The Grand Tour

[Loquacious Lew]

I think they became boring  long  before they were contracted to the Grand Tour.  The penis bumping (as noted), car explosions, burnings, drownings and absurd mods are not original or unique to the new series as they started with that long ago.  They've been predictably repetitive for years. 

[ChrisJ]

Columbia part II came out last night.

I didn't really enjoy the first episode, got bored by the muscle cars. Thought Columbia was OK, but mostly the same, but not as well done, as a previous South American adventure (Bolivia?).

It hasn't been a car show for a long time. It's "entertainment" with some cars thrown in.

[Sport220]

I'll give this a watch when they feature a Lotus. Other than that, not interested. Prefer Top Gear and Youtube

[Kimbers]

Neither them nor Top Gear have featured a Lotus despite having the higher powered exige which is mental and the GT430 Evora which is the most powerful car they have produced. Frankly I think their main supporters, Porsche and Ferrari don't want a Lotus in there!

[Nelly]

I tend not to agree with that - you don't see every Porsche on TGT, they tend to go for the more hypercar stuff.  Scheduling may have something to do with it, if there is a car out when they are filming.

There have been quote a few Lotus on TG over the years, the first series of the "revamp" in 2012 featured two, plus the Lotus Lada, reference to the Lotus input on the track and featured Gavan Kershaw.

I agree it would be nice to have seen the GT430 on there, but I really don't think its high enough profile for what is now basically a worldwide show.

If a new Esprit came out, I don't think either show could ignore that though.

[Andyww]

Seem to be in a minority here but I actually enjoyed the Columbia special and watched both parts back to back.

Found it better than some of the old TG ones such as the India special which was a cringeworthy embarrassement.

It was unusual they showed the crew this time and didnt try to hide the fact they have a huge multi-vehicle back-up team travelling with them, which everyone knows of course.

[Sport220]

Why can't Lotus get a new car on TGT/TG? 

[Bravo73]

TG = Chris Harris

 

[Dan E]

In TG defence they were going to do a tribute to Lotus for the 70th, I have got the email and the invite from last year at brands hatch but the snow came down and it got cancelled 

[Bravo73]

True dat. 

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

Lotus seems to be particularly blessed with bad weather at Hethel, whenever they get journos round to try out new cars. Lots of videos out there of cars being tested on a soaking track.

[USAndretti42]

I did like May's comment about Clarkson's skin after much exposure to the sun, "You look like something you'd find in a pyramid."  Definitely off the cuff and made the others laugh too.  Didn't think much to the start with getting Hammond's car out of the see, too contrived, but the rest of the two parts were entertaining.  I have to admit that their road trips always make me want to visit wherever they have been.

Episode 4 was OK but a bit of a return to the silliness but Clarkson's review of the XE was excellent.

[NedaSay]

8 hours ago, LotusLeftLotusRight said:

Lotus seems to be particularly blessed with bad weather at Hethel, whenever they get journos round to try out new cars. Lots of videos out there of cars being tested on a soaking track.

It is time Lotus puts their LDA franchise to good use ; with test drives for media and influencers organized in the south of France or Texas. The concept would be profitable for both LDA franchises and Lotus themselves, it really doesn't rain that often in both places.

 

This season of GT is a bit better than the previous but it all remains very campy.

[Bibs]

[Spinney]

Hmmm, not sure I'd want to let Hammond out in such a valuable and iconic car as this, given his track history! 😱

I'll definitely be watching this one though, so thanks for the heads up.

[ChrisJ]

Really enjoyed that episode.

[silverfrost]

Someone put some on Youtube, so i managed to watch a few,  the beach buggy one and also James May doing the concept of the GT40 and how the row with ferrari started to put the GT40 into development    Still enjoy watching the three studes with plenty of car eye candy thrown in, perfect recipey, 

It was always going to be like top gear was, just with a bigger budget, it was and still is a pefect formula imo 

[Bravo73]

Credit where credit is due:

The Jim Clark tribute (by Hammond) is phenomenal. 

The rest? Meh. 

[KennyN]

By far the best episode yet, shored up considerably by Hammond's Jim Clark section.

[Nelly]

Shock horror, Lotus content on TGT!  To be fair I also thought it was really good.

Interesting that when they reviewed the Alpine they only mentioned the Cayman and TT as rivals - no mention of Lotus, or the Alfa 4C.

[ramjet]

TGT isn't even on TV over here anymore. Even if some of the shows aren't that great, be happy that you get it.

[Dan E]

Well just watched it with my son, he is now looking up Jim Clark he is honestly blown away by it, the best TGT since the Lancia rally team one. They should really spend a lot more time on doing stuff like that than cock jokes. I thought Hammond done that with respect and a certain awe,

 

loved it 

[Bravo73]

 

9 minutes ago, ramjet said:

TGT isn't even on TV over here anymore. Even if some of the shows aren't that great, be happy that you get it.

That’s ‘cos it’s on t’interweb, innit. 

Amazon Prime (or other, non-approved, sources). 

 

 

PS You are aware that TGT isn’t TG, roight?

[ramjet]

Yes I do know that TGT is not TG, that is why I wrote TGT.

Whenever I have gone looking, I only ever seem to find the TGT channel and only snippets/trailers of shows.

[Bravo73]

Well, you’ll need to either pay for Amazon Prime. 

Or, get Kodi. 

 

 

It’s not ‘on TV’. Unless, of course, you watch Amazon/Kodi on your TV.