After nearly "drowning" during a river crossing—a moment that saw Hammond screaming in genuine distress—

The Top Gear Botswana Special represents a bygone era of television. It captured the spirit of adventure in a way that felt spontaneous and real. It gave us "Oliver," it gave us Clarkson hacking his car to pieces with an axe, and it proved that a Mercedes W123 is essentially indestructible.

Let’s look back at the cars that conquered (and nearly died in) the Kalahari Desert.