Autoblog

We've all heard our share of rumors about the true identity of the one called The Stig. But after our childhood notions of the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus were shattered, we prefer to keep the legend of the anonymous test driver from Top Gear alive. So we're not about to claim that The Stig is one of us – or is he? – but the enigmatic pilot recently tried his hand at blogging. Trouble is, as we already know, The Stig doesn't have opposable thumbs or speak (let alone write) any discernible language known to man.

The entry on the Top Gear blog is part of a series of posts while the crew is out on the Isle of Man – the British isle with no speed limits and the birthplace of Nigel Mansell – where Stig is driving the Nissan GT-R. Click the Top Gear link to read the Stig's impressions of the Nissan GT-R. It is perhaps the most concise review of Nissan's supercar we've ever read.

[Source: Top Gear]

It's no secret that we're big fans of Top Gear, and it's good to hear that we're definitely not alone in loving the world's greatest motoring show. The waiting list to get a first-hand glimpse of the show being produced is an incredible 336k names deep, which translates to about a 21 year wait. That's enough people to fill England's new Wembley Stadium nearly four times, and for us Yanks, we greatly prefer Top Gear to soccer. With a constant flow of the best vehicles on earth, an endless array of clever new challenges, and the most entertaining show hosts in the biz, we don't think that list will shrink any time soon. We'd love to see the show live and in person, too, but at the current rate most of us would be members of the AARP by 2029. That is unless the Old Trafford can be used as the new Top Gear studio.

[Source: AutoTrader, Image: JonLarge, Flickr]

Lottery winners can often have subhuman tendencies, so it's only natural that you'd want to hang out with equally awful subset of humanity, racing drivers. The Stig is a perfect representation of those with abnormally high levels of octane in their blood, and his/its services around Silverstone were purchased for £35,000 at a charity auction buy a lottery winner recently in reciept of £5 million. The Stig's passenger got three rain-soaked laps for a price of £11,666 per, and the Stig's performance, even on rain tires, was enough to impress Fernando Alonso. For the same price, you might be able to hire a passel of goons to abduct the esteemed Stigginator and pop that darn helmet off, though that particular scenario might be as creepy as the Darth Vader death scene in Return Of The Jedi.

[Source: Top Gear]

UPDATE: This picture was actually shot when Batman Begins was released -- in 2005. So don't expect to see the Stig doing his thing in the Tumbler anytime soon. Check out the rest of the pics at Flickr; we're off to drown our disappointment in a pint.


We don't have any details on when this happened or if when Top Gear will air the man in white piloting Batman's meanest machine. But with the Tumbler making its recent appearance at the British GP with Toyota, was there any doubt that something like this was going to go down? We're taking bets about what kind of time the Tumbler is going to set around the TG test track. Check out the current Power Lap times and make your own predictions in the comments below.

Attention all you Top Gear fans out there! While most of us will never be a big enough star to actually appear on the fabled British motor show as one of its "Stars in a reasonably priced car," the Top Gear website has added a virtual chance at fame and glory. Take a crack at the real Top Gear test track just like The Stig! Pilot your Chevy Laceti around Chicago Corner, through Hammerhead, past The Follow-Through, and blast out of Gambon for the perfect lap. Current lap record holder is Alan G. with a blistering 1:41:193. If you think that's easy to beat, know that we only managed a 2:02:011 on our first full lap. It's not as easy as it might at first appear, as the rather crude graphics belie the trickiness of the controls and course. Check out the "Time to burn?" tab on the site to see how you would match up against Simon Cowell, Hugh Grant, and the Well spoken man. Hopefully you'll be able to beat at least Jimmy Carr. We'll keep at it and try to at least beat Brian Cox before the show returns to British airwaves this weekend for Series 11.

[Source: Top Gear]

UPDATE: Thanks to a handful of readers, we received the image above showing Schrick and the Stig embodied in separate meat vessels. That means one of two things: Schrick is NOT the Stig or Top Gear employs several Stigs.

Certain mysteries aren't meant to be solved, and when it comes to the Stig, ignorance is bliss. But when we got a tip about Top Gear's top test driver caught walking around without his trademark white helmet, we were simultaneously skeptical and intrigued.

