It's all down to money. Top Gear's budget is massive hence they get helicopter shots etc. This show was mostly a single camera shoot with all its limitations. I thought the worst thing about it was the music which was immensely irritating.
The trouble with all these shows is that Classic Cars are such a broad church. People tend to like particualr eras, mainly when they were beginning to be interested in cars and not yet too interested in girls! Therefore I like the sixties and early seventies, others like the classic Jags from the fifties and sixties, then there's pre-war stuff which leaves me cold - it goes on.
I don't think I would have featured an Austin Allegro on my first programme though!