Watch Former Stig Ben Collins Wrestle a $6M Porsche 962 That’s Headed To Auction
An turbocharged Le Mans race car can be a handful, but the former Stig has the skills to push it on track.
Race cars may have a steering wheel and pedals just like regular cars, but driving them in anger takes a very particular set of skills. All the more relevant when you're talking about a beast like the Porsche 962. Thankfully, Ben Collins, aka The Stig, is on hand to show us how it's done.
The former Top Gear test driver got behind the wheel for a video on his self-explanatory YouTube channel, Ben Collins Drives. It's the first of a five-part series, which will see Collins drive a number of storied ex-race cars up for auction at RM Sotheby's Le Mans Centenary auction, set to take place on June 9.
Driving the Porsche 962 is not a job for mere mortals. In fact, we know that maintaining one is no easy task because our own Jerry Perez recently interviewed someone who owns and races a 962c. Weighing just under 2,000 pounds, it's fitted with a 2.6-liter twin-turbo flat-six engine that delivers somewhere in the realm of 600 horsepower. Combine that with the very best of mid-1980s turbo lag and the temperament of a racing engine, and you've got one hot tamale. The soaring engine note and the view from the cabin are enough to give you a sense of the visceral driving experience behind the wheel of the bonkers race car.
As Collins demonstrates, though, he's got the deft touch to keep the Porsche in check. Beyond his work as the once-anonymous stunt driver on Top Gear, Collins has also pursued a lengthy career in motorsport. Highlights include four appearances at Le Mans, with a best finish of 12th, and appearances in V8 Supercars and the British Touring Car Championship.
The example in question was raced by superstars Jackie Ickx and Jochen Mass, claiming pole at Le Mans in 1986. It didn't finish the race, sadly, with line honors going to another 962 that year. Regardless, its rich heritage of competition in the World Sportscar Championship, along with the beloved Rothmans livery, is still enough to give it a mighty price tag. It's expected to sell for somewhere between $6.5-9.7 million, according to the auction listing.
By virtue of his skills and standing in the automotive world, Collins got to drive his dream car. Few enthusiasts will ever be so lucky, and even fewer would have the skills to take advantage of such an opportunity. If you don't have the chops to push an endurance racer to the limit, though, you can still enjoy the ex-Stig putting on a show for the rest of us.
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