On June 28th, 2015, Top Gear as we know it bid farewell to the hundreds of millions of fans the show amassed all around the world. It was a nostalgia trip with an elephant in the room, an audience-less Top Gear studio, and two special segments. One of those films features three cheap SUVs, which are now a part of the Beaulieu’s World of Top Gear exhibit.
Opened in 1952, the National Motor Museum of Beaulieu is an exquisite place for the petrolhead and Top Gear fan alike. Set in the heart of New Forest, Hampshire, an admission ticket is enough to enjoy attractions such as the museum and its World of Top Gear exhibit, Beaulieu Abbey, Beaulieu Palace House, Secret Army Exhibition, a monorail, and some gardens.
On this occasion though, we don’t care about one-off pre-war Bugatti luxobarges or Auto Union racecars and other automotive whatnots. Instead, we pose the question “what happened to all the cars abused by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May over the course of 22 seasons of Top Gear?” Most of them have a new home at the World of Top Gear exhibition. We're not joking when we say most of them.
Remember the Suzuki Liana original reasonably priced car or indestructible Toyota Hilux pickup truck? What about the Swift and MINI from the Winter Olympics special? Or the Mercedes S-Class cottage, amphibious cars, stretch limos, the Reliant Robin rocket, double-decker cars, Vietnam Special scooters, Hammerhead Eagle I-Thrust, and the homemade ambulances featured in an episode of Series 22?
They’re all at Beaulieu, donated by the Top Gear production team as a testament to Clarkson, Hammond, and May’s awe-inspiring take on Sunday evening TV entertainment. But the cheap 4x4s from the Series 22 finale’s are the centerpiece, with an estimated total value of £2.3 million (that's about $3.6 million).
Unfortunately, Jeremy Clarkson’s Vauxhall Frontera lost the infamous penis wheels...
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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