In his quest to discover how we the people got our wheels, James travels to Germany, Italy and Russia to reveal the extraordinary story of how dictators kickstarted the mobilisation of the masses. It is a tale of design brilliance, abject failure, war, fraud and double dealing featuring some of the best (and worse) cars and characters of the 20th century. James discovers how the British motor industry blew a gift-wrapped chance to rule the world and he gets his own back with a stunt that means bad news for one of the planet's most hated cars.
James May downsizes to explore the weird world of the microcar. He discovers how austerity and fears of congestion led to European tragicomic disasters in the shape of Britain's infamous three-wheelers, French death traps and German absurdities. James takes to the battlefield to settle one of the greatest rivalries in car history and travels to Japan for an urban race between a state-of-the-art micro sports car and the best-selling vehicle in history.
This episode is all about power and glory as James reveals the cars that finally gave the people hope. From the Rolls Royce that became a people's champion to the blue-collar heroes that launched a thousand burn ups, James reveals how aspiration and new wealth would drive the development of some of the greatest cars ever made. James tries to make sense of the baffling world of company car hierarchy with a travelling salesman race-off and indulges his 1980s urges with the twin delights of Lamborghini and Porsche. He also unveils his choice of the ultimate people's car - a car that can claim to be the greatest vehicle in history.
James reveals the cars that turned post-war Germany and Japan into motoring powerhouses at the expense of Britain and the US. On his travels he encounters classic E-Types, Mustangs and the German and Japanese upstarts that were to conquer the world. He also has an unfortunate encounter with an Austin Allegro - the car that helped destroy the British car industry.
James May goes off-road to tell the story of how the 4x4 conquered the world. From the wartime jeep to the global struggle between Land Rover and Land Cruiser, the white-knuckle world of rallying and boy racers, plus James conquers Mount Fuji and races through the sun-scorched Mojave Desert to decide which is the ultimate people's 4x4.
James explores the wilder shores of motoring to discover what happened to the cars of the future that we were promised. From improbable steam cars and ludicrous jet turbines, he reveals how the petrol engine and the power it gave us came to dominate the 20th century. He takes to the waves in an amphibious car, risks his life at the wheel of a notorious electric scooter and takes a hair-raising trip in the fastest driver-less car on earth.
