The Mole has just wandered through the Top Gear office and noticed that everyone’s watching this, an homage to the telly show by three 20-somethings from California:
They’ve basically done a cheap car challenge and tried to find the greatest road in Cali. “They’ve cartainly been paying close attention,” said one TV type.
If you think you can do better, than point The Mole in the right direction. Plus, if you manage to get thorugh all six parts we’d like to know your thoughts.
Yay, first comment I think
Wannabe top gear! No-one can replace you guys
Very well observed, entertaining and it looks pretty good given that it was made on a relative shoestring. Yes, it sticks slavishly to the Top Gear format of three differing cars, challenges, mystery driver etc. but that’s the point – it’s an homage, and an enjoyable one.
The thing that jumps out most is the chemistry between the three guys. You can’t fake that, and it’s what makes this more genuine and entertaining than if this were an actual car show attempting to steal the Top Gear formula.
they are trying to hard to be you guys and it just doesnt work for them and $5000 that not a cheep car challenge.
Oh my god… they just got onto my most hated things list. That is just embarrasing.
Good on them. But no. Just no. They are sadly lacking humour and sex appeal. Even the Aussie TG have a little bit of that. Uh oh. I’ve set myself up big time with that comment. But at least they are a bit more real…these blokes above are just so sanitised…*yawns* You guys are watching this in the office…maaan…how on earth did you keep awake…
this is almost bad enough to be ..good.. …I´m gonna watch part two and get back… ouch !
okay so it´s missing clarkson and hammond.. but it´s got james.. in fact it´s got three…
add a gnome and a giant, a tablespoon of wit and a bit of attitude and you´re almost-almost there…
You’ve got to admire the effort. It’s probably the closest thing to the new US version of Top Gear we’ll see until it starts, and it’s also probably the closest thing to the actual show made by fans. Well put together.
I first saw this months ago; I thought they did very well. Marty hit the nail on the head, I think.
What do you mean they don’t have any sex appeal? Are you sure you’re watching the right video? I think they’re adorable. The video made me smile and that is a very big compliment.
Very nice, they seem to be having a good time. And america, california… i am sure that there are good roads over there. Lots of cops, but good roads.
WONDERFUL!!! I loved it. Absolutely adored it. I do not think these guys were trying to “copy” the show but merely honor it. They seemed extremely interested in cars and filming and they did a fantastic job with the angles and specifics of the film.
BRAVO BOYS
i liked it. obviously not good as the real thing, but a big result from some amateurs.
Not a bad effort, they look like they had a great time, and to be fair, that’s the important thing!
It’s pretty good. I’ve done a top gear race before now, but never a top gear cheap car challenge. Nicely done.
Good effort boys but you do lack the charisma.
Why can these boys film in HD and the BBC can’t?
TG is beautify filmed so why not compliment the camera crews efforts by shooting in HD. Budget me-thinks…
It makes for some funny watching but i think ive seen something like this before….
tries to compete, fails…
makes fifth gear looks cool, eh? =P
would have edited the final product meaner and leaner, i think it was way off the pace, and that’s only down to editing. however, on the plus side, they got their filming right, there was only one thing not shown that they talked about: the Neon spin. So even though the audio sux, and the three guys seem uncomfortable at being filmed, i do find they put out a genuine effort on such a complicated piece of video show as the top gear formula is. Me thinks: planned well, executed, well, done well
On a fan-fiction base that is, i would never-ever let this stuff on TV screen
DD
This is definitely nicely done. I got to see several cuts through the editing process and loved every minute. Cali definitely has some of the best roads around.
is a good tribute but you can tell from the camerawork it is amateur done so would never be able to compete with top gear
is quite funny that someone would have that much time on their hands to make all of that for no particular reason though part from they like top gear ..even though if i had the cash i would soo do that ! lol
Hey this is like Fifth Gear but better
please bring clarkson , hamster and captin slowback makes 5th gear look good
iv always wanted to do this but iv never had the money looks fun ish. it would be better witout american acsents. it looks prity easy to do if you look at ebay cars under £1000
just watched all 6 and i congratulate them its was good (lost my concentration quite a few times )… but, it just doesn’t compare to Top Gear , there just wasn’t enough insults, crashing, cock-ups, hilarity, jokes, … all they needed was Jeremy C, James M and Richard H and it would have been perfect
Although, They did get the right idea ( as it was a homage ) and they stuck to the script quite well, all they need is more confidence to mess up in front of the camera and it would make half decent t.v , and their own ideas if they were to make their own .
but all in all it was the best i have seen from amateurs! better than top gear Aussie anyway ( sorry but it is )
- $5,000 is a ton of money. A used Corolla for that money will work perfectly and last a decade.
