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This article is about the magazine. For other uses of Top Gear, see Top Gear (disambiguation)

Top Gear is an automobile magazine published by BBC Worldwide, and named after the BBC's Top Gear television show. It was first published in October 1993 and is published monthly at a price of £3.95. The major presenters of the television series - Richard Hammond, James May and Jeremy Clarkson - are regular contributors, along with the series' production staff. Tame racing driver The Stig also regularly features in their car tests, though only communicates his thoughts and feelings through the articles of others.

The front cover of an issue of Top Gear Magazine.

It is the UK's leading general interest car magazine in sales terms, with over 200,000 issues sold a month (July-December 2007).^[1]

Licensed editions are also published in China, the Czech Republic, Greece, the Middle East, the Philippines, Indonesia, South Korea, Russia, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Thailand, India, Romania, Sweden and most recently Malaysia^[2] (through Astro) and Singapore. On 7 May 2007 it was released in Bulgaria, on 16 November 2007 in Italy, on 14 February 2008 in Poland. An Australian edition was brought out in June 2008. Hong Kong Chinese edition was released in October 2008.

After a year, the Polish edition is the third biggest in world, after the UK and Russian releases.#

In January 2010,Top Gear Magazine released its 200th edition.

Content

Regular features include:

• Tests of new cars
• Hot Metal (new concept cars)
• Import It/Deport It
• Letters from readers
• A column by Jeremy Clarkson
• A column by Richard Hammond
• A column by James May
• Also columns by Paul Horrell, Simon Moistbourne (removed due to 'death' in the August 2008 Edition), Jamie Kitman and Tom Ford
• Interviews with celebrities
• Big Stuff
• The new car guides at the back
• "The Grid"
• Motorworld, involving an automotive related subject and humorous stories relating to it.
• The Campaign for Real Racing Drivers, on very last page for "manly" drivers (described as antidote for Robert Kubica). (In December 2009, this changed to 'The Campaign for Real Racing Cars')

Giveaways

Top Gear magazine has known to giveaway a number of items free with the purchase of the magazine, including:

• 11 Highlights DVDs, Running Between 33 - 60 Minutes. (Back In The Fast Lane: Highlights From Series 1 & 2, The Best Of Series Three And Four, The Best Of Top Gear Revved Up, Aston Martin V8 & Jaguar XK At The Ring, 007: The Car Chases, The Races, The Best Of The Challenges, The Greatest Movie Chases Ever, Planes, Rockets & Automobiles, The Best Of The Stig, Jeremy Clarkson Duel).

• 6 Books / Magazines. (The Collected Thoughts Of Clarkson, Clarkson: Never Played Golf, Clarkson - The World's Worst 50 Cars, Clarkson On Cars (A Sample From His Book Published In 1996), Clarkson On Cars (A Free Copy Of His Book Published In 2004), May on Motors).

• 2 CD / CD Roms. (The Jam Packed Top Gear Magazine CD-ROM, Clarkson Rocks! (Also Given Away Free With "The Sun" In 2004.))

• Toys (Three Editions Of The "Cool Wall", From 2007,2008 and 2009. Magnets For Your Fridge).

These can be purchased from the Top Gear magazine back issue ordering service.

Car of the Year

• 2004: Nissan 350Z
• 2005: Toyota Aygo & Bugatti Veyron
• 2006: Jaguar XK
• 2007: Subaru Legacy, Ford Mondeo & Audi R8
• 2008: Volkswagen Scirocco
• 2009: Ferrari 458 Italia

References

Top Gear: Turbo Challenge A children's partwork based on Top Gear.

External links

• Top Gear website
• Magazine website
• Official BBC website
• Top Gear Magazine 3 Issues for £1 Trial