If you want a cheap, efficient, tough little city car to bash about in, you couldn’t go far wrong with a first-generation Toyota Aygo. Shabby but serviceable examples start from around a grand these days and they’re such simple, robust little things that they’re not likely to let you down too badly if you just need a car.
If you just need a car, though, then probably steer clear of this particular Aygo. It’s one of the fleet of 10 that Top Gear used in 2005 to play a game of car football. Richard Hammond, James May and a gaggle of professional and stunt drivers (including Ben Collins who wasn’t The Stig, gosh no, of course not) skidded them about for a scaled-up game of five aside featuring a fair few tackles that would almost certainly result in a red card in a real match. Except they weren’t tackles, they were crashes.
The winning team of Aygos – of which this blue and white car was part – returned a year later to play another game against Volkswagen Foxes. That still wasn’t this particular Aygo’s final cap, however, as it went on to be used in a stage version of the sport played as part of the MPH Live (later Top Gear Live) arena show.
If you’re now watching that car football game back and wondering why this Aygo now has a gnarly-looking roll cage and no windows or passenger seats, it’s because it nearly went on to another starring TV role: long-time TG competitor Fifth Gear pulled off an ambitious stunt that saw an Aygo complete a loop-the-loop, and this car was lined up as a backup on that shoot in case anything went wrong with the main car.
Car football Toyota Aygo – interior
Appropriately for a car wearing Brighton & Hove Albion’s colours, the Aygo has been living out a quiet retirement on the Sussex coast – we haven’t seen it doing any punditry on other car football games or advertising crisps, anyway. It’s now up for auction on eBay.
The seller’s hilariously matter-of-fact description says “I genuinely have no idea how much this car is worth,” and neither do we. On the one hand, it’s incredibly low mileage for an Aygo, and has genuine screen pedigree. On the other, it’s an utterly knackered 20 year old city car that’s been stripped of most of its interior and only ever been driven in anger, and probably can’t ever be road registered.
Car football Toyota Aygo – rear
If it does tickle your fancy, then the ad’s here. At time of writing, with just over three days left on the auction, the highest bid is £1,438, which is… reasonable, we suppose.