You go David….nice presentation but will fwd/d to the mechanics….LOL
i watched all 6 and i believe that good funding and a better editor, it actually could be a great wanna-be togpear
How many bottom lickers are there
on this site…dont get me wrong
im a huge top gear fan, its my life.
but i think that some of you actually believe
if you give top gear the thumbs up…Jeremy and co. will swoop down from the heavens and
congratulate you on your newely oppointed co-host
job.
rant over
I’d say they’ve been more than Inspired by Topgear-They’ve just Stole and Copied Topgear and placed it in the US. Typically American, Typically Un-original.
And the Reason You Guys didn’t go to the U.S is because there’s nothing but Straight empty boring roads there!
Very well done!
California is a great place to showcase as well… some of the best roads and views in the country. I’d like to have seen some desert shots through the large dunes of Southern California ala Star Wars, Return of the Jedi but my guess is they didn’t have much money for gas.
Great homage to a great show! Bravo, gentlemen!
Post Script: I think Geraint should look up “homage” before attacking an entire nation and their creativity.
Stupid looking guys driving decent machines. They are too young to know much and I dont trust them. I think it would be a great idea to have a “Top Gear USA” show but with more knowledgeable people. And what is it about Americans that they have to always talk so much about themselves. Jeezz
I feel sad that this poor excuse for an homage was the one picked up by the mole. There are thousands of roads better than the shit they were driving on. And who BUY’s a NEON? Im embarrassed of these obvious non-petrolheads.
The only reason I watched this was because I’m in TG withdrawls.
I gonna go wash out my eyes with bleach now.
… top gear is the best ever
Good effort a good homage to top gear just watched all six and not once did i want to attack the laptop with an axe looked like good fun that you just wouldnt get away with in this country
It’s a shameless fraud, and i love it.
They didn’t take themselves too seriously, they didn’t think they were the real three, but they bore a very close resemblance.
Haha! I love it!
Crysler Neon – someone just wasn’t listening.
You leave them alone!! It was a fantastic effort and my nephew did the filming!!! So there!
I want to hate it but just can’t. It was fun, interesting and was in HD. I loved the Alfa as it’s absolutely beautiful. Good job peeps.
Don’t care about the plot, don’t care abut the quality. Care that one of them is driving a Fiat 124 Spider.
I used to have one of those. Did about 30,000 miles. Spent countless hours under the bonnet it, swearing and skinning knuckles and coaxing it back into action. You can’t break that sort of emotional bond. To this day, can’t see a video of one without my eyes moistening over.
Not bad production wise I guess, but the guys have no charisma and are frankly trying too hard, The ultimate problem with this though is they seem to miss the point of what makes a good road, long sweeping typically American bends just don’t cut it, it maybe beautiful but a good drive it does not make!
only watched 50 seconds but there you go i enjoyed those 50 seconds i saw but does anyone know what specific date top gear is coming back because i get more and more excited each day i have 2 friends left because i have bored the others because all i ever go on about is top gear MY DREAM – BECOME ANYTHING TO DO WITH TOP GEAR (ill even be their postwoman hehe)
quattropower said…”And who BUY’s a NEON? Im embarrassed of these obvious non-petrolheads.”
Its not just some neon, friend, its an ACR, which (for those who know, or can use google) is a very respectable vehicle if you want to drive fast. It was designed with the SCCA in mind, and while there are certainly better/faster cars out there, for a 5k challenge its a fairly brilliant choice. You’d be hard pressed to find something else designed for racing that cheap.
Can I just say the roads they find are utter toilet
Paul Horrell,I know exactly how you feel,my Dads Fiat 124
convertable was used as my wedding car.loved that car.
I think the 2 lads from the US did quite good tht did not ry to being professional, good try.
Cannot wait for real TG though.
Hello, we really enjoyed that film. Three blokes having fun with cars.
We did a similar thing as we couldn’t find any german car show worth watching.
Check it out, it’s with english captions:
http://www.youtube.com/us er/FlatoutProject
Many greetings to the chaps from california and to the Top Gear UK Team, the coolest car show on earth.
but to be honest they don’t know much about cars or the mechanics of it… at one point the radiator was over heated.. hey said what wrong with it .. and then asked how to fix an over heated radiator -_O
are they serious??
okay they could be joking but they didn’t make it seem as if it was a joke .. but come on they don’t know how to fix an over-heated radiator..
Awww bless them!
They look like they are having a great time.
