'Top Gear America': Mechanical Issues Lead to Great TV (Exclusive)

With Top Gear America roaring onto MotorTrend's streaming app, there is an expectation among viewers about the challenges that may arise during each episode. The trio of hosts will drive brand-new cars with powerful engines, but they will also attempt road trips in budget vehicles with major mechanical issues. Friday's episode, "Future Classic," is no exception.

Dax Shepard, Rob Corddry and Jethro Bovingdon spoke with PopCulture.com ahead of the third episode and provided more details about the road trip to Arizona. The goal was to procure cars that would become classics after spending decades in storage and deliver them safely to California. This is Top Gear America, so the journey primarily featured unexpected detours and a potentially lethal mechanical issue in Corddry's budget Saab.

"That was a rough, rough day, rough car to drive," Corddry explained to PopCulture. "I literally had my head out the window most of the time, so I could breathe. I thought I was being poisoned. I thought I was going to throw up."

Shepard, who drove a Ford Mustang GT from the 1980s, had a unique perspective of Corddry's day in the problematic Saab. He was behind his co-host in the caravan and saw the gasoline leaking out of the car. Shepard also smelled the fumes and had some concerns about lethal side effects.

"I was behind you in an entirely different vehicle and I would not have lit a match in there," Shepard said. "I mean, I too was gagging. And by the way, it's hours of that before you see us pull over. We keep radioing into the producers like, 'Yeah, I know this is good TV. And also I think Rob might burst into flames.'"

Over the years, Top Gear viewers have seen the various hosts drive terrible cars that belong in a junkyard, as well as high-end cars worth several hundred thousand dollars. PopCulture asked the trio what challenges they prefer, and Corddry responded with a surprising answer given his mechanical issues.

"If I had to choose the episodes that I prefer, I liked the added sense that something could go wrong at any moment, that these cars are going to break," he said. Shepard added that buying three used cars will always lead to one of them breaking down and being a pain in the neck. "Especially if Dax has chosen one of them," Bovingdon joked.

Top Gear America is available exclusively on the MotorTrend app, with new episodes releasing each Friday. The cost of MotorTrend OnDemand is $4.99 per month or $49.99 for a year subscription. Paying for the service provides an ad-free experience and early access to popular shows, as well as the entire run of the British Top Gear. The MotorTrend app is available on Apple TV, Roku Box, Google Chromecast, Xbox and Amazon Fire TV.