I grew up watching Top Gear b
ack in the day, and for me it was never just another car show.
It was something I actually waited for.
I remember watching it with my family, and somehow even if you weren't completely obsessed with cars, you could still enjoy it. That was part of what made it so good.
Yes, the cars were amazing, but it was also the photography, the cinematography, the locations, the music, the challenges and, of course, the personalities.
They could take a normal road somewhere in Europe and make you want to drive it.
They could take a car you never cared about and suddenly make you want one.
And they could turn a simple car review into an actual story.
Jeremy, Richard and James
For me, the real magic was always Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May together.
They were completely different personalities, and that's why it worked.
Jeremy had the opinions and could turn almost anything into a story, and myself who later in life owned a few Jaguars (ifkyk).
Richard was always ready to go fast, crash something or do something that probably wasn't the smartest idea.
And James was James.
Technical, slow, dry, usually arguing the opposite side and somehow making a completely random engineering detail interesting.
But the best part was that you actually believed they were friends.
Friends who constantly annoyed each other, but still friends.
That chemistry is incredibly difficult to recreate.
The guests and interviews were also a big part of Top Gear.Star in a Reasonably Priced Carwas such a simple concept, but somehow they could bring on someone I didn't really care about and still make the interview worth watching.
The whole show just worked.
Cars.
Celebrities.
Ridiculous challenges.
Road trips.
Arguments.
And amazing filmmaking.
Then Came The Grand Tour
When Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May left Top Gear and moved to Amazon,The Grand Tour felt like the same three guys had simply been given a bigger playground.
The cars got more exotic, the locations got bigger, and the road trips became even more ridiculous. But what really stayed the same was the chemistry between them.
For me, that was always the heart of the show.
You could put those three in almost any country, give them completely inappropriate cars, and something entertaining was going to happen.
Over time, the big adventure specials became some of my favorite episodes. At that point, the cars were almost just the excuse.
It was really aboutthree friends, a road, a destination, and everything going wrong along the way.
Now Someone Else Gets the Keys
And now we're getting a new version ofThe Grand TourwithFrancis Bourgeois, James Engelsman and Thomas Holland.
James and Thomas are already well known fromThrottle House, while Francis is probably better known for his love of trains (again iykyk).
But watch him for a few minutes and you quickly realize he's just genuinely passionate about mechanical things.
Before anything else, this is a good introduction to the new hosts:
Meet the New Hosts
In my POV, Francis is actually a great replacement for James May... just faster. :)
He has that same kind of curiosity.
He genuinely wants to understand how things work, and he gets excited about details most people would probably ignore.
That reminds me a lot of James May.
But I also don't think any of these guys should try to become Jeremy, Richard or James.
That would be the biggest mistake they could make.
I don't want Jeremy 2.0, Hammond 2.0 and May 2.0.
James and Thomas already have their own chemistry from Throttle House, and Francis brings something completely different into the mix.
They need to make the show their own.
I Really Like How They're Handling the Transition
One thing I really like is that they aren't pretending the old Grand Tour never happened.
Jeremy, Richard and James are actually being incorporated into the transition.
I think that's exactly the right way to do it.
You can't have three people define automotive television for more than 20 years and then suddenly cut to three completely different people and say, "OK, this is The Grand Tour now."
That would feel wrong.
Having Jeremy, Richard and James involved even for just a few moments makes it feel more like they're actually handing over the keys.
And I like that.
It's not:
Forget about the old Grand Tour.
It's more like:
That chapter is finished. Now let's see what these guys can do with it.
That's a much better transition.
The Cars Were Never Really the Whole Story
I think this is ultimately why Top Gear and The Grand Tour worked so well.
With all that being said
The Grand Tour Official Trailer
Nobody is going to replace Clarkson, Hammond and May.
And I don't think they should even try.
Keep the great cars.
Keep the stupid challenges.
Keep the amazing locations.
Keep the great photography.
Keep the passion.
Put three people together who genuinely enjoy cars and enjoy giving each other a hard time.
Then hand them the keys.
And see where they go.
