Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Grand Tour: One For The Road’ on Prime Video, The Final Ride For TV Car Guys Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May 

The Grand Tour: One for the Road, now streaming on Prime, marks the last series for veteran television motoring presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May. The trio have been at it with Grand Tour for six seasons, after migrating to the show from Top Gear with producer Andy Wilman. But now, they’re moving on from driving cars on TV while arguing colorfully. One For the Road features three classic vehicles, incredible scenery from across Zimbabwe, and the breakdowns and hijinks this crew is known for, all wrapped up with nods to their history together and few tasteful notes of farewell. 

THE GRAND TOUR: ONE FOR THE ROAD: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT? 

Opening Shot: “Hello and welcome to our last-ever Grand Tour.” The close-up on Jeremy Clarkson then pans wide to reveal the vast ravine he’s straddling while standing on a swaying wire footbridge.

The Gist: Dedicated, longtime car heads like Clarkson, May, and Hammond would never depart the TV motoring scene via electric vehicles. “Instead,” James May says in Grand Tour: One for the Road, “the three of us decided that we would simply buy things we’ve always wanted.” And so they each roll up in a 1970s sports car fave to the starting point in eastern Zimbabwe. For Clarkson that’s a purple Lancia Montecarlo, complete with his usual modifications, including quad exhaust pipes and the taillights from a Ferrari 308. May’s choice is a gorgeous Triumph Stag touring coupe. And Hammond is really proud of his low-slung Ford Capri GXL, which is immediately goofed on by his cohosts. “Why didn’t you get the GT?”

“Holy moly, look at that view!” Hilly elevation, twisty two-lane highways, mountain vistas, and an impossible amount of green greet the trio as they head west across Zimbabwe. But so do the inevitable breakdowns of their chosen rides. While the exhaust system of Hammond’s Capri eventually ends up his passenger seat, all three drivers experience road surfaces that change as fast as the landscape around them, and provide their usual running commentary, this time tinged with the understanding that after over 20 years together, it’s all ending once they reach their final destination.

One For the Road has fun along the way. What if, to make up for a misread map, they converted their vehicles to ride on railroads? Or bought boats to transport themselves and their rides, complete with cocktails to keep away the crocodiles? And of course, when the African landscape provides the opportunity, what else is there to do but open it up on a desert straightway? Putting the Lancia into a wide, sweeping turn, with the music at a crescendo, Jeremy Clarkson has a gleeful moment of consideration. “Big skid! Big skid on the Zambezi! That might be my last-ever televised skid…”

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? No specifics have been announced, but Prime has acknowledged that Grand Tour itself will likely continue in some form with new hosts. But in the meantime, the third season of Clarkson’s Farm premiered earlier this year, and James May is staying busy with travelogues like Our Man In in India and an upcoming docuseries about famous explorers.   

Our Take: So why are these three car lovers leaving The Grand Tour, a series that’s literally driven them across the world? Jeremy Clarkson says there are a few reasons. But the one that really hits is defiant dismissal of a contemporary automotive reality. “I’m simply not interested in electric cars. They’re just washing machines. Microwave ovens. You can’t review those, you can’t enjoy them. They are just shit.” And he pauses to listen to the throttling, throaty hum of his Lancia Montecarlo like it’s a favorite album side. “All you lot growing up with your electric cars, you’re never gonna hear it.” 

The Grand Tour: One For the Road keeps the strident personalities of its hosting trio front and center, perhaps more than ever, since their itinerary is self-guided and they all know it’s a time for lasts. Last vehicle mishap where they refuse to help each other together. (“Still a bastard after all these years!” a stalled-out Hammond calls after James May’s cloud of dust.) Last “tenting” overnight together. And all of the last times the trio gets to revel together in what they’ve done for decades across two motoring shows, which is to enjoy the company of the cars they’ve chosen for this particular adventure.       

Sex and Skin: No, of course not. Then again, many people, including James May, could make a case for the sexiness of an original Triumph slant-four V8. 

Parting Shot: Cue “Brothers in Arms” by Dire Straits, remove your vehicle’s doors, and light out across the vast Botswanan salt flats. For there are farewells to be made, among the Grand Tour presenters and to the audience who rode with them for over 20 years.

Sleeper Star: It’s gotta be the deep-cut knowledge on display at every turn. For all their bickering and adventurous driving antics, Clarkson, May, and Hammond are passionate car nerds at heart. At a Zimbabwean scrapyard, they don’t see decrepit, rusted-in-place hulks. Not only do they call out each model of vehicle by name. They can also describe the manufacturing and supply chain lineage that brought it there.  

Most Pilot-y Line: “Without further ado, we fired up our 50-year-old sports cars and set off to cross the rugged heart of Africa.” Certainly a pilot-y line. But the real entertainment in any Grand Tour adventure lies between that statement and a line like this: “We continued onwards and then, once again, we stopped continuing onwards.” 

Our Call: Stream It. The Grand Tour: One for the Road does a nice job of balancing its goodbyes with the good vibes Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May have always steered into as motoring enthusiasts and television presenters. 

Johnny Loftus (@glennganges) is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift.

The post Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Grand Tour: One For The Road’ on Prime Video, The Final Ride For TV Car Guys Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May  appeared first on Decider.