The Amazon Prime Not Topgear Show That From Now On Will Be Called "The Grand Tour"TV 

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I had no idea that James May's unboxing video all along was meant to be part of an actual Grand Tour episode. Yes, I actually watched his Yaris unboxing video months back, only because I was shocked to see a car being unboxed.

I also liked the David Souffle part from Jeremy's video.

However, the one thing that annoyed me about this episode was being reminded once again that I'll never get to drive a Ford hot hatch again. :grumpy:
 
Being subbed to James May's YouTube channel, I watched it the day it came out and can recall a number of online motoring magazines sharing it around that time so I'm not surprised it managed to pull the most numbers. I wasn't aware of the David Souffle videos back then though, didn't show up on any motoring sites I regularly visit.
 
Also watched the whole unboxing video when it came out and saw Souffle's videos on Twitter, but didn't even heard about Hammond's one.

And about that classic supercars segment, these two maybe slow, but if I could choose a single car of all the laptimes list, I would definitely choose Testarossa.
 
As soon as I saw that May was driving the Yaris I remembered his unboxing video so it came as no surprise to me that he would have the most Youtube views.

I was a little surprised that the Countach destroyed the Testarossa around the track like it did because I thought Countach was regarded as all show and no go. But I guess the Testarossa is even less go. Still it was a fun comparison between the two of them.
 
The Testarossa was more of a grand tourer that just happens to have the engine at the back, so I wasn't surprised to see it beaten around a track (did you see that body roll? :lol:). Until the F40 came out, I don't think Ferrari had an answer to the Countach in that era. Then of course Lambo responded with the Diablo, and Ferrari volleyed back with the F50, and so on.

I'm surprised how long this season feels. It started sooner and ended later than TG. That Amazon budget is doing wonderful things...
 
I think this current series/season is nearing its end, Friday's episode will be the 11th and Clarkson said at the start of the series that it will be 13 weeks long.

Also I have a feeling that Friday will be the last episode of the current format before the move to just doing specials, the last episodes of a series are usually two-part specials so this Friday could be the last one in the tent.
 
MUSC4EVER
I think this current series/season is nearing its end, Friday's episode will be the 11th and Clarkson said at the start of the series that it will be 13 weeks long.

Also I have a feeling that Friday will be the last episode of the current format before the move to just doing specials, the last episodes of a series are usually two-part specials so this Friday could be the last one in the tent.
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They already had a special this season (Colombia Ep 2-3) and according to wikipedia Ep 12 is another usual car review/tent episode, so I don't think we'll get 2 specials (as much as I want one).

EDIT: The latest episode is kinda a special as they are barely in the tent. Pretty interesting look at 2 beautiful countries that rarely gets a spotlight. The Georgia-Russia border debacle is utter 🤬 though. I am appalled things like this still happen in 2018.

The DBS' lack of launch control is shocking. At that price point you'd expect it's a no brainer feature. It's painful to see it embarrassed by the BMW and Conti which are way below it in the price league. They should've gone BMW/Conti/Panamera so it's more balanced. DBS belongs to a higher tier along with 812 Superfast IMO.
 
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I know it's all scripted anyway, but come on, it's just lazy
Abbie's car on the right
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Another cracker episode this week. Money no object, I'd take the Delta over the Stratos personally. The Stratos' front end just looks a bit weird to me.

James' 917 film is again a masterpiece. Given a track with longer straights it would win the race for sure. Mr Attwood is one heck of a driver to still be pushing the limits of that deathtrap at his age :scared:

Airport segment is more amusing than anything, though I share Jeremy's many many sentiments against travelling.

Last episode next week. Without even watching I must say that this season has been stellar and I can honestly say it picks up from their best era in TG (mid 2000s). Looking forward to their next season already 👍
 
Another very good episode. The 917 segment was amazing. I was also shocked that Porsche would allow James to drive the car since it has to be an absolute monster to just get the tires and brakes warm on it. Dickie Attwood's story about the car's first LeMans was great and it was fantastic to see him driving it again.

The Stradale and Stratos cars were sort of interesting but very expensive which I knew they would be.
 
For me the whole series has been a bit hit and miss - there's been some fabulous stuff (Jim Clark and the 917 are the obvious examples) but there's been an awful lot of filler too - the whole airport thing in this weeks show is a prime (pun not intended!) example. It feels to me like they decided/were told to do 13 episodes and then had to find stuff to fill them with. They could have done 6-7 shows without the filler and I'd have probably enjoyed the series more overall.

