Which member of the trio was the Stig closest with? | Ben Collins interview
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 เม.ย. 2021
- Ben Collins was the Stig we all remember, setting some unbelievable lap times around the Dunsfold test track and taking part in many of the best challenges that the trio ever undertook. Mike Fernie grabbed him for a chat about his time on Top Gear, his more recent film stunt driving and what his relationship was like with Clarkson, Hammond and May.
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Top Gear was a once in a generation enigma.
Definitely. I’m glad I was one of many who grew up with the show!
Yes sir you are totally correct and we were all apart of it , one big family from every corner of the 🌎
@@vaughan2203 on my own personal Plex server. Don’t wanna pay to rewatch.
True,was lucky to witness it all.
I really know zero about cars, I know all the manufacturers and models but Top Gear has been a staple in my life for a long time. Its one of the best things to watch. So entertaining and the banter is top notch
some say he was born wearing a leather jacket
Ben Collins just drips cool
He really does. Worked with the SAS doing driving instruction not to mention going through training with a reserve unit of the SAS. On top of all of his professional driving and the work he did with movies like some of the James Bond movies.
Milking the whey here.
Hey what up Jared^^
So very cool.
Haha, Exactly what I thought to myself. What a cool guy man. He is the luckiest person on Earth to have worked with Jeremy, Richard and James. What an epic career Ben has had. An amazing racer and great all round cool dude. I'd love to meet him some day and shake his hand.
Some say, The Stig has a picture of Ben Collins in his wallet.
underrated
Oh daddy! 😞
lol.FTW. But I mean, really? Wouldn’t you?
Next to the picture of his wallet that he keeps in his wallet
@@jdsayler96 some say, he has a tattoo of his face... on his face
This honestly feels like an interview with an unmasked supehero😂 As if a superhero's secret identity has finally been revealed and he's giving a full tell all about his adventures😂
He wrote a literal tell all book if you are interested.
I am Ironman.
@@TheBondsJamesBonds I must read it.
I would like a Batman comic to be just him having a sit down interview and then get arrested after it
@@TheBondsJamesBonds was going to post that. Surely the "reason for leaving TG" is a pack of....
...Untruths?
His business venture was going norks up & instead of asking for help from any of the rather rich team, he signed a tell all deal with a publisher & TG had to sack him, as secrecy was part of his contract. The boys spent years referencing this with many, many backstabbing jokes & similar. This isn't cool spinning that load of BS.
The Micheal Schumacher reveal will forever be one of the greatest moments
I really hope Schumacher is doing well.
"What's your real name?"
People still actually believe it though even after we know for a fact it was Ben
@Ross Bourne if they can afford 87 mil for eastenders set they could afford shuey especially if he was not racing in F1. rival car companies do not like it though, mark webber explained that when grand tour driver interviews took place.
Ross Bourne we know that, but most people don’t so the shock value works
Next can you interview all the stigs cousin’s ? 😃😃
A man of culture
@Ian Thompson Australian stig
@@2rs437 “Big Stig” from the southern USA special
The communist stig
Green stig
It was never the real stig. It was the stigs socialising cousin
💯👍
Fact
He’s the black sheep of the family.
It’s so incredibly sad he didn’t end up rich like the others after the show. He was an integral part of Top Gear and can clearly be a front man in presenting. Listening to him wishing the price of a Porsche would drop when he’s one of the best drivers TV has seen. He should have got rich beyond his dreams.
At least he got something because that Porsche is still a 100k car
It is sad that he wasn't as successful as the others, but he still has a great life and a much better life than the majority of people.
Most of us aren't wealthy. Mr. Collins has done things many of us can only dream of.
Top gear is the best car show ever during Clarkson time ,,, unfortunately the stig did not get the proper recognition he Truly deserves
Most guys like him are race instructors also and can make some decent money that way.
The Stig is the only man who can’t talk his way out of a speeding ticket
"Your honour, this must be a mistake. At no point would I be driving slow enough to be caught by a radar trap."
