Top Gear-Argentina stoush: Clarkson warned but kept plate

Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson and the offending plate. Photo / AP

Top Gear stars continued to use a car number plate for 10 days after being warned that furious Argentinians believed it was an offensive reference to the Falklands War, the show's producer has confirmed.

Presenter Jeremy Clarkson was sent a tweet on September 19 from an Argentinian car website claiming the number plate on his Porsche, H982 FKL, was chosen as a reminder of the 1982 conflict in the Falklands between Britain and Argentina.

The show's producer, Andy Wilman, confirmed Clarkson read the tweet but said that the show's crew did not change the licence plate until September 30.

On a blog post about the incident, Mr Wilman wrote: "The first time we realised the plate could be a problem was on the third night of our shoot in Argentina, when Jeremy was scrolling through Twitter and spotted a comment on one of the auto fan sites next to a photo of the plate. I remember his surprise and concern."

The post then explains that the team spoke to officials in Ushuaia and agreed the plates would be removed when they arrived there in 10 days' time.

The tweet to Clarkson was sent by Autoblog Argentina, which had a picture of the car with the phrase '1982 Falklands?' It was followed up with a further 14 tweets written in Spanish complaining about the car.

Despite this, the crew continued with the number plate and drove around areas of Argentina including El Calafate and Tierra del Fuego.

When they reached Ushuaia on September 30 the plate was changed.

However by then animosity had reached boiling point and the crew were forced to flee a baying mob.

Writing in UK tabloid the Sun yesterday, Clarkson said: "I didn't see the car until I arrived in Argentina. Did I notice the plate? Not until three days later.

"Our producer immediately contacted local government to ask if it would be a problem when we arrived in Ushuaia, a city from which the doomed warship Belgrano sailed. They said yes and that we should change it before entering the city."

The offending number plate.

Contacted at the weekend, Mr Wilman said: "We decided to keep the number plate on until Ushuaia because taking it off would have been illegal. Once we arrived in Ushuaia we took it off as that is where the war issues are most sensitive, and replaced it with one sent over from the UK."

Message shown for over a week
*Top Gear used the number plate for 10 days despite knowing it was offensive.
*A producer confirmed the crew only changed the plate on arrival in Ushuaia.
*By that time local animosity had reached boiling point.

-Daily Mail