It’s been a busy couple of days — first rumors of Fifth Gear getting canceled and now multiple reports that Australia’s Channel Nine has gained the rights from the BBC to do the show instead of SBS.

Rumor is that Shane Warne is being talked to to host the show as well as Jeremy Clarkson, although I have no idea how that would work.

We’ll let you know as the news comes in and thanks to everyone who sent in tips.

Ever wonder what Top Gear was like back in the day? No, I’m not talking about it’s reboot in 2002 — I’m talking about the old format. It started out in 1977 as a relatively boring automotive show:

However things really started to pick up in 1988 when Clarkson and his hair joined the show:

Sadly not many rips of old Top Gear exist, although we do have some on our forums. Don’t go in expecting the current format of Top Gear though as you’ll be disappointed.

Clarkson’s Mitsubishi Starion from the cheap car challenge in episode 06×02 is currently up for sale on eBay if you’re interested.

Props to Dean Evans for the link.

For the life of me, I cannot stop listening to this hilariously awesome mix of Clarkson beatboxing:

Thanks to shellygrrl who posted it on our forums earlier this week (I was on vacation, otherwise I would have posted it earlier).

I’ll just get right to the point — everyone’s okay and it wasn’t a serious incident. Nothing to worry about. However it’s still worth a little news post here.

On Friday, Jeremy and Richard were in a helicopter flying over Auckland Harbour in New Zealand when a seagull hit the helicopter’s rotor blade. They made an emergency landing nearby and luckily everyone is okay.

[Source: Daily Mail]

Yes this news is from last week, but I haven’t been reading my e-mail too well lately so it slipped between the cracks. Whoops.

During a press conference for Top Gear Live in Australia, Jeremy was asked about the American version of Top Gear and if he thought it was going to be shown in Australia at all. He replied that the show had been “canned” and that us Americans “just don’t get it”. Now he may have just been referring to NBC passing on the show, but it may also be really dead. I’m not sure as Clarkson isn’t usually the most reliable when it comes to these kinds of things.

Anyway, you can see for yourself at 6:30 in:

[Source: carsguide.com.au, thanks to everyone who sent in tips]

It seems that the Telegraph was wrong in their recent article. TopGear.com has come out to officially reveal that the Stig is none of other than dead legendary racer Graham Hill! Turns out his death in the 1970′s was actually faked and he’s been hiding out in a bush ever since.

They also revealed that the chairman of crisis-hit Royal Bank of Scotland, Sir Tom McKillop as well as Barack Obama have also taken turns portraying the Stig.

Most shocking of all though is a scandal that has surfaced in which Clarkson has been exposed as a big liar after claiming that the Stig had magnetic knees. Turns out it isn’t true according to a smart scientist. Shame on you Clarkson for lying to us all.

Jeremy, Richard, and James were interviewed for Australia’s 60 Minutes show recently and here’s the video. It’s a surprisingly interesting look at behind the scenes of the show.

Jeremy’s new DVD, Thriller, goes on sale on November 3rd.

Here’s a short trailer for it:

Jeremy was in a head-on collision according to The Mirror:

He suffered minor injuries to his legs, hand and back in the head-on collision during filming for the BBC show.

Clarkson, 48, said: “My right index finger looked like a burst sausage, my left shin was fatter than my thigh and my back felt like someone had driven over it with a pile-driver.”

The Mirror also has a quote though from Jeremy’s wife: “My husband is fine”. Whew.

Thanks to diti for the tip.