When a cop pulls The Stig over, the cop's the one who gets the ticket
He is also the one most likely NOT to be caught if he decides to not be caught.
@@spooky4985
Cop: Do you know why I pulled you over?
Stig: Because I let you.
He just wouldn't stop innit
He needs a show with him testing cars around a track...he is just as ICONIC as the Trio, and deserves to be recognized world wide as the others are..
pretty much anywhere there's been TV programs, you can show a picture of a white suited tame racing driver, and theyll know who it is
@@ghomerhust pretty iconic is The Sting too..
He did do that too. He was Autosport's test driver, did a lot of tests and reviews of racing cars, which were then articles in the magazine and videos on their website (pre-takeover/selloff by Haymarket). Ben would be very welcomed back doing that again for sure!
There is actually, he made his own channel. Just search "Ben Collins Drives "
Well, some time after he tell that he is the Stig and left Top Gear... he drove around Poznan Track and telling about cars for Polish car program Automaniak :p
All he needs to do for his cv is put: I WAS THE STIG
All his c.v says is "some say".
You could get any job with that CV
For an American, I have to assume this means resume, but half of me is saying "Why would you put that into an aircraft carrier?"
Being the stig might be the least impressive part of his career.
@@fuckthis81 I'll do you one better: it will have every single "Some say", well except for the cousins
The stig was such a great character. and in the end a sad story, but all in all such a great career Ben and well done. thank you for the great years and memories on the show.
"Stig-James" against Australia and Germany was the best one :))
But sadly it wasnt ben driving the rally car in top gear vs Australia
@@andrewsher9360 rally car?
@@caprise-music6722 The Proton Satria F2 cars. I think it was Mark Higgins driving that.
@@OsellaSquadraCorse Higgins? I thought ken block
Some say that he sleeps upside down like a BAT
🤣🤣🤣🤣
🤣🤣🤣🤣
And that he's wanted by the CIA.
@@ThreeStrikes015WW And his gentials are upside down
I remember being on holiday in SanAntonio back in 2009 being told by a waitress that she was a fan of British tv and liked Top Gear. She said how there was someone in the other week who worked on top gear and she jokingly asked him wether he was the stig. The guy didn’t deny or confirm, he just gave a smile and slight could be incline of the head. Of course it sounded like someone had been pulling her leg and we said as much asking what his name was, so she went off to the bar to check and came back to announce it was Ben Collins.
Following year I realised I owed that girl such a huge apology 😳
6:59 is what everyone actually wants to see.
Thanks!
Thanks
Thanks
Thanks
Thanks
I like the episode where Ben, Jezza, Hammond and May were racing the 24 Hour Britcar at Silverstone with the Diesel BMW saloon car.
That Penistone & Larsen sponsors really makes me laugh
It wasn’t Ben driving as the stig in that one
@@vand5781 Then who was the driver as the Stig then?
@@DC322 the driver was a guy called Phil keen
@@vand5781 it was Ben though wasn't it, cause he wrote about the 24h race in his book. Maybe there were 2 24h races?
Ben Collins was a big part of Top Gear’s success. I would love to see him either on Top Gear again or on the Grand Tour in some fashion
Not really. The stig, a white uniform driver, was.
He was on one of TGT's teaser trailers
Not really but The Stig was.
I remember he did a segment with top gear after his departure involving wounded ex-servicemen competing in the Dakar Rally.
Some say: His jacket was previously worn in by David Hasslehoff, and that his underpants are equipped with a little white helmet. All we know is: He's called the STOG!
I missed 2 huge questions for him.
The koenigsegg CCX backwing and his input on it.
Hammonds crash and the investigation he was helping with.
I would have liked to know the two facts about ducks the stig knows, which are false.
@@neofox. This exactly!
Top gear had nothing to do with the development of that wing. They just said the did because they can.
@@neofox. Have. Not of.
@@johnbarnett4936 Thanks.
Some say, he's hired some bloke named Ben Collins, just to speak for him.
Others say that he's still afraid, of trees.
