The original programme and its title were conceived by producer Derek Smith, who proposed the concept to BBC Midlands as a monthly television series with a magazine format aimed at looking at various subjects such as new cars, road safety and other topics, and involving presenters supported by reporters.

The format had already been proven by Thames Television's well established Drive-In (later Wheels), which had been running since 1974, and featured future Top Gear presenters Chris Goffey and Sue Baker.

BBC Midlands commissioned a series of nine episodes of Top Gear for 1977,[1] with the production staff operating out of Pebble Mill Studios, Birmingham,[1] with Smith assigned as its executive producer, while Angela Rippon and Tom Coyne, the front man of the local evening news programme Midlands Today, were hired to present the new programme alongside local reporters.

Both Smith and Rippon remained within their respective roles, with Barrie Gill replacing Coyne as co-presenter, with topics covered during its first series including holiday driving, the MOT test, a search for a female rally driver, traffic jams, rust and corrosion, and tachographs in lorries.

Former Drive-In / Wheels presenters Chris Goffey and Sue Baker defected from Thames to the BBC and Top Gear around the same period.

In 1986, Dennis Adams resigned as executive producer, leading to Tom Ross being hired as his replacement, going on to become editor in 1988,[6] leaving his former role to Jon Bentley and Ken Pollock.

Around this time, Top Gear began to see the involvement of new presenters, several of whom became prominent figures within television, with these new additions including former Formula One driver Tiff Needell, and journalist Jeremy Clarkson, whom Bentley recruited after coming across his work in Performance Car Magazine.

While Bentley took over as editor for the 26th series, the 1990s saw a host of new faces taking part to replace others, including car dealer Quentin Willson, Steve Berry, racing driver Vicki Butler-Henderson, and journalist James May.

Cars of two and three years old were rated by their customers on a ratio of 1 to 5 for factors including performance, fuel economy, build quality, reliability and dealer service.

[12][13] Presenting duties were mainly handled by Willson and Kate Humble, before the final series was fronted by Jason Barlow, following his work on Channel 4's Driven.

In addition, the broadcaster also launched CD albums and a selection of VHS sets consisting of unique specials, presented by the team between 1994 and 2000.

The idea came from producer Andy Wilman and Jeremy Clarkson, who presented the relaunched show with Richard Hammond and Jason Dawe.