20 Top Gear Magazines You Need to Read

Issue 1- The very first one and it’s a great way to start, the cover and the story about trying to get every new car in Britain on the front is an impressive feat in of itself, even if Ferrari refused to lend any of their cars. But that aside, the first car to be road tested is the new Fiat Punto, we get a group test of some superminis, a look at cheap used cars but most importantly a test between the TVR Griffith 500, Ferrari 348, 911 Turbo, Corvette & Toyota Supra. What a way to start things.

Issue 5- It’s all about weird cars in this issue, a Mazda RX-7, Subaru SVX & Renault Alpine A610 go sideways on Pendine Sands, Quentin tells you how to buy an oddball car, we get a look at Dubai car culture and the mega fast Dauer 962 LM, not to forget a test between the Escort Cosworth and Delta Integrale, there’s also a turbocharged Jaguar XJ-S and the Renault Clio Williams.

Issue 21- The big test is the Ferrari F355 vs Porsche 911 Turbo that takes us across Thruxton and Bruntingthorpe. But the TG team have their own challenge to build a Westfield before the Ford BTCC team, university students and mechanics do. There’s also a petrol spitting Westfield SEiGHT, Jeremy looks at what Daewoo were up to, Quentin shows you all the cool second hand cars you could have for the price of a Vauxhall Tigra and there's a Ferrari F355 Spider in Italy.

Issue 46- We’ve got a big test between the (disappointing) AC Cobra, Aston Martin Vantage, Dodge Viper and TVR Cerbera 4.5, with the TVR stealing the show with some help from Alain Menu and Jason Plato of the Renault BTCC team, there’s also a look at Le Mans qualifying and the raging battle in the GT1 class between the top teams, and there’s a hello for the new Honda NSX 3.2 and goodbye to the Jaguar V12.

Issue 49- The Nissan Skyline goes head-to-head with the Ferrari F355, Porsche 911, Honda NSX, BMW M3 EVO & Chevrolet Corvette at the Nürburgring and nearly everything goes to plan, except a broken down TVR Griffith, a 360 spin in the Honda and some boiled Corvette brakes. And speaking of TVR, we get the first car v plane race in Top Gear history, Panavia Tornado 1 TVR Cerbera 0. And in the road test department we get the Jaguar XJR, new Porsche 911, Honda Integra Type-R and a Perodua Nippa (remember them?).

Issue 50- What a way to celebrate 50 issues. Some TG readers get to take part in a big 20k coupe test featuring: Alfa, Honda, Hyundai, BMW, Peugeot, Nissan, Fiat, Rover & Vauxhall. Quentin drives the new Volvo C70 coupe, Tiff goes berserk in a Lotus Elise, Honda Integra-R, Peugeot 306 GTi-6, Caterham Superlight & Subaru Impreza Turbo and Clarkson finds the best handling car in the world with some help from Tim Harvey and the late Richard Burns.

Issue 62- The entire 200 MPH club is gathered together (F40, Diablo, EB110, XJ220, XJR-15, F1 & GT40) and tested along with all the most important cars of 1998 including an offroad adventure in a Land Rover Discovery, Toyota Land Cruiser & Merc ML, a big Aston Vantage V600 and most importantly a Ford Focus group test along with tests of all the new cars of '98 from Vauxhall to Bentley and a look at the upcoming cars of '99 and 2000. We also get to see Tiff racing for the Nissan BTCC team and luckily avoids a smash with Nigel Mansell.

Issue 98- Not only do we get our first look at the Bugatti Veyron and test of the Lamborghini Murcielago and Mercedes SL500, but there’s also a test between a Skoda Octavia, MG ZS & VW Bora (the winner will surprise you) and the ultimate test of power vs lightness as Tiff and Road Test Editor Tom Stewart put the Porsche 911 GT2 & Caterham R500 to the test.

Issue 109- It’s great tests all around with the new Ford Focus RS, VW Golf R32 and Dodge SRT-10. There’s a look at the new Colin McRae Rally game and the inaugural Top Gear survey, so it's good news for Lexus, Audi, Porsche & Smart, bad news for Fiat, Alfa and Vauxhall.

