This was a Great Idea (With a Fatal Flaw)

[@ianoliverbailey6545]

Great video, really interesting. Having seen loads of these events: boat races; horse races; Winston's funeral... in both B&W and in colour, I'm afraid I took it all for granted, and never wondered how on Earth the Beeb managed to film all this. Now you've asked - and answered - the question. I'm so pleased that, like me, they loved the Citroëns so much.

[@AldershotDave]

Brilliant video!! 👏🏻👏🏻 I remember the horse racing in the 70s with the Citroen clearly visible on the inner field of the tracks.

[@ianlowden6168]

Me too. Happy days!

[@mearsm50]

I used to pan receiving dishes at the roving eye car in the early eighties on occasion. The driver was of gypsy stock and really knew his horses. He went to most of the meets and knew thier past form. He also saw them being loaded into the starting gate and could see which ones looked on form on the day. He used to get on the Storno ( radio) ( no mobile phones in those days) and get one of us to go and put a Tenner on the horse of his choice. He won more than he lost and frequently stood us round in the pub afterwards.

[@427Motorsports]

That is very interesting, thanks for the comment!

[@AfroMyrdal]

When I think I'm a nerd and know stuff about things that no other person on the planet would care about, along come you and show me I'm not at peak form, yet! Awesome video!

[@CaymanIslandsCatWalks]

On the spectrum much?

[@jean-pierredeclemy7032]

As a serial ID/DS owner since 1974, two of which were Safari, and I have also owned two CX estates and an XM estate, I can vouch for the ride quality. Thanks for the very informative video.

[@johnsawyer2516]

Fatal flaw ? Looks to me everything worked perfectly 🤔

[@130rapid]

2:45 Well, it works different. The hydropneumatic suspension keeps unchanged level & softness, regardless of the (permissible) load. However, when it's overloaded it can hardly hit on bumpstops and let to rub the undercarriage. That's why BBC drivers chose the upper position of suspension, when the system indeed worked MUCH stiffer.

[@stephenhowell5611]

You are on bump stops in the highest position too, no give whatsoever, they are not meant to be driven in high

[@WILLIAM1690WALES]

That was a professional production and good commentary as well. Well done. Very informative.

[@darrylmac6150]

Short, sweet and straight to the point. Great video

[@patrickbarrett5650]

The Citroen didn’t clear Beecher’s Brook … was that the fatal flaw?

[@427Motorsports]

They had to put him down 😭

[@patrickbarrett5650]

@@427Motorsports. 😂😂😂😂😂

[@derpapito1391]

About ten years ago I was driving a CX for german TV production. It was an older conversion with a hydraulic outrigger and a platform.It was mainly used for filming car chase scenes.With 3 people and a Arri Alexa on the platform speeding through downtown Frankfurt was quite an experience. Ah, the good old days

[@noneck3099]

Although the first vehicle is a Morris Commercial LC5..they do say that they " based the chassis off a Daimler ambulance" .... so that's probably where the confusion comes in. Still, this is great stuff that's going to be shared to the Morris Commercial pages!

[@ValuedTeamMember]

Thank goodness! From the title I ASSUMED it wasn't going to turn out well for the bloke(s) on the roof! I haven't stressed this much since I had to do a drunk test on the highway. Thank you for the video. Very COoL vehicles. Cheers from So.Ca.USA 3rd house on the left.

[@jakedee4117]

Exactly what I thought "That guy is going to DIE😨!' So they had a few technical difficulties but not really a "fatal flaw" unless get sold off is considered a fatality.

[@ValuedTeamMember]

@@jakedee4117 Jake. We were all taken for a ride Just as well. Flipping over with your head as the only roll bar would leave everybody red faced

[@StephenAllcroft]

Great video, but the first vehicle you showed wasn't a Daimler Ambulance but a Morris-Commercial CV. Never mind racehorses, that would have trouble keeping up with carthorses.

[@427Motorsports]

Ah I should have checked! Thanks for the correction!

[@grantm6514]

I'm just imagining one of those camera teams bumping their overloaded rig along a muddy track, looking up to see a modern drone hovering next to them, capturing better footage than they're getting.😂😂

[@CableWrestler]

Where's the fatal flaw?

[@michaelstandring5580]

I think it's the way they wear out their suspension. It certainly isn’t clear.

[@mikec3698]

@@michaelstandring5580 It"s a very good point, But it could be, towing that noisy heavy generator, especially at high speed !!!

[@drewzerna4087]

Thanks I am not the only one waiting for that too 👍 Interesting clip but a bit misleading

[@michaelheimbrand5424]

You don't loose damping when loading cargo on a (real) Citroën. By pushing more fluid into the spheres (which is what happens when it compensate the height) you get more oil transferred in and out per every movement. And because the damping is based on restricting the amount of oil passing, you get damping progressively harder the more load it gets. It's not as simple as let's say a German car with air suspension.

[@AquaMarine1000]

I'm still waiting for the fatal flaw.

[@lesklower7281]

From Top Gear UK l saw Citroen DS used for broadcasting horse racing and the use of Citroens for camera cars and even a 2CV

[@highpath4776]

Please Get Adam Martyn and Hubnut to collaborate recreating that 2CV

[@427Motorsports]

We'd happily do a collab, would be great craic! Do a petition perhaps ;)

[@keithhoughton4308]

Interesting choice of music.

