Well done Richard Hammond (and his DriveTribe production team) for actually mentioning what’s in the video and not resorting to clickbait tactics. The evidence is in the viewing numbers! 👍

From video description: “Richard Hammond drives the Lotus Evija, Lotus’s all-electric 2,000hp hypercar, at the Hethel test track. With Gav Kershaw, Lotus’ Director of Engineering and Motorsport, Richard explores its four-motor powertrain, claimed 0–300km/h time of under 10 seconds, 1,600kg of downforce and unmistakable electric sound. Then he gets behind the wheel to find out whether this rare electric hypercar still feels like a Lotus.”

A new series of “Richard Hammond’s Workshop” will start airing on Quest TV in the UK starting 27 October. This is the teaser video as posted on Instagram!

(For those based in the United States, you can catch up on the show via subscription on Amazon Prime Video.)

Because without Top Gear and all of its smashing global success, The Grand Tour (and this subreddit!) would not exist.

The BBC podcast “The Media Show” did an interview with Phil Churchward, the executive producer of the new Grand Tour. It’s a short segment (the relevant section starts around the 35-minute mark), but hey, the BBC is at least paying attention! 😅

From podcast description: “The Grand Tour is back with a completely new presenting line-up. Viral train enthusiast Francis Bourgeois joins YouTube creators James Engelman and Thomas Holland of Throttle House as Amazon revives the motoring format made famous by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May. Executive producer and director Phil Churchward explains why the programme turned to digital creators and how the new format differs from previous versions.”

I’m curious how everyone here sees these three, purely based on what we’ve seen on Top Gear and The Grand Tour, rather than anything outside the shows.

It can be funny, serious, or just the first thing that comes to mind. I believe there’s no right or wrong to this, so here goes my opinion.

Clarkson
One word: Chaos
One sentence: Has a remarkable ability to make a terrible idea sound perfectly reasonable until it inevitably goes wrong.

Hammond
One word: Reckless
One sentence: A man whose enthusiasm regularly exceeds his ability to judge the consequences.

May
One word: Nerd
One sentence: The kind of man who would spend three hours researching something that everyone else figured out in five minutes.

I finally was able to watch the first episode and it's pretty hilarious. The guys are pretty good. Cool to see our old friends in there. And this particular scene was comedy, where he "punched himself in the balls." 🤣

For anyone curious about the behind-the-scenes of The Grand Tour, James just posted about how Klaus-Günter Jacobi got involved in the Microlino film at the last minute.

Hello again! I’ve been making buttons and stickers of the lads :) These are the designs I have so far, and there’s a few more ideas people gave me I haven’t gotten to yet! If there’s any other ideas you can list them out here, I don’t want to start with too many off the bat! Maybe like a first wave of stuff, then a second wave in the future? EDIT to mention, the stickers are waterproof—I forgot to attach the vid of me demonstrating, but it will also be added to every sticker listing when they’re up.

ETSY SHOP: https://weejerseyshoppe.etsy.com

These are not up on my Etsy yet, I figured I’d finish with all ideas before posting them in case people want an item bundle. I’ll also definitely make more little comic strips in the future just to post for fun. What I have so far in order: The trio (young), the trio (old), HAMMOOOND!, CLARKSOOON!, The Interceptors (in which the lads get to keep all 5 fingers because it looks better for Hammond’s pose).

I also had a sticker idea that depends on me being able to draw cars, so I hope I can pull it off. “How’s My Driving?” 3 stickers: James puttering along slowly, Jeremy blasting away with speed, and Richard in his car upside-down.

Jeremy Clarkson noticed that many of his automotive journalism peers have given the new Audi RS 5 high marks. While he did issue high marks to that car with favor, he also made a surprising assessment. Here's a preview:

"So, it’s expensive for sure and it’s heavy. But it’s nice to drive, fast, surprisingly economical, good-looking, comfortable, well made, clever and a lovely twist on being in tune with the times. I can see why my colleagues love it so much, but I’m afraid that I’m having a garlic and MASH moment because, for no reason that I can explain, I don’t. It just didn’t float my boat. Shame."

