Top Gear Australia roars into action on 10 and 10 play this Thursday, following Blair Joscelyne, Beau Ryan and Jonathan LaPaglia as they travel the world, testing cars from all over and pushing the vehicles - and themselves - to the limit.

Based on the long-running UK series, Top Gear Australia embarked on a lengthy process to find the three perfect hosts that encapsulate a curiosity and thirst for adventure, a love and knowledge of cars, and a natural chemistry. Enter Beau, Blair and JLP.

We sat down with the terrific trio as they set to launch the eight-part series which JLP described as "a car show but really - I think - it's a buddy show".

"It's about three buddies travelling around the world doing stupid sh*t in cars," JLP added, laughing.

"If there were cameras around 100,000 years ago, this show could be three people riding horses, having adventures and I think it would be the same," Blair added. "People get stuck on, 'what's the car' but the details about the car are secondary to what you're using the car for."

"The car is the vehicle," Beau joked.

"It's a proven format, and I think what you see in this series is our personalities come out from the first scene," Beau continued. "We don't try to be anyone else we step in there and are true to ourselves.

"Whether it's our taste in cars, our taste in culture, in what countries we go to or what we like or don't like, you see our personalities from the get-go," he said. "I think that's the difference in this series and why it will appeal to a wide audience."

The format remains largely unchanged as the trio travels from Italy to Colombia, the coast of St Tropez, and back home in Australia. Fans of the original will also be thrilled to see the return of segments like Star-in-a-reasonably-priced-car, as well as the very first female Stig.

The three men went through a rigorous audition process to score the coveted role of hosts, which included a multi-day driving and stunt driving test.

"They gathered a whole bunch of potential hosts and did mix-and-match chemistry tests over two days," JLP explained. "It was so long and in-depth that they ended up getting confused and selected us three," he laughed.

"The way we fit, there's a method behind the madness," Beau continued. "We are so different and it goes with our car knowledge as well... the cars I like, the ones that interest me and I like to drive, they don't like.

"I turn up every day, it doesn't matter what country you're in, convinced that my car is the best. We all are representing a different audience of people who like cars, whether they're big, European, fast, they don't interest these two blokes - which works perfectly for the show," Beau said.

Each host comes from a very different background when it comes to their careers as well as their love and appreciation for cars. Actor and Australian Survivor host Jonathan LaPaglia was celebrated by his co-hosts for his extensive knowledge of all kinds of vehicles, as well as his MacGyver-esque ability to fix any car.

"JLP was putting cars back together in every continent we went to... JLP's car knowledge was out of this world and you see it first-hand in the show," Beau added.

Amazing Race Australia, Beau Ryan brings his signature lovable larrikinism to the team, whose need for speed is only rivalled by his need to get the last word in.

"What Beau brings to the show in terms of cars is, as an athlete, he has a super competitive edge," JLP explained. "That's always present and that's always pushing all of us."

"I've got more to lose than these two guys because I host a few other shows," Beau joked.

Blair, a music producer and composer, has spent almost two decades co-hosting the hugely successful YouTube series Mighty Car Mods alongside Marty Mulholland. Theirs is one of the most successful car modification channels on YouTube, with a following of over 5.5 million across social platforms. He has seen firsthand how car culture and content creation has changed and evolved.

"In the last 20 years you needed to do stuff to cars to make them better," Blair said, "you had to change wheels, suspension, tyres, breaks... but a lot of manufacturers are now being informed by how the after-market modifies their cars.

"When you buy a car today it's got big breaks, heaps of power, really good stereo," Blair continued. "There's less to do which means..."

"Which means you're out of a job," JLP interjected.

"It means there are more adventures because the car should be a vehicle to take you somewhere and do something.  All cars are good now. Go buy a brand-new car, it'll be good! Twenty years ago, that was not the case."

While the franchise has spawned multiple spin-offs across the globe, Blair explained what a uniquely Aussie take on being a 'car enthusiast' really looks like.

"Australia has less of an appetite for glitz, I think, in cars compared to some other regions in the world. They're a bit more grassroots in the way they like their car, and that's what I think the show has done well," Blair said.

"There are lots of 'normal' cars in the show doing pretty wild things. That's what is exciting for me, because a lot of the cars we're using are affordable cars, particularly in places like Colombia, we're buying local cars that are cheap and doing the best we can. I think that represents the Aussie spirit."

"Having said that," JLP jumped in, "when we're in Italy, we're driving some pretty expensive cars."

"Yeah, [Blair] doesn't know what he's talking about," Beau joked. "At the end of the day, I want a big, expensive, shiny car."

So what can we expect from the hilarious trio?

"The unexpected," Beau promised. "Every episode and country is so different. Whether it's the conditions, the weather we face, the roads, the size of the cars or the distances we travel, it's so different and I think we illustrate perfectly in each episode - you don't know what to expect with this series. You can't call what's around the next corner and I think that's what's going to keep viewers glued."

"There's no script that says, 'then you hit Blair's car, then that catches on fire'," Blair said, adding, "The 'scripting' component would just be, 'stuff happens'."

"My script said, 'Try to hurt Blair'," JLP joked. "Mine said that, didn't yours?"

Top Gear Australia premieres 7.30 Thursday on 10 and 10 Play