Adam Carolla Talks "The Car Show"

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"The Car Show" -- America's other show about cars that airs on the Speed Channel -- is still working out the kinks as it progresses through its first season. The show started out with four hosts --Wall Street Journalauto writer Dan Neil; former NBA star John Salley; Matt Farah, digital entrepreneur and creator of "The Smoking Tire"; and the show's marquee star, host Adam Carolla. It's now down to three, with Salley recently exiting stage left. Its time slot has also changed and the original one-hour format has been cut to 30 minutes.

Although we chatted with Carolla just before the format changes, there's no doubt the famously outspoken comedian/car nut still has the same attitude about the show's progress now as he did when we talked.

"You know, I feel honestly like people responded nicely about the show, people are complimentary about the show, and they seem to like the show," Carolla told us. "I feel like we're running at like 60 percent of what I feel like we could be a season and a half from now."

According to Carolla, if "The Car Show" needs anything, it's more time. "I think the show isn't getting the ratings that [Speed] hoped for, so that's a strike against it, but I think people like the show, so that's a checkmark for it," Carolla said. "It's all speculation, but I think they're [Speed]'s feeling that it has the ingredients and makings of a pretty good show here -- let's keep this going and see if it can blossom."

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Carolla points out the first couple seasons of a lot of great shows are usually painful to go back and watch. Carolla brings up "Top Gear" as the perfect example. "I don't know how many people saw the first season of "Top Gear U.K.," or the first season of [crime drama] "The Wire," but most people seem to get on board at season three, so I'll wait for somewhere around 2013 for ["The Car Show"] to really blow up."

Speaking of "Top Gear," Carolla was originally slated to be the host of the American version of the popular British show on NBC back in 2008. Carolla was supposed to act as a sort-of American Jeremy Clarkson -- loud, outspoken, and funny. As many fans of the American show know, Carolla's hosting gig didn't pan out.

"NBC I guess was -- dumb isn't a strong enough word," Carolla pauses for a second to think. "Retarded probably isn't even a strong enough word," he continued. "They brought back 'Knight Rider,' which, whoever the ass wipe who brought 'Knight Rider' back should definitely be fired," Carolla said, going off on one of his signature tirades. "They brought back 'Knight Rider,' and 'Knight Rider' -- and I hope you're sitting down -- was failing in the ratings."

"Then two of the Big Three were going to Congress in their private jets and asking for money right when we delivered our car pilot. We got a car show when it was three and half, four years ago, when it's like, 'Oh my god! Economic collapse! 'Knight Rider' collapse! I think NBC is like 'Uh, we don't want anything with the word 'car' anywhere near this network. '"

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So Carolla went on to do other things in his spare time, including another pilot for a sitcom on NBC, when he received another call from the producers of "Top Gear U.S.A." "They said, '"Top Gear" got picked up for the History Channel, so we'd like you to come back and be the host,' and I said, 'I can't, I'm right in the middle of making this other pilot for NBC, can you wait a couple months?'" Carolla continued. "'No, we've got the order, like, now,' and I said, 'Well you're going to have to find another guy named Adam, whose last name almost sounds like a car, to do it,' and they said, 'Alright, see you down the road. '"

Carolla told us he's got no hard feelings towards Adam Ferrara, one of the current hosts of the Americanized "Top Gear," more so towards NBC who he says screwed him twice over the "Top Gear" gig.

Speaking of hosts, Carolla had nothing but (mostly) nice things to say about his co-workers. While Carolla's name may be on "The Car Show," he didn't play a part in choosing his co-hosts -- the show's producers did. "I remember thinking that as far as Matt Farah goes that, 'Yeah, I like that guy; that guy's got a good vibe,'" Carolla told us.

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"Dan Neil I did not [know]," he said, "I was like, 'Uh...that guy seems weird,' and [the producers] were like, 'Trust us, he knows a lot about cars.' And you know what? It takes a big, big man like myself to admit he was wrong," Carolla continued. "The part where [Neil] knows everything about cars, they were spot on. The part where he's got a kind of cool personality, or at least a fun personality that I can play along with on air and is actually a really cool guy -- that's the part I wasn't anticipating."

With hosts coming from different areas of expertise and with different takes on cars, there's a bit of competition between them. When it comes to on-track racing, Carolla thinks he and Farah are probably the two to beat. "Matt is pretty fast because he's young and he's got big balls, and he drives everything," Carolla said. "Dan's a good driver, but he drives like he has kids, which I should drive like since now I have kids. ".

As for the now-departed Salley? "John is John," Carolla said, "You know -- head hanging out of the sunroof." After pausing for some thought, Carolla continues to talk about driving. "I would give me the edge in a vintage race, like officially sanctioned, where you have to be in crowds with other people racing on the same track. As far as you know, just a timed lap in a street legal car? I'd probably give the nod to Matt," Carolla said. "We haven't had too many times to settle it. The couple times we have, I spun out. They're all good," he said, "And when I say 'they're all,' I mean Dan and Matt."

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When asked about the future holds for him and "The Car Show," Carolla said, "I really have no idea." Carolla says he maintains a philosophical outlook on life -- if it works, it works; if it doesn't, well, he tried his hardest. "I think there'll be a second season," Corolla continued, "But I don't ask anymore in Hollywood. People tell you, and they'll tell you when they know. I've found that they don't tell you before they need to tell you." Even if "The Car Show" doesn't work out for Carolla, he says he's still got his weekly "Car Cast" podcast, and his vintage B.R.E. Datsun racecars (among other things) to keep him busy.

Nevertheless, Carolla's hopeful about the future of "The Car Show. "We got a bad rotor, maybe distributor cap, we're not hitting on all eight cylinders, and we're still pulling pretty good down the back straight," he said, "When we're hitting on all cylinders, people better watch out."