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Ferrari Asks Top Gear to use Real Ferraris in their Live Shows

A bit more than a month ago, it was reported that Top Gear used three Toyota MR2s "dressed" as Ferrari 360s doing a lot of... 360s. It was all part of the Australian Top Gear Live show, which took place at the Acer Arena in Sidney. The Australian drive.com.au spilled the beans on the matter, and they have now returned with more details about the story.

It seems that Ferrari officials were informed about the controversial situation and took a stand against it at the Geneva Auto Show. Ferrari CEO Amedeo Felissa said that protecting the prancing horse brand is very important and that he had asked the BBC producers of the Top Gear Live show to use real Ferraris on their future endeavors with drifting and burnouts.

A spokesman for the Maranello brand even said that Top Gear Live had admitted to using re-bodied Toyota MR2s instead of Ferraris.

"We asked them to change it … for the Hong Kong [Top Gear Live] show (the last stop on the world tour),” informed the spokesman. “We said ‘please use real Ferraris’.”

Philip Fleming, head of communications for home entertainment at BBC Worldwide also provided one side to the story to drive.com.au.

“Top Gear Live is a mix of the usual Top Gear fooling around, exotic cars and extremely exciting, live-action stunt driving,” was quoted Fleming as saying in a statement. “Stunt driving requires highly specialist equipment. In this sense Top Gear Live is no different from any cinema or theatrical production. However, in the same way that magicians never divulge their secrets - we also don’t want to spoil the enjoyment and impact of the sequence by revealing how it’s done.”

In case you didn't catch that, he somewhat admitted to using the fake Ferraris in the Australia show, but not exactly. It seems that the last stop of the Top Gear Live World Tour will be Hong Kong where genuine Maranello products are to be expected.
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About the author: Alex Oagana
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Alex handled his first real steering wheel at the age of five (on a field) and started practicing "Scandinavian Flicks" at 14 (on non-public gravel roads). Following his time at the University of Journalism, he landed his first real job at the local franchise of Top Gear magazine a few years before Mircea (Panait). Not long after, Alex entered the New Media realm with the autoevolution.com project.
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