Top Gear officially reveals Stig's identity!

[Lazerous]

Top Gear officially reveals Stig's identity, and he's even more impressive than we thought



Fair warning: This is our third Stig post in about a week, so if you're not a fan of the Top Gear and its Tame Racing Driver, feel free to mosey on down the page. Speculation about the Stig's identity has always been a fun way to pass the time with fellow car buffs. It's one of those secrets that you'd love to solve, but that you hope nobody ever does at the same time.

Last week, a service man came forward to say that he came across the Stig's white suit and helmet while doing some work at a home in the UK, and then an art gallery blabbed that a certain well-known racecar driver came into their gallery to commission some Stig artwork. Between the two of them they figured it was time to let the world know what they did, so they revealed Stiggy's true identity. Well, they got it all wrong according to the blokes at Top Gear.

In response to all of the speculation that has been reported as fact (by this outlet among others), the show wants to set the record straight. That's why the BBC outlet has just issued a statement identifying their white-clad road warrior. The Stig has been revealed to be...wait for it....Graham Hill. Yes, the very same Graham Hill who won the GP World Drivers Championship in 1962 and 1968 and was reported to have died in a tragic plane crash back in 1975. Who would have guessed? Ironically, his son and fellow Formula One World Champion Damon Hill was one of the people rumored to have donned the white driving suit and helmet. What a clever ruse.

This comes as quite a shock to everyone who has followed the story. After all, Graham would be about 80 years old now. Some say his mustache wax was the clue that made the team come forward with the news. Some say he has been growing frustrated getting out of so many awkward supercar doors. All we know is, you can follow the link to hear the whole exciting story of how this two-time champion worked with the BBC to fake his own death, some 20 years before the BBC even dreamed up the need for a Stig on a show they hadn't even created yet. Fascinating. Thanks for the tip, Rafer!

[Source: AutoBlog and Top Gear | Image: Slim Aarons/Getty]

[the Teuton]

Even if they keep Ben Collins, they need to "kill off" this Stig.

[Lazerous]

Here is the "news-release" from Top Gear itself:

Top Gear's mystery test driver is legendary dead racing driver Graham Hill, according to someone or other The Mole spoke to.

The identity of the hit TV show's famous wheelman will come as a shock to the dozens of gearheads worldwide who had speculated that the man in the white suit was GP World Champion Damon Hill.

"To find out that it's actually his dad will come as a shock," said a man yesterday.

In an alleged plot believed to have cost the license payer millions of pounds, BBC bosses apparently helped Graham Hill fake his own death in a plane crash.

According to Mole sources, the BBC knew as far back as 1974 that one day they'd hire Jeremy Clarkson to front their motoring show which didn't exist yet, and that Jeremy would probably go to a school where they called new boys "Stigs", and that in 2002 he'd probably invent an anonymous racing driver and probably give him that same name.

So they approached Graham Hill, whose professional driving career was over at that point, and asked him to crash a plane and then hide in a bush until he got the call from the Top Gear team 20 odd years later," said a BBC insider.

He added: "The BBC does make a mess of some things but they';re pretty good at forward planning."

The mystery driver's identity was uncovered when a cleaner discovered some empty tins of moustache wax in a Mclaren SLR that the Stig had just lapped round the Top Gear test track.

"I found the tins and the penny dropped," said the cleaner. "I mean when did you ever see Graham Hill without his moustache on?" Or something like that, anyway.

[S204STi]

rofl!

[Lazerous]

rofl!

I especially like this part:

So they approached Graham Hill, whose professional driving career was over at that point, and asked him to crash a plane and then hide in a bush until he got the call from the Top Gear team 20 odd years later," said a BBC insider.

[Morris Minor]

If you've ever watched Larry King on CNN, you will understand that being dead in no way disqualifies you from having an important role on TV. It's a clever irony that they call the show "Larry King Live."

[NomisR]

The next Stig can be Ayrton Senna, oh wait.. but he's not a Brit so that's out.. oh, maybe they can have Zombie Colin McRae be the stig.

[cawimmer430]

Anyone else sick of these constant "The Stig is bla bla..." threads?


Here, the Stig is:

[Tave]

I thought Brits were supposed to be funny.

[J86]

If you've ever watched Larry King on CNN, you will understand that being dead in no way disqualifies you from having an important role on TV. It's a clever irony that they call the show "Larry King Live."