The gearheads of the world rejoiced when NBC put a bullet in the back of the head of a planned remake of the classic British car show 'Top Gear.'

And who can blame them? First of all, this is NBC we're talking about, a network that would pull a show off-the air five minutes into its premiere episode if the ratings didn't please "Darth Zucker." Plus, 'Top Gear' isn't just an institution to gear junkies and "petrolheads." It's one of the most accessible and hilarious shows on television. Even if you drive a used 2001 Pontiac Sunfire and subsequently know nothing about good cars, you can still enjoy it just as much as the octane-brain who takes a brand new Gumpert Apollo to work.

Now The History Channel is taking a crack at rebuilding the show's stalled engine from scratch. I say give it a chance. Anything has the potential to be good if its heart is in the right place. But before you tell me to do something that would get your mouth washed out with soap and a Brillo pad by your mother, don't take my word for it. Take it from one of the show's upcoming stars.

The announcement of the death of the remake of one of the world's most beloved car shows, Top Gear, was followed with an obvious reaction. Practically everyone who had heard of the original BBC show celebrated its passing with the same fervor as the Ewoks when the Death Star exploded.

It's a natural reaction. It's hard not to assume that once we Americans get our grubby remaking mitts on something, we're bound to mess with it too much and screw it up. We've done it too many times to count. The last three Fawlty Towers remakes were the combined equivalent of the sinking of the Lusitania, only with a lower body count.

But just like anything in life, there were pluses and minuses to us Yanks getting our own Top Gear. Now that NBC has ensured that we won't get one this season, here are the lovers and haters of what could have been the second greatest car show that may never be.

NBC had planned to bring the popular BBC and BBC America car show Top Gear to us yanks. Instead, NBC has decided to cut its brake cables in the middle of a brilliant power slide.

The official Top Gear blog announced that NBC won't air their US version of the show as a mid-season replacement in 2009.

This means the show and their hosts, Adam Carolla, Eric Stromer and Tanner Foust, are up to grabs for the highest bidder like a drug dealer's impounded Cadillac Escalade at a municipal car auction.

Car enthusiasts, take note: The British series all about cars, Top Gear, is coming to America. That's been previously announced, but today we can share the news that Adam Carolla, Tanner Foust and Eric Stromer will be teaming up to host the new NBC incarnation of Top Gear. It just so happens that I was watching Top Gear on BBC America yesterday and it's a fun show; it's not too techie-car show, it's more about the chemistry among the three hosts and the fun, goofy challenges they do that involve cars.

Yesterday's show, for instance, pitted a one host in a Mercedes Benz SUV driving from London the the airport versus one host on a super bicycle, another in a speed boat on the Thames, and The Stig -- an anonymous test driver -- making the trek via public transportation. It was pretty funny, especially since the car lost!