Top Gear already has the blueprint for a successful U.S. version

Top Gear is reportedly getting a third US version, so why is the BBC continuing to struggle with an American edition when it already had the blueprint?

This is a great week for car fans with the Indianapolis 500 last weekend, so it’s also an appropriate time to discuss that BBC Worldwide is developing an American version of Top Gear.

If you think you’ve heard this news before, you have. Twice—so let’s discuss why the brand can’t quite find its lane in the United States, especially when it may have already missed its best shot, in this week’s Deeper Cut.

The name Top Gear means as much to car culture as any brand. The BBC had lightning in a bottle in 2002, when it relaunched the series with Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and from series 2 onward, James May. The trio explored the motoring world in ways no one had before, and turned it into universal entertainment—illustrating why cars mean so much to people and cultures, before wrecking caravans or setting a semi truck on fire.

Their shenanigans were tremendously popular, so it was no surprise when international versions developed. When it came to a US version, though, it took a while for the wheels to get rolling, and when they finally did, then the car went into a blind corner and off a cliff.

Chances are you missed 2017’s Top Gear America, which lasted just one season on BBC America. There’s a reason why: it wasn’t very good. Hosts William Fichtner, Antron Brown and Tom Ford are all very talented folks with great personalities—but together, they never felt like a merry band of car-crazed adventurers we needed to follow.

And the show’s insistence on sticking to nearly every detail of the UK version made it feel like a copycat of the original, rather than producers letting the trio find their own unique voice. It never got out of park.

What made Top Gear America‘s failure even more baffling was that BBC Worldwide knew how to do Top Gear correctly. The studio had already developed a successful US edition when it teamed with History to produce Top Gear USA from 2010 to 2016.

Hosted by Adam Ferrara, Tanner Foust and Rutledge Wood, Top Gear USA originally suffered from one of the same maladies as its predecessor—somebody’s determination to have it done exactly as Clarkson, Hammond and May had done. Several of the early elements were lifted directly from old Top Gear episodes, like repeating the same challenges and the “Big Star, Small Car” chat-show bit that was just a repackaging of “Star in a Reasonably Priced Car.”

But along the way, someone figured out that the three hosts were actually really good when they weren’t being expected to emulate someone else’s work. Putting a comedian, a Global Rallycross champion, and a NASCAR analyst together was kind of an odd combination, and that’s what made it fabulously entertaining.

These were three people who, at first glance, wouldn’t necessarily even be in the same room. But they were brought together by their common enthusiasm for cars. And as they were enabled to be more themselves, audiences saw them develop an amazing rapport, and an energy that was very much reminiscent of the original series.

They were able to pull off theater of the absurd—no one asked for a flamethrower on top of a school bus—but they were also able to tell stories about cars and the people behind the wheel. What wound up being the series finale, simply titled “Cuba,” saw them venture to the country where they explained how the longstanding embargo had essentially trapped Cuban car culture back in the 1950s.

As the seasons went on, TV viewers watched the relationship between the Top Gear USA hosts develop through jokes, surprises and the occasional accident. They got to come up with their own, often outlandish, ideas. And now-President Donald Trump even appeared in an episode.

The success of the program pointed to why the brand was, and still is, more than a TV show. No matter who you are or where you come from, there are certain things that everyone can identify with. Cars are one of those things. Everyone has a memory, whether it’s getting their first car as a teenager, having a car that they wanted to own, or going on a family road trip.

Cars make human stories possible—they take us to family gatherings, to weddings, to the birth of our children, or to that next exciting destination. But while the love of cars is universal, every story is different. It changes based on culture, or background, or other interests.

There’s a reason that the celebrity interviews were widely known as the least popular part of both theTop Gear series: the shows’ appeal had nothing to do with famous people or car reviews. It was about the journey, the things you got to do along the way, and the people you went on it with. Adam, Tanner and Rutledge captured the same spirit as Clarkson, Hammond and May, having all the fun in the world together and bringing the viewers with them.

But then in 2016, the American ride came to an abrupt—and unfair—halt. Out of the blue, the “Cuba” installment was revealed to be the series finale. A BBC statement cryptically said that the show “had completed its contractual run.” The studio was supposedly going to shop it to other networks, but instead, BBC Worldwide was making Top Gear America a year later.

All of this precedent begs the question: why is the BBC trying to do another Top Gear America and not trying to revive Top Gear USA? Instead of using the same template and looking for yet another set of hosts to fit, perhaps it’s time to admit that a mistake was made and return to what worked for six years. It’s not the format that makes the success of Top Gear; it’s the stars.

There’s no doubt that the United States deserves its own version of the show. The American car universe is different from the British one, and ought to be explored as such. Every version needs a group of slightly crazy people willing to tackle anything with an engine (remember the Australian version, which also never got enough love?) And with the UK edition of Top Gear now nothing like its former self, this would be the perfect time for a US team to take the wheel.

And Rutledge Wood, Tanner Foust and Adam Ferrara still happen to be available.

That might be a pipe dream, though, so TV fans and car nuts alike will have to wait and see what the third incarnation of this legendary brand brings. Maybe it’ll work somehow, or maybe we’ll all go back to binge-watching Top Gear USA reruns and The Grand Tour. Top Gear is a part of US car culture for good—whether or not it has its own US spinoff.

Top Gear USA is available for streaming on Hulu. Find the latest Deeper Cut every Wednesday in the Entertainment category at FanSided.