Top Gear US: Season One by BBC Worldwide

Actors

• Adam Ferrara
• Tanner Foust
• Rutledge Wood

Format

• Box set
• Color
• NTSC
• Subtitled
• Widescreen

Editorial Review

A very popular, very English auto show crosses the pond with the debut of Top Gear US, featuring 10 first-season episodes (plus bonus material) on three discs–and while the Brit-ness is definitely gone, in virtually every other respect this feast for car freaks has made the trip intact. Three hosts (the new Yanks are Adam Ferrara, Tanner Foust, and Rutledge Wood) road test high-performance, high price tag “supercars” (Lamborghini Gallardo, Morgan Aero SuperSports, Aston Martin V12 Vantage) and trucks; merrily punish old beaters purchased for $1,000 (Cadillac Coupe DeVille, Buick Roadmaster); take part in bizarre challenges, like those matching a Dodge Viper against a helicopter and a Ford VelociRaptor truck against a HALO parachute jumper; host visiting celebs (Tony Hawk, Michelle Rodriguez, Kid Rock, astronaut Buzz Aldrin) who drive a lap in a cheap Suzuki sedan; and exchange occasionally witty banter in front of a studio audience. The vehicles may differ, but the show's format is identical to its British counterpart's. And why not–it works. That includes the music, too; it's hard not to like a show that features Black Sabbath, the Doors, and Mussorgsky along with the Allman Brothers' “Jessica” as its theme song.

Of course, there are a few differences. Instead of tooling around, say, the Italian Alps, our heroes do their driving in rural North Carolina, coastal Florida, the western desert, and other American locales (as always, both the locations and the cars are beautifully photographed). And in the absence of the English hosts, especially the droll Jeremy Clarkson, the tone is markedly American; less Jeremy means more Jackass, you might say, although Ferrara, assuming the Clarkson role, gets off some good one-liners, like comparing driving the Lamborghini to “being aroused at gunpoint.” Bonus features include a podcast and a series of “poolside chats” in which the hosts discuss airline travel and other pointless trivia. –Sam Graham