TOP GEAR’S unmasked race ace The Stig once worked as a test driver for Scalextric.
Ben Collins, 35, who has been revealed as the mystery star, ensured the toy motors were as realistic as possible.
He was a marketing boss at the slot-car racing firm, based in Margate, Kent, in the early 2000s.
Ben had to race prototype cars with the hand-held controls to see how they performed.
He also checked that the Scalextric models of F1 cars were as authentic as possible by liaising with motor racing teams such as McLaren and Williams.
A Scalextric spokesman said: “Ben Collins worked here as a part-time brand manager for two years or so in the early-2000s.”
A source at company, now a member of the Hornby group, said: “Ben was brought in as part of a drive to make our model cars more detailed and of a better quality. His job in marketing was to liaise with racing teams like McLaren to ensure that we got the licence to make exact replicas of their car.
“Ben was hired because of his connections with motor racing and the fact that he had driven a lot of the cars.”
“This was shortly before he became The Stig on Top Gear. We knew him only as Ben but he was a really nice bloke.”
Ben’s cover was blown after he won a £100,000 court battle with the BBC to reveal his identity in his forthcoming autobiography The Man In The White Suit.
But he is now facing the chop from the show, which attracts 8million viewers, and bosses are considering killing off the character.
Source: London Daily Star
