Michael Gambon has died at the age of 82 after a “bout of pneumonia,” CNN reports. An accomplished actor for more than 50 years, Gambon performed on Broadway, appeared in more movies and TV shows than we care to count and even lent his voice to video games. To most people, he is best known for playing an elderly wizard, but among car enthusiasts, he is known instead for the legendary driving skills that he demonstrated on Top Gear’s old test track.
Back in 2002, Gambon was one of the first stars to appear in a segment of Top Gear’s Star in a Reasonably Priced Car. At the time, they were using a Suzuki Liana (or an Aerio as it was called in the United States) for hot laps, which was far from sporty, but then again, that was the entire point of Star in a Reasonably Priced Car. Since he owned a Ferrari at the time and had experience as a private pilot, it was entirely possible that he might have done well, but the track was also very wet, so he started off behind the eight ball.
Gambon also had trouble with the transmission at first, but it was toward the end of his lap that he really made a name for himself. Heading into the final corner, he went off-track, recovered, and then managed to perfectly nail that last corner. Wait, did we say “perfectly nail”? Sorry, we meant he caught a wheel on the inside of the turn, briefly went airborne, and nearly rolled that poor little Suzuki.
Thankfully, the car didn’t actually roll over, so Uncle Pastuzo wasn’t hurt, but it did make him famous (or perhaps infamous) among Top Gear fans. In fact, to honor his brief flight, Top Gear actually named that corner after him. Funny enough, though, that little mishap wasn’t enough to keep Gambon away, and he actually ended up returning to Top Gear to give it another shot in their new reasonably priced car, a Chevrolet Lacetti (rebadged as a Suzuki Forenza in the U.S.)
We’re going to miss seeing Michael Gambon on screen, and our thoughts are with his family and friends. But at least we have these two wonderful clips to remember him by.