Top Gear's Dunsfold location has over the years become a motoring Mecca for gearheads, a track made famous by the antics of Clarkson, Hammond, and May, with the Stig on hand to show us what the coolest and fastest cars can do.
At this point, it would be time to cue the music, only now instead of the iconic Jessica track, something more fitting with the latest news. Dunsfold has been sold off to developers, both the track and hangar scheduled to be demolished to make way for housing. The importance of Dunsfold isn't just confined to Top Gear, the famous figure eight circuit also appeared in numerous video games, and at one time played host to McLaren Automotive who used the local facility for a spot of research and development.
While the show will continue from a new location, we think a special episode is called for, a gathering of the coolest sports cars ever, to set one final lap record.
11 Dodge Viper ACR (S23)
Criminally undersold, the Dodge Viper proves that when it comes to what gearheads want and carmakers produce doesn't always align, with Viper production ending in 2017 you could argue gearheads were wrong all along.
American sports cars on Top Gear similarly were often dismissed as rubbish, which made the ACR's stunning 1-minuted 15-second a little inconvenient. For years, the team advocated European cars were better than anything the US manufactured. The stopwatch doesn't lie, the ACR making excellent use of a 645 HP V10 motor beat the cream of the European sports car crop, including several Lamborghinis, McLarens, and Porsches.
10 HSV Maloo (S13)
Bringing the thunder from down under, Holden's HSV Maloo is how outback farmers think a sports car should look; two seats with space in the back for some sheep and a big engine under the hood. It might be just a truck, but in the hands of the Stig, it was capable of setting a lap time of 1-minute 17-seconds, faster than Porsches 996 GT3.
Commonly referred to as a Ute, the HSV Maloo utilizes a Corvette-sourced LS3 supercharged 6.2-liter V8 producing 325 HP and 405 lb-ft of torque, tire-smoking burnouts are something of a Maloo trademark.
9 Koenigsegg CCX (S08)
One of the few supercars to make a second appearance, Koenigsegg's CCX famously sporting the so-called Top Gear rear wing after a rare off-track excursion by the Stig encouraged the Swedish carmaker to rethink the car's downforce package.
Koenigsegg isn't your average carmaker by any means, six years after the first production car rolled out the factory doors, the CCX appeared with its own in-house developed engine. In place of earlier Audi and Ford-sourced units, Koenigsegg built a twin-supercharged 4.7-liter V8 capable of producing 806 hp.
8 Hennessey Velociraptor (S22)
Anything that boasts the best-selling vehicle tag in American for over 40 years has to be cool, Top Gear putting aside a normal dislike of anything truck-based or American to one side in series 22.
However, rather than going for stock, Clarkson believing power solves everything opted for Hennesseys Velociraptor, at its heart still a Ford F-150 with a hefty modified V8 up front, boasting 650 hp courtesy of a larger supercharger and intercooler arrangement.
7 Ford GT (S04)
The original GT40 was something of a Clarkson favorite, despite the limited headroom making it impossible for the presenter to drive. So, when Ford unveiled the GT in 2005, it was inevitable one of the new Ford supercars would be making its way to Top Gear.
Much to the delight of Hammond and May, Jeremy's Ford GT just happened to be at Dunsfold during filming. In the hands of the Stig, Ford's new supercharged 4.7-liter modular V8 delivered a lap time of 1-minute 21-seconds, with Clarkson left sidelined in horror.
6 Eagle Low Drag GT
More power, less weight, and a healthy dose of streamlining transform the classic E-type roadster into something so individually unique that Eagle Cars has little need of advertising, the waiting list for the Low Drag GT stretching to 7 years despite its $1 million asking price.
At those price levels, perfection is a given, starting with a donor retaining the original VIN Tag, Eagle aims to retain as much of the original as possible fitting modern upgrades where required. Under the hood, a custom 4.7-liter version of Jaguar's original XK series, modernized for more power and less weight.
5 Ariel Atom V8 500 (S16)
UK-based Ariels approach to car design is simplistic at best, with four wheels, two seats, and some leftover scaffold tube to form a lightweight chassis with nothing in the way of weather protection. In truth, more carmakers should build cars this way, more speed is better than extra cupholders.
Someone at Ariel clearly paid attention to cries for more performance, the Atom received a major update in 2008 courtesy of a new custom-built 3.5-liter V8 producing 500 hp giving the minimalistic Atom an incredible 909 hp per ton power to weight. How does that translate in the real world? How about 0-60 in 2.3-seconds, at the time the fastest accelerating production car.
4 Ford Shelby GT500 (S09)
Forget AMG-Mercedes or even BMW M-Division, the ultimate combination of performance car coolness comes from the Ford Motor Company and Carroll Shelby partnership.
Launched and given Top Gear's seal of approval in 2009, Ford's Shelby GT500 pays homage to the original Shelby specials of the '60s. Equipped with a supercharged 5.4-liter V8 producing 500 horses and enough torque to light up the rears with ease, accompanied by an intoxicating blower whine.
3 Ferrari FXX And The Stig (S13)
Ferrari's latest hypercar the FXX made a special appearance in season 13, Ferrari nervous at the prospect of letting the Stig lose stipulated its own driver would attempt the power. Step forward owner, driver, and Formula 1 World Champion Michael Schumacher, largely responsible for testing and developing the FXX.
At the heart of this rare track-only special, Ferrari's 6.3-liter F140 V12 mated to an F1 style automated manual transmission sees the FXX set a blistering lap time of 1 minute 10-seconds, only to be excluded due to road legality. Never one to miss an opportunity, Top Gear teased viewers with Stig's true identity, unveiling the F1 World Champion, Michael Schumacher, as the man in the trademark white helmet.
2 Ferrari SF90 (S29)
The current lap record holder with a time of 1-minute 11-seconds, Ferrari's SF90 hybrid is proof if any was needed supercars are only getting faster despite growing concerns over environmental issues. Packing a 4-liter twin-turbocharged V8 with three electric motors generates a combined 986 hp resulting in a top speed of 211 mph.
Backing up the argument for hybrid power, Ferrari claims the SF90 produces a much-improved emissions level of 154 g/km of carbon, and if driven sensibly achieves 51 mpg in hybrid mode around town, like that's ever going to happen.
1 Special Vehicles
Over the seasons, various "special" vehicles made guest appearances all in the name of testing the latest cars, The BAE Sea Harrier faced off against Saab's 9-5 Aero resulting in a win for the Royal Navy
On other occasions putting agility and handling to the test, the newly announced Lotus Exige attempted to outrun the Apache AH-64, while Radical's RS3 attempted to get the better of the less worrisome, but still agile, CPC-232. Topgear making use of Dunsfold's aviation background, where else do you see cars competing against aircraft?