Video Classic: Behind The Wheel 1994
September 19, 2008 by George Skentzos
For those of you who have perused the ‘About Us’ section of CarAdvice, you may have noticed our very own Anthony Crawford was an Executive Producer of an Australian car show called ‘Behind the Wheel’.
Now I’m not going to lie – I had never seen or even heard of the show before, but I was certainly pleasantly surprised after I had seen the pilot episode on an old VHS tape.
Hosted by James Morrison and Monica Trapaga, the show is a far cry from the usual dreary Australian car show stereotype, made even more impressive by the fact it was created in 1994 – long before the current format of Top Gear ever existed.
Print it: 
THAT IS AWESOME…
There is a fair bit of top gear in that pilot.. particularly when he drove the lambo up and there was a gallery of general public.
Thanks for that guys =D
You can always tell you’re watching an old VHS because when you look at the bottom of the screen you see it distorts for some reason. I don’t know what’s with that but it’s interesting.
I like the last one with the staged Johnson v.s. Bartlett race and the 80-ish style soundtrack playing in the background.
so how many seasons they did of this show. and where would i find rest of the episodes.its great programm.
I just came back to watch it again… couldnt stop thinking about it haha.
Any more you can post????
I like how they said dual airbags and abs were for top of the line luxury models.
Mmmm… Monica.
Hey is that Warren Brown (new Top Gear Australia Presenter) being interviewed by Monica @ 2.00 in the first video? Add 14 years and a moustache…
That was really interesting, and the show was well planned and presented. What was that about an all electric beetle? was that in the model plans to start with?!
Behind The Wheel was ahead of it’s time. TEN saw the benefits of a series like this and commissioned 18 eps. It kicked off on a Tuesday night at 7.30pm to an audience of 2.1 million viewers – HUGE.
The pilot episode which car Advice has posted was produced by one of the best production teams in the business at the time (probably still are) namely, Tim Kupsch – Producer (ex 60 mins producer) (Andy Wallace – a cranky bugger was what he shot was better than anyone else out there by a mile) and of course talent like James Morrison and Monica Trapaga are naturals. Kevin Bartlett developed into excellent talent and went on to host 2 x Drive Safe episodes which also ran on the TEN Network. Why KB is not giving talks to kids at school about safe driving is beyond me !
Well, that was a bloody good show for its time.
Realistic and honest. I could even live with the mechanic – even made it a bit more Australian with a multicultural aspect. The team deserve credits for this program…
James Morrison where are you ? – You must be annoyed that you would do a FAR better job than Charlie Cox on TGA. I vote they swap over on the quiet before the next show…
Wasn’t it interesting that the 121 and Excel were $17-18,000 back in 1994 – same sort of price now !
Hmm, maybe NotTheStig really is the Stig with that scoop way back in October, haha!
That was pretty good considering. Love the hairstyles “Mullets R Us”.
And as for Monica – marks outa 2, I’d give her one. Tee Hee
I love it!
A hydrogen 4 series BMW!
A Hybrid Diesel Beetle!
And what surely must have been the first comparo ever won by a Hyundai!
Good stuff – TGA eat your heart out. It’s great to see JM getting the gig on it, as he should have done from the start.
I have to admit when I first heard Morrison was going to be the new host I wasn’t overly impressed, but after watching these clips I’ve changed my mind. Reckon he’ll be perfect & just what the TGA doctor ordered.
FINALLY! An actual contender to the UK presenters!! This guy knows exactly what top gear is about! What ones to get and what ones not to get in a NON BORING way! Very good!
That was better than any of the aussie Top Gear season one episodes. Good riddance to Cox, points for giving it a go but he just sucked as the host.
Loved the segment with Doug Mulray – I think he would be good in a hosting role as well.
I think the thing about this show that sets it head and shoulders above Top Gear is that these people are not only enthusiastic about cars and capable of wringing a bit of enjoyment out of them but still manage to treat them with respect.
Maybe I’m in the minority but I believe it is possible to exploit a cars potential for performance and enjoyment in the way the maker intended without damaging it. Maybe that would require some skill and finesse on the part of the presenters when it is so much easier to behave like a bogan.
I just don’t get the mindless crap that Top Gear come up with that, at least to me, is neither funny, creative, entertaining or informative. Example being that oh so predictable bit with Brown in the big tractor in Toorak. Yes I understand the term Toorak Tractor but really what a mindless, cringeworthy segment that was.
Just my opinion.
This really was before its time. Very enjoyable.
What a superb show! I wish that this stayed popular, maybe we could’ve been still watching it today, ad the UK would have a spin-off instead!