The Toyota was purchased from a farmyard by Clarkson, who began to try and kill it (to be classed as dead, you had to not be able to start the engine or drive it). He walked all over it, drove it down some steps, very carelessly drove it around Bristol, and into a tree. It was pretty much unscathed, the only damage being to the bonnet, which folded in after it plowed into the tree. Clarkson then attempted to drown the car in the Bristol Channel. This seemed to work, but amazingly, despite no spare parts, the mechanic got it working again after clearing away all the silt. The only damage done was the windscreen coming off. Clarkson soon took it to the test track where it was dropped from a crane, crashed through the production office after replacing the windscreen, and then a caravan was dropped on it, which only succeeded in making it impossible to open the doors and pushing the roof in. Jeremy's final attempts were hitting it with a wrecking ball and setting fire to it. Astonishingly, it survived.
Following Clarkson's failure to kill it, James May stepped in. He decided to place it on top of a 23-storey tower block about to be demolished. While the exterior and chassis were damaged to the point where the bodywork was holding the chassis and the vehicle was barely recognisable, the mechanic (again, using no spare parts and only simple tools) "reconnected the battery, put a bit of diesel in it, brum. Off it went." Clarkson, after surveying the damage, suggested that they build a plinth to honour the Hilux for all time. The idea was a huge success.
The Hilux has very often been seen in the background in Top Gear episodes. It was referenced several times in the
third episode of Series 8, when Jeremy, in the process of constructing his
Toybota, showed a montage of their various attempts to destroy it. He also indicated it when he pointed out that he could drive his Toybota home that night, due to its indestructibility.