The Top Gear crew was caught on one of its legendary crap can races, this time with stripped-out compacts strapped to the roof, when someone wielding a video camera outside of the racetrack caught a glimpse of an unmasked driver wearing what is assumed to be the Stig's white racing suit and carrying a matching white helmet. The blurry shots appeared on Autoblog.nl (no relation) and the speculative efforts of the Dutch enthusiast community pegged the man behind the mask as ace test driver Tim Schrick.

Schrick has had his fair share of publicity, primarily doing reviews for a few German television shows (we've posted a video of him caning the Porsche Carrera GT after the jump), and although the screen captures above doesn't give us a clear view of Schrick (we think he looks a bit older), it's the most plausible theory available.

The question that always pops into our minds when we hear about another spotting of the Stig is whether Top Gear employs different drivers for different segments of the show. Jeremy, May and Hammond were on the set, so it's conceivable that Schrick is the "real" Stig, but unless other evidence is offered, we remain comfortable assuming that the Stig is part man, part machine and all bad-ass. Thanks for the tip, Laurens!

[Source: Autoblog.nl]

Bionic Woman. Knight Rider. And now....Top Gear? NBC, America's remake network, has ordered a pilot of an Americanized Top Gear. Expect to see all the usual Top Gear conventions, including three presenters; a masked Stig-like driver; a private test track; taping in a hangar before a live audience; and (probably D-List) celebs driving midsize cars. Unfortunately, you won't see the program's British hosts, Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond. And this is where it gets dicey. You see, those guys are the reason Top Gear is what it is. They're clever and witty, and they endear themselves to gearheads with segments like Clarkson's hilarious Peel P50 "review" (it's pasted after the jump). NBC's going to have a hard time finding US hosts who can replicate that vibe without being relentlessly annoying in the process. As BBC remakes go, we truly hope that a US-flavored Top Gear succeeds like The Office, but we're concerned that it might just turn into another Coupling. Thanks to all who sent tips.

[Source: Reuters]

The platitudes keep pouring in for the 2009 Nissan GT-R. Bill Thomas from Top Gear produced our favorite write up by far right before Christmas in which he pits the GT-R against its arch nemesis, the Porsche 911 Turbo, on the back roads of Germany before attacking the Autobahn. His description of accelerating to 190 mph on the 'bahn puts you right there with him riding shotgun as the twin-clutch transmission delivers terrifying levels of velocity with each snick. Thomas actually lays praise on the GT-R's gear box above any of the car's other components, including the twin-turbo VR38 six-cylinder producing 473bhp.

Of course, we all want to know what the Stig thought of Nissan's new supercar, and he fortunately (and mysteriously) walked out of a German forest and demanded a 20-minute drive before reentering the landscape and disappearing. The Stig, however, doesn't speak, so we'll have to wait until the car appears on the television show itself to see how fast it goes on the Top Gear test track with the Stig behind the wheel.

[Source: Top Gear]

Some say "Top Gear"'s tamed racing driver has always owned Park Place, Boardwalk and Free Parking. Others say he's never been beaten at tic-tac-toe. All we know is that he's called The Stig, and he's got his own board game called Top Gear Race The Stig Game. This electronic game looks like a combination of Monopoly and Trivial Pursuit. All we know is that we'd like to have one if anyone got our name. Race The Stig board game - $44

Next up: Good enough for the kids!

Our new friend from Down Under, KP, dropped us a link to a post in the online edition of Wheels magazine, which asserts that Clarkson may not return to Top Gear for the next season. The report stems from an article in The Times, where Jezza hinted to his departure from the show by saying that, "After last week's Top Gear, the continuity announcer said the show would be back in the summer. Can I just say, here and now, it won't be."

Whether or not this was an overture to Clarkson's imminent departure or possibly his contention that the show's production schedule wouldn't allow a summer return is open to debate. Regardless, a BBC spokesman said that a "summer special" is set to be released and that Top Gear will make a comeback sometime in the fall.

On an aside: if you had the chance to watch the last episode of Top Gear, with its highly controversial dyno test of the GT500 and the practically self parodying limo skit, it's apparent that the show has made a sharp departure from its original purpose. While some maintain that this has added to the shows popularity, others have expressed their displeasure, saying that the only great automotive show has fallen dangerously off course.

Your thoughts, as always, are welcomed in comments.

[Sources: Wheelsmag.com.au, TimesOnline.co.uk]