The Grand Tour ends, here's why it's important

With the Grand Tour coming to an end, we can’t help but wonder, will there ever be another iconic trio?

In this week’s newsletter, we talk about the origins of a television show that changed automotive journalism, how it changed, and what will the future bring.

Plus, was it as controversial as people said?

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It’s the end of the road for this iconic trio

These three journalists marked a before and after in automotive journalism. Everything that existed before was too boring, and what followed was considered copycats.

Although, there are some great shows that openly recognize they copied Top Gear.

Most of what we consume is a direct product of their pure brilliance. We are talking, of course, about Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond.

Their presence in two iconic shows, Top Gear and Grand Tour changed television altogether.

Now, after 22 years, the three are going on their last adventure, and it's a pivotal moment for automotive content as we ask ourselves whether there will be a similar replacement.

After all, many have tried, and many have failed, to replicate these shows' success. But how did such a massive show start?

The humble origins

Tonight, we talk about Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May. These three iconic presenters convinced even those who didn't care about cars.

During Top Gear's peak performance, the show garnered more than 350 million views in 200 countries and, at one point, was the most illegally downloaded program in the world. 

What's fascinating is that the show didn't start out a success. Many people don't know that Top Gear is older than many would expect.

Not only that, but the iconic three weren't the first hosts. 

Angela Rippon might not be a household name, but she was the first Top Gear presenter back in 1977.

Here are other cool Top Gear facts.

The show was broadcast in the BBC Midlands area, which you can compare to a UK Detroit, the cradle of the British motor industry. 

It was a humble, journalism-focused effort for "road-users" and aimed both motorists and pedestrians.

It sounds quite formulaic, and for most of the show, it was. Rippon and cohost Tom Coyne drove their cars under the speed limit, interviewed the Minister of Transport, and spoke about how to use the rearview mirror. 

The show was a hit. One year later, it was broadcast nationally, and in the following decades, until 1999, it was a mainstay in British television.

It even launched its own magazine, Top Gear Magazine, and cemented several journalists as automotive authorities, including Tiff Needell, Noel Edmonds, Vicki Butler-Henderson, and many others.  

With these figures on board, the show rose in popularity and, even back then, garnered controversy.

The idea of just driving for driving, consuming fuel, and engaging in somewhat "irresponsible driving behavior" didn't appeal to everyone. 

In the midst of this controversial content, there was one host who broke from the norm. He was brutally candid and blunt about his views on certain cars. People loved him, and his name was Jeremy Clarkson. 

Clarkson never held back, and that's why he was famous. In his nine years on the show, the presenter surely caused a stir.

Once, he considered the Toyota Corolla dull and boring. His criticism was so harsh that Toyota banned him from testing their cars. This would change in the future.

He said, of the Vauxhall Vectra, "I have to fill seven minutes with a car that doesn't merit seven seconds."

There were no two ways about it. Clarkson was controversial, and people loved the idea. So, when he left in 1999, the show lost most of its traction.

In a matter of months, the BBC pulled the plug, but not for long. 

By the way, here he is at 38. He looks 50!

The equation that worked

All good things must come to an end, including the UK's most famous automotive TV show, although that in itself was no longer the truth.

With hosts defecting to other channels, Top Gear was no longer at the top. Competition, such as Driven and Pulling Power had gained strength. 

This competition and Clarkson's departure meant that Top Gear lost most of its strength. Plus, being an expensive show to produce, the BBC pulled the plug. 

With the program's end, many hosts went on to create similar ideas, the most notable one being Fifth Gear.

By the way, the name Fifth Gear has a fascinating origin. When Tiff Needell left for Channel Five, he pressured the BBC to yield the rights to the name, but the BBC rejected the idea.

Given that he worked with Channel 5, it only seemed appropriate to call it Fifth Gear, although that name would be obsolete in no time. 

But, as we know now, this wouldn't be the end of Top Gear because just a couple of years later, the idea was reborn, and it's all thanks to one man, and perhaps not the one you're thinking of. 