Personally I got as much entertainment out the 5 Top Gear episodes this year as I have from 12 of TGT so far.
 
I'd rather they fill the season with silly fillers than SIARPC to be honest. At least it's mildly entertaining. TG this season is pretty good but with the looming departure of Matt I just can't get invested in the show anymore.
 
I actually liked the airport scene, I thought it was hilarious to see Jeremy Clarkson go on a whole rant about airport and everyone just ignores him. Also, they did something I always wanted to do; jump on a vehicle or something and go nuts inside a building.

Though my favorite part of the episode was indeed James May talking about the Porsche 917.
 
LeGeNd-1
Without even watching I must say that this season has been stellar and I can honestly say it picks up from their best era in TG (mid 2000s). Looking forward to their next season already 👍
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They're doing some of their best work. Honestly I liked the airport antics this season more than most of their silly stuff back then. I got to the point where I would pretty much skip the celebrity interviews on those old shows.
 
The Mongolia episode was probably the best of the season, that was a true struggle, but the country looks incredible as if the country hasn't been touched.
 
Excellent episode, definitely the best of the series, star of the show was the breath-taking Mongolia.....and John!

Clarkson said on his Twitter that there will be another episode on Friday, don't know if its the last..
 
Jeremy's story about his bathroom experience and the fly had me laughing my head off. Everytime John hopped his way up a hill it made me smile.

It was a great episode that I'll probably watch again.
 
I did some of my driver training in the late nineties behind the wheel of the American version of the Mondeo, the Ford Contour. I'm a GM loyalist, but seeing a car that I spent some of my first hours as a driver being "eulogized" unexpectedly hit me right in the feels. What a way to finish the season, and indeed an era for the Clarkson/Hammond/May trio.
 
Agree Mongolia special is one of their best. The combination of the scenery, the vehicle (I refuse to call John a "car" :lol:) and the sheer difficulty of the terrain really gives you a sense of achievement while going along for the ride. Last time I felt that was probably the Bolivia special, and that was 10 years ago :scared: How time flies...

JackRyanWMU
I did some of my driver training in the late nineties behind the wheel of the American version of the Mondeo, the Ford Contour. I'm a GM loyalist, but seeing a car that I spent some of my first hours as a driver being "eulogized" unexpectedly hit me right in the feels. What a way to finish the season, and indeed an era for the Clarkson/Hammond/May trio.
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They're not retiring are they? It's just saying goodbye to the tent/studio format. I love the specials but I will miss their funny banter during Conversation Street. Also, how are they going to handle car reviews and power laps from now?
 
Yes, I was waiting for the episode with the Sierra and it's finally here. I didn't think it would be a tribute episode for the British Ford sedans and I'm happy to see this.
 
LeGeNd-1
They're not retiring are they? It's just saying goodbye to the tent/studio format. I love the specials but I will miss their funny banter during Conversation Street. Also, how are they going to handle car reviews and power laps from now?
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They won't be doing them, as far as I can tell.
 
I didn't expect to get so emotional over a car show hosted by 3 middle-aged men. The Cortina-Sierra-Mondeo tribute and ending are both the most memorable parts of the show, they couldn't have wrapped up the current format of TGT in a more fitting manner.

I'm seriously going to miss the format we have been accustomed to over the past 16 years. :(
 
Oh man that was emotional :( . I shed a tear for that ending. I remember one day catching an episode of Top Gear on a famous middle eastern free to air channel and I was floored. This led to me and my brother sneaking at night to watch the show late (on school days) and I've been hooked ever since. I'll miss them doing car reviews. Hopefully the new format kinda makes up for it, but at the end there's only one thing to say..... 🤬 the Toyota Picnic
 
What a fitting way to say goodbye to two legendary British institutions, the Ford sedan, and Jeremy, Richard, and James having a studio audience & car review based automotive program.

That was a little tough to take at the end. Loved the look back at the British history of the Ford Sedan. Being American I had no idea of the Cortina until much later in my life through video games like Forza and Top Gear itself. We had a version of the Sierra here in America called the Mercury Merkur in the 80's. It was sold as a separate exclusive line through selected Lincoln-Mercury dealers. It only lasted a few years here in America. Once again I had no idea of how special that car was until I started playing racing video games.

I'm going to miss the current format because I'm pretty sure seasons with just specials in them won't be as long. Hopefully I'm wrong about that.

On a related note, if you have a premium subscription to Motortrend on demand, starting June 1st you will have access to the entire back catalog of Top Gear. I have a subscription because Motortrend is the exclusive rights holder to the WEC in North America.
 

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