How I became THE STIG!

Be sure to follow @BenCollinsDrives for more content from Ben Collins, the former Stig of Top Gear.


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[j]

You know legend has it Ben Collins was paid by the Stig to tell his story and still keep his identity a secret.

[C.Fecteau-AU-MJ]

Some say he's not the Stig, he's the Stig's book writing cousin.

[thatautogarage]

Imagine being such a Stig that not even family nor friends know you’re the Stig for years. Ben Collins is a living legend.

[BenCollinsDrives]

Such a pleasure meeting Ed and talking shop - I really want to get him and the other Car-Trekkers on track and make them sweat - what do you think YouTube... ?

[TimeBucks]

The most famous person no one recognizes

[ajdahun]

Guy’s pretty smart, and way ahead of the curve, donning a full face helmet when standing next to Will Smith

[purehardstyles]

I’d imagine this would of been a super surreal moment for Ed to have THE legit Stig in the VinWiki set telling classic stories! Utterly epic!! 👏

[jordan-ramblinaround]

The coolest man on earth when I was a kid.

[IDvI]

The Stig was my hero when I was younger. Thank you for this, the glory days of Top Gear were the best and The Stig fit perfectly.

[mndlessdrwer]

I always had the image in my mind that Jeremy was being euphemistic when he said that he had a chat with the Stig and that the actual interaction was just the Stig stepping out of the car, walking over, and then a piece of paper like a receipt being ejected slowly from beneath the visor of the helmet with handling characteristics, g-force readings, acceleration and deceleration points of the run, all that jazz. I really loved the persona that the show created for the Stig as this otherworldy, almost robotic driving ace.

[jiskithehusky]

Let’s be honest, sometimes we go into the comments and see tons of people not liking a story and thinking this channel has finally run out of content. But then, we get stories like this. This is why we stick around.

[ExcellentDude]

Some say he is illegal in 17 US states, and he blinks this way [sideways]. All we know is he’s called the Stig.

[TobRacer]

He'll always be the stig to me even helmet off. All these glorious moments and absolute talent he had on screen on Sunday nights not just being funny but also driving like a hero ("James" vs the late Sabine Schmitz at Zolder).
As a French kid grewing up in France with my British dad who tuned on the BBC when I was around, I saw this white suited character and he got my attention. Thanks to Top Gear, I learned to hear and speak English very quickly. The Stig despite not saying a single word was actually talking a lot for himself with his static inexpressive "face" and I loved that, it was so easy to understand even though at 6 years old I couldn't understand any English. Yes of course the trio always played a big part of why I learned English and love cars, but the Stig also got my eternal recognition for lighting up my child interest.
Ben if you read, Thank you. Happy to follow you in your future adventures on your Youtube channel "Ben Collins Drives".

[warrendevine]

I was lucky enough to get an invite to be in the audience, money can’t buy the tickets, when Ben was still The Stig and was a great 4 and a half hours spent, in 2006! F1 driver Jenson Button and actor Ray Winstone were the guests! Something I’ll never forget! Ben was a very good Stig, what a job to have had!

[usaclaimsthemoon]

This dude was so cool growing up.

If he ever comes back, would love to hear the story of the spin out and his thoughts of Schumacher crushing his records and being revealed as the stig

[fbboringstuff]

Recall in the mid 00’s I was on a British motorsports forum site were someone had a bunch of early YouTube clips of this unknown race driver Ben collins insisting he was the the STIG. STIG popped up in the chat and denied all. I called the STIG soft for refusing to do lap times unless it was bone dry, the very next week… supercar in damp conditions…

[FicarraClassic]

The most famous person no one recognizes. Legend. More stories from The Stig!

[TheFirBall]

While I was visiting England I drove to Dumsford Aerodome. I wanted to see the track but was only allowed on far enough to turn around.
I did find the only Pub in town and drank all afternoon with some locals. We talked about Top Gear, Harriet's, British Royal and US Marines...and drank lots of beer

[squeakers]

Currently 71 views but i see this becoming one of most highly viewed episodes.

[Talasas]

Man how cool to have The Stig in studio. I bet you never thought that would happen 👍