JL: Back to Top Gear for a second. Adam has recently said you’re going to be free to dis the cars that you’re driving. Is this true?

TF: As far as I know. And as far as I’ve seen so far on set, we are very clear on our opinions on the different cars. That’s one of the reasons of course the BBC show is successful. The hosts are very free to express their opinions on the cars and as far as I know that’s how it’ll be on the US show.

JL: That’s fantastic. But are you guys going to be driving stuff like Dodge Journeys and Toyota Corollas, or is it just going to be Ferraris and super Mercedes and whatnot?

TF: The format of the show will be pretty similar to the British Top Gear. There will be power tests and stuff like that with very high end cars and there’ll also be road tests with more moderately priced cars and of course the celebrities will be driving the reasonably priced cars, i.e. piles of crap. Just kidding.

JL: Well, you didn’t mention which car, so…

TF: It goes across the whole gamut. And that’s not to say that for those that haven’t watched the European show that this particular show is all about new cars. There are a lot of challenges out there that you only have a certain amount of money to buy a car and you end up having to get a 1982 924 Porsche.

JL: Or an 83 Honda Civic.

TF: You know it’s inevitable that I… You know I rolled that Honda Civic pretty bad in high school. Again, one of those lessons learned but its inevitable that I will spend some more time in a Dutch brown 83 Civic wagon.

JL: How is the US version going to be different, and how is it going to be the same?

TF: The format will be very similar, with the different parts of the television show it will be slightly shorter. The BBC doesn’t have commercials and has a full hour show, where in the US it’s more like a 42 minute show, but the US show will still kind of keep the same spirit of the uniqueness that Top Gear offers, but on an epic scale. NBC really doesn’t do anything small time, and we will have the budget to do amazing, amazing things.

JL: More amazing than racing a fighter jet against a Bugatti Veyron?

TF: We’ll still have a lot of the same writers, directors, and Andy Wilman is still involved, who is one of the founders of Top Gear. So a lot of the cleverness will still be there but we’ll do it a little bit American style where bigger is better. There’ll be a kind of epic feel to a lot of the things. So far the things that I’ve seen proposed are really over the top, so it’s going to be an interesting ride.

JL: That’s great, man. All of us here at Autofiends wish you the best of luck and we can’t wait to watch it.

TF: All right Jonny, me too.

Keep up with what Tanner’s up to at TannerFoust.com

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