And that he hates interviews.
All we know, is that he's called THE STIG
Honestly Im glad to see Ben finally getting some recognition for all the work he's done over the years, thank you for all the memories Ben!
Pretty sure he was paid quite handsomely
@@Mjws2907 it's not about him gettin paid or not it's that he's never really mentioned for his work on the show. It's just the trio most of the time
@@Mjws2907 compared to the trio, he was paid pennies.
@@valebliz Compared to the trio, he didn't do as much of the work as he was a consultant for the BBC, not a presenter.
@@wolftone2437 He was to stay anonymous entirely, that was what he signed up for anyway. Everything else is a bonus. It's nice to see that he gets some recognition and I agree with that. But it's not that he was deprived of recognition all those years.
What I loved about his book "Man in the white suit" was how he detailed the production that went into Top Gear and how his job was about more than just teaching celebrities how to race and setting lap times.
Because he also was the consultant for the cheap car segments, helping the presenters buy the cars that were going to be used and making sure they were at least road legal. But that job also came with two strict rules:
- 1. He wasn't allowed to reveal to the presenters what the others had bought, Top Gear was scripted to the max and it was that element of surprise which took the presenters out of their comfort zone which made for great television.
- 2. If there was a fault in the car which could lead to imminent failure, he wasn't allowed to have it fixed. Again that made for great television if the presenters would have to abandon the script and had to improvise. The more chance of a disaster, the better.
So cool, TG will always be legendary and iconic
Would love to see Ben having a cameo on the Grand Tour at some point. I think it needs to be done for us the fans.
He did
@@theredneckcuber9265 when? Which season and episode ive watched all the grand tour episodes havent seen or heard him being mentioned once
@@firstnamelastname6853 he did he races 3 cars for them on the grand tour...its one where there looking for a race car driver and find a "retired" one and keep calling him "the ben Collins" instead of "the stig"...
@@sinead545 that wasn't the grand tour, it's a live show they did before grand tour
@30 Hours no, it was on the grand tour. The video is easy enough to search and find.
Every interview with Ben feels like his lawyer is behind the camera nodding and shaking his head to questions.
So that's what a Stig looks like once he's shed his skin...
What a shame that face was covered up for so many years. He's a real looker! 😉
@@buzon1658 down bad
One of my childhood heroes. How I wish the grand tour continued with ‘the Ben Collins’
The Stig served a certain purpose with Clarkson, May, and Hammond, as a reliable, skilled racing driver to benchmark cars. I wish The Stig could have gone with the trio to Grand Tour as The Stig served no purpose with the revamped Top Gear as Chris Harris is a skilled driver. Or Top Gear could have done the same joke as Grand Tour, replace The Stig with The German (Sabine), as she would have been more well liked and funnier than The American.
If collins was on the grand tour, then they would’ve been sued for it
@@medmusic7977 really? I thought the only issue would’ve been using the name and image of ‘the stig’
The Stog
@@indianapwn3s To be fair, the Stig is much better than Chris Harris.
"Do you want a tesla model 3"
Me: no lol
Don't know what you're missing, mate.
Model S plaid plus now is the fastest production car ever made. 0-60 , 1.9 seconds. Yes, please.
@@Crazyreseller just because it accelerates to 100 fast doesn't mean it's the fastest?
@@Maseeha171 it depends on what criteria is established. Is it faster than a dragster..no. Is it the fastest 4 door family sedan that is currently in production...yes. Also, I am not sure if you are asking a question or making a statement.
@@Crazyreseller amg gt 63 is a 4 door that goes faster. Not exactly a family car but yea it's faster.
Ironic someone who became famous for not talking is so well spoken. More Ben!
Like Rowan Atkinson!
The audio book version of his book about Aston Martin is narrated by Ben Collins himself. I bought it, and it's a great listen whilst driving.
@@kylenetherwood8734 not really, Rowan had loads of speaking roles in stuff, Mr. Bean was really the only one.
