Stephen is the proud owner of a star car
It may have been driven by Hollywood stars in its previous life - but the famous ‘Star in a Reasonably Priced Car’ used on Top Gear is now owned by a Waterlooville man who uses it for the school run and shopping.
Stephen Sawdy is now the proud owner of the 2013 red Vauxhall Astra which featured in the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car segment on the popular BBC programme when it was sold in an auction in 2019 by mistake.
The car has been driven by celebrities including Will Smith, Olly Murs, Nicholas Hoult, Jimmy Carr, Margot Robbie and Benedict Cumber batch, all of whom completed a lap around the Top Gear test track in a bid to secure the fastest time.
Out of all of them, pop star Murs holds the record time, completing the circuit in one minute and 44.6 seconds, with actor Houl ta close second with a time of one minute 44.7 seconds.
Stephen said: ‘It was an absolute steal.’
The Vauxhall Astra was the last car used during the Jeremy Clarkson era of Top Gear, which is when it was still being aired on the BBC, but it went up for auction in 2019 when the future of the show was unknown.
The vehicle had been loaned to the show byVauxh all. When Clarkson left, the car was sold to Ashgood Porsche in London which utilised the car for publicity events until 2019 when it decided to sell it.
The Astra was put into a Bonhams Car Auction where Stephen managed to get his hands on the car, which had only done 5,600 miles, for a mere £8,000 despite the auction estimate being approximately £15,000.
Stephen added: ‘Vauxhall has contacted me asking to buy it back for £15,000 because it was a mistake selling it.
‘I go to shows with it all the time. I am doing Goodwood’s 75 th anniversary this year and I wenttoMercedes-BenzWorld where I did the test track with the car.
‘I did a publicity day for Vauxhall in Basingstoke with it and Ben Collins, The Stig drove it and signed the dashboard.
‘I take it to the school run, shopping and I go to the dump with it but I keep it in good condition – I have got about 22,000 miles on it now.’
The 1.6 litre car was featured in three seasons of the programme up until 2015. Since Stephen has owned the vehicle, he has made sure that it is kept in pristine condition.