[niky]

The first incarnation of Top Gear on TV was a fairly straightforward televised motoring magazine. But then everyone good (Tiff Needell and Vicki Butler-Henderson) left to start up Fifth Gear (it runs on Discovery Turbo in the US, I think, but you can find it online). It was only when put up against Fifth Gear that they rebooted Top Gear as a less serious motoring show more prominently fronted by Clarkson and more focused on entertainment than actual motoring journalism. (though they did goof off quite a bit in the old show, too)

Clarkson was in the old Top Gear, just not as omnipresent as he is now.