James May's Cars of the People: A Top Gear Special

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 kick-started the mobilisation of the masses. It's a tale of design brilliance, abject failure, war, fraud and double dealing featuring some of the best (and worst) cars and characters of the 20th century. He also 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.

In this episode of Cars of the People James downsizes to explore the weird and wonderful world of the micro car. We discover how austerity and fears of congestion led to European tragicomic motoring disasters in the shape of Britain's infamous three wheelers, French death traps and German absurdities. Elsewhere James takes to the battlefield to settle one of the greatest rivalries in the history of the automotive industry.

In the final Cars of the People, James reveals the unlikely champions that finally gave the people performance, pride and a hint of luxury. We discover Rolls Royce's strange journey from the elite to the everyman and how the Mustang and the Capri pioneered excitement and performance on blue collar wages. James keeps up with the Jones' in a company car race with a difference, and gets hot under the collar with the ultimate 80's fantasy cars Porsche and Lamborghini. Roadsters and Hot Hatches bring the people's car into the modern world as James prepares to unveil his own choice as the ultimate Car of the People.

James May reveals the cars that turned post-war Germany and Japan into motoring powerhouses at the expense of Britain and the US. He also has an encounter with an Austin Allegro.

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.