Jeremy Clarkson has revealed he STILL hasn't come up with a name for his new Amazon Prime series, and it's costing him thousands of pounds in lawyer fees.
The presenter is currently working on a new show with former Top Gear co-hosts James May and Richard Hammond, but a title still escapes them.
Writing in hisSunday Times column today (April 24), Clarkson said: "When I first signed up with Amazon Prime to make a new motoring show, I knew all sorts of problems lay ahead.
"There was one problem, however, that I hadn't even considered. And it has turned out to be the biggest of the lot: Choosing a name.
"I spend at least six hours a day in my office — which is insured and smoke-free and resplendent with potted plants — sucking creatively on a corporate Biro as I wait for the daily 3pm 'Anything yet?' phone call from Amazon in Los Angeles."
He added: "Every morning, I'd make a £7,000 call to the lawyer with an idea, and every afternoon I'd get a £7,000 reply saying the name was already in use by someone in New Zealand or France or Ukraine. Prime Torque. Autonation. Skid Mark. Everything was a no-no."
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Clarkson admitted that James May nearly struck gold with the title 'Gear Knobs'.
But the new show can't have the word 'gear' in it because the BBC say it is too similar to Top Gear, which is now being presented by Chris Evans and co-hosts including Friends and Episodes star Matt LeBlanc.
"In short, the BBC not only owns the rights to The Stig and the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car and the Cool Wall, but also to any name that is remotely similar to Top Gear.
"We tried explaining there's a show called Fifth Gear that doesn't belong to the BBC, but it was no good. Arguing with a lawyer costs more money than we had, so we hurriedly put the phone down and went back to the drawing board.
"We need a name that isn't in use by any business anywhere in the world, and doesn't even sound or look like any name that's in use by any business anywhere in the world.
"And it can't even be a minor play on the words Top or Gear. Oh, and it had to be a name that was liked by me, our producer, Hammond, Eeyore and a billionaire in Seattle."
The new show will launch this autumn and will be filmed entirely on the road.
Clarkson recently posted a bloodied and sooty photograph of himself from the set of the new show, cryptically captioning it: "I survived the day. Just."
