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Official 'Top Gear' from BBC Books

01.01.70 | Anna Richardson

BBC Books is to launch a range of official "Top Gear" titles over the next three years to tie in to the BBC's popular programme.

The publisher previously released a number of small humour titles under the "Top Gear" logo, such as Top Gear: My Dad Had One of Those, but the new publishing programme is set to have "much broader appeal", according to BBC Books.

It launches with Top Gear Top Drives for Father's Day 2008, an illustrated book of road trips, featuring the presenters and spanning six continents, followed by The Big Book of Top Gear 2009 in October, which BBC Books hopes will rival Guinness World Records. The deal includes a further three books a year for the next three years.

Lorna Russell, BBC Books editorial director, said: "We are absolutely thrilled to be working with Top Gear, and we're really looking forward to creating this fantastic new list."

Top Gear m.d. Adam Waddell said: "For the first time, with Random House we now have a long-term and ambitious book publishing strategy from which we predict great things. 'Top Gear' is riding the crest of a wave right now and pre-Christmas it all went a bit mad: The TV programme was getting a staggering 9 million viewers and the huge success of Top Gear's and indeed the presenters' own DVDs, books and licensed products clearly illustrates that there is a massive appetite for all things related to the show."

The show is currently broadcast in 90 countries, with Top Gear magazine the UK's best selling motor magazine. Hammond and Clarkson have recently dominated the hardback non-fiction chart, with their books, On the Edge (Weidenfeld) and Don't Stop Me Now (Michael Joseph) respectively.

• Anna Richardson
• BBC Books
• Media
• Top Gear