Top Gear’s top bill
In the UK those crazy Top Gear stunts are celebrated. In Oz, it's just a rude repair bill.
- Published by David Knox
- on
- Filed under News
Stunt driving in the Australian series of Top Gear has proven an expensive exercise with reports of a repair bill close to $200,000.
Luxury cars have needed total resprays because of flying stones, and lesser brands have reported damage from silly stunts created for the SBS TV series, which is unofficially confirmed for a second series in Australia in 2009.
Some of the most expensive repair bills involved a Lamborghini, which is believed to have sustained about $25,000 damage during filming notes news.com.au. A group of Holden Astras needed $30,000 to restore them after they were used in a game of “lawn bowls”.
A spokesman said, “When they revisit series two, they will encounter a lot of shut doors.”
Holden spokeswoman Kate Lonsdale of the Astra bowls stunt said, “All we will say is that it turned out to be a very expensive test drive.”
Source: news.com.au
Share
- Tagged with Top Gear
11 Responses
They should just eBay them in their ‘used’ condition as show props. They’ll make their money back.
“Besides, the Astra lawn bowls was probably the most original and memorable stunt of the whole show!”
Too right! It’s not as if it was a cheap lame boring ripoff like “soccer with Toyotas”, or even “soccer with Toyotas vs VWs”, was…
That game of lawn bowls wasn’t entertainment at all. It was just watching the Top Gear team unnecessarily bang brand new cars into each other…
What a bunch of whinging b’stards. Has Australia lost its sense of fun or larrikin. Just occasionally it can be good to let strange things happen, being dull is boring.
I do struggle with this – have these car companies never watched Top Gear?
Having said that, PR people in Australia have no sense of humour. Not that Top Gear Australia was funny, mind…
I’ve never seen the UK guys willfully damage a new car like the Aussie guys do. It will be interesting to see if a second season is indeed made, I sure hope not.
Still sounds pretty cheap for the amount of screen time these cars got.
I’m curious as to what happened to the Lamborghini. Was that purely a ridiculous repainting cost? Or something more.
oh come one! what would you expect? If they want a car review show that sucks up to the manufacturer, go and watch Glen Ridge give 4/5 for every car review. Top Gear Australia is based on the UK, and have you seen what they do to those cars? I don’t think Bentley minded that they did burnouts with the latest Bent, drag racing, burnouts donuts and even destroyed the tyre, all good entrainment! Besides, the Astra lawn bowls was probably the most original and memorable stunt of the whole show!
Wouldn’t manufacturers know what they are getting onto ?
Give the stuff the UK guys get up to I’d like to see their repair bills!
They get free advertising. What do they expect for nothing?