@@kylenetherwood8734 in the UK Rowan is more famous as " Edmond Blackadder" than Bean
Ben Collins came to my primary school once as the Stig. (I think, unless the teachers got a fake Stig and also a racing car somehow). Idk, I don't know a lot about cars, but I always loved the chemistry and humour of the original top gear team. And I learned literally all I know about cars from them.
it was actually Schumacher, your school couldn't afford the Real Stig :)
Some say that under his skin, is a white helmet and racing suit....and that his favourite vehicle is a red tricycle.
All we know is that he's The Ben Collins.
The interviewer deserves a lot of credit also, bright, breezy and very professional.
Some say he can in fact live without wearing his helmet...
But his helmet can not live without him, idk what i say btw
Apparently it's true.
😂
And i hadn't do this kind of gimmick in a while i forgot to make a second line.
And his suit can generate it's own sustainable food source but as long as it's attached to the helmet,
Alll we know is, he is called The Stig
We'll always love the stig and pretend we don't know who he is 😂
Nice to see Ben back ✌ such a humble guy
The moment where James had Stig's helmet was my favourite. He was trying to drift the pagani.
ALL WE KNOW IS! He's CALLED THE STIG!
The Shtig (according to Boris Becker). 😉😎
"Do you want to win a Tesla?"
*Jeremy strongly disapproves*
Lol
Jeremy secretly loves Teslas.
I always thought Tiff Needel was The Stig and was hiding his identity because of his contract with Fifth Gear.
This......
After Ben Collins left, Tiff was briefly the Stig. Someone else took over
Now that I look back, makes sense..
He could have been a fill in for other stigs even
If I'm not mistaken, Tiff was also known as "emergency Stig" for TG. Can't remember where I read this though so I might well be wrong
This was my theory for well over a decade.
Ben seems like a very lovely and genuine person. I'm happy to hear that he's doing well and looking forward to seeing the romantic novelist more often!
Really? Lovely and genuine people don't stab others in the back.
One reason the Top Gear track was so great is that it was designed by Lotus.
Best Ben Collins moment was when he came back to help the Race2Recovery team at Dakar.
What a nice and humble guy man
The child in me is so disappointed that the stig is a real human.
Me too but this is just his social cousin
Quite agree! Especially as we in my family really did go "Who???" when Ben was revealed, we had no clue who he was before. It was also fun to see well known formula one racing drivers wearing the "I'm the Stig!" tshirts under their race gear 🤣🤣🤣
Some say he's hilarious, and that he's the greatest icon to the greatest TV show of all time, all we know is, he is NOT the Stig, but the Stigs human cousin!
Great to see Ben is doing OK. He (obviously with a white helmet) did make the show, and surprisingly he is still in contact with the boys.
Never forget the TG era, and still watching the grand tour!
Skyfall is my favorite Bond film. I had no idea The Stig was part of it as I didn't read the credits but now it all makes sense.
Our stig 💓 would be great to see him back with the boys
Collins is a dream cast for a stunt driver. You have years of footage of him driving every car imaginable all out.
I also remember when Stig met his hero Kimi Raikonnen and said nothing.
They both had a hectic debate with each other ending with "hi"
Its funny to see the mad crazy Stig who we've all seen thrashing cars around turn out to be such a cool, chilled out guy
Glad to see Ben again. Thanks team
That was great - it'd be fantastic to see more Ben Collins vids on Drivetribe.
As Richard once said, "to be honest, I'm glad to see the old splitter back"
"Racing driver and former romantic novelist, Ben Collins"
Thank you for keeping us entertained all those years
Pretty amazing driver! I've seen him run many a cars to their limit in Top Gear for years and reruns still
Great video. I knew he liked the Carrera GT... Ben is such a cool guy
Great interview.. I also like these interviews because the interviewer isn’t rude plus the questions are interesting but basic. Great content!
Ben gets stopped by police: 'And who do we think we are then, The Stig or James Bond?' Ben: Well actually er, never mind.
I like how both his favorite car and least favorite where chosen for the same reason.
