Getting to Know Top Gear America Host Rob Corddry
His philosophy on car fandom, his Porsche 911, and the junk he learned to drive in.
Top Gear America host Rob Corddry may be best known for his comedy and acting, but his car enthusiasm runs far beyond driving the latest exotics on the HBO hit showBallers.
"In my experiences with cars at a young age," Corddry said, "I made a choice to not get all bogged down in the details. And just get psyched about cars, in general. And yeah, I kind of know the different sizes of engines and I understand why, but I don't bug myself with that. I'm not getting bogged down in it. I guess I kind of know what a Positraction differential is, but don't test me on it."
He may not be a walking automotive encyclopedia, but it doesn't stop him from drooling over cars and talking about them any chance he gets.
"I'm so glad that I've talked about cars in enough interviews that theTop Gear Americaproducers, I assume, they picked that up," Corddry said. "I also did a couple car-based little video pieces with some journalists. And so, they're not, it's definitely not, they're kind of deep cuts, I think, in terms of interviews. But you know, these guys have their ears out for that kind of thing."
But Corddry believes he speaks for Everyman, whose dream job would be to work forTop Gear.
"I was a big fan ofTop Gear, the original," he added. "And I said, 'Look, I'm not that guy [on the show]. I'm none of those guys. I'm an enthusiast. I'm, if anything else, the audience.' You know what I mean? And they were like, 'That's perfect. That's all we want.'
"What I love about the original is the interaction between the three hosts. The audience, they like cars, but also, they're there to see the interaction. They're there to see us smile and get all excited. And drive, and potentially embarrass ourselves."
He may sell himself short for a laugh, but Corddry is no stranger to both good and bad cars, having owned plenty of each.
"It's not even worth talking about those cars," he said. We kept pushing, though, because cars that bad always have stories. He eventually relented.
"A 1975 Ford Pinto wagon that didn't have any floorboards. But it had the fake wood paneling," he begins. "A yellow Honda Civic hatchback, I taught myself how to drive a stick on that one. So there was the value, there. I had a 1970 mid-year Ford Falcon. And it was kind of a piece of shit. It wasn't like, when you think of a Ford Falcon, you're like, 'Oh, it's great.' It was a grandma car. It was my grandmother's car, and it continued to be my grandmother's car."
These days, he's far more interested in the cars he drove on TV than the classics, good or bad.
"You know, I was onBallers, and I got to drive some pretty awesome cars on that show. And one of them was that stupid electric BMW i8. Which, actually, I don't think I wish I could buy that, but I would love a Shelby. I would like to buy an M2, because I just want to know what all the fuss is about that. And I drove a 12-cylinder Aston Martin DBS Superleggera. That car's insane. I mean it's like, it's way too heavy to drive, but it's fun. It's super fun, and beautiful. So there's that."
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Although he's a bit undecided on new cars to buy, he does have his eye on a particular classic.
"An '87 Grand National GNX is my dream car, but I am in the market right now for a, probably '86 or '87, Buick Regal T-Type. Because, largely because of Dax [Shepard], he was like, 'You shouldn't get a Grand National. You should get a T-Type. '"
While he searches for his dream classic, he's happy with his daily driver.
"I drive a Porsche, it's a 2018 Porsche 911 [Carrera] S, which is my favorite car, ever."
His garage may be getting significantly fuller, now that he's on Top Gear America with Dax Shepard—at least if his kids have any say in it. It seems as though working with Dax is more impressive than getting the TGA gig in the first place.
"It's my kids that are more excited," he said. "When they found out, they knew who Dax was, but that all of a sudden he's married to Kristen Bell? Well, that changed everything for them. Now I'm sure they want me to buy like 10 cars, whereas before they were like, 'I hate your Porsche.' You know? And so they're like, 'Oh, just tell Dax to give her a message.' And I'm like, 'Uh, I don't know if we're going to do that yet, but we'll see. '"
Whether it impresses Corddry's kids or not, Top Gear America will debut January 29, 2021, starring Corddry, Dax Shepard, and Jethro Bovingdon—and it's now streaming on the MotorTrend App!
Follow Rob Corddry on Social Media:
- Twitter: @robcorddry
- Instagram: rob_corddry
Lead image illustration by Ryan Lugo. Photos courtesy of Discovery.
Were you one of those kids who taught themselves to identify cars at night by their headlights and taillights? I was. I was also one of those kids with a huge box of Hot Wheels and impressive collection of home-made Lego hot rods. I asked my parents for a Power Wheels Porsche 911 for Christmas for years, though the best I got was a pedal-powered tractor. I drove the wheels off it. I used to tell my friends I’d own a “slug bug” one day. When I was 15, my dad told me he would get me a car on the condition that I had to maintain it. He came back with a rough-around-the-edges 1967 Volkswagen Beetle he’d picked up for something like $600. I drove the wheels off that thing, too, even though it was only slightly faster than the tractor. When I got tired of chasing electrical gremlins (none of which were related to my bitchin’ self-installed stereo, thank you very much), I thought I’d move on to something more sensible. I bought a 1986 Pontiac Fiero GT and got my first speeding ticket in that car during the test drive. Not my first-ever ticket, mind you. That came behind the wheel of a Geo Metro hatchback I delivered pizza in during high school. I never planned to have this job. I was actually an aerospace engineering major in college, but calculus and I had a bad breakup. Considering how much better my English grades were than my calculus grades, I decided to stick to my strengths and write instead. When I made the switch, people kept asking me what I wanted to do with my life. I told them I’d like to write for a car magazine someday, not expecting it to actually happen. I figured I’d be in newspapers, maybe a magazine if I was lucky. Then this happened, which was slightly awkward because I grew up reading Car & Driver, but convenient since I don’t live in Michigan. Now I just try to make it through the day without adding any more names to the list of people who want to kill me and take my job.
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