Ferrari 360 2003 News

...by saying the show required `specialist equipment’. The accusations about fake vehicles were made after one of the suppliers to the show at Sydney’s Acer Arena spotted the cars backstage and became suspicious about what was under the bonnets. During the show, fans looked on in wide-eyed wonder as three Ferrari F360s chased each other around the ring, missing each other by a few centimetres in a casual disregard for their $370,000 price tag. Other eagle-eyed fans smelled a rat however when they spotted irregularities in the body work of the cars which were missing a rear air vent. The music was so loud it was difficult to hear the noise of the Ferraris which ordinarily would be unmistakable. The cars were actually Toyota MR2s fitted with body kits to look like Ferraris. The same thing happened on the South African leg of the tour, but the producers fessed up to the substitution beforehand, explaining the cars were on their way to Australia. Of course it begs the question what happened to them? “Top Gear Live is a mix of the usual Top Gear fooling around, exotic cars and extremely exciting, live-action stunt driving,” the show’s spokesperson Gemma Courtenay says. “Stunt driving requires highly specialist equipment. In this sense Top Gear Live is no different from any cinema or theatrical production.” Jeremy Clarkson and the Richard Hammond took Top Gear on the road in October, playing to some 250,000 people, with 67 shows in six countries. A “local” filled in for missing presenter James May at each port of call. For Sydney, it was Top Gear Australia’s Steve Pizzati, or Pizza Boy as Clarkson kept calling him. There’s no mention of the Ferrari fiasco on Top Gear Australia’s website, just the news that anchor Charlie Cox has been replaced by jazz great James Morrison for the second series which goes to air later this year. The sleight of hand strikes at the very core of Top Gear’s DNA which draws much of its excitement from the fact that’s it’s all real and that they don’t mind trashing the odd Ferrari or two in the name of entertainment – hang the expense. Or so everybody thought . . . The fake Ferraris were in fact Ferrenzos, Toyota MR2s with body kits that are designed to look like the real thing for a faction of the cost.  

After being a smiling model on quiz shows The Price Is Right and Temptation, McGregor has landed a gig hosting the Foxtel reality show, Blood, Sweat & Gears."It was always the next step," McGregor says. "I meet people saying they love Temptation, but it's so hard to get your personality across when you're just smiling in the background."A graphic designer by trade, 26-year-old McGregor spent the past two-and-a-half years in Nine's Temptation family with Ed Phillips and Livinia Nixon.McGregor admits he's not "the craziest car fan," but didn't hesitate when it came to auditioning for BS&G."To be honest, I got a phone call from one of the guys at Foxtel asking me if I would like to audition for it," he says. "I never knock back an audition, even if I don't think I'm suited to it."He may not be a revhead, but the Aussies on the show certainly are."They're absolute nuts. It's like a religion to them. Since I have had the gig, I have had so many people come up to me and tell me a story about their cars," McGregor says.The show pits seven guys and their beloved cars against each other.The contestants are;Andrew: Japanese Import (Nissan 200SX)Andy: American Muscle(Chevy Corvette)Dave: Classic Australian(Holden LJ Torana)Dimitri: Classic Australian(Ford GT Falcon)Dominic: Performance Rotary (Mazda RX7)Jeremy: Australian Muscle (Holden Commodore VL HDT)Mohamed: High Performance European (Ferrari 350 Modena)Official judges are Ian Luff, a former race driver, and Nathan Luck, a motoring journalist. Each week, the revheads and the cars will be put through a series of tests. While the drivers will know who wins each stage, they never find out their placing on the leaderboard. McGregor says it adds to the tension."They don't know who is doing well and the challengers get a little angry and eaten up inside," he says."These guys think their car is the best. But they find out a few things about themselves as drivers - maybe they're not as good as they thought. I think it will get people into the show."While McGregor is enjoying his debut as TV host, he is unused to seeing himself as a presenter."You're always your own biggest critic and it is still kind of strange when I see myself. But I love hearing feedback, even when it's bad. It makes you better at what you do."

Now reality television will enter the world of car lovers, with a new series that goes in search of Australia's best car and driver. Blood, Sweat & Gears is a new show which will debut on FOX8 next month, with seven finalists competing for the title of the best driver and the best car, not to mention the bragging rights that come with it. Advanced driver training instructor Ian Luff is a judge on the reality show, which he describes as a motoring version of Survivor, even featuring a car council and a whole series of challenges. “It's a show about people and their cars in a competitive environment where everyone wants to win, but naturally, there's only going to be one winner,” Luff says. The seven finalists, who come from all over Australia, previously had their cars featured in car magazines and were selected by people in the industry to take part in the series. And there is a diverse range of machinery on show, from Japanese imports, a Nissan 200SX and a 800hp Mazda RX7, to classic American and Australian muscle cars, such as a 540-cubic-inch Chevy Corvette, an original VL Brock Commodore, an LJ Torana and a classic Ford GT. And you can't have a competition about the best and fastest cars without a Ferrari. “The cars were supposed to be the stars, but you have to remember people drive cars, they own these cars, the people and personalities tend to overshadow the cars,” Luff says. “These cars are their passion, they built them, spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on them and you're dealing with male egos here.” And it seems putting seven rev-heads together with their prized possessions is a recipe for disaster generating some fairly heated moments making for, of course, some great TV. “It was all about egos, big boys and big toys,” Luff says of the contestants, who were put through a series of tests, from navigating their own powerful cars through slalom courses, accelerating and suddenly braking on skid pans, to testing the engine on a dyno or on the quarter mile at an air strip. On one challenge, Luff jumped into a Hyundai i30 and set a time he expected the seven competitors to beat. Not surprisingly, Luff says most were a little too confident and eager. Six of the seven drivers spun out. Ferrari owner Mohamed Ibrahim, in particular, was not happy as his “very powerful” car began to lose control around the bend, and went into safety mode, turning itself off. The Mazda RX7, a car Luff calls a “stealth bomber” was the only car to make it through successfully, beating Luff's time by two-tenths of a second. “When you see enthusiasm exceed ability it's just the most amazing thing, where testosterone and ability don't work together,” he laughs. And it wasn't just the car against car, with all seven drivers having a turn in the i30 for one challenge, to see who could do the best. It then came time to jump into an old Ford Fairlane, which lacks the benefit of modern technology. Ibrahim says although car fanatics can get competitive both behind the wheel and when talking of their cars, the program was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. “It was excellent, the best week of my life,” he says. “We were working with a team we never met before and at the end of the series you miss them. Straight away we became like best friends in a matter of a couple of days.” Having rebuilt more than 500 cars in the past six years at his smash-repair business in Condell Park, Ibrahim has the credentials. In four days, he got his 2003 350 Modena ready for the show. Having spent $350,000 on the car, including enhancements such as 22-inch wheels, a twin turbo, a paint job and red leather interior, Ibrahim was ready to show Australia he and his 5.6-litre V8 car really are the best in the country. “I know pretty much everything to do with cars,” Ibrahim says. “My one is definitely the best, there were a lot of old cars but I like the later models.” Ibrahim says he loved taking part, but didn't learn anything new from Luff. “I reckon I could give him a lesson,” he jokes.