The amazing trio of the automotive world, James May, Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond are all set to drive back onto our screens with more rubber-burning action. The Amazon Prime series, The Grand Tour, has been renewed for the third season, which should be premiering later this year.

The Grand Tour is everything BBC’s Top Gear used to be during the era of these three amigos. When fans were worried about their exit, Amazon took an opportunity and made an excellent addition to its streaming service. Then, The Grand Tour was born. 

While fans and critics have applauded the show for what they get to see, a lot more goes on behind the scenes. Today, we have rounded up five things about the show you may not be aware of.

#5. The Show’s Introduction Cost Was Massive

It’s not cheap to produce a show like The Grand Tour if you consider different travel locations and cars that get blown up in each episode. However, the show’s opening scene alone was over $3 million in production cost.

The episode featured the trio driving in red, blue and white Ford Mustangs across the Californian desert. They were also followed by a huge caravan of vehicles, including dirt bikes, pickups, dune buggies, semis, hotrods, jet planes and Bugatti Veyrons. 

Where is Top Gear host Rory Reid in 2018?

#4. The Show Blew Up Jeremy Clarkson’s House  

Clarkson lost a bet on the first series of The Grand Tour and his co-hosts had to blow up his house. He pretended to be shocked by the incident but the whole thing was staged. They did actually blow up his house but this was because Clarkson was planning to build a bigger house. Though the whole thing was planned, fans have considered that it was the best episode ever. 

The Grand Tour: Jeremy Clarkson to review Tesla Model X

BBC made things difficult when Jeremy Clarkson walked away after attacking a producer and his co-hosts followed him. Making a new show out of the same things that Top Gear was about couldn’t be an option for the trio, who came back among the audience with The Grand Tour. With that going, BBC claimed that The Grand Tour infringed upon the intellectual property of Top Gear. 

For instance, they were not allowed to call their news “the news”, they could not feature the stick from Top Gear, have a test track, call Namibia “Beautiful” or have James say “cock” on the show. Wilman, who also resigned as executive producer of Top Gear following the trio’s exit says that at some point the legal requirements from BBC became “hilarious”.

Life of Jason Dawe after Top Gear: What is he doing now?

#2. Richard Hammond Narrowly Escaped Death 

Hammond has years of experience driving supercars but has endured several crashes. He crashed a Rimac electric supercar while filming a Grand Tour episode in Switzerland. Luckily, he managed to leap out of the car just before it burst into flames. He escaped with only a knee injury. However, after such a near-death experience, he still loves supercars. 

#1. Test Track Looks Like the Ebola Virus

The Grand Tour test track located near Swindon has been named Eboladrome. And Clarkson is the one who came up with an idea of the name. The test track, which is considered the most dangerous one in the world seems like a magnified image of the Ebola virus. He said, ‘

It even looks dangerous on a map, because as you can see it’s the exact same shape as the Ebola virus.

Do you think The Grand Tour is better than the current Top Gear? Let us know in the comments. 

References

Top Gear host James May Favorite Cars & Car collection 2018

Surprising facts about former Top Gear host Richard Hammond

What you need to know about Top Gear host Chris Harris

The amazing trio of the automotive world, James May, Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond are all set to drive back onto our screens with more rubber-burning action. The Amazon Prime series, The Grand Tour, has been renewed for the third season, which should be premiering later this year.

The Grand Tour is everything BBC’s Top Gear used to be during the era of these three amigos. When fans were worried about their exit, Amazon took an opportunity and made an excellent addition to its streaming service. Then, The Grand Tour was born. 

While fans and critics have applauded the show for what they get to see, a lot more goes on behind the scenes. Today, we have rounded up five things about the show you may not be aware of.

#5. The Show’s Introduction Cost Was Massive

It’s not cheap to produce a show like The Grand Tour if you consider different travel locations and cars that get blown up in each episode. However, the show’s opening scene alone was over $3 million in production cost.

The episode featured the trio driving in red, blue and white Ford Mustangs across the Californian desert. They were also followed by a huge caravan of vehicles, including dirt bikes, pickups, dune buggies, semis, hotrods, jet planes and Bugatti Veyrons. 

Where is Top Gear host Rory Reid in 2018?

#4. The Show Blew Up Jeremy Clarkson’s House  

Clarkson lost a bet on the first series of The Grand Tour and his co-hosts had to blow up his house. He pretended to be shocked by the incident but the whole thing was staged. They did actually blow up his house but this was because Clarkson was planning to build a bigger house. Though the whole thing was planned, fans have considered that it was the best episode ever. 

The Grand Tour: Jeremy Clarkson to review Tesla Model X

BBC made things difficult when Jeremy Clarkson walked away after attacking a producer and his co-hosts followed him. Making a new show out of the same things that Top Gear was about couldn’t be an option for the trio, who came back among the audience with The Grand Tour. With that going, BBC claimed that The Grand Tour infringed upon the intellectual property of Top Gear. 

For instance, they were not allowed to call their news “the news”, they could not feature the stick from Top Gear, have a test track, call Namibia “Beautiful” or have James say “cock” on the show. Wilman, who also resigned as executive producer of Top Gear following the trio’s exit says that at some point the legal requirements from BBC became “hilarious”.

Life of Jason Dawe after Top Gear: What is he doing now?

#2. Richard Hammond Narrowly Escaped Death 

Hammond has years of experience driving supercars but has endured several crashes. He crashed a Rimac electric supercar while filming a Grand Tour episode in Switzerland. Luckily, he managed to leap out of the car just before it burst into flames. He escaped with only a knee injury. However, after such a near-death experience, he still loves supercars. 

#1. Test Track Looks Like the Ebola Virus

The Grand Tour test track located near Swindon has been named Eboladrome. And Clarkson is the one who came up with an idea of the name. The test track, which is considered the most dangerous one in the world seems like a magnified image of the Ebola virus. He said, ‘

It even looks dangerous on a map, because as you can see it’s the exact same shape as the Ebola virus.

Do you think The Grand Tour is better than the current Top Gear? Let us know in the comments. 

References

Top Gear host James May Favorite Cars & Car collection 2018

Surprising facts about former Top Gear host Richard Hammond

What you need to know about Top Gear host Chris Harris