Sure, Jeremy Clarkson pressured the BBC to revive the show, even after saying that he wanted to do something else.

However, we, as fans, owe much more to another man, not only for Top Gear but also for the Grand Tour.

That man is Andy Wilman, a producer who had worked with Clarkson on independent projects, such as Jeremy Clarkson's Motorowld, and who contributed to creating Clarkson's blunt and almost acidic personality on screen. 

Both Clarkson and Wilman pressured the BBC to create the new iteration, which was launched in 2002.

It featured hosts Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and Jason Dawe. The latter is not a household name as he only lasted one season. 

Interestingly, Jason Dawe presented the "consumer advice" section, providing viewers with possible deals and discussing the "real-life aspects" of car ownership. In truth, nobody was interested. 

Instead, they wanted Clarkson and Hammond to test out the craziest vehicles ever produced. And that's not to say that the show was a hit from the start. 

If you watch the early episodes, the audience reacts almost conservatively and disengaged. That's because, at first, the audience was paid to be there. 

Here's what Clarkson told The DriveThrough podcast:

"We'd get a studio audience of probably, I don't know, 30 people," Clarkson told Nicole. "And by the end of a recording, we'd probably be down to ten. They'd just leave. They were bored.

"And we were having to pay out of our own pockets for them to stay. 'Here's a tenner. Please stay, just stand in the back of the shot, please don't go'... 'Here's 50 quid. Please don't go.' We were battling and nobody was watching on television either, really, not in the first couple of years."

It sounds almost unbelievable, but Top Gear wasn't a hit.

Still, they were persistent, and the reality was that Wilman and Clarkson had devised an excellent idea.

In 2001, they pitched their new Top Gear to the BBC, and these were some of their new ideas:

• Having a designated studio, which would change from a magazine to a studio-based program

• Renting a test track for timed laps

• Having a veteran racing driver and celebrity guests

• Special challenges including budgets, trips, and locations abroad

If you look at it now, these are mainstay ideas, but back then, they were visionary.

In a matter of months, and looking to compete against Fifth Gear, the BBC decided to revive the show, and what happened was, well, television history. 

Meteoric rise, meteoric crash

In its earliest stage, Top Gear relied heavily on the previous iteration's ideas, such as viewer letters, interviews, and the like, but Clarkson and Wilman, with now a larger production and the creative prowess of the other hosts, knew there was a need for a change in pace.

So, production became much more complex, including recurring jokes, such as destroying caravans, challenges, and, yes, even more crass humor. 

When Dawe was let go, James May came in.

He had worked on the previous Top Gear and wasn't convinced of the show's revival.

But convincing him didn't take long when he noticed that the new version was becoming more popular. 

The iconic three would become icons, and this program would be historic. But why?

Sure, driving to the North Pole, crashing a jet-powered car, and testing the latest and greatest automotive creations is exciting.

Still, there's one thing that can't be replaced and one that would be an ominous reality in the future: chemistry. 

There are no two ways about it: forcing chemistry is almost impossible. That's why ideas such as the Top Gear stuntman lasted for such a short time.

At first, it would've been a fourth host, but it just didn't get enough grip because of the lack of chemistry. 

History would repeat itself with The Grand Tour when they included an American test driver whose jokes just fell flat. 

James May, Richard Hammond, and Jeremy Clarkson had an energy that would never be replaced.

Each had his own strengths and weaknesses, and all three complimented each other with great success, even if that meant leaving them to their own devices on the side of the road. 

One of the most controversial episodes was on the United States road in 2007, when the three drove a Camaro, a Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham, and a Dodge Ram truck from Miami to New Orleans.

While driving through Alabama, with their cars filled with offensive graffiti, the hosts and production crew were close to being physically injured after a gas station owner found the car's messages offensive. 

They had to retreat to Mississippi, clean their cars, and power through to New Orleans. It was such chaos that drew the attention of millions., 

The challenges became crazier, the destinations more exotic, and the vehicles, if possible, much more expensive.

Viewers clocked in every week to see what the three would come up with, and most of the time, they weren't disappointed—until they were. 

