As each new Hilux is launched, the task gets harder and harder to convey just how tough and indestructible it has become – but they’ve pulled out all the stops for this latest Hilux. The 2012 model has been given a comprehensive re-style from the A-pillar forwards, with a new bonnet, radiator grille, headlamps and bumper, plus new wheel designs and new side bars and steps for the top-of-the-range Hilux Invincible.

Interior materials have been improved, CO2 emissions have been reduced (194 g/km for 2.5-litre Double Cab) and of course Toyota reckon it’s even more unbreakable than ever. It will be on sale here in the UK from October, priced at £16,090 for the entry-level Single Cab HL2 4WD 2.5-litre.

So, how unbreakable is it now? Well, Toyota’s Australian, New Zealand and South African teams have kicked off their campaigns with the following ads. They’re good, but are they as good as our all-time favourite Toyota Hilux ad (“Bugger”)? – which up until now has reigned supreme.

Take a look below and let us know what you think. We’ve also included the original Top Gear episodes to remind you why the Hilux has such an enviable reputation.

Toyota Australia – ‘Unbreakable’

Toyota New Zealand – ‘Tougher Than You Can Imagine’

Toyota South Africa – ‘Toughness Rubs Off’

Toyota New Zealand – ‘Bugger’

Made as a follow up to the beloved Barry Crump/Lloyd Scott Toyota ads, “Bugger” follows a series of farming mishaps each provoke the laconic comment — “bugger”. The role of ‘Hercules’ the dog plus the performance of the hapless farmer made for one of New Zealand’s most iconic advertisements and a symbol of Kiwi pop culture.

The Advertising Standards Authority received 120 complaints about the ad, but subsequently ruled that it was not in breach of the advertising codes and was unlikely to cause serious offence. It was originally released in August 1999.

Killing a Toyota Top Gear – BBC

Jeremy Clarkson drives a Toyota Hilux around in the hope of disproving the manufacturer’s claims about its indestructibility. He crashes the Hilux into bits of Bristol and trees, parks it in the sea and then drives it through a shed and drops a caravan on it. His final act involved parking it on a tower block before it is raised to the ground by a demolition team. Did he manage to kill the Hilux? Nope. Eventually he concedes that it might, just might, actually be indestructible.

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Collins held the position as Stig for so many years (seven in total of the nine since the show re-launch) that many casual fans of the show won’t know that he is actually the second incarnation of the masked racing driver.

After battling his way through the junior formulae and even racing sports cars in America, Perry landed a 1992 drive with the highly disorganised Andrea Moda team that proved nothing short of disastrous – the team and Perry failed to ever qualify for a Grand Prix which does Perry’s talents no justice whatsoever. Test stints with Benetton and Williams followed in the seasons after but eventually Perry walked away from F1.

Having raced all manner of cars en route to his short lived Formula 1 career, Perry subsequently carved out a successful and lucrative career racing sports cars including campaigning Audi’s famous R8 at Le Mans in both the nineties and noughties.

Test stints with Benetton and Williams came in the seasons following his disastrous debut with the Andrea Moda team, but eventually Perry walked away from F1.

It was this level of adaptability to be quick in any car put before him that brought Perry to the attention to his old friend Jeremy Clarkson and Top Gear executive producer Andy Wilman who approached Perry for the role of the first Stig. Perry accepted and for the first two re-vamped Top Gear seasons drove celebrities and all types of cars from Renault Clios to Pagani Zondas around the Top Gear test track before leaving because, given the secretive nature of being The Stig, there were no opportunities to develop his career as a corporate speaker or TV presenter.

Many of you will have already read Perry’s book or know the story of The Stig, so we decided in our ten minute chat with one of motorsport’s biggest characters to instead chat about Perry’s views on the recent Collins vs Top Gear saga, his relentless ribbing of friend Mark Blundell and his own life post-Stig.

SM: Firstly, why did you hang up your helmet and stop racing?

PM: I finished racing at the end of 2004 because I suffered a major injury to my left shoulder and so it became impossible to race from then because even though I’ve had operations and treatment, that’s it, goodbye and thank you very much.

SM: There’s been a lot said in the press and on motoring forums about Ben Collins’ decision to out himself as The Stig in order to publish his tell-all book. What do you think about Collins’ decision to out himself?

When Top Gear producer Andy Wilman and presenter Jeremy Clarkson first conceived of The Stig, it was Perry who was chosen as the tame racing driver to bring the character to life.

