The Grand Tour coming off the air is the end of an era

It’s the end of the road for Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May. They’ve made history, sparked controversy and braved numerous scandals. On 13 September, the trio appeared in their last ever episode of The Grand Tour – a show about cars that was really about friendship.

The three Brits have influenced a generation of fans – myself included. I know every episode of the original series, Top Gear, by heart. Clarkson, Hammond and May were the ones who first kindled my fascination for cars, road trips and British culture. I celebrated their highs and cringed at their lows. There was certainly no shortage of either.

Welcome to my romanticised trip down memory lane.

Fun over stuffiness

In the 90s, TV shows about cars were a staid affair. Unless you urgently needed a new car, you’d flip to the next channel, bored out of your skull. In 2003, however, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May took over as presenters of Top Gear, heralding the beginning of a meteoric rise. At its peak, the show had an estimated audience of 350 million, making it the most-watched specialist programme in the world.

Its recipe for success had two ingredients. The first was head producer Andy Wilman, who transformed Top Gear from a dry, specialist magazine show into a fun, entertaining programme. Though still about cars, the show had a completely new focus. Facts and figures became secondary, while emotion was key. Top Gear represents a masterclass in how to package dry subject matter into good stories.

The second ingredient was the chemistry between the three presenters; in my opinion, one of the best trios in television history. Each eccentric in their own way, each with a completely different personality, they were united by a love of cars and Britain. They debated things, took the mickey out of each other, shouted at each other and burst into fits of laughter together. If you watched an episode of Top Gear, you’d see three friends.

In the News segment, they chatted in front of a live audience. Not only about cars, but about all manner of things. For the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car segment, Clarkson interviewed well-known personalities and sent them onto the race track. Although only British celebrities appeared at first, Hollywood stars such as Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz were soon sitting on the sofa in the spartan BBC studio.

I started tuning in from season six onwards. The scheduled broadcast on Sunday at 7 p.m. Swiss time on BBC 2 became a non-negotiable part of my week. My first car was a model Clarkson tested: a manual VW Golf GTI Mark V. To this day, it’s the most fun car I’ve ever had.

Delusion and adventures

The trio’s adventures were the core of the show: absurd car tests, delusional «challenges» and epic road trips. «How hard can it be?» became one of the programme’s catchphrases. «Very,» was almost always the answer. At times, Top Gear felt like a travelogue. I used it as inspiration for holiday planning, travelling through Scotland, Wales and Vietnam.

Here are seven (though I could easily think of 70) of my favourite moments from 22 seasons of Top Gear:

The indestructible Toyota Hilux (2003)

Toyota’s pick-up truck is considered extremely robust. To see if that’s true, Clarkson drives the car down a flight of stairs, thumps it with a wrecking ball, drops it from a crane, submerges it in the sea and sets it alight. But the Hilux is indestructible. Afterwards, Toyota actually used the clips in an ad for the Tacoma.

Botswana Special (2007)

In their first big special, the trio drive from the Zimbabwe-Botswana border to the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans in the Kalahari Desert. Not in off-road vehicles, but in regular old cars. Richard Hammond grows so fond of his Opel Kadett that he christens it «Oliver» and takes it back home after filming.

Polar Special (2007)

Jeremy and James are aiming to drive to the North Pole in a modified Toyota Hilux. They’re racing Richard and researcher Matty McNair, who’re travelling on traditional dog sleds. To prepare for their expedition, the trio undergo survival training, during which an ex-military man pushes Clarkson into ice water without his consent. It’s an unscripted moment, and a perfect example of how authentic the early episodes of Top Gear were.

Reliant Robin Space Shuttle (2007)

Shooting a little car into space using rockets and landing it again? Sure, why not? With the help of a couple of scientists, James and Richard attempt the seemingly impossible. Resources are scarce, but this only serves to buoy their enthusiasm. The Reliant Space Shuttle actually manages to take off, but then comes to a fiery end.

Vietnam Special (2008)

Jeremy hates motorbikes with a passion. As a result, the premise of the Vietnam special is all the more amusing (and dangerous). The three presenters each have to buy a motorbike for 1,000 US dollars and ride it from Ho Chi Minh City to Ha Long City. This episode is one of the best pieces of telly ever to grace my TV screen.

Airship Caravanning (2009)

As the production budget increases, the ideas become more and more absurd. In season 14, James tries out an idea to get caravans (which he hates) off the streets – attaching one of them to an airship. What could possibly go wrong? Side note: as is the case with many clips, the music has been replaced in the YouTube videos for licensing reasons. The original soundtrack suits the footage much better.

Testing a Reliant Robin (2010)

The Reliant Robin is an iconic compact car with just three wheels. As Jeremy finds out, this comes with a few disadvantages. On six occasions, it tips over on a bend and has to be put back upright. I cried tears of laughter while watching it.

To heck with safety

Not all the show’s stunts were without risk. In fact, Richard Hammond had two very close brushes with death during filming. When shooting season nine, his rocket car overturned while doing 460 km/h. Hammond suffered brain damage as a result, and was forced to spend months in intensive care.

Years later, he missed a corner while driving a Rimac Concept One during a race in Switzerland. The electric supercar crashed down a hill and burst into flames. Hammond managed to get out of the car in the nick of time, only sustaining minor injuries on this occasion. James May was the same after driving into a wall in Norway.

