BBC hopes for an export hit as 'Top Gear' takes on America

The last British television export to the US featuring a boss prone to making provocative comments - the cult comedy The Office - proved to be a massive success. Now, a television show with an equally outspoken frontman is set to follow in its wake.

BBC chiefs are attempting to broker a multimillion-pound deal with major American networks to make "Top Gear USA". The show could make a stateside star of Jeremy Clarkson, the motormouth who presents the BBC2 programme, along with his co-presenters Richard Hammond and James May.

A BBC statement yesterday confirmed that the broadcaster had entered into talks with American television networks about the motoring show.

The statement said: "BBC World has had exploratory conversations with the US networks to bring a local version of Top Gear to the US, but there is not yet a deal on the table."

A spokeswoman could not confirm if Clarkson would present the US show, but a source said he was favoured by the networks. The source told The Sun newspaper: "It's very exciting. Jeremy and the guys can't wait to teach the Yanks a bit about cars."

It is believed that the show's format will be almost identical to theBritish version, but that its central focus will be American cars such as Buick, Cadillac and Chevrolet. US celebrities will be invited to discuss their love of motoring and test their skills against the show's mystery driver, The Stig.

In its current guise, Top Gear, a Bafta and Emmy award- winning series, is being shown in the US on the Discovery Channel. The programme is estimated to have more than 350 million viewers worldwide, including eight million in the UK.

The ninth series of the programme, which began in January this year, was delayed following an accident in which Hammond was seriously injured while driving a jet-propelled drag-racing car at up to 314 mph for a feature on the show.

Clarkson, who has come under fire for his provocative comments, is not the first presenter of the programme. The original Top Gear was a half-hour programme that ran from 1977 to 2001, with William Woollard as the main presenter until 1991.

Clarkson joined the team in the 1980s and much of the programme's humour and light-heartedness has been credited to him. He left in 1999 but after pitching a new format for the programme rejoined as the host of a new series in 2002.

Despite criticism that the show is overly macho and encourages irresponsible driving, it has become hugely influential.

Clarkson has sparked several controversies as presenter. During an episode in November 2005, he mockingly said manufacturers should build a car that was "quintessentially German", suggesting turn signals that displayed Hitler salutes and a "sat-nav that only goes to Poland" - referring to the Nazi invasion that marked the beginning of the Second World War.