William Woollard sets out to show how travelling on the Continent can be a pleasurable experience, even for first time drivers abroad. Sue Baker follows the story of one young couple who found that it really pays to take out adequate insurance. And Frank Page drives all the way from Calais to Nice with his eyes closed!

Geneva — the first major Motor Show of 1984 opens today with William Woollard and Sue Baker there to look at what you could be driving in the near future. Frank Page has been on a tour of Europe, testing two of the show's new cars, the Renault 25 and Volkswagen's Jetta, and stopping off in West Germany to sample the highly personal service offered by one manufacturer to its customers.

It is ten years since wearing a crash helmet became compulsory, but today you're still 25 times more likely to be killed riding a motorcycle than driving a car. Helmets are vital, of course, but just how safe are they? Are the tests conducted by the British Standards Institution (BSI) good enough? Does the BSI pick the right designs to reduce death and injury in the future? In a special report Tony Baker investigates the helmets you can buy in Britain. Over in Holland, Frank Page tries out Saab's latest offering which sports a 16-valve engine, and nearer to home turns his hand to DIY panel beating.

A look at motoring in the year 2000 with William Woollard and Frank Page at the London Design Centre for the opening of the 'Drive Forward' exhibition. How will cars be powered in the 21st century? Electricity or hydrogen? Could towns and cities change to suit our motoring needs and one day will cars drive themselves? Also a special report from Paris on the lady designer who's created a car which changes colour to suit the weather.

Of the 25,000 car fires in Britain each year less than 2% are caused by collision. So what makes your average saloon catch light? And if it does, how do you cope? Sue Baker looks at the increasing problem and shows you how to deal with a fire. And liquid engineering William Woollard asks how much motorists actually know about the oil they put into their engines.

On the day that Britain's latest family car, Austin Rover's Montego, comes on to the market, Top Gear goes behind the scenes for an exclusive look at the company's new multi-million-pound design centre at Canley, Coventry. While Frank Page and Sue Baker road test the full range of Montegos, William Woollard reports on the years of creative effort and refinement that lie behind the car. A fascinating blend of the traditional, with full-scale craftsmen-built models and the latest in computer-aided design techniques which will shape cars of the future. Once you've bought your new pride and joy you may need a workshop manual to look after it. Frank Page examines the painstaking way in which they are compiled.

The Top Gear team takes to the road with A Second Chance for Motorists: William Woollard 's report on a unique scheme set up by police in Nottinghamshire. Now drivers are no longer automatically prosecuted if they're found with a faulty vehicle; they have a chance to put the defect right. Office on the Move: a look at the limousine that has a video, a computer, a word processor - everything for today's jet-setting businessman. Toy Cars: replicas of famous vehicles that children can drive - if dad's got 12,000 or more to spare.

British skier and rally driver Konrad Bartelski joins the Top Gear team to give his verdict on Audi's 200 Turbo, which has just arrived on the British market. But if your car's not so new and the cost of spares is giving you headaches, Tony Baker may have the answer. A national network of scrap dealers is using the latest technology to help you save time and money. William Woollard introduces the programme from the Transport and Road Research Laboratories.