Top Gear was controversial too. The presenters didn’t give a toss about political correctness, deliberately using clichés, stereotypes and hyperbole as stylistic devices. Taken in the context of deeply sarcastic British humour, I usually found this funny. On occasion, however, the things they said unnecessarily crossed the line into crude racism.

Whether this was down to ignorance, stubbornness or ineptitude is a matter of opinion. It was probably all of the above. There’s a page-long Wikipedia entry dedicated to controversies that Top Gear has sparked over the years. Here are three so that you get a flavour of them:

Mexico jokes followed by a diplomatic incident

Describing the Mastretta MXT – a Mexican car – in season 16, Richard Hammond said: «Cars reflect national characteristics. Mexican cars are just going to be lazy, feckless, flatulent, overweight, leaning against a fence asleep looking at a cactus with a blanket with a hole in the middle on as a coat.» The Mexican ambassador condemned the negative stereotypes in the strongest possible terms. However, British communications regulator Ofcom rejected his complaint.

Tesla test and a spat with Musk

In season 12, Clarkson tested the Tesla Roadster. He said the batteries gave up the ghost after 88 kilometres, something Tesla denied. CEO Elon Musk later claimed it was never a fair test. His company sued the BBC for libel, but lost in court. Years later, Clarkson tested the Model X, poking fun at the previous lawsuit by having six lawyers ride along with him to be on the safe side.

An angry mob in Argentina

In season 22, the three presenters drove through Argentina in three cars. Locals believed the licence plate «H982 FKL» was a mocking allusion to the Falklands War. When the Top Gear production team arrived in Ushuaia, an angry mob formed outside their hotel. The team broke off filming early, fleeing to Chile in a cloak-and-dagger operation. Despite protests from the Argentinian ambassador, the special was broadcast uncensored. James May later said the licence plate number was purely coincidental.

Dwindling charm and going out with a bang

Top Gear reached its peak in 2008 with its legendary Vietnam special. After that, things gradually went downhill. Although there were still brilliant segments in later episodes, the appeal was noticeably starting to fade.

Many episodes seemed less authentic than they used to be. The stories felt increasingly scripted, as did the dialogue. You could sense that Clarkson, Hammond and May were tired. Even the ever-increasing production budgets couldn’t disguise it. At the same time, pressure from the show’s fanbase remained huge.

In 2015, it all got too much for Jeremy Clarkson. While shooting season 22, he punched a producer in the face over a minor issue. He later apologised, explaining that he was struggling with personal problems and wasn’t in his right mind. Clarkson was going through divorce proceedings at the time.

But the damage had been done. Deeming physical violence inexcusable, the BBC fired Clarkson and declined to broadcast the remaining Top Gear episodes. Even a petition signed by millions of fans couldn’t change things. In a show of solidarity, Hammond and May also tendered their resignations. Top Gear was dead, the remake featuring new presenters an utter embarrassment.

A fresh start and change

Shortly afterwards, Clarkson, Hammond and May made their triumphant comeback. This time on Amazon Prime, with a bigger budget and more creative freedom. The fact that the new show, titled The Grand Tour (TGT), had almost the same initials as Top Gear (TG) was a middle finger to their old employer.

The early seasons of The Grand Tour started where Top Gear left off – with tired concepts and contrived slapstick comedy. Staging the deaths of celebrities who never made it to be interviewed for the Celebrity Brain Crash segment was one of the worst ideas producer Andy Wilman had ever come up with.

But the charm of the three presenters shone through, especially during their epic road trips. There was the time they drove through Scotland in three vintage cars. And the time they travelled through Mongolia in a car they built themselves. Amazon didn’t miss the mark on that. After the third season, The Grand Tour ditched studio segments.

After that, there were only a few big specials a year, some better than others. Though always beautifully produced, they were still kind of generic too. I mostly enjoyed them because they were bursting with memories of days gone by. I’d roll my eyes as Clarkson screamed «POWEEERRRRRRRR» for the twelve-hundredth time, but I couldn’t help laughing.

Saving the best for last

Now, the time has come: the end of the Clarkson-Hammond-May era. Named One For The Road, the final episode of the Grand Tour focuses on the show’s past strengths, dispensing with unnecessary fuss. It’s a worthy send-off at the right time. The three dinosaurs have fallen behind the times. They’re uninterested in modern electric cars, and their crude remarks are out of step with today’s culture.

But for those two hours, time stands still for one last episode. Their final journey takes the trio across beautiful Zimbabwe, driving three classic cars they’ve always wanted to own: a Lancia Montecarlo, a Ford Capri and a Triumph Stag.

It’s one of the best episodes in 22 years, featuring everything I love about Top Gear and The Grand Tour: interesting cars, beautiful roads, folly and clever ideas, mishaps and laughter, rivalry and friendship, schadenfreude and good will. And when Clarkson drinks a beer while steering a boat, it’s a final defiant rebellion against political correctness. He’s earned it.

I watch the special with a grin on my face and a lump in my throat. At times, I join the trio in getting misty-eyed when they realise that this is their last adventure together. The episode’s genius ending closes the circle and finally moves me to tears. «We really did save the best ’til last,» Clarkson says. It makes saying goodbye all the more difficult.

Thanks for 22 years of memories, chaps. I’m going to miss you.

What are your favourite Top Gear and The Grand Tour moments? Are you glad or sad that it’s over? Let me know in the comments.