PM: Contrary to popular opinion, I didn’t out myself so therefore I’ve got to say I don’t agree with how Ben’s gone about this. I can only link this in to my experience of being The Stig where I had a gentleman’s agreement to not talk about it, which I held my end of that bargain. But then because certain things within Top Gear weren’t working for me and weren’t going to work, I decided to leave and we parted ways and that’s when the black Stig was killed.

They brought the white Stig in and I imagine they signed a more binding contract. Now the reason why I didn’t sign anything like that was because it wasn’t working for me, Ben felt it was working for him and that’s why he signed those agreements. But he has then broken that agreement, so … for me personally, that’s not the way I would do it.

Contrary to popular opinion, I didn’t out myself so therefore I’ve got to say I don’t agree with how Ben’s gone about this.

Perry spoke to us about the recent falling out between Ben Collins and the BBC. Contrary to some recent newspaper reports Perry was not fired from Top Gear, but can understand both sides perspective.

SM: What have you been up to since you left Top Gear in 2003?

PM: Most of my time at the minute is spent with after-dinner speeches and sometimes motivational speeches in England, sometimes Europe and stretching as far as China and America. I’ve always enjoyed performing on stage and I used to write comedy sketches before I became a racing driver and the two things join together quite well now. So as long as people are happy to hear me speak I’m happy to do it and as long as they’re laughing at the end of the evening I’m happy continuing to do it!

I’m also having a lot of fun at race circuits now looking after Scott Pye who I brought over from Australia because there were certain things that were going wrong for him out there. I felt he was a superb talent and a really unusual kid who has shown exceptional grit and determination in the face of some very bad situations.

19-year old Scott Pye (left) is currently leading the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship – the young Australian’s career has taken off since Perry brought him to the UK.

I took the risk on bringing him over not because I wanted to be a driver manager, believe me, no way. But I brought him over thinking I’ve got to help this kid and so far out of 20 British Formula Ford Championship races he’s won 11 of them and he’s showing that that he’s somebody who’s got the talent who can reach Formula 1. And me trying to help that is quite fulfilling. It’s bloody hard work! But seeing this kid race wheel to wheel and winning week after week is great fun.

SM: For someone who made his living from danger and being on the edge, how do you now get your driving kicks now you don’t get to test the latest supercars every week?

PM: For me, with driving, there has to be something at the end of it. There has to be a reason to take the car into the twilight zone. So before when I was training to be a Formula 1 driver, sure, I was on the edge and often over the edge trying to get there. When I was driving at Le Mans, I wanted to the 24 hours race so again I was giving everything I had.

SM: You’re pretty prolific on Twitter – how did you get into it?

PM: I was fronting a campaign for a large drinks company who asked me if I would start tweeting – I didn’t know what the bloody thing was but I said “Yep, I’ll do it no problems, I’ll tweet!” And given how much they were paying I said I’ll tweet as much as you like! So the campaign finished and I continued doing it as I like communicating with everyone. I don’t do it every day but it’s a bit of a laugh and it’s a good way of connecting with people to hear what they think about stuff.

Perry is great mates with ex-F1 driver Mark Blundell – as you can see!   If you’ve got a Twitter account then we highly recommend you follow the banter between both men at @Original_Stig and @markblundellF1

Usually I talk about random things like the strange personality of my cat and I spend an awful lot of time having a go at Mark Blundell. And to give him his due, he spends an awful lot of time having a go at me! So between the two of us we entertain a lot of people by having a bit of banter going on.

SM: You’re clearly good mates with Mark Blundell, which other drivers do you keep in touch with?

PM: Well I mean there is a pack of us that are very close. Mark and I as you know are pretty much inseparable, Johnny Herbert and I have lived no more than one mile apart from each other for most of our motor racing careers so we’re very close. Damon Hill’s a very close friend of mine and fortunately I get to see him every two weeks because his son and Scott are team mates in Formula Ford. Martin Brundle … I catch up with Marty quite a bit in London during the year and I’m good friends with David Coulthard. So there is a pack of us that are close and we enjoy each other’s company and just have a lot of fun.

Damon and Perry have been practising this look for decades – nowadays you can find the ‘slightly’ older and wiser versions supporting Damon’s son Josh and Perry’s protege Scott Pye in the Formula Ford Paddock.

The big thing with racing drivers is that when one is talking to the outside world, we all do our best to communicate what it’s like to be in a racing car and in those racing conditions. But unless you’ve actually been in it, something is certainly lost in translation because you can’t instil that wide eyed moment of sheer fear when you’re about to launch into the earth at 200mph! Or when you’ve taken a particularly daunting corner flat out and made it. Drivers know this and so you can talk in shorthand when communicating because you all know what it’s like as you’ve all done the same things.

