The Grand Tour - Reviewing the end of an era
I cried. There, I said it. The season finale was set up in such a way that anyone who has been watching Clarkson, Hammond and May host a car show for over a decade would have shed a tear after Clarkson broke down explaining to the audience the show would be coming to an end.
It actually came as a bit of a shock following the tribute to the Ford Mondeo, which was a superb documentary about the impact Ford's midsize family car had on British motoring. Jeremy Clarkson said that documentary was a masterpiece, and it is not hard to see why. The film starts with the Ford Cortina and delves into how the model became popular after its success in the world of motorsport. Jeremy and James share their stories of their fathers picking them up in high-end versions of the Cortina and feeling like they were on top of the world.
Hammond wasn't so lucky, he lamented being greeted with an Austin Allegro Estate on his doorstep when he prayed for his dad to get a Cortina. Along with the ceremony held at Lincoln Cathedral featuring the montage of Ford owners sharing their memories in Ford Cortinas, this was the most touching part of the segment. Then came the closing scene...
Don't get me wrong, I was aware that The Grand Tour was going to continue for a few more years but seeing Clarkson getting emotional completely caught me off guard. The montage was really special too - Huge respect to The BBC for allowing Amazon to use footage from Top Gear featuring the trio. Some of the earlier clips brought back memories of my childhood, eagerly looking forward to 8pm on Sundays so that I could block out the world, glue myself to my TV screen for an hour to watch my favourite motoring show.
What's amazing is that even after 16 years, I'm in my mid-twenties and that excitement never dwindled. During every season of The Grand Tour, I made it my mission to set aside at least one evening to focus my full attention to the show and I pretty much always end up feeling in a better mood after watching it - No other TV show has constantly delivered that level of entertainment for such a long period of time so I think you can understand why I got more than a little bit misty-eyed towards the end.
Like the medium-sized Ford Saloon, The Grand Tour ended up being more than a sum of its parts; the introduction of both have shaped the lives of millions, formed communities and delivered an emotional connection that would be hard to let go when both finally announce their demise.
With all that said, I think it is right to end on this fitting image...
It actually came as a bit of a shock following the tribute to the Ford Mondeo, which was a superb documentary about the impact Ford's midsize family car had on British motoring. Jeremy Clarkson said that documentary was a masterpiece, and it is not hard to see why. The film starts with the Ford Cortina and delves into how the model became popular after its success in the world of motorsport. Jeremy and James share their stories of their fathers picking them up in high-end versions of the Cortina and feeling like they were on top of the world.
Hammond wasn't so lucky, he lamented being greeted with an Austin Allegro Estate on his doorstep when he prayed for his dad to get a Cortina. Along with the ceremony held at Lincoln Cathedral featuring the montage of Ford owners sharing their memories in Ford Cortinas, this was the most touching part of the segment. Then came the closing scene...
Don't get me wrong, I was aware that The Grand Tour was going to continue for a few more years but seeing Clarkson getting emotional completely caught me off guard. The montage was really special too - Huge respect to The BBC for allowing Amazon to use footage from Top Gear featuring the trio. Some of the earlier clips brought back memories of my childhood, eagerly looking forward to 8pm on Sundays so that I could block out the world, glue myself to my TV screen for an hour to watch my favourite motoring show.
What's amazing is that even after 16 years, I'm in my mid-twenties and that excitement never dwindled. During every season of The Grand Tour, I made it my mission to set aside at least one evening to focus my full attention to the show and I pretty much always end up feeling in a better mood after watching it - No other TV show has constantly delivered that level of entertainment for such a long period of time so I think you can understand why I got more than a little bit misty-eyed towards the end.
Like the medium-sized Ford Saloon, The Grand Tour ended up being more than a sum of its parts; the introduction of both have shaped the lives of millions, formed communities and delivered an emotional connection that would be hard to let go when both finally announce their demise.
With all that said, I think it is right to end on this fitting image...
For a trip down memory lane, you can see what I had to write about the final episode of Top Gear here.
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