By 2009, even Andy Wilman had admitted that the show was becoming cartoonish and needed to regain some of its dignity. 

Though the specials and challenges were more entertaining, they were also beginning to wear on the crew and, most importantly, on the BBC. 

By 2014, the show was viewed by millions, but it was also criticized by millions. Clarkson's actions were scrutinized, and that's not to say he was the only controversial host, but he usually pushed the envelope. 

Comments that were seen as racist caused friction between the host and the BBC. Thanks to YouTube, one unaired clip still exists, but many comments say there's nothing wrong with it. 

What do you think?

However, there was no denying that Clarkson was a controversy-creating machine and that people were more on edge.

The BBC issued a warning against Clarkson, Wilman, and the entire program, and this settled the dust, but for a brief second. 

Then came the Argentina special, the straw that broke the camel's back. 

In December 2014, Top Gear released its Patagonia special, which is still one of the most controversial episodes of automotive television history.

The idea was to drive V8-powered cars to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the small-block V8 from Bariloche to Ushuaia in Argentina and then to Chile, but it got off on the wrong foot. 

Clarkson's Porsche 928 had a license plate that many considered a mockery of the 1982 Falklands War: H982 FKL.  

In no time, the crew was met with protests and threats of violence. After failed negotiations, the team was forced out of its hotel. The team had to ditch the original idea and flee to Chile. 

With a police escort, the team found blockades and protesters who pelted them with rocks.

The situation got so desperate that the team illegally crossed the border to Chile, and the police escort stayed behind to slow down the protesters. 

One could think that such a controversial show was right up the viewer's alley, but it wasn't.

It was one of the most viewed episodes in the show's history, but the reception was lukewarm at best.

People had grown tired of the antics and considered it over the top. 

What's ironic is that Andy Wilman would eventually, years down the road, manage to prove that the license plate was not on purpose but a matter of luck.

Check out this podcast with former Top Gear driver Ben Collins. He makes excellent points to prove it wasn’t fake.

But there was a certain something, an unexplainable aftertaste from that episode.

Things were changing, and soon, the entire automotive world would receive shocking news. 

In early 2015, Jeremy Clarkson was let go from the very same show he had helped bring back to life, after allegations of verbal and physical abuse.

What's fascinating is that history repeats itself. When Clarkson was let go, the show took a tumble.

While Hammond and May presented closing episodes, it was clear that an era had ended.

After all, just 28 days following Clarkson's firing, Wilman left Top Gear, and so did May and Hammond.

The essential ingredients to the best automotive show in the world were gone, but it wasn't over just yet, at least not for the iconic trio. 

What’s next?

Here's a quick timeline: Jeremy Clarkson was let go of the BBC on March 1, 2015. By July 31 of that year, Clarkson, May, Hammond, and Wilman had signed with Amazon and named their show. 

The reason for this new relationship was simple. This article dives deep into it. 

That was nine years ago, and now, the ride is ending for different reasons. 

September 13, 2024, marks the end of the Grand Tour and, most likely, the end of the three iconic hosts working together with cars.

They have been clear about their desire to rest and focus on other projects.

After all, it has been almost three decades, including life-threatening accidents. 

But if the Grand Tour is ending, are we talking about Top Gear? Well, there would be no Grand Tour without Top Gear.

In fact, most of the YouTube channels focused on automotive content copy some form of Top Gear's brilliance. Cheap car challenges and races are now common.

Twenty years ago, they were at the vanguard of television, and all thanks to these three and their brilliant chemistry. 

Granted, the shows will continue.

Top Gear has navigated through countless hosts, trying to replicate the very essence that once made the show great, and that's the problem: you can't force chemistry.

Ask Chris Evans. 

As revealed by Richard Hammond, the Grand Tour will continue with new hosts.

Read more about it here.

It won't be the same, and that's fine because this time, it feels like an organic closure.

It's only a matter of finding that perfect equation: hosts that share chemistry so powerful that it makes non-car people complete gear heads. And, that’s not easy.

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