Top Gear is a British institution. Beginning life as a motoring magazine program on BBC television, it has become an icon far beyond mere facts and figures about autos and sparked parodies, copies and spin-offs as only the best programs do.

A large part of its success has been the character of its presenter, Jeremy Clarkson, a man that everyone says they hate but secretly wish they had the guts to emulate. He is opinionated, loud, abrasive and uses that college student humor that delights in long-winded pompous phrases to state the obvious. In short, he is obnoxious but also so much over the top that it’s almost impossible not to like him, as long as you don’t tell anyone that you do. Really, the only way to understand what I’m saying is to experience the man himself.

And, thanks to the magic of YouTube, I can offer you that experience. Here, as a first instance, is Top Gear’s take on the Maserati MC12. Jeremy Clarkson is the feller with the Ladybird book of cars at the beginning. Apart from anything else, he gets to drive one of the most beautiful racing cars ever built, the Maserati F250 - and that’s enough to make any car lover go green with envy.

But I don’t think I can ever forgive him for what he does to a Maserati Bi-turbo. It really doesn’t matter how bad a car it is, a Maserati is still a Maserati…