After the votes are in, a shortlist of the five most popular songs will be drawn up. Then, over the following five weeks, each episode of Top Gear in the UK will feature a film made by a champion urging viewers to vote for that song.

The show's host Jeremy Clarkson says, "It is that moment when you're in your car on a great road and that one song that makes driving in your car just amazing There are obviously hundreds to choose from - I've got my favourites, which the others naturally think are rubbish; but we want you, the public, to decide."

The winner could be the product of a classic rock icon like Bruce Springsteen or U2. It could be power pop from Lenny Kravitz or Sheryl Crow; perhaps a Motown Classic, an RnB hit. Viewers may well decide to go with a late night driving song like The Doors' Riders on the Storm.

Queen's rock opera Bohemian Rhapsody, Eric Clapton's Layla and Steppenwolf's hymn to the open road Born To Be Wild can also win.