Dave Gorman America Unchained

Clem_Snide

Anyone else see this last night?. Thought it was excellent.

Basically Dave buys a 1970s Ford station wagon and attempts to drive from the west to east coast of America without giving any money to "The Man". This meant only using petrol from independent stations, no chain hotels, no fast food chains etc etc.

Particular hi-lights for me was staying in the Bed & Breakfast shaped like a Beagle!!!!! and the young bloke who opened his gas station on Thanksgiving especially for them to fill up, he arrived on a BMX carrying his cat in a basket!.

scruffle

Seen it before, was good, but bit worrying cos you know you wouldn't be able to do that in the UK, we moan about corporate america but its just as bad if not worse other here.

Saying that middlle america is soooooo backward



his books are really good aswel

DA9

Saw a similar programme a while back, some guy was given $5 dollars a day allowance and told to get across America on good will and hand outs, he wasn't allowed to ask for money from others etc, excellent stuff.

Exiled_Addick

[cite]Posted By: scruffle[/cite]Seen it before, was good, but bit worrying cos you know you wouldn't be able to do that in the UK, we moan about corporate america but its just as bad if not worse other here.

Saying that middlle america is soooooo backward



his books are really good aswel

It would be a piece of piss to do it here Scruff, we've got loads of independent restaurants, B&Bs, mechanics and there are still quite a few independently owned filling stations if you know where to look (I know this because a good number of my clients are very such animals). Plus you'd only have to travel a fraction of the distance so would only need 3 or 4 tanks of petrol!

Good luck finding someone to come out on Christmas day to open their shop up specially for you though!

DA9

Plenty of asian owned shops near me that do open xmas day.

scruffle

true, some cars could almost do it in one tank full!!! Most the independent are more 'franchises' when it comes to petrol garages thou - worked in a few down my way when I was still at sch, unfortunatley both have now shut down

Exiled_Addick

This is true Scruff, but the only thing the oil company have to do with it is supplying the petrol, which is the same as the states, there are certainly no one man Oil drilling and refining companies!

Clem_Snide

Was thinking last night about whether it would be hard to do in the UK.

Obviously the milleage involved is a huge factor.

I guess the only thing to consider would be what car to do it in? You'd have to get something from the 70s - Austin Maxi or Allegro? Talbot Horizon?

scruffle

[cite]Posted By: Clem_Snide[/cite]Was thinking last night about whether it would be hard to do in the UK.

Obviously the milleage involved is a huge factor.

I guess the only thing to consider would be what car to do it in? You'd have to get something from the 70s - Austin Maxi or Allegro? Talbot Horizon?

Allegro's rule!!! F.A. suspension but did have big springs in the seats!!!

Exiled_Addick

Mini, Morris Minor or a Silver Spirit? Or perhaps a big old Jag.

Or if you wanted to make a point about sticking it to the man, perhaps a Morgan or a Caterham seeing as they're such small firms?

A-R-T-H-U-R

That car he was driving, which independent company made it again?
And the electricity he used all the way along every night, that lit the streets he drove along, the companies that made the roads, the signs, the police who ensured he made the trip, the trucks that delivered the fuel to his independent gas stations, the Man who made his toilet roll.
Utter egotistical nonsense

Exiled_Addick

You're right Arthur, the concept is hugely flawed but it was a good way to get inside small town America and get a feel for it's historical culture.

A-R-T-H-U-R

Agreed Ex
It was an interesting programme despite the twaddle
But dressing it up in some flimsy 'Sticking it to the Man' nonsense dreamed up over a liquid lunch by some sad clueless programming suit does it no favours.

Reminds me of those twats Charlie and Ewan and their classic 'Its so lonely out here' piece whilst their camera sound producer people filmed them, and whilst they were all just a few hundred yards from a back up truck

for a smile
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv6hoGgGVcM

MrOneLung

[cite]Posted By: scruffle[/cite]

[cite]Posted By: Clem_Snide[/cite]Was thinking last night about whether it would be hard to do in the UK.

Obviously the milleage involved is a huge factor.

I guess the only thing to consider would be what car to do it in? You'd have to get something from the 70s - Austin Maxi or Allegro? Talbot Horizon?

Allegro's rule!!! F.A. suspension but did have big springs in the seats!!!

Not sure if ita a myth or a joke that Clarkson once cracked, but someone told me an Allegro was more aerodynamic in reverse !!
My first car was a Talbot Horizon - if you changed from 2nd to 3rd gear below 40 mph the whole dashboard and gear stick panel would start vibrating like mad. The missus liked it tho !!!!

A-R-T-H-U-R

for a very brief period in 1985 i had a Talbot Horizon too, 1 lung
It had a Lotus engine in it (a product of those Rally production quota rules) but nothing else had been upgraded.
Very, very scary.

Plaaayer

My mum used to have a Talbot Horizon when I was about 5, even then I was embarrassed to be seen in it!

Oakster

Great film. One of my ambitions in life is to drive coast to coast across the USA...

bigstemarra

I enjoyed it - Gorman is good company, though.

Darren

Sorry, I thought it was the most boring thing I'd seen since 'The Bridges of Madison County'. Gorman's so bland & PC?! What was he trying to prove? That yanks shop at chain stores?!

A-R-T-H-U-R

Oakster
Take a camera with you, think of an angle, like ''I'll only visit places owned by Honolulu born Texan/Kenyan descendants'', aka, 'Jivin with the Obamaman', then make bland statements from the school of the bleedin obvious, and pretend to be upset when your own plan (which you have no belief in) seems not to be working.
Take a glove puppet with back ache with you as ''Director'', then get another equally awkward replacement who has to desperately try and save your show and its funding.

hope this is of use to you!