10:57 am, September 2, 2025
He’s best known for his seven-year stint as Top Gear’s mysterious racing driver but former Stig Ben Collins has now stepped out of the shadows and turned his attention to the world of Japanese imports.
The racing driver, who donned the famous white suit between 2003 and 2010, is currently working with MotorCap, which imports low-mileage European and Japanese cars before selling them to the motor trade at auction.
The firm aims to take the stress of imports away from the dealers themselves, something which Car Dealer’s James Baggott can relate to, having recently gone through the process with his business, The Clever Car Collection.
All MotorCap vehicles are sold via BCA having passed an MOT test and registered to drive on UK roads.
Having previously worked with WSG, Collins was brought on board to for his ‘unique perspective and knowledge’, particularly in the worlds of warranties and motorsport.
Ironically, given his years of anonymity, the 50-year-old now serves as the face of the company and he appeared on the most recent episode of the Car Dealer Podcast to tell us all about the venture.
Speaking to hosts James Baggott and Jon Reay, he said: ‘Ad hoc, dealers have been buying cars from Japan for a long time.
‘It’s a known fact that they don’t salt the roads in Japan, so you don’t get the corrosion. They’re lower mileage. People look after them and we’ve been seeing these cars coming off the transporters from Japan.
‘There are BMWs still with that blue tape over the sills – they just well looked after, which is the culture out there.
‘While ad hoc sales, I think have been going on, the different model which we’re doing at MotorCap is to really save all the hassle that dealers go through with importing – the three months’ delay on cars arriving and all that stuff.
‘We are buying these cars, we’re hand picking them, only going after the premium ones, we’ve got guys out there selecting in conjunction with our team to pick the best of the stock that’s available, buy up, bring it over, get everything done so that it’s retail ready when it gets to the UK.
‘We do all the coding and the conversion that needs to be done – it’s only small touches – and then it’s ready to go.
‘We are selling them through BCA auctions and seeing these cars go out on the market within a week with a 50% markup for the dealers.
‘I think it’s the right business for the right time.’
The Car Dealer Podcast, sponsored by Carwow, sees an industry guest join our hosts to discuss the motor trade’s biggest headlines of every week.
A full list of the stories discussed can be found here.
You can listen to all episodes of the Car Dealer Podcast on Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
The Clever Car Collection recently received a transporter full of Japanese imports. You can see how it unfolded in the video above.