Nice show. They made it for fun and to honour TG, not to steal something from it. They are obviously amateurs and enjoying it. They might buy some Asian car (despite bmw), since Yanx drive those cars too. I guess that would be better for the challenge. The bmw driver looks a bit shy. I think I lost concentration in 2nd or 3rd part. Some more music in background would be better. And you, 50% of commenters before me, how about to get your tongue out of TG’s arses? lol
I thought it was great! A lot have work must have gone into it, the three cars plus camera car and stig car, all the cameras, plus the editing would have been a big job. Great Show!
In reply to comment 40…..It wasnt an alfa. It was a “Fiat Spyder” It was in the video but you clearly didnt listen.
Its a great video/series of videos and shows what animpact TG has had not only here in the UK but all over the world.
Wonder if they will do another one?
Lisa-Loo
sorry, the computer’s been playing up and the internet was not working. Anyway, all fixed now. Who are the three boys going with you? My brother and my dad might come with me, though it will be weird tellin my friends! well done with the managers position, I expect you have to organise a lot of things. I’d love to do that. We used to have a Spar where I live, but is now replaced by one stop, I think. Speak to you soon, X P.S what time was the show on and what channel?! X
Nice work. The mis-pronouciation of Fiat (Feeart – jees)and the shift knob (it’s A GEARSTICK Yanks) was annoying like most american pronouciations but overall it was an enjoyable and loving homage. Their Stig sucks though.
Some say he smokes to much weed, others say he’s The Stig’s American cousin – Fat Stig’s – youngest son, and others call him Steve. All we know is that our Stig would trounce him on one of those buggies.
Sorry but great driving road in america….no such thing….
the chemistry isn’t there
FIAT (as in fee at not feeart)
but im just green with envy…..I want to do the next one BEST DRIVING ROAD IN WALES…..All of them
w i gay
its awful absoulutly awful but if its for fun lol decent but if there being serious holy mothe of god whats the world coming to
Highway 1 and 101 are the best roads. PERIOD
so ! The Mole !! ..anyhting else, perhaps INTERESTING happening in the office lately or you still busy watching part 5 of this k-rap ?? Just wondering ? It´s getting rather dull up here…
only one trouble with roads in cali.. there are americans everywhere maaaan ! and this, 3 IT or it, as you prefer both makes sense.., types driving around on dirt ? not to mention the cars they picked… this isn´t a homage, it´s an embarassement.. a relatively well executed one, but embarassement none the less.. revenge of the nerds meets fifth gear for a top gear brunch in the love shack.. ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuch hhh !!!! spare us, the mole, spare us man !
Wow, some of you guys just don’t get it. It wasn’t perfect, but it obviously took some time and was well produced. It wasn’t supposed to be a Top Gear replacement, just an homage honoring a show that so many of us enjoy. And so what if it was American, doesn’t change the fact that they are HUGE Top Gear fans. You’d have to be to put so much effort into a fan film. I hope they can make more, it looks like they had a ton of fun.
well they had more fun than we did watching.. I hope
as for the homage.. it´s a bit like honouring the shark, witha tin of tuna.. but okay they tried and we tried to watch it.. and that´s taht.. Can we have something new now ? the mole, are you there ? thnx
ps nothing wrong with being american is there ?
Absolutely Brilliant. Awkward at times, granted. But remarkable.
I wasn’t convinced these guys were true car geeks, though.
Let them get confortable with the camera, tighten up the editing, I’d watch it weekly.
sidebar… music was excellent.
Admirable effort guys. Well done!
It’s a valiant effort, but ultimatly it is bone crunchingly, gut wrenchingly, sphincter shatteringly..and lots of other…ly’s tripe. It’s very clear now why TG binned the American show. TG exists on the very nub of every question, on the very cusp of bad taste, and big budgetly teeters on the brink of utter failure. The basic requiremnt is a sense of soft metal, frizzy mullets, tight jeans, stumpy shiny white teeth and a sense of history that only Luddites would crave. A frenzy of bad hair, smoking tires, tenous simalies, breath stopping pauses, bad hair, unlimited horses, outrageous fortune, short stories for the shorter person, bruising perception, furious dithering, bad hair, occasionaly serious f u’s…and all the other things that proper mates get up to. A bunch of maloderous, tedious berks with sensible hair and so manÿ “issues” like this are never going to cut it…get to the point chaps, and fot the love of god, learn how to take the piss…
Well I liked it. Good work.
