Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May have been making us laugh out loud, and sometimes cringe even harder, for 22 years. But now their time as a motoring trio in front of the lens is coming to an end.
We first got to know the three British presenters, with their dry wit and constant pranks, on Top Gear, and then on Amazon’s The Grand Tour after Clarkson was fired from the BBC for assaulting a producer who apparently didn’t order him a steak on time after a long day of filming.
After nearly eight years and five seasons, The Grand Tour is coming to an end, and for the final episode, the trio embarked on an epic road trip through Zimbabwe in three banged-up classics they’d always wanted to own.
Would you expect anything less?
Judging by the official trailer released ahead of the episode’s debut on Amazon Prime next Friday, September 13, the three certainly put their Ford Capri, Triumph Stag and Lancia Montecarlo through their paces on a variety of terrains, including a railway line.
They also managed to find time to throw a Volkswagen ‘millenium’ Beetle off a cliff, likely as a final testament to their undying hatred of the Bug.
Judging by the short trailer, there is no shortage of the usual tomfoolery, and at one point, Clarkson even considers changing the “habit of a lifetime” by assisting a stranded Hammond after his car broke down. Surely you know how that ended?
Love them or loathe them, the trio had an undeniable chemistry that made for years of entertaining, and often hilarious, television.
You could argue that their formula was looking a little worn-out towards the end, but then again, what would you expect after 22 years?
Through the years they made motoring exciting, entertaining and relevant, for a far wider audience that would otherwise have found cars to be boring. They surely deserve praise for that.
But how did it feel for them to film the finale?
“I'm not saying this in a derogatory way by any means, but James has the emotions of a stone. He just doesn't do emotions, so there were no tears from him,” Clarkson told About Amazon.
“Hammond, yes.
“I was surprisingly unemotional in a weird way because I can see James and Hammond any time I want to, they’re only a phone call away, and I’m sure we will. And I’ve done enough of the travel, I was worn out by it.”
Hammond said the final episode felt palpably emotional for the entire filming crew.
“We've worked together for decades and we've been through good times and bad. We've seen each other in jungles covered in leeches, exhausted and grumpy in tents and boiling heat, elated in the most beautiful cities in the world. We’re a great big dysfunctional family, so there were a lot of tears.”
IOL Motoring