Overview
- Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason says he lent his rare Ferrari Enzo to Top Gear in the mid‑2000s on condition the programme gave prominent publicity to his book, and the filmed plug aired in the final broadcast.
- Mason publicly recounted the deal during Benedict Fowler's Road To Success podcast in June 2026, which prompted renewed media coverage of the anecdote.
- Former Top Gear producer Andy Wilman told the podcast the clip 'immortalised' the show in the BBC editorial compliance department and that the footage was shown in training sessions for new staff.
- The arrangement appears to have run counter to BBC rules that bar advertising, endorsements and product placement on licence‑fee funded programmes, and there is no report of any new BBC investigation following Mason's account.
- The episode highlights how Top Gear's early production pressures and the rarity of the Enzo led to pragmatic deals for content and how those choices later informed the BBC's internal compliance teaching.