You are taking this wwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy y to seriously. 3 guys in the US have a good time paying tribute to Top Gear and all you dweebs act like it is some kind of serious attempt at a TV show and start throwing your toys out of the pram… Jeremy would tell you to lighten up and piss off! NICE WORK!!!
its an absolute rip off they’re not as funny as jc jm and rh like
thats not half bad. i bet if the americans ever did an official “top gear us” it would be sort of like that, just with better challenges and hopefully someone with better taste than to buy a Dodge Neon.
Seriously… that was really nicely done!
I happily went through the whole hour in one sitting – and enjoyed it all. The story, editing and production was all absolutely fine – completely watchable.
Congratulations, and well done.
FlatoutProject: very nice too…. slick!
And anything that uses Stones Masonry’s Flapjacks as backing music is thumbs up for me!
5000$…man you could buy a car for that money!
Nothing wrong with copying, er, I mean, taking inspiration from the escapades of May, Hammond and Clarkson. Indeed, a colleague and I had a race from Co. Monaghan in Ireland to Amsterdam. He was flying Aer Lingus, and I was in my trusty Vectra. Aer Lingus came over all British Leyland and went on strike. Result? I won in the car.
to all the snobbish comments making fun of this tribute to top gear and of American pronunciation… shut it…
YOU go and make a show like this, shell out your own cash, put it on you tube and see the reaction you get. Haven’t you heard, mimicry is the best form of flattery. Dorks.
American pronunciation is just that, American… trust me, we make fun of you sots and all the crazy terminology you guys have when we watch BBC America so just laugh and leave it alone.
I actually quite liked it. It was very well edited and the content wasn’t that bad.
Sure, the acting wasn’t on par with a professional high budget TG show, but for 3 guys who made the film on a budget that was out of their own pockets, it was a damn fine effort.
I managed to watch the whole lot in one sitting, and even found a chunk of the dialog quite agreeable and, well, right.
Lighten up you “OMG ITS NOT AS GOOD!!!!” lot, it’s a tribute, not a copy, and a damn good tribute at that
It seems the norm these days to be negative about anything. In Dutch we have the term ‘azijnpisser’. Look it up.
I enjoyed it and thought it was as good as can be expected from an bunch of amateurs. The montage at the beginning is fantastic.
I thoroughly enjoyed it. Bring on the rest!
W T F !?
ow Yaeh! great roads in the US, so now go try and build a proper car to drive on them! Passo Stelvio rules!
FiAAAAAAt. Lovely. But actually pretty decent to watch. Nice one lads.
Well done boys
It was relativeley good, altough everything was copied from Top Gear. And they are overacting.
loved “Passo Stelvio rules”
oh come on you lot you are all being so harsh. These three have had a jolly good time and why not. My lot often go on find the best road trip and they put in challenges and evertyhing./ good on them. TG ought to be proud of these boys. Top Tip for any one else get the cameras to do more scenic shots.
Ohh gooood! when will the next series start! I mean what else is there 2 do on a sunday wen theres no school/place 4 kids 2 go so theyre parents can go 2 work and so they have somethin useless 2 do or its raining and u have no books!! Other than watch old top gear thay uv watched 10 billion times! and yeah very funny
For some very strange reason this clip reminds me of some random BBC tv show…. hmmmm
“He doesn’t know where the hell he is!” Well that strikes a chord…
“Poweeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrr rrr!!!!!!!!!!” That isn’t familiar at all. It really really isn’t. not at all.
It’d be good if it wasn’t too true, I’d prefer it if they had more of a character to themselves rather than copping off someone else.
*looks at other comments* and wow a chance for America to be incredibly aggressivly patriotic.
Thanks for getting in my way last week in that classic rally.
I had set out to ride Collobra but it was shut due to the bloddy rally. Then tried to get over Soller but it was also shut. Coppers wouldnt let me go through the tunnel. so had to put a two hour loop in nto get back to my hotel in the dark.
…Much more entertaining than anything Corolla would have done…
This homage set out to find the greatest driving road in Calafornia they obviously couldn’t find one with a decent bend in it so gave up nice try lads
What happenend to the imitation Stig then…..
THAT IS SO AWESOME!!!!!
Liking it already! Beautiful cinematography, nice filters, good editing and very interseting!
I LOVEE Richard Hammmond
That was….actually surprisingly good! It helps that they’re being themselves aswell. Very well put together. Thumbs up lads
Why they try to find the Best Road in the World, the boys form Top Gear found it already … waste of time.
However, bravos Top Gear for posting this.
IT was alright but it wasn’t funny at all.
I enjoyed it. I agree that the editing could have been a little bit tighter, but apart from that, really enjoyed the SF challenge, liked the non-faked-for-TV jinks, lived the cars – just a shame the last part was a let down.
