A helmet worn by well-known Top Gear character The Stig is going up for auction.
The item is owned by a member of the production team who lost their job overnight after Jeremy Clarkson hit one of the BBC hit show’s producers.
The highly publicised 2015 altercation involving Clarkson and Irish producer Oisín Tymon led to the original show format headed by Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond being abandoned.
The trio, who went on to film The Grand Tour for Amazon Prime, were replaced by Matt Le Blanc, of Friends fame, and former BBC radio presenter Chris Evans.
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Cricketer Freddie Flintoff, presenter Paddy McGuiness and journalist and racing driver Chris Harris then took over before a serious crash involving Flintoff saw the show shelved once again.
The 46-year-old international sportsman was badly hurt in an accident while filming Top Gear at Dunsfold Aerodrome in December 2022, which led to the show being rested for the “foreseeable future” by the BBC.
The Stig’s helmet is one of several items to go under the hammer on Thursday at Eastbourne Auctions.
It is believed to be the one signed for Oisín Tymon.
Clarkson’s message on the helmet is blunt and unapologetic reading “F**k Off” while the enigmatic and elusive racing driver The Stig added a more cordial touch to his message: “To the Main Man Osh!! Stay Speedy Brother” and James May simply signed it “Go Slow!”
Other lots in the auction include access all areas lanyards along with a USB containing the plans for the never produced Australian Tour and Jeremy Clarkson’s photographic negatives including BBC’s This is Your Life.
Clarkson, Hammond and May signed off their final Grand Tour episode last month with a two-hour instalment.
They had hosted the show since 2016.
The friends travelled to Zimbabwe where they explored challenging landscapes in cars they have always wanted, a Lancia Montecarlo, a Ford Capri 3-litre, and a Triumph Stag.
They chose not to end their time on the road there but to return to Kubu Island in Botswana which featured in their Top Gear special back in 2007.
Towards the end of the episode Clarkson said: “We were now on our final drive together heading to our favourite place in the world.”
The video then shifts to May, who reflected on how they have worked together for 22 years, since their edition of the hit motoring show Top Gear launched in 2002.
He says: “22 years – more than a third of my life, this is going to hit me in quite small ways” before adding: “I hope we brought you a little bit of happiness.”
As they approach their final stop, Clarkson says: “It just remains for me to say thank you very much for watching. Thank you it means a lot.”
Jeannette May, senior valuer at Eastbourne Auctions, hopes Top Gear fans from across the globe will be fired up for the sale.
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