicly for the first time about the December 2022 Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff crash that ended his run on Top Gear, revealing he had warned the BBC months earlier that someone would be seriously hurt. The pair debate electric vehicles, restomods, the politics of EV mandates, and the dominance of Chinese carmakers. The discussion wanders into bears, crabs, fighter jets, F1 cheating, and various conspiracy theories including dieselgate and the Stanley Meyer water-powered car. Harris frames YouTube and podcasts as the future for car enthusiasts, free of network executives.
Recommended on this episode
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Ford F-150 Raptor R
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“if you lived in America what car would you drive and it would always be a raptor”
“if you lived in America what car would you drive and it would always be a raptor comes Under The Heading of always drink the local beer”— Chris Harris
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Tesla Model S Plaid
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“it's fantastic it is so fast it's like a time machine”
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Porsche 911 Carrera RS America (993/964 RS)
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“oh I love it it's so beautiful, and when I drive it I'm smiling”
“I have a 199 I guess it's a 93 RS America and it oh I love it it's so beautiful and it's alive and it just when I drive it I just I'm smiling”— Joe Rogan
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BMW M3 (E46)
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“Peak car, it's such a great car, it's so delightful”
“I have a 2005 M3 so an E46 Peak car Peak car it's such a great car it's so delightful”— Joe Rogan
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Porsche 911K (Tuthill 911K)
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“you need to sit down after driving it cuz it's just so visceral”
“it's a 911k developed by a guy called Kadori it revs to 11,000 RPM you need to sit down after driving it cuz it's just so visceral”— Chris Harris
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Nissan GT-R Nismo (R35)
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“I have a Nissan GTR and that is the ultimate mod car because they've been around for so long in exactly the same form”— Joe Rogan
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BMW M5
BMW
“it's a 700 something horsepower sedan with a BMW badge it's a beast”— Chris Harris
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Porsche 911 (Singer reimagined)
Singer Vehicle Design
“I work for singer so I've got to be very careful love those too well I actually have a a little contract with them”— Chris Harris
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Porsche 911 GT3 RS (2007)
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“I have a 2007 GT3 RS and uh it's still like around corners you let off off the gas it'll whip around on you”— Joe Rogan
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Ineos Grenadier
Ineos
“I really just got interested really recently in the inos granadier what a fascinating idea”— Joe Rogan
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Lucid Air Sapphire
Lucid Motors
“I've heard there heard the sapphire is magnificent it's extraordinary”— Chris Harris
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Porsche Taycan
Porsche
“electric tians you know those things are gorgeous that that's an incredible vehicle good luck trying to sell that thing”— Joe Rogan
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Porsche 911 GT3 Touring (991)
Porsche
“I've got a GT3 touring 991 you bring the dog in that”— Chris Harris
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Apple iPhone Mini
Apple
“you have the tiniest little iPhone the little baby mini the iPhone with that metal Ridge is one of the most pleasing objects you'll ever pick up”— Joe Rogan
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McLaren Speedtail
McLaren
“I raced an F-35 in a McLaren speed tail uh and the level of classification around the vehicle was so difficult”— Chris Harris
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MeatEater
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“he was filming it for a television show called me eater they shot this elk and they put most of it up in the tree”— Joe Rogan
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The Grand Tour
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“the other big car show The Grand Tour Jeremy and Richard May in their Amazon show which they just ended great show”— Chris Harris
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It Runs on Water (1995 documentary)
Arthur C. Clarke
“significant portion of the 1995 documentary it runs on water narrated by science fiction writer Arthur C Clark aired on BBC”— Joe Rogan
Big reveals from this episode
- Harris speaks publicly for the first time about Top Gear ending after the Flintoff crash and how it left him without a job.
- Three months before the accident, Harris warned the BBC that without changes someone would die or be seriously injured on the show.
- After the accident the BBC left him to 'sweat'; he sat at home drinking whiskey with almost no contact from the network.
- Harris describes a serious alcohol decline after the Top Gear incident, drinking his entire single malt collection within a month.
- Harris says Top Gear treated Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster unfairly, pretending the car died for a pre-scripted sketch.
- Tabloid journalists tried to coax Harris's youngest child into a car to get dirt on him.
- Harris says the Volkswagen dieselgate scandal genuinely shook his faith in large corporations.
Worth remembering
- The Ford F-150 Raptor R does 0-60 in about 3 seconds despite being a giant pickup truck.
- A Swedish 'beaver' vodka is flavored with secretion from the anal gland of a beaver, and the taste lingered in Harris's mouth for 10 days.
- Kodiak coastal brown bears can reach 1,800 lbs and 11 feet tall due to their salmon-rich diet.
- The coconut crab has a claw force of about 3,300 Newtons, stronger than the bite of most land animals including leopards and bears.
- At motor shows, Chinese engineers would use laser rulers to measure and copy competitors' car interiors and engines in broad daylight.
- In 1995 Toyota was excluded from the World Rally Championship for a hidden bypass valve that defeated the turbo intake restrictor.
- Lotus founder Colin Chapman hid his ground-effect skirts and had a man run around with a kettle under a towel to fool rival teams.
- The carbon-ceramic brake disc was originally developed for Concorde, which kept burning through brakes.
- An FBI analyst estimated up to 80% of accounts on Twitter/X are bots used to push narratives.
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