By Colin Adamson, Evening Standard
17 June 2003
A classic racing car that once won the Le Mans 24 Hours race was left with a burned-out clutch, damaged drive shafts and bald tyres after an "idiotic" test drive for BBC2's Top Gear.
Presenter Jeremy Clarkson's mystery test driver, professional racer Perry McCarthy, performed wheel spins and getaways with the £1 million C-type Jaguar - one of only three such cars in the world.
Owner Adrian Hamilton, a classic motor dealer, said: "They behaved like hooligans joy-riding in a supermarket car park. The idiot who drove it showed no respect for a unique piece of racing history.
"We were kept away from the end of the runway where the driving was being done so it was only when I saw it on TV that I realised how dreadfully they had treated the car. "
"It was a very shabby thing for them to do and left the car needing a lot of expensive work which I am expecting the BBC to pay for."
Mr Hamilton, of Hook, Hants, offered the Jaguar for Top Gear to test to mark the 50th anniversary of his father Duncan's win in the Le Mans 24 Hours race in France in 1953.
Test driver Mr McCarthy failed to finish in an Audi at Le Mans at the weekend.
A spokesman for Top Gear said: "The production team asked if it was OK for them to 'drive the car hard'. Mr Hamilton said it was, but unfortunately both parties have differing opinions of what hard driving is."
He added: "Top Gear has no intention of upsetting Mr Hamilton. The car is being repaired and both parties are in discussion about the cost
http://www.eveningstandard.co.uk/news/articles/5355984?source=Evening Standard
17 June 2003
A classic racing car that once won the Le Mans 24 Hours race was left with a burned-out clutch, damaged drive shafts and bald tyres after an "idiotic" test drive for BBC2's Top Gear.
Presenter Jeremy Clarkson's mystery test driver, professional racer Perry McCarthy, performed wheel spins and getaways with the £1 million C-type Jaguar - one of only three such cars in the world.
Owner Adrian Hamilton, a classic motor dealer, said: "They behaved like hooligans joy-riding in a supermarket car park. The idiot who drove it showed no respect for a unique piece of racing history.
"We were kept away from the end of the runway where the driving was being done so it was only when I saw it on TV that I realised how dreadfully they had treated the car. "
"It was a very shabby thing for them to do and left the car needing a lot of expensive work which I am expecting the BBC to pay for."
Mr Hamilton, of Hook, Hants, offered the Jaguar for Top Gear to test to mark the 50th anniversary of his father Duncan's win in the Le Mans 24 Hours race in France in 1953.
Test driver Mr McCarthy failed to finish in an Audi at Le Mans at the weekend.
A spokesman for Top Gear said: "The production team asked if it was OK for them to 'drive the car hard'. Mr Hamilton said it was, but unfortunately both parties have differing opinions of what hard driving is."
He added: "Top Gear has no intention of upsetting Mr Hamilton. The car is being repaired and both parties are in discussion about the cost
http://www.eveningstandard.co.uk/news/articles/5355984?source=Evening Standard