Ex-Stig Ben Collins reveals the worst car he's ever driven on Top Gear

Ben Collins, aka The Stig, finally revealed the worst car he’s ever driven on Top Gear, and it’s a brand only hardcore car geeks might remember.

Even though the car remains ‘the worst’ he’s ever driven, a few things have changed since.

He said the car is still just as ‘bad’ and dangerous as he remembered it.

But something else in the world has changed, and that, ironically, made this car a bit better now than it was then.

The worst car the ex-Stig has ever driven is probably a little obscure to most people today

There have been multiple Stigs through the years, but Ben Collins is the one most people remember and love.

As the ‘main’ Stig on Top Gear, Ben Collins drove hundreds of cars, and this is the one he called the worst.

It’s a TVR Sagaris, an extreme performance car made by a car company that’s been in perpetual trouble since its inception.

Originally unveiled in 2005, the Sagaris was a two-door coupe with a fiberglass body, a 4.0-liter inline-six engine, and no safety features: it didn’t even have airbags or ABS.

“There are three phases of the ownership process with the TVR: there’s [the] ‘it works’ [phase], [then] it tries to kill you, and then it stops working,” Collins said in a video he posted on his YouTube channel.

Collins also explained how TVR managed to skirt EU safety laws basically just minutes before they became mandatory.

“[TVR] basically looked at the European Union rules and just said, ‘We’re not doing that’. It kept the car light.”

In addition to feeling unsafe, it was also difficult to drive.

“The car always wants to swap ends on you. The handling was dreadful. I [also] remember the lack of trust. Wherever you think you need to break for a corner in a TVR, it’s always too late. They are beguiling creatures,” he explained.

Amazingly, that’s exactly what he now considers a redeeming feature.

Why Ben Collins changed his mind (in part)

A lot has changed since the Top Gear days.

Back then, cars were sometimes dangerous, sometimes difficult to drive, but never boring.

It’s the exact opposite today: most cars are safe, comfortable and generally even faster, but they’re all a little drab.

When we spoke to Ben Collins a while back, he told us that part of the reason that’s the case is that cars are too digital and too heavy, and that makes suitable for everyday driving but not for fun.

“Electric cars are too heavy, and even hybrids are too heavy. This is generally a problem with EVs, because they’re heavier, and it also affects weight distribution,” Collins told Supercar Blondie.

Ironically, this is exactly why the Sagaris looks so good in his eyes these days.

“They’re loud. They’re dangerous. Burn your hand on the gear knob. They’re unpredictable, but that’s what makes them so exciting,” he said.

From Ben Collins to the people behind Nilu27 and even Mate Rimac, the consensus is clear: modern cars are great, but the fun element is getting lost in the echo.