The Carrera GT was the best because it was hard to drive(but fun), TVR's where the worst because they where hard to drive(but frustrating).
My theory was alway that when Collin was about to be exposed as the Stig, they let him expose himself. They kept him as the Stig, played up the animosity and kept silent!
So is that why we still don't know who the 2nd white Stig is?
About to be exposed? You mean when the dog broke contract, stabbed his mates and his fans in the back and exposed HIMSELF? Get it right mate, he's a DOG
@@farvatron No! It’s not real, it’s entertainment, my friend! Top Gear team knew for a long time that Colin’s was about to be revealed as the Stig anyway, due no fault of his own. So they took charge of the narrative. They ordered the Stig reveal himself, keep him while saying they sacked him. Who’s better as the Stig, then the one it can’t be?
Just that they still are all friends and still work to together points to it.
@@sportsjefe The third Stig you mean, there was Black Stig in the first session. Yes, I think it’s still Collins!
Ben Collins is the best, very cool guy. Hope the best for him and his future.
So great to see Ben... hope to see more of the original Stig
Great interview. Thx for answering the black Stig question. That has been of wonder for years!!!! Ben, you are hands down the BEST Stig, as far as I'm concerned. Now that I know it was you driving in the Bond movies, I appreciate them that much more. I have always felt whoever was the stunt driver for those movies had great talent and ability. Glad to know that rests comfortably on your shoulders!!!! Great driving. Again, THANK YOU both for this interview. Sorry I'm soo far behind, health issues in all...
I get the hype around keeping the stig mysterious throughout the series, but I would have loved hearing his actual thoughts when the original series aired! Like when Ben shared about how difficult the race in the aston was against the germans in the porsche 911
Some say, Michael Schumacher has a Ben Collins mask, and that there was a missed opportunity to ask what he knows about ducks.
But for all we know that he’s the stig.
Ben is the James Band of racing car drivers! So cool n so humble. Legend!
Ben's book on Aston Martin is incredibly insightful on the history of the automobile. You are just left with the understanding of the key guys in Europe that held and developed the knowledge.
It's crazy to me that a man who was such an important part of a series that made so much money waited for the prices to drop on Porsche's. They're still 75- 80k in my area, which is expensive for me but I'd expected him to have a massive garage.
Som says he is the king of dolphins, all we now is he is the STIG.
I'll be waiting for some more Ben Collins on this channel, i think his coolest stories are yet to be told.
Some say he is a living legend and that he will be remembered forever. But all we know is, he's called The Stig!
Probably the most interesting video this channel has ever put out. Ben is the real deal after all, and you have to respect his opinions. Plus I did not even know that he has been doing stunt driving for the movies, and for the Bond movies for heck's sake. Mike, you can get Ben back as many times as he has time for. Right. I'm off to watch those Bond car chases again with a new point of view knowing who is driving.
I have to say that what gave it away for me was when Ben appeared as himself as a guest driver in the downhill race against the skateboarder. Even though he was in civilian clothes, just watching the driving style and the physical movements of how he drives gave it away to me. I guess it is my attention to detail that assisted me.
In other things that didn't happen......
Thanks for the in-depth Ben!
Always nice to see the 850 T-5R getting a mention. Possibly the greatest car ever made.
Anybody remember when Ben was himself as a driver on the car football episode?
Some say, you never see Ben Collins and The Stig in the same room, and that two of them sometimes be mistaken by each from time to time
He was also himself driving an evo against a kid on an off road skateboard, he crashed at the end
He was also the driver of a convertible (Merc?) where his parachutist friend tried to land in the back of his car.
He just forgot to shape shift to stig
Ain’t it funny how top gear has a stig still, nobody could care less that could be Michael Schumacher under there
Maybe German but still a legend. Show respect to a driving f1 great
@@aust8243 Nothing but respect for him, so glad to see his sons name on a car doing his thing with haas. My point is that the new TG is so irrelevant the fact they still have a stig is laughable
@@FriskyDecisions thanks I’m glad too shame he’s not in a better car but time will tell
Umm...Schumi is definitely not under there now with the critical condition he's in.