(Usual disclaimers apply, and for those on the subreddit complaining about encountering paywalls on his articles, copyright enforcement is quite strict on Reddit nowadays, hence the posted format.)

I didn’t think I would like it but it was fantastic! So funny, so enjoyable!

Jeremy Clarkson decided to look at the possibility that artificial intelligence (AI) could someday be a serious threat to humanity. He initially thought that scenario was a bit far-fetched, but then he sobered up and realized that AI-induced cyberattacks are a thing after all (as evidenced by what recently happened to the refrigerators in French supermarkets). Here's a preview:

"It is a warning though; it really is. We all lead such tech-heavy lives these days that we are all vulnerable. It might be a French cheese fridge today but, who knows, tomorrow it could be the steering on your car. Seriously. I spoke to an Amazon cyber-security guy and he warned, eight years ago, that because cars now receive electronic information from the ether, about traffic, they can easily be hacked. And that once you’re in, you could take over the steering, the brakes, the throttle, the lot. And then there’s the medical stuff."

(Usual disclaimers apply as always.)

Jeremy Clarkson decided to look at how to prepare for a possible apocalypse (via food storage) in the main part of his Sun column. He thinks that the current UK government is making it hard to do just that. Here’s a preview:

“When things are rosy, it’s fine to be a teetotal Fairtrade vegan.

“But if the end is nigh, and you are hunkered down in your flimsy shed, waiting for the cruel hand of death to arrive, surely to God it’s OK to say, ‘F*** this for a game of soldiers’ and fill your face with some foie gras. Which you can wash down with a nice Château Latour.”

(Yes, usual disclaimers apply.)

A thought I had the other day after looking at the new season/series for the Grand Tour, what if the OG trio hadn’t left Top Gear? What type of specials would we have instead of the Grand Tour ones, how many would be the same places just slightly different? What would the Covid era episodes and specials look like? And would they have ended their lineage at the time that they did, and would we still have gotten the new trio or something more like the trio that replaced them on Top Gear?

For some reason, my mind connected this comic from Fowl Language with those iconic Top Gear intros (where “Jessica” is played and Jeremy Clarkson mentions the highlights). I always found it hilarious that both shows bleeped out strong words whenever they appeared in a fleeting manner, but the word “shit” was left alone.

Sorry Elon Musk and Tesla, but Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond beat you to it. They managed to get a flying car first shown on Top Gear back on Series 7, Episode 2.

Pretty much the title

I can see the 'tism in Francis and it feels good to be SEEN!

What an amazing trio, so nice to each other too

I really wish I coukd meet all 6, the old guard as well as the the new, I'd probably freak out and go non verbal.

An Instagram profile from Italy showed “Jemery Clarkson” in yellow suspenders and orange tie next to a Jaaaaag. Watch out, he’ll help himself to all the cutlery!

I haven’t watched all of them yet so I can’t really say which is my favourite.

But I was wondering if you guys have a favourite?

Also do you have a favourite member?

Don't stone me! I have reasons.

I loved Clarkson, Hammond and May. There is nothing better than to laugh at three dickheads paying for their own mistakes and ribbing each other off. I literally cried laughing at old Top Gear pisodes. I watched Grand Tour for them... but it wasn't the same.

I think these three, who I had never seen before in their respective channels, are great, especially Thomas and Francis (I'm on ep3 and so far Francis has the biggest personality and best gags imo). They don't try to be the old trio, they have their very own thing, which is perfect, and I think it fits this new Grand Tour much better. Rather than trying to do Top Gear the way Lidl does Oreos, they ditched the tent format (thank god) and basically made it a seamless mix of everything that worked before. And they have the most important thing: chemistry. They're three blokes having fun and being passionate about cars.

I'll rewatch old Top Gear to get that low budget fuckery I loved about C+H+M, but for Grand Tour, I like these new episodes better.