Jeremy Clarkson 'declares victory' after Elon Musk sued him for giving Tesla a bad review 17 years ago

Jeremy Clarkson has "declared victory" 17 years after Elon Musk sued him for defamation over a candid review of a Tesla car.

Back in 2008 on an episode of Top Gear, Clarkson shared his thoughts on the Tesla Roadster, calling it "unreliable," "ridiculously expensive," and humoured it "weighed more than most moons" meaning "it didn't handle very well".

On Sunday (23 March) in The Times, Clarkson explained: "Musk was very angry about this and sued us for defamation, claiming I had a problem with electrical cars and had written the piece before even setting foot in the car. He lost the case, and the appeal, and he’s never really got over it.

"He still claims I was biased and that we pretended his car had broken down when it hadn't. Even though it had. I should really have sued him back, but I feared he’d call me a paedo, so instead I just waited on the riverbank for his body to float past. And now it has."

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Clarkson went on to say that he was "always scrupulously fair with his car reviews" and was happy to see Musk being "pecked to death by the very people who put him on the pedestal in the first place".

Elsewhere in Clarkson's feature, he reflected on Tesla's downfall since Donald Trump appointed Musk, adding: "Things are so bad that a friend of mine who was trying to save the world (and a few quid on the congestion charge) has now fitted a sticker to his Tesla saying he bought it before he knew Musk was an idiot."

The Tesla boss' BBC lawsuit was dismissed in 2013, later sharing his thoughts to Newsnight months later.

"I was surprised to learn Top Gear was even on the BBC. Clarkson's show is more about entertainment that it is about truth. And I think most people realise that, but not everyone," Musk said.

"I’ve actually enjoyed a lot of his shows so it’s not as though I just hate Top Gear or anything. He can be very funny and irreverent, but he does have a strong bias against electric cars and particularly he seems to hate American.

"Like, his two pet peeves are American cars and electric cars. And we’re an American electric car so we’re in the worst possible situation for someone like Clarkson."

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