6 months ago
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What Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May achieved in the realm of motoring entertainment is unlikely to be replicated.
The iconic trio forged a huge global following as the faces of BBC TopGear, taking their collective brand to another level with their Grand Tour on Amazon Prime.
Earlier this month, as their show's finale aired, many shared teary-eyed moments, bidding adieu to the most popular motoring troupe on screen.
Without stumbling over myself trying to analyse what made the recipe work or rambling about their blunders, tropes that aged poorly and other misgivings around various controversies, allow me to reflect on how influential the gang was to me and my own journey as a motor-noter.
Unsurprisingly, my best friend and I used to spend a good chunk of our school days reading motoring magazines or the weekly motoring sections of the newspapers our parents subscribed to.
Luckily for me, my dad would bring home the UK version of The Times on occasion — with its Driving supplement that had a weekly road test by Jeremy Clarkson.
His irreverent and often scathing style of writing never failed to amuse — and enlighten — this pair of car-crazy youngsters. Clarkson's articles on broadsheet would be repurposed as wrapping for school exercise books, allowing the pleasure of rereading when the content of the syllabus got too boring. Digital is great but you cannot deny the versatility of a print product. Try lining your bird cage with pixels — impossible.
Around 2004 my folks got us a DStv subscription and learning that BBC Prime aired a show called Top Gear, hosted by Clarkson, changed my world. Even more epic was the extended version — Top Gear Xtra, which was unmissable.
The show evolved dramatically in those years, taking on a format that became unique.
From cars being tested to their limits on the track to celebrity laps in a “reasonably priced car”, cheap exotic challenges with hilarious results, appreciation for the classics, “news” segments and so much more, Top Gear established itself as the definitive global car show. OK, I'll admit to enjoying 5th Gear too from time to time.
I'll also admit that at a certain timeTop Gear lost my attention. Towards the end of the original Clarkson, Hammond and May iteration of the programme, it became a bit repetitive. Endless explosions and other over-the-top antics. I guess it also had something to do with growing up. Realising these three greying British guys weren't the complete authority on all things cars.
One of the most enjoyable episodes of “old” Top Gear was the Botswana special, circa 2007.
I remember watching it the night before an exam — no recollection which subject it was for — but visuals of the gang's Mercedes-Benz, Lancia and Opel barrelling down the Makgadikgadi pan are still etched in my mind.
Those sentimental feelings came back while watching the Grand Tour's finale, involving another epic African adventure. I will not give too much away, lest you are yet to watch the episode.
But it is brilliant. The visuals of Zimbabwe make you want to go out there and replicate their route in your own time. Hearing Clarkson describe the region as the most beautiful place he's ever seen stirs one's sense of African pride.
Watching it all play out, from one adventure to the next, with a healthy dose of mischief and breakdowns in between, was a reminder of the endearing chemistry the three characters have.
Clarkson makes no apologies for his oafishness (and electric car disdain). Hammond happily plays the cheerful fool, and May's character as the pedant rounds it off neatly. Three different mates having a blast with old cars.
The cars were pretty awesome. Predictably, Clarkson wielding a temperamental Italian Lancia Montecarlo, Hammond in a Ford Capri, May in a Triumph Stag (ironically the most reliable contender) and a Rover SD as the customary spare car.
Given that it was the last time we'd see them, certain running gags carried from the old Top Gear format made for a good laugh. A poor millennium VW Beetle meeting its demise down a mountain and the crew's tradition of leaving each other behind in times of mechanical trouble.
The nostalgic feelings were laid on thick when Clarkson and May happened to come across their old cars from the original Botswana special. Obviously the arrangement was planned, but the reunion was touching to see in any case. When May spoke about how his W123 still smelled like he remembered, my partner and I looked at each other knowingly, familiar with the pungent MB-Tex aroma of my own 230E.
One of factors that ensured the success of Top Gear and the subsequent Grand Tour was the content and chemistry appealed to just about everyone. Whether you loved cars or felt indifferent about them, the trio crafted a recipe that had audiences riveted. You never tuned in for consumer-related motoring advice (plenty of other outlets for that), but for motoring entertainment, they nailed the brief and then some.
Inevitably, the emotional swell of the show’s climax tickled the tear ducts. It involved one of the best uses of Dire Straits’ Brothers in Arms since the finale of The Americans.
Seeing throwbacks of the guys then and now illustrated how much they had aged. We grew up with them, befriended them, let them into our homes, talked about their antics around firesides and referenced many of their views in our own car conversations.
I was a little sad as the credits rolled, but happy to have rediscovered my appreciation for the gang, now trawling back through the Grand Tour catalogue as part of my weekly viewing.
The impact Clarkson, Hammond and May made on generations of petrolheads and casual car observers will not be soon forgotten. Thanks chaps.