I thought it was quite well done, watched the whole thing. Their personalities might be a little flat, but for a tribute to Top Gear I certainly could not of done any better.
These guys get the point of Top Gear more than do 75% of the commentards on here.
So they’re a bit dull and nerdy – so what. Stick most of us in front of a camera and we’d be awkward as hell – that’s why we’re not paid six figure salaries to do it.
These guys weren’t professionals, nor did they claim to be. All of this was done on a budget by a bunch of guys who enjoy mucking about in cars – they’ve had a bit of a laugh and filmed it. Just because it’s not technically in the same league as Top Gear doesn’t mean it’s not extremely cleverly done.
To everyone saying it’s bone-shatteringly awful – get out there, have your own cr@p car caper, and film it for posterity, rather than sitting there whining. I did (for Staples2Naples 2007) and boy was it a hell of a lot worse than these guys’ effort – but I had so much fun making it… “Ambitious but rubbish” is all that matters.
Very well made video.
You guys did great
please could you bring back the top gear dog in the next series
TG pwns all. Nothing can replace it!!
Yeah, crag12 is right. Bring back Tee-Gee-Dee!! I loved her!
It’s not horrible, and I commend them for attempting it (and coming up with quite a bit of footage to actually put something together). The editing isn’t all too bad, but the hosts were just……fake. They were trying to hard to be “TopGear” versus being themselves (especially with the over-exaggerated laughs & trying to be clever).
It’s decent (decent enough that I watched it all), but if they were a little more genuine in who THEY were instead of trying to be TopGear, I’m thinking it would have turned out much better.
Well done guys, but next time tone it down a bit (the fake-ness that is)
fake? hardly. they seem quite natural in front of the camera and they are clearly just being themselves and having a great time. It doesn’t seem fake or like they’re “trying” to be anything to this viewer.
Well done, lads.
this makes 5th gear look good
What is a FEEEAT?
I had to adjust the brightness because of their white teeth , and the cheesiness (puke)
And NO sex appeal at all
Roll on June
THEIR SUPPOSED “STIG” WEARS SHORTS, THAT IS BLASPHEMOUS
hmmm, so depending on what year their bm’s are they may be cocks
First of all i want to thank you sir.jeremy clarkson for showing up in real life what i’ve allways dream on every single nigth (cars), then i didnt really comment nothing about this topic but since i couldnt find a way to email you im going to pass my message here…
kidding of corse…but the reason of a diesel engine and such a wreck is that the budget is very short 
…but i just drive with no were to go more than 3 nigths a week … i simply like to drive any type of car , but since i never got further and faster then a peugeot 206cc 1.6 petrol 110bhp i have to keep dreaming an watching your program… this is what i allways wanted to say to you sir. i hope this message get on your hands…and sir keep doing what you do best and keep enjoying the best job in the world…
i’ve seen all of your shows (all of them), and in on of them you sad sir that nobody just pick up is car and just drive it with no where to go ,just purely because you like cars and loves to drive them… well sir jeremy i do that even if you dont belive that. and u wont belive either is the wreck i do that with, its a clio 1.9 (powered with diesel wich is your
favorite fuel resource on earth
eddie from portugal
sorry about any typing errors im not english…
That collection of films has to be the worst rip-off ever done by the Americans…..I am actually very angry at the Americans because of that film only the people down under can rip off topgear because they are the only colony to get it right (they recognise the queen as their monarch)… I don’t want hear the word Fi-art again they really can’t talk get your own show America!
I watched 3.06 of it and that was all I could take. It is horrible! Americans trying to do what British do best is just revolting. (With the US version of Couplings as the worst) Americans are just so thin, good looking and stupid. Not at all like the British who are poorly clad, ugly and wonderfully intelligent!
First things first… That Fiat is hold your breath as it passes gorgeous, it didn’t overheat in the California sun even during the “waste fuel challenge” even though it would be nice to have a 90’s BMW for that price its my pick for the winner…
Okay so it wasn’t as humourous or entertaining as Top Gear but these guys had fun and its a film about them doing just that…. The camera, editing and production work was sublime especially for three random guys….
Easily more entertaining to watch than TGAU and FIFTH GEAR if only because it followed Top Gear’s format without being a shameless copy…
Hats off to them!
top gear and top camera work some of it is stunning
awesome tribute, if you could train these guys, there is your American Top Gear show
i think if they ware them selfs it would of been better but i watched all 6 parts and found it to be great i wonder if they are going to do another one