An official police report indicates the Top Gear crew wanted to burn the three cars as a method to make their exit from Argentina more dramatic.
It was only yesterday when we talked about the Top Gear Patagonia special scheduled to air on Dec 27 28 and now we bring news about the scandal which emerged a couple of months ago. It all started with the "H982 FKL" license plate on Jeremy Clarkson's Porsche 928 which probably referred to 1982 when Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands but the British responded and forced them to surrender.
The Top Gear production crew was allegedly attacked by Falkland War veterans so the crew decided that it would be best to leave the country. Now, a local police report says the producers wanted to burn the Porsche 928, Lotus Esprit and Ford Mustang before exiting Argentina to make it look more dramatic. Argentine diplomats are suggesting Top Gear wanted to use the footage with the torched cars for a more "dramatic effect." The same report also specifies the controversial license plates were changed before BBC's team left Argentina.
Officials from Top Gear responded to the accusations of intentionally wanting to torch the cars by saying it is "nonsense" since they already had enough dramatic material for the Christmas special so they didn't want to take any other risks. In addition, the TG representatives mentioned the team's main objective was to ditch the cars and leave Argentina as soon as possible without causing other problems.