Top Gear Fans Prepare For The Grand Tour

The Original Top Gear

Back in 2002, the BBC decided to reformat a show about Automobiles with new hosts starring Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond. This show will be known as Top Gear. One year later, James May joined the cast of presenters. This trio will go on to make television history for 22 seasons while being highly entertaining, politically incorrect, and wildly informative. The show featured reviews of all sorts of cars ranging from bargain priced vehicles to hyper cars reserved for the filthily rich. They would stress test these cars and often put them through amazing obstacles and challenges that resulted in the cars themselves being destroyed for the sake of pushing the limits beyond reason. Every episode featured a celebrity in the segment known as “Star in a reasonable priced car” in which they would drive a cheap car around the lap and see who had the quickest time at the end of the season. Each super car was also tested on the track by the professional race car driver known as the “Stig” whos identify is never known because of the helmet he wears. Then there were the special episodes in which they would be given a budget to purchase a specific type of car to endure huge voyages across harsh terrains in different parts of the world such as South East Asia, South America, India, and Africa. The pranks the three would pull on each other were nothing short of barbaric. This was quality television at it’s best.

Everything Great Comes To An End

Then the unexpected and the unthinkable happened in 2015. Jeremy Clarkson yet again found another way to cause heartache to the BBC but this time it was different. The BBC decided not to renew Jeremy Clarkson’s contract for season 23. This was direct punishment for punching a BBC producer in the face. Clarkson has always been trouble for the BBC but they figured it was worth it while ratings were high, but not this time. This was the straw that broke the camel’s back. They fully expected to replace Clarkson with a new host and keep Hammond and May on board, but both of them refused to do the show without Clarkson. Soon all three of them will be without work and available to sign elsewhere.

A New Beginning

Everyone in the business figured they would sign an exclusive deal with Netflix, even Clarkson teased on Twitter about a show named “House of Cars” as homage to House of Cards. But in a sudden plot twist, they ended up signing a deal with Amazon. They would brainstorm for months to figure out the name of the new show and came to the conclusion of “The Grand Tour”. Soon the trio of hosts will slowly release information about the new show via twitter on a weekly basis. Fans are excited to find out the show’s Budget is exceptionally much higher than what they had at BBC. This could be great because we get to see higher end cars, or it can be bad if they are not as creative with their budget and challenges.

It is rumored that season 1 of Grand Tour will begin where Top Gear season 22 couldn’t deliver to the disappointment of fans. The infamous race between the three legendary hyper cars that took months of bureaucracy and compromise to make happen. The Ferrari LaFerrari vs Porsche 918 vs McLaren P1. This alone will bring a large audience to the premier of the show. All while things seemed troubled across the pond in Great Britain.

Amazon plans on a release date somewhere in the Fall for The Grand Tour. As a car enthusiast and fan, I am surely excited to see The Orangutan, Dr. Slow, and the Hamster burn some rubber and fly through tracks at high speeds in cars that I will possibly never drive. I will continue to live vicariously through their experiences, and that is fine.

What Happened To “Top Gear”?

Season 23 of Top Gear featured new hosts Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc from Friends. After initial low ratings, Chris Evans resigned as the host. This leaves Matt LeBlanc as the host alongside other new faces that don’t seem to click with fans. As a fan, I tried watching a few episodes but the chemistry between the new guys was not there. They weren’t funny, they were dry, and they kept repeating the same puns often. You can’t recreate greatness trying to use the same formula. Greatness is something that just happens.

Let us know in the comments below which cars you are excited to see on  “The Grand Tour” show first season and what sort of challenges you would like to see happen.