To refresh your memory, the previous Top Gear format starring Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May had a recurring segment called "Star in a reasonably priced car." Throughout the years, four cheap vehicles were used: Suzuki Liana, Chevrolet Lacetti, Kia Cee'd, and the Vauxhall Astra. A new video allows us to rekindle with the only one that had an apostrophe in its name. It’s a first-generation facelifted version of the five-door hatch.
As seen on TV from 2010 through 2013, this Kia Cee'd is one of the three cars used by the Top Gear crew. It's the only one to feature an automatic gearbox as the other two came with a manual. It has changed hands since its days on television and is the only one still being used a decade later. Save for the roll cage and Corbeau bucket seats with harnesses, it’s entirely stock.
The car's current owner says the BBC didn't actually buy the cars as these were given on a loan by Kia on the condition to keep the interior as close to the original as possible. That's not all too surprising since this iteration of the Cee'd was on sale at the time the show aired, so the South Korean brand wanted to advertise it in near-OEM guise.
During its life on Top Gear, this compact Kia hatch did 1,800 miles (nearly 2,900 kilometers) and the current owner bought it when it had 12,000 miles (19,300 kilometers). He purchased the Cee'd on eBay from a private seller in November 2021 for £6,200 and has driven it since then for a little over 6,000 miles (9,600 kilometers).
Aside from having the Top Gear logo on the front doors, you can tell this Kia Cee apostrophe d has an interesting history by the signatures on the inside. Ben Collins aka "The Stig" signed his name on the center console while Tiff Needell's autograph is on the dashboard. Some will remember him from the early days of the show while others will think of Fifth Gear. Of course, lest we forget he was a professional racing driver, finishing third overall at Le Mans in 1990.