[@andrebartels1690]

No wonder the DS was chosen.

[@CycolacFan]

Always wanted to see inside one and see how much reinforcement was needed to the roof. Presume there was a solid load-bearing mount going through the roof down to the floor on all the vehicles requiring an operator on top? I remember catching glimpses of the CX during televised racing events.

[@427Motorsports]

The CX and XM definitely did have big chequerplate panels up top for reinforcement - if you get a chance to catch the replica XM anywhere it's definitely worth a look, the kit inside is fascinating and the guys are happy for people to get up onto the roof too!

[@CycolacFan]

@ I get to the NEC show every year so I’ll look out for it. Thanks.

[@davidjones332]

I don't know about the Safaris but the DS had a very lightweight roof, which I think was fibreglass. It would certainly need a lot of reinforcement to take all that kit and an operator on top.

[@nlpnt]

At the time, at least one company based in SoCal had to be offering a turnkey camera car based on a Cadillac Series 75 chassis (aka a hearse chassis, ambulances too pre-EMS Act of 1973). The BBC could've ordered one of those and likely caused no more or less of a stir than the French Citroen would've circa 1970.

[@chrisperyagh]

American landyacht's suspension is most likely too spongy and wallowy for anything except driving in a straight line over a smooth road. The hydropneumatic suspension takes all the bumps into account and doesn't transfer them to the body of the car. Plus the fact many of the narrow streets here in the UK would've been too narrow for a Cadillac to comfortably fit down. Have a look at this video of various Eurocars (and a Toyota) doing the same track test and you'll see the CX did best over an undulating surface - I dread to think how a Cadillac would've done at 40mph on that test. The Fiat Croma couldn't cope at 35mph. kzbin.info/www/bejne/e2PGiKiir8R3b7M

[@fredfred6296]

no.1 looks like a morris comercial ? not daimler

[@noneck3099]

yeah LC5

[@fredfred6296]

@noneck3099 i had a MRA 1 ..same cab

[@antontsau]

Really do not understand the problem. European 3.5t van class (Ford Transit, Transporter LT/Crafter, Sprinter and so on) exists for 50 years, its the ideal platform for all this. High platform (2.7m floor, on the roof) - easy! High stability and 2t of equipment - easy (truck body)! 4wd, active suspension, huge engines, 4-5m long work platform, whatever you wish available from manufacturer or can be upgraded without black voodoo. Why wagons? Why generator on trailer???? What the backyard scrapworks?

[@stephenhowell5611]

Why didn't the beeb go for a longer wheelbase twin rear axle Tissier CX ?

[@MezeiEugen]

You dont mention the Mercedes 116.

[@AtheistOrphan]

3:02 - John Noakes spotted!

[@vercingetorige400]

great content i advise a desser to clean the consonants and the popping Ps

[@CDeBeaulieu]

Why is it that the BBC cameras were so heavy in the 1980s and required a lot of electricity yet the American Moon mission in 1969 apparently was able to carry a remotely operated TV camera that not only showed the first landing on the Moon (one small step for mankind etc) but also managed to accurately pan upwards to show the departure and managed to transmit all of this on its own using apparatus and batteries that were light as a feather?

[@427Motorsports]

The camera was probably the same size in the studio where they recorded it 🫡🫡😂

[@briansturrock2041]

Exactly, and don't forget about the phone call to the moon , from president nixon, when even today you can't get a mobile signal in your back bedroom

[@WOFFY-qc9te]

Moore's Law; In addition to the camera and heavy optics and viscous tripod, power was needed for the vision mixer, modulator and and the microwave / RF feed and talkback to the OB unit. The camera used on the Moon was a low resolution Videcon with limited optics and the link to the Earth was narrow bandwidth through existing LEM kit. The Pan up was timed taking into account the comms delay and fortunately they got it right.

[@nichouslip2394]

Progress.

[@WOFFY-qc9te]

​@@nichouslip2394 $2M Hasselblad camera or a $40 GoPRo, which one would Neil Armstrong have chosen. Progress. Anyone who is interested in the Apollo kit drop into Curiousmarc YT he as got the original kit running. For more info on BBC Outside broadcast Look up MCR 21 a restored 1960's OB unit which shows the cameras in detail.

[@EmpireGaming-y8e]

im thinking of buying a 1989 Mercedes-Benz 300E with 275,000 km, they are selling it for 1500 Canadian Dollars, would it be worth it? also great video

[@427Motorsports]

That's pretty cheap if it's in good condition, just watch out for the head gasket at that mileage, the M103s can let go over 150mi

[@benters3509]

Very interesting. But only half the story. You've covered getting the picture out of the vehicle - just about - but overlooked the fact that until the nineties, synchronizers were not available, and to get the roving eye picture through the mixer in anything but a cut, which still may produce a frame roll, the signal had to be frame, line and color synchronized. Therefore a return link was required for the audio sync signals. Then there is the production and engineering talkback to get into the roving eye. Probably Band V.

[@Backwardlooking]

Excellent. Thanks. 👍🏻🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