Top Gear defends fake Ferrari act

The claims were made after one of the suppliers to the show at Sydney’s Acer Arena spotted the cars backstage and became suspicious about what was under the bonnets.

During the show, fans looked on in wide-eyed wonder as three Ferrari F360s chased each other around the ring, missing each other by a few centimetres in a casual disregard for their $370,000 price tag.

For many like myself it represented what Top Gear is all about and one of the highlights of the 75 minute hit and miss performance.

Other eagle-eyed fans smelled a rat however when they spotted irregularities in the body work of the cars which were missing a rear air vent.

They were mortified.

We sat through one of 10 Sydney shows on an incredibly hot Friday evening at the Acer Arena.

While parts of the performance were amusing, we were glad we had not shelled out our hard-earneds for the privilege like the thousands that packed the stands.

The music was so loud it was difficult to hear the noise of the Ferraris which ordinarily would be unmistakable.

In hindsight, we're not surprised.

The cars were actually Toyota MR2s fitted with body kits to look like Ferraris.

A bit of research shows the same thing happened on the South African leg of the tour, but the producers fessed up to the substitution beforehand, explaining the cars were on their way to Australia.

Of course it begs the question what happened to them?

We contacted the show's producers to see what they had to say about the Ferraris?

“Top Gear Live is a mix of the usual Top Gear fooling around, exotic cars and extremely exciting, live-action stunt driving,” Gemma Courtenay explained.

“Stunt driving requires highly specialist equipment. In this sense Top Gear Live is no different from any cinema or theatrical production.”

It shows the mind is a peculiar thing because, expecting to see Ferraris, it's not surprising that's what the majority of people saw _ even if they weren't real (including yours truly).

Clarkson and the Hamster took Top Gear on the road in October, playing to some 250,000 people, with 67 shows in six countries.

A “local” filled in for missing presenter James May at each port of call.

For Sydney, it was Top Gear Australia's Steve Pizzati, or Pizza Boy as Clarkson kept calling him.

There's no mention of the Ferrari fiasco on Top Gear Australia's website, just the news that anchor Charlie Cox has been replaced by jazz great James Morrison for the second series which goes to air later this year.

Go to the Top Gear Live (Sydney) blog however and you can read what fans thought of the show.

BJ (comment 131) remarks: “It would have been nice to hear the three Ferraris trying to go sideways around the arena, although it seemed they failed at anything spectacular even then, not that I could hear anything over the blaring music.”

Four comments later Paul M writes: “Pity the 3 Ferraris weren't real.

“It was a bit of a rip-off paying to see disguised MR2s pretending to be Maranello stallions. I guess the insurance on a coupla million dollars worth of super cars was too much to swallow.

“At least those of us in the know didn't swallow the fraud.”

The sleight of hand strikes at the very core of Top Gear's DNA which draws much of its excitement from the fact that's it's all real and that they don't mind trashing the odd Ferrari or two in the name of entertainment – hang the expense.

Or so we thought . . .

You might be interested to learn the Ferraris were in fact Ferrenzos, Toyota MR2s with body kits that are designed to look like the real thing for a faction of the cost.

The point is that having been caught out once for faking it, how can fans ever believe Clarkson or any of it ever again?

What do you think?