I get images of Topgears Renault Robin space shuttle clone in my head. While obviously not hitting the heights the shuttle can it was an impressive endeavor that might satisfy your curiosity; http://youtu.be/pJdrlWR-yFM
Reliant Robin, not Renault. The French have nothing to do with it, you'll upset the proud Englishmen.
A classic TG moment. I still meet people that think that was real.
Top Gear (along with Fox News), hold the dubious honour of having had to defend themselves in court for their right to lie in segments presented as factual reporting. This is probably part of the reason why they moved away from car reviews and onto doing stunts.
They may have faked the explosion at the end, and obviously their explanation is total nonsense, but the launch looks pretty authentic, see this alternate angle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoMKy043j_I
It's not? Seriously I worked NASA and that episode was entirely plausible (except for the explosion after effects), and not as expensive as other things Top Gear has done. Why are you saying it was faked?