Top Gear Series 1

1977 first series,

apparaently the c0cks that present it now refer to the original one as "old top gear"

it went from 1/2 magazine to 1hr studio based jizz fest in 2002.

or so it says on wikipedia

they've done well...

Clarkson left in 2000 and was replaced by James May... viewers dropped from a peak of 6 million to under 3 million so they cancelled it...

got re-launched in the new format with Clarkson and eventually May, and now boasts over 350 million viewers... haha

that's a success story if i ever heard one

[Viney]

I remeber the William Woodard version, and they had some posh blonde bird on there as well and they tested ordinary everyday cars, imagine that huh

That Kate Humble bird from Badgerwatch was a TG presenter too for a while.

[Viney]

Thats true, and i would mind watching her badger

Not forgetting Steve Berry and in the good old days of the Lombard RAC Rally Tony Mason used to present Top Gear Rally Report. Oh, them were the days

i used to record them and watch them at the same time back when i was a small boy, not sure why mayby for the same reson i can't bere to throw away an old car/motorcycle mag, never gona watch/read them again, i bet theres vhs tapes in the old dears loft full of "old top gear" episodes

Originally Posted by MR UKI (1)

Not forgetting Steve Berry

Who used to report on bike related stuff.

Bikes on Top Gear... in a positive light! If only they did it now.

Originally Posted by sinbad

Almost right except they didn't all leave, "old" Top Gear was cancelled in 2001, although I think it was with the intention to refresh it. AFAIK the BBC never gave up any commercial rights, though. JC doesn't own Top Gear.

Interesting article here re the ownership etc of Top Gear.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010...p-gear-spinoff

Andy Wilman who is an exec producer of the current format was actually a presenter on the show in it's 30 min format.

from MR UKI's link...

Clarkson, who reportedly earns around £1m for presenting Top Gear, owns 30% of Bedder 6...
and...
The corporation's commercial arm, BBC Worldwide, owns just over 50% of the company, which was created by Clarkson and Wilman in 2006.

so essentially, Clarkson owns over half of it to himself... haha