Tinie Tempah fronts new TV show ‘Bangers: Mad for Cars’ – can it fill the void left by Top Gear?

With iconic BBC show Top Gear looking set to be crushed and sent to the scrapheap, there’s an opening for a new TV motoring series to capture the hearts of petrol heads.

And a series starting tonight might just do that, with Channel 4’s Bangers: Mad for Cars debuting. The show celebrates iconic cars from the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s.

It is fronted by musician, Tinie Tempah, alongside F1 analyst and stunt driver Naomi Schiff, and will feature motors many of us will remember from our past, including the Citroen Saxo, Ford Sierra Cosworth and Peugeot 205 GTI.

In true Top Gear fashion, there are hiccups along the way. 

The new car show to replace Top Gear? Tinie Tempah (right) will host a new motoring series called Bangers: Mad for Cars on Channel 4 starting tonight. His co-host is F1 analyst and stunt driver, Naomi Schiff (left)

The series will show the Brit Award-winning artist – who has seven UK numbers ones including first hit Pass Out in 2010 – crash a rare 1990s Honda NSX supercar. 

The four-episode series pits some of the finest modern classic cars against each other in a ‘Battle of the Bangers’ to decide which is the best in class.

Tempah, 34, and Schiff, 29, will each nominate they favourites from a range of vehicle sectors and go head-to-head to choose which one is most deserving of the crown.

They’ll also speak to experts all over the UK to delve into the performance, history, culture and iconography of each car, before the final challenge to decide which comes out on top.

The series will see the ‘Frisky’ rapper get behind the wheel himself in a number of challenges.

This will see the artist try to squeeze a six-wheeled Land Rover Defender through the affluent streets of Chelsea, navigating down quarry slopes in a Suzuki Jimny and trying his hand at rallying in a Peugeot 205 GTI.

The show will also feature Tempah crashing a 1990s Honda NSX supercar while driving on track.

The trailer features a clip of the singer sliding off the tarmac and having a forceful bumper-first smash into stacked tyres at the side of the circuit.

While pristine, low-mileage examples of the first-generation NSX is considered an extremely valuable collector’s item today and commands sale prices of up to £110,000, the versions Tinie puts into the tyre wall is relatively well used. 

Despite being an early 1991 version of the sought-after 3.0-litre V6 Japanese supercar, which can hit 60mph in 5.7 seconds and has a 168mph top speed, the NSX that’s crashed has over 168,000 miles on the clock.

A quick check of its MOT history report online shows it last being tested in March at an indicated 168,184 miles. It passed despite having a minor oil leak and a noisy nearside front wheel bearing. However, it is now declared SORN and off the road, which could be related to its recent on-camera shunt. 

The series will show Tinie Tempah taking a rare Honda NSX supercar on track. The Japanese performance model from 1991 has a 3.0-litre V6 petrol engine and a top speed of 168mph

The trailer for the new series shows the rapper running wide on circuit, then frantically trying to put more lock onto the steering wheel as the Honda NSX understeers off track

The clip then shows the artist in the valuable Honda supercar clatter into tyres in front of barriers running along the side of the track

When he’s not smashing up classis Japanese supercars, Tinie meets passionate car owners in the UK who try to convince him to choose their model to champion the focal segment that week. 

Other motors to get your nostalgic juices flowing include the BMW Z3, Lotus Carlton, Mazda MX-5, Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen, Renault Espace, Saab 900 Turbo and TVR Cerbera.

The series will also promote the use of quality used vehicle parts purchased from eBay’s Certified Recycled Hub.

The marketplace giant says UK shoppers have so far saved a collective £99million and more than 16,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions simply by choosing not to buy a box-fresh part.

The four-episode series pits some of the finest modern classic cars against each other in a ‘Battle of the Bangers’ to decide which is the best in class. Pictured left to right: Mercedes SLK, Mazxda MX-5, Honda NSX, BMW Z3 and TVR Cerbera

Tempah, who claims to be a big petrol head, is on the hunt for the best modern classics from the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s

Joining Tinie and Naomi each week will also be a different celebrity guest to talk about their life in cars, from their first car to the cars they wish they’d had – including former footballers turned pundits Ian Wright and Patrice Evra, comedian Guz Khan and chef Tom Kerridge.

Tinie said: ‘Cars are so embedded in pop culture, they’re more than just a mode of transportation they say a bit about who we are. 

‘I’m excited to explore the origins of some of the most iconic cars and learn how the industry became so interlinked with the British psyche. And of course – to drive some serious bangers.’

The show should transport petrol heads back in time with vehicles that will triggers plenty of nostalgic memories. Pictured: Ford Sierra Cosworth

Throughout the series, Tinie will be meeting some of the most passionate car owners in the UK, who will be convincing him to choose their model to champion champion the segment that week. Pictured: Lotus Carlton

It comes as BBC bosses say they are still yet to make a decision on the future of Top Gear following reports it will be scrapped.

Producers are said to be looking for other work and considering legal action over loss of earnings amid reports that the show will be axed after 46 years following Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff’s horror crash during filming late in 2022.

The former England cricket captain was ‘lucky to be alive’ after his open-topped three-wheel 130mph Morgan Super 3 car, which had no air bags, flipped over on December 13 last year, leaving him with severe facial injuries and several broken ribs.

The Ashes hero had to wait an ‘agonising’ 45 minutes for an air ambulance – with the BBC later giving him an apology.

The Corporation has faced huge questions since Flintoff’s crash, especially when it emerged the father-of-four had raised safety concerns with the Top Gear crew on the day of the stunt.

But insiders say that nearly ten months on, production staff have now been told to look for other work, likely bringing the curtain down on the much-loved car show which first launched in 1977 with Angela Rippon as host.

In response to reports of the show having already been axed, a BBC spokesman told MailOnline: ‘A decision on the timing of future Top Gear shows will be made in due course.’ 

Episode 1 of Bangers: Mad for Cars airs tonight (Tuesday 17 October) on Channel 4 at 22:15. Each show is an hour long

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk