The iconic Top Gear motors have been scrapped (Image: ITV)
iconic customised cars from glory days have been scrapped, and the former star has since expressed his sadness over the decision.
The petrolhead trio, including Jeremy, 64, , 61, and , 55, often comically adapted some of the cars on the show for bizarre challenges – but the famous motors were too run down to restore or sell to private owners, according to new reports.
Jeremy’s Fiat Panda Limo and caravan airship are some of the vehicles sold for scrap.
He has since shared his concerns that the Top Gear car collection could not remain on show at the National Motor Museum on the Beaulieu estate in Hants.
Jeremy told The Sun: “I’m sad that many have been destroyed. I guess the problem is some people see cars as just a ton-and-a-half of glass, plastic, metal and rubber.
“But to petrolheads, they’re more than that. That’s especially true of cars we used on Top Gear”.
Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond are former stars of Top Gear (Image: Getty)
A spokesperson confirmed: “We have rehomed the majority of the show’s iconic vehicles from the now closed World of Top Gear exhibition at the National Motor Museum, and we’re pleased to confirm that many of them will be available for public viewing at a soon to be announced new location.”
Jeremy’s Fiat Panda stretch limo and a Mini Cooper used in the first-ever ski jump attempt from the show’s 2006 Winter Olympics special is understood to have been sold for scrap.
The episode saw the trio put a Union Jack-emblazoned Mini on skis, before adding a jet-powered rocket and attempting to beat a professional jumper.
James prized caravan airship, which he used to fly across England in 2010, was also destroyed.
A double-decker car is believed to have been disposed of before the World of Top Gear exhibition closed in November.
However, not all was lost as some classic cars were saved including Richard’s VW “Dampervan” which failed to cross the Channel and Paddy McGuinness’s all electric ice-cream van.
It is understood the surviving cars could be put back on display later this year, and plans are in place to restore some classic motors for promotional work.
Top Gear viewers vented their frustrations on social media as one wrote: “A shame. It would have been nice for them all to stay together.”
Another commented: “You’d probably get someone interested in buying them as a memento and paying a decent amount of money for it.”