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Supercar maker Ferrari tells Top Gear Live car show to use real Ferraris rather than re-bodied Toyotas. TOBY HAGON reports.
Ferrari has requested the organisers of Top Gear Live to stop using fake Ferraris in its shows.
The approach came following an exclusive Drive.com.au story that revealed the controversial move to supplement $400,000 Ferraris with Toyotas re-bodied to look like Ferraris in a stunt-driving series where three cars are often in close contact.
Speaking at the Geneva motor show, Ferrari CEO Amedeo Felisa said it was important to protect the brand and, as a consequence, the company had spoken to the Top Gear Live show’s organisers from the BBC.
A spokesman for Ferrari said Top Gear Live had admitted to using fake Ferraris.
“We asked them to change it … for the Hong Kong [Top Gear Live] show (the last stop on the world tour),” said the spokesman. “We said ‘please use real Ferraris’.”
The head of communications for home entertainment at the BBC Worldwide, Philip Fleming, stopped short of admitting the ‘Ferraris’ used in the Sydney and New Zealand shows were fake.
“Top Gear Live is a mix of the usual Top Gear fooling around, exotic cars and extremely exciting, live-action stunt driving,” said Fleming 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.”
Fleming says the BBC has been in contact with Ferrari since the publication of the Drive.com.au story.
“Yes, we have been in contact with Ferrari recently,” he said.
“However, it's important to point out that the Hong Kong show was tailored for the local audience and we actually used drift cars [not Ferraris or lookalike Ferraris] for the sequence in question.”
Top Gear told to stop using fake Ferraris - www.drive.com.au
Ferrari has requested the organisers of Top Gear Live to stop using fake Ferraris in its shows.
The approach came following an exclusive Drive.com.au story that revealed the controversial move to supplement $400,000 Ferraris with Toyotas re-bodied to look like Ferraris in a stunt-driving series where three cars are often in close contact.
Speaking at the Geneva motor show, Ferrari CEO Amedeo Felisa said it was important to protect the brand and, as a consequence, the company had spoken to the Top Gear Live show’s organisers from the BBC.
A spokesman for Ferrari said Top Gear Live had admitted to using fake Ferraris.
“We asked them to change it … for the Hong Kong [Top Gear Live] show (the last stop on the world tour),” said the spokesman. “We said ‘please use real Ferraris’.”
The head of communications for home entertainment at the BBC Worldwide, Philip Fleming, stopped short of admitting the ‘Ferraris’ used in the Sydney and New Zealand shows were fake.
“Top Gear Live is a mix of the usual Top Gear fooling around, exotic cars and extremely exciting, live-action stunt driving,” said Fleming 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.”
Fleming says the BBC has been in contact with Ferrari since the publication of the Drive.com.au story.
“Yes, we have been in contact with Ferrari recently,” he said.
“However, it's important to point out that the Hong Kong show was tailored for the local audience and we actually used drift cars [not Ferraris or lookalike Ferraris] for the sequence in question.”
Top Gear told to stop using fake Ferraris - www.drive.com.au