To my family, Stig could only ever have been Micheal Schumacher, an Absolute Legend! Yes he couldn't have had the time and the insurance they'd have needed definitely ruled him out but our childhood brains put him there every time
All my life trying to imagine The Stig's face, name, and voice... and Ben Collins totally filled my spectations
Amazing that he’s part of drive tribe now! Looking forward to him behind the wheel, whilst being able to see his face.
"Have you ever wanted a tesla model 3?" "No."
Some say he wasn't the Stig, and that James May actually is.
"Go STI.. JAMES"
- Richard Hammond
James May's Mother
Occasionally they would have Collins come on TG as himself; one of the more memorable examples was when he was trying to catch a parachutist in the back seat of a convertible, another was when he had a downhill race against a kid on a mountainboard. Each time I saw it, I'd think, "That guy's body moves JUST like the Stig when he drives... I wonder if that's who it is."
In the episode where they unmasked him as Michael Schumacher, the body language while he was driving was completely different. Of course, he's a different person with a different driving style, but you could just see the posture, the hand over hand, the way he would lean was just not the same as Ben.
I was rather pleased to find out that Ben was, indeed, The Stig, but also disappointed that he wouldn't be any more. He was the best they ever had.
Abbie Eaton, though, I think I'd put her almost on par with Ben.
Ben will go into history books as by far the best Stig. The era of him as The Stig and the trio was something else. Ben left the show at a breaking point.
That was my favourite Stig moment too
I love this guy! I bought his book when he was identified and let go. I was pretty horrified when Clarkson attacked him because his identity was revealed. I hated it. The silent, emotionless entity can be great fun in a show or movie. I'm sure that was Clarkson's idea and it was a great one. But the idea Jeremy wanted Ben to toil away for years and NEVER get any credit is gross. The Stig was a cultural icon because of what was said about him and how amazing a driver he was. Ben was the amazing driver and should have gotten the accolades after a while.
So true, the trio have parlayed their roles into fame and fortune but expected Ben Collins to stay anonymous.
@Saitama _ It's a Catch-22, really. He deserved to be recognized for his iconic role on TG, but if he WERE recognized then the role would not be iconic. He would no longer be The Stig, he'd just be Ben Collins, That Bloke What Tests Cars For Top Gear.
@@RabbiHerschel they could have easily turned Ben into a 4th member, kind of what Abbey became in The GT - someone who could have balanced the tom foolery in front of the camera.
@@ghostrider-be9ek that's sort of me point, really. Abbie is fine enough, but she's not iconic in the same way that the Stig was.
Such an awesome person, all of a sudden I want his job even more :D
Read his book when it came out and loved it. Haven't heard anything since. This is cool
“Hans Schrick” haha. I love how Ben is thinking: ‘He’s German, probably called Hans’. His name is Tim!
Could have just called him Herman the German.
can you do a video exposing all the identities of all the stigs?
I met Ben Collins at Oulton park (Unipart racing 2011)
What a great guy^^
He comes across as a very humble and likeable guy. He must have had a riot working on Top Gear.
Some say he is still afraid of show presenters and sits far away
Some say he has to because covidiots will cry if he's closer than 2 metres.
@@Omie01 What does it matter what he thinks...that he went down this track it shows that thinking is not a strong point.
@@Omie01 how about Branch Covidian then?
Does this mean James, Richard & Jeremy actually knew the Stig was Ben all along?
Loved his How to Drive book! Looking forward to the Aston one.
Dear Ben C. Very happy to see you again!!!
It had some structural/pacing problems, but overall Quantum of Solace is a sorely underrated Bond entry.
how hard is it to align the tables properly?
The feeling of Summer that old Top Gear had to it was great and is one of my favourite feelings from it. The show also felt like it was on the bleeding edge of modern filmography and technological coverage.
I’m glad that tensions after bens departure seem to have subsided. Really glad. Bens a great interview.