SM: You have three daughters, is there any likelihood of them getting into motor racing or have you learnt all the lessons to last a lifetime of McCarthys?

PM: As with all kids, any parents who are balanced would say they drive you completely nuts! I’m very flat line when it comes to how I look at the kids. I don’t go around singing their praises unless they deserve it. All three of them have got totally different traits and I totally believe they will be successful in their own right and not one of them will follow the same career path as me or as each other. But they have very strong characteristics in certain things and I think what they have got from their old man is to think that’s anything possible and to never quit.

SM: Your book, “Flat Out, Flat Broke: Formula 1 the Hard Way!” is perhaps one of the most entertaining autobiographies that we’ve read certainly for the insights it provides into the world of motor racing – are you planning to write another book?

PM: I don’t like the first part of that question because you said it’s one of the most entertaining books and it should be the most entertaining book on motor racing! Ha, have I got any plans to write another book? Can’t tell you at the moment, watch this space.

SM: Looking back on the whole ‘Stig’ period, are you glad to have been involved with Top Gear or do you feel that it overshadows your achievements in the highest forms of motorsport?

PM: I’m delighted to have been involved with Top Gear. It was good fun and it’s fantastic that so many people out there have got a real affection for The Stig, it’s created a huge stir not just in the UK but also internationally. So, to have been the first one, the original Stig who kicked it all off … I see that as adding to any achievement that I’ve had in motor racing.

Obviously, within motor racing there are achievements I’m particularly proud of and certain moments will always be with me. But my life as I’ve always said is about having done stuff – and that’s fantastic – but I can guarantee you my life is always about tomorrow and the future. I reflect joyfully sometimes on the past, but I’m still like a bulldozer going forward!

SM: Hopefully you’re a long way away from needing an epitaph, but if you were able to write your own, what would it be?

PM: Well I gave it a bloody good go, ha!

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Photo credits: Perry McCarthy, @Racingdick

To contact Perry about after-dinner and motivational speaking engagements, visit www.perrymccarthy.co.uk

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I must admit that I’m no longer an avid viewer of the series, partly because I’m a petrol-head and Top Gear has become more of an entertainment show these days, but also because the show seems more about the presenters than the cars.

Wilman goes on to say “from what I can work out, the main complaints are that there’s too much cocking about for the car lovers, and that we’re trying too hard on camera.” But he says that although he understands the complaints, that doesn’t mean they’re going to do anything about them. This has less to do with any arrogance, but more because he believes they have to make the programme they want to make.

He admits that the personalities have become too formulaic, saying that “…I do believe we’ve now got the presenters playing to their TV cartoon characters a bit too much – Jezza the walking nuclear bomb, Richard the daft Norman Wisdom, and James the bumbling professor. I like those characters, but I too would like to see more of them.”

There have been rumours of late that Top Gear may be one of the victims of the BBC’s enforced budget cuts and Wilman does little to discourage such suggestions, “It’s fair to say this incarnation of Top Gear is nearer the end than the beginning, and our job is to land this plane with its dignity still intact” he says.

For what it’s worth, whilst the formula may have lost its way recently, the series still has three of the best presenters currently on TV. I was fortunate to spend some time with Clarkson on photo-shoots during the early 1990s (before he became famous) and gained a healthy respect for his talents, something that he has clearly not lost.

But maybe a rethink is in order for Series 15 – less clowning, more banter and lots more cars. I’m sure it’s possible and perhaps a little less funding for the show might encourage them to focus on what they do best, the specials such as Bonneville Flats.

Anyway, kudos to Andy Wilman for being so open and honest – his blog is well worth a read and could just be a sign of better things to come.

Top Gear Series 14: where we’re at

Link to Andy Wilman’s Blog

The spoof advert was shown before the 9pm watershed and resulted in 50 viewers complaining to the broadcast and communications regulator, stating that it was too graphic and unsuitable for the time it was broadcast.

Ofcom has ruled that the episode broke broadcasting rules since there was no information before the spoof advertisement which would have prepared viewers for its potentially disturbing nature and alerted adult viewers to the fact that it may be unsuitable for younger viewers.

Top Gear will return to BBC Two this Sunday, but the start time has been put back to 9pm to avoid clashing with ITV’s X Factor show. Conveniently this now places it after the watershed, so expect more antics despite the Ofcom ruling.

Incidentally, viewers also complained about the use of the word ‘pikey’ in another Top Gear episode but this was found not have breached broadcasting rules…