Issue 111- £1 Million pounds worth of supercars all at the Top Gear test track:  Pagani Zonda,  Lambo Murcielago, Aston Vanquish, Merc SL55, Porsche 911 Turbo, Ferrari 575 & TVR Cerbera all tested to the max, and we even get a look at the stunt cars from Die Another Day, a group test across Germany in the Merc E55 AMG, BMW M5, Audi RS6 & Jaguar S-Type R and first tests of the Alfa 147 GTA, Merc CL55 AMG and BMW Z4.

Issue 116- A drivers car special featuring a pan-European road trip in an Aston DB7 GT and a Ferrari 360 touring various European race tracks totally 1000 miles, Mitsubishi EVO & Subaru WRX STi in the Welsh mountains, Lotus Elise v Vauxhall VX220 on the road and Caterham R400 v Westfield XTR2 at the track. There’s also the new Roll-Royce Phantom and 911 GT3.

Issue 121- We get two Aston Martins in the form of the DB7 Zagato and a look at the upcoming DB9 and there’s a fantastic test of a 911 GT3 and BMW M3 CSL in the German mountains which in turn was long time Road Test Editor Tom Stewart's final big trip with him concluding the CSL was the best sounding car he'd ever driven, Zonda, F50 and 911 GT1 included. Plus there's a drive in the Invicta S1 and 911 Turbo Cabrio.

Issue 137- It’s only February and there’s already a big test between the blood brothers, the Ferrari Enzo & Maserati MC12. James comes to the conclusion that motorbikes are the spiritual successor to horses and that the Ariel Atom is better, we also get to see the Aston Martin DBR9 in testing, travel across the States in a Dodge SRT-10 and across Africa in a Land Rover.

Issue 147- The long-awaited Bugatti Veyron finally gets tested by James, and Gordon Murrary gives it a look over as well, we get another Top Gear survey with another win for the Honda S2000 with the Peugeot 807 coming last, and a drive of the nearly finished and long-awaited Jaguar XK.

Issue 193- It’s flat-out in the Arab desert with the Lamborghini Murcielago SV and McLaren SLR 722 and the race we’d all been waiting for, the Bugatti Veyron vs McLaren F1. Beyond that we see a sneak peek at Series 13 of Top Gear, the Audi TT RS gets tested and in the columns section Jeremy decides to avoid buying an Audi R8 V10 and James contemplates the choice of Ferrari F430 Scuderia or standard 430.

Issue 207- The Veyron is back in Supersport trim with James back at the wheel and back in Germany to once again claim the title of worlds fastest road car. But there’s stiff competition from Koenigsegg's Agera & the upcoming Hennessey Venom plus there’s a hot Volvo C30 too.

Issue 221- A great drive to the Stelvio Pass featuring an all-star lineup of performance cars: Veyron SS, Golf GTi 35th, 1M Coupe, Mustang Boss 302, Zonda F, MP4-12C, FF, 911 GT3 RS 4.0, XKR-S and Atom Mugen, all driven from their home countries to the mountains. Sadly the Lamborghini Aventador didn’t make it, but at least Jason Barlow got to drive it all the way to the Top Gear test track.

Issue 265- The trio of the McLaren P1, Porsche 918 & LaFerrari are gathered and tested in Europe to decide which one is truly the best. We also get a preview to 2015’s hottest new cars and the ill-fated Series 22 of Top Gear. 

Issue 300- What a way to celebrate 300 issues, compiling the best cars from every category and get the best of the best together from Bugatti Veyron to Land Rover Discovery. We’ve also got a banger race between £300 cars, a Mustang with 800 BHP, the new BMW M5 and the story of the German streamliners of the 1930s.

Issue 376- 30 years of Top Gear Magazine and the best car of every year is gathered at Brooklands where it all started from the Ferrari F355 and Nissan 350Z to the BMW I8 and Land Rover Defender, plus, you’d be surprised how hard it is to find a Ford Mondeo compared to a Ferrari 458.