Wednesday 2nd June 2010

Top Gear Lotus Bought From PistonHeads

TG team source latest 'challenge' car from PH's own classifieds

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From this...

Proof that the rich, famous and influential use PistonHeads. Well, the Top Gear presenters, at least (or more likely their production team).

It seems that the Lotus Excel turned by the Top Gear crew into a motorhome for part of a challenge on the forthcoming series was purchased from our very own classifieds section.

A member of the Scoobynet Subaru forum spotted the trio of motorhomes on a Cornish beach, including James May's Excel conversion, and posted them up. That's when an eagle-eyed fellow forummer recognised May's Excel as the one he had been toying with buying on PH...

...to this

It's hard to know how to take that news really. On the one hand it's nice to see that the televisual giant that is Top Gear is sourcing its cars from PH, but a cursory glance at the advert in question seems to reveal a clean, original car - and it seems a shame to have turned it into what you see in these pictures.

So: travesty or victory? We'll leave that one up to you, but there are more than a few of us in the PH office who reckon it's a bit of a sad end for an underrated 1980s Lotus. Still, it's all in the name of entertainment, we suppose.

[muckyman]

we also saw this at the back of the Top Gear studios at Dunsfold Park during the recent Dads Day Out.
Seems a shame to do that to a decent Lotus, albeit a fairly unattractive one (in my opinion)

[Deranged Granny]

Sacrilege!

[ktm301p]

Pistonheads -

Today, Top Gear. Tomorrow, The World!!!

Wehoo

[GTO Scott]

Spoiler coming up!

One of the three motorhomes gets rolled off a cliff in Cornwall.

[edo]

It could be worse. (Marina).

[dpbird90]

GTO Scott said:

Spoiler coming up!

One of the three motorhomes gets rolled off a cliff in Cornwall.

Hardly a spoiler to be honest, it is TG

[Jonboy_t]

I love the plate on it - looks like it could spell a mexican pot smoker 'El Bong'!

[willE36]

Jonboy_t said:

I love the plate on it - looks like it could spell a mexican pot smoker 'El Bong'!

Thanks for pointing that out. Hadn't noticed it. Still chuckling.

= )

[MarkwG]

edo said:

It could be worse. (Marina).

- I think the door handles might be ex Marina? Does that count?

[JonRB]

GTO Scott said:

One of the three motorhomes gets rolled off a cliff in Cornwall.

Oh how hilarious! Good to see the TG writers doing something original for once. Not.

[BlueEyedBoy]

That has to be Clarksons.....

[leon9191]

A friend of mine sold JC a Sapphire Cosworth for the up coming season as well, wonder if its for the same challange.

[JonRB]

Presumably he'll forget to put the handbrake on or something. Exactly like in the last challenge when Hammond's jeep rolled down the hill.

It's kind of pathetic really.

[soad]

WTF is that thing they put on its roof? Coffin of sorts turned sleeper camper to sleep in?!

[GTO Scott]

leon9191 said:

A friend of mine sold JC a Sapphire Cosworth for the up coming season as well, wonder if its for the same challange.

I've just found the article on the website of the local rag - it's a white Citroen that suffers the usual forget-the-handbrake gag.

Article Here

ETA: It was Hartland in Devon, not Cornwall.

Looking at the pics of the Excel, there appears to be a Land Rover Defender next to it with some sort of construction in the back - so the Sapphire is probably for a different challenge.

Edited by GTO Scott on Wednesday 2nd June 12:41

[Mark Wibble]

It'll be interesting to see if they manufacture faults with the car for entertainment purposes like doors falling off etc... if so, the owner can post up here and out them for making it all up. Not that we know they do that anyway...

Don't get me wrong- on the whole I still like TG, but it's the same old gags again and again. And the more contrived things get, the less funny it becomes.

[Uhura_Fighter]

BlueEyedBoy said:

That has to be Clarksons.....

Perhaps....

Article said:

including James May's Excel conversion, and posted them up. That's when an eagle-eyed fellow forummer recognised May's Excel as the one he had been toying with buying on PH...

[WorAl]

you can say that again JonRB

Edit Bah you removed it.

Edited by WorAl on Wednesday 2nd June 12:41

[Zircon]

As much as I love Top Gear, I find it criminal that a car loving program hacks up some lovely cars from time to time.

1/ TVR Chimaera - Electric car. I know there was some minor fibreglass damage to the shell, but what a waste.

2/ Mercedes Interior Design exercise - With the amount of concrete poured in there, that car will never be used again. Plenty of these about so not so bad.

3/ Jaguar XJS launched into the sea. These are becoming quite rare now.

4/ Mitsubishi EVO - Shot and burnt. So what if it was a drug dealers car - Clarkson said himself it had been very well modified. Could they not have found a rough one and given teh proceeds of the other car to a charity?

There are many more examples - and I know I sound like a royal spoil sport, but real car lovers would never wreck a half decent car for 30 minutes entertainment!

[MarkwG]

leon9191 said:

A friend of mine sold JC a Sapphire Cosworth for the up coming season as well, wonder if its for the same challange.

- was at Dunsfold a month or so back: saw a Sapphire Cosworth, Merc 190 Cosworth & an M3 Evo saloon, all parked outside their office in a row. Smelled a storyline in the making...hope none of them suffer a disastrous fate (the cars obviously, not fussed about the presenters...) - M3 rang a bell, as the number plates postcode was a garage near me - dark green paint with baby-poo colour interior, though