Jeremy Clarkson reveals Top Gear's legendary rolling Robin test drive was a set-up

Jeremy Clarkson has revealed that one of the most-loved segments on Top Gear was an elaborate set-up.

In one of the most popular episodes of the hit program, Clarkson test drives the three-wheeled Reliant Robin, rolling the seemingly unstable vehicle at every turn.

But the former BBC presenter, who was axed from the show during a controversy last year, has now revealed that the Robin was not the goofy-looking death trap the program made it out to be.

"I'd asked the back-room boys to play around with the differential so that the poor little thing rolled over every time I turned the steering wheel," Clarkson told the Sunday Times.

"Naturally, the health and safety department was very worried about this and insisted that the car be fitted with a small hammer that I could use, in case I was trapped after the roll, to break what was left of the glass".

The back-room boys nailed the task and throughout the seven-minute test drive Clarkson rolls the Robin at least five times.

And in spite of all the crashes the three-wheeled vehicle has won a place in the Top Gear's host's heart.

"I like the Robin Reliant so much that when Richard Hammond, James May and Andy Wilman and I formed our new production company, I rushed out immediately and bought one as a company car," Clarkson said.

"Interestingly, the other three did exactly the same. So now we have a fleet sitting in the executive car parking spaces at our offices."