# Who is 'The Stig'? (UK:Top Gear) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 14, 2004, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-stig-uk-top-gear/274760 "2004-11-14T20:51:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2004, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-stig-uk-top-gear/274760/1 "2004-11-14T20:51:31Z")
Tiff Needel? Steve Coogan? Colin Mcrae? No-one? ---
**Author:** ![noname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58f4c7/32.png) [@noname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/noname)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2004, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-stig-uk-top-gear/274760/2 "2004-11-14T20:54:16Z")
A damn good driver 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2004, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-stig-uk-top-gear/274760/3 "2004-11-14T20:55:23Z")
> [@noname](#): > > A damn good driver 😃 Is it you?? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2004, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-stig-uk-top-gear/274760/4 "2004-11-14T20:56:53Z")
Stig O’Hara of the Rutles? Last I heard, he was a stewardess for Air India. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2004, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-stig-uk-top-gear/274760/5 "2004-11-14T21:08:15Z")
I always thought it was Tiff. But [here](http://www.topgear.com/content/features/stories/stig_condolence/01/) I find: > [@](#): > > while filming for the third series of the show, something went horribly wrong, and he ended up in the murky waters off the coast of Portugal, trapped in a nitrous-injected Jaguar XJ-S. > > Top Gear now has a new Stig, and the first one may be gone, but he’s not forgotten. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2004, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-stig-uk-top-gear/274760/6 "2004-11-14T21:10:08Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > I always thought it was Tiff. But [here](http://www.topgear.com/content/features/stories/stig_condolence/01/) I find: :eek: Are you wooshing me jjimm?? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![noname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58f4c7/32.png) [@noname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/noname)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2004, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-stig-uk-top-gear/274760/7 "2004-11-14T21:10:54Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > Is it you?? :eek: Sadly, I’m **noname** , not **no one** ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2004, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-stig-uk-top-gear/274760/8 "2004-11-14T21:11:59Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > Are you wooshing me jjimm?? :dubious: Wait. you did not see me ask that. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2004, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-stig-uk-top-gear/274760/9 "2004-11-14T21:47:28Z")
Strong rumour has it that the Stig, or at least one of them, is racing driver Perry McCarthy. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2004, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-stig-uk-top-gear/274760/10 "2004-11-14T21:54:50Z")
Incidentally, am I the only person who for years honestly thought that the Top Gear co-presenter was called Tiffany Dell, rather than Tiff Needell? ---
**Author:** ![Rabid\_Squirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Rabid\_Squirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rabid_Squirrel)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2004, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-stig-uk-top-gear/274760/11 "2004-11-14T23:57:24Z")
Just to back up the Perry McCarthy claim, check this [this](http://www.sfb.co.uk/cgi-bin/profile.cgi?s=129) website out. Kind of odd that they blab about it. ---
**Author:** ![Tansu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-stig-uk-top-gear/274760/12 "2004-11-15T13:29:40Z")
I think there have been at least three Stigs. First Stig retired, “killed off” in Jag wreck, Perry McCarthy was the second Stig, and he isn’t the Stig any more (if I recall an interview on the radio correctly). Some say that there have been two Stigs working on the same series - sometimes it’d be Perry McC, sometimes it’d be another bloke. No idea who the current Stig is. Place your bets on Jimmy Carr for the next Stig… 😉