The Grand Tour Season 2 Episode 8 Review
'Blasts from the Past' - It's classics galore this week as the boys delve into motoring history
This week’s Grand Tour episode revisited the archetypal motoring conundrum, namely past versus future, pitting the might and beauty of old British classics against the shininess of Honda today. In what is easily one of the best TGT episodes, the stars of the show are, without a doubt, the two gems of the 50s British motoring.
Hammond presents his effortlessly stunning 1957 Jaguar XKSS, alongside Jeremy, who rolls up in a very noisy and uncomfortable but infinitely gorgeous 1959 Aston Martin DB4 GT. After a fascinating mini history lesson from Hammond and some typically Clarkson-esque introductory remarks about sex in the 50s, the boys set off in their cars through the picturesque French town of Pau.
Image Credit: Amazon Prime Video
Image Credit: Amazon Prime Video
James mayThe world is better now than it was just one minute ago
What comes next is five minutes of truly beautiful television. Watching these two phenomenal embodiments of motoring history race around closed French streets brought me an unmatched joy. Interspersed with commentary from Hammond and Clarkson on their respective cars’ makeup and set to a background of intriguing electronic music, this is one of the best sections of film TGT has produced all season.
It’s not long, of course, before James turns up and ruins the fun. He pulls up in a red and black Honda Civic Type R, which, next to Richard and Jeremy’s old beauties, looks far too rigid and modern. It’s almost as if someone had driven a gold Bentley Bentayga into the foreground in the middle of The Italian Job. Having just revelled in the classical beauty of an Aston and a Jag, James’s Honda feels out of place.
Image Credit: Amazon Prime Video
‘The world now is better than it was just one minute ago,’ argues James, defending his choice of wheels. ‘No it isn’t, because, a minute ago, you weren’t here,’ retorts Clarkson, with his trademark sass and panache. Even though all petrolheads will, at this point, feel an urge to despise James for spoiling the historical indulgence with his Japanese engineering and black wing mirrors, he then goes on to prove himself right – at least, to some extent.
Conjuring up déjà vu from when the boys tried to repair the reputation of old Jaguars earlier in the season only to be faced with numerous breakdowns and mechanical failures, Hammond repeatedly tries and fails to get his car out of reverse. Contrary to my expectation, this scene plays well – it is light-hearted and funny, and juxtaposes nicely with the serious tone of the first part of the film.
This isn't the first time a Honda Civic has featured this season, either – last week, Clarkson used 200 of them to narrate the cunning techniques used by Lancia to get around regulations at the World Rally Championships. Unlike that film, however, this one proceeds to adopt the tried-and-tested Top Gear tone we’ve all come to know and love.
I laughed as Jeremy grunted and wheezed as he struggled to get his enormous legs inside his tiny Aston. I laughed as Hammond repeatedly slipped backwards as he failed to get his Jag into gear. I laughed, too, as the gears in Jeremy’s Aston crunched and grated, as though someone had dropped a spanner into the gearbox and forgotten to retrieve it.
‘What are they doing?’ asks a puzzled James, from inside his smooth, Japanese Honda. They’re making massive fools of themselves, James. And it’s immensely entertaining. When the boys moved from the BBC to Amazon, this is exactly the kind of irreplaceable chemistry and on-screen dynamic that I sincerely hoped they wouldn’t leave behind. Yet again, TGT has not left me disappointed.
The stings for Conversation Street unrelentingly get more and more ridiculous, week by week. This week’s sees Jeremy demolish Richard with a machine gun, and James seem only mildly confused by the massive dagger buried in his head. Then again, given the outfit he picked out this week, perhaps that shouldn't be surprising.
Image Credit: Amazon Prime Video
This week’s Conversation Street was wide-ranging once again, tackling topics from the relationship between Boaty McBoatface and David Bowie to Jeremy’s recent escapades with a remarkable pigeon. Season 2 has produced some truly great Conversation Streets – the Christmas presents in episode 3 and the awards (or ‘Nigels’) ceremony in episode 4 are my personal favourites. While this week’s wasn’t as memorable as those, it produced some hilarious moments and is well worth the watch.
Next, Jeremy reminded us that he hasn’t forgotten how to make a fantastic review segment. Feeling that he didn’t do the new Ford GT justice in the ‘freeway segment’ in episode 2, he takes it for a spin on the Eboladrome (still funny) and expresses his undying love for it once more. Packed with several classic Jezza one-liners (take ‘it’s like the chassis is made from pure telepathy’, for example) and full to the brim with sincere motoring passion, this is Clarkson at his best.
As someone whose taste in music doesn’t really extend back further than last week, I felt that this week’s Celebrity Faceoff, featuring two legends of 70s rock, wasn’t the season’s strongest. For fans of this area, Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason and The Police’s Stewart Copeland might well be the perfect guests, but this week, the segment lacked the banter of episode 4 or the chemistry of episode 5.
Capping off this week was an exciting segment in which Jeremy and James battled it out on a terrifying, near-vertical circuit. Given recent events, Hammond understandably backed out of this one. James and Jeremy whizzing around, dangerously close to the edge of the track, weaving around enormous potholes and visibly shaking as their cars careered over the rough surface was genuinely thrilling to watch.
In summary, this week, the boys provided something for everyone. There were classic cars for the classics connoisseurs, hilarious sketches for the comedy fans, an excellent review for the mainstream petrolheads, and there was even a nod to the music and culture of the era. A great episode overall.
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Comments (19)
by far the best
I personally preferred the last episode but I really liked this one. It is what the episode in season one with the dodge, aston and rolls should have been
every road trip has to be different, that one was fine in my book grand tour season 1 show 3
True but season 1 was more about trial and error than anything else
jezza struggling with the dog box was jokes
nick mason...
nuff said
Surprised where this episode went! Let me share a couple photos done once I went there walking...
es.wikiloc.com/rutas-senderismo/gr92-sitges-vilanova-autodrom-de-terramar-12969662
In fact I dicovered its existence not very long ago...