Farewell, Fellas: 10 Classic Moments From Clarkson, Hammond, & May
โ€” Updated on 18 October 2024

Farewell, Fellas: 10 Classic Moments From Clarkson, Hammond, & May

โ€” Updated on 18 October 2024
Garry Lu
WORDS BY
Garry Lu

Before the final episode of Amazon Prime Videoโ€˜s The Grand Tour even had a chance to grace our streaming queues, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May officially dissolved their jointly-owned production company: W. Chump & Sons โ€” ending a partnership that began with BBCโ€™s Top Gear in 2002.

โ€œItโ€™s immensely physical when youโ€™re unfit and fat and old, which I am,โ€ Clarkson noted of the trioโ€™s televised contributions during an interview with The Times.

RELATED: The Real Reason Why โ€˜The Grand Tourโ€™ Is Ending, According To Jeremy Clarkson

The 64-year-old veteran auto journalist and beloved presenter later explained how he, alongside Hammond (54) and May (61), had just about seen/done it all behind the steering wheel.

โ€œIโ€™ve driven cars higher than anyone else and further north than anyone else. Weโ€™ve done everything you can do with a car. When we had meetings about what to do next, people just threw their arms in the air.โ€

Jeremy Clarkson continued: โ€œJames May thinks thereโ€™s never been a more interesting time for how we move around and heโ€™s probably right, but I donโ€™t think itโ€™s very interesting television.โ€

RELATED: The Most Jaw-Dropping Cars Revealed At Goodwood Festival Of Speed 2024

โ€œAn electric car is no different from a chest freezer or a microwave oven. Thereโ€™s no glamour or excitement. This week on Top Chest Freezer! I think it suits the written media more.โ€

Naturally, much like countless of you out there whoโ€™ve been along for the ride these past 20-plus years, the closing of this chapter has left us feeling rather nostalgic. Which is why weโ€™ve taken it upon ourselves to compile some of our favourite moments from both Top Gear and The Grand Tour featuring the irreplaceable trio (Stig drives, celebrity interviews, and Jezza clocking Piers Morgan in the jaw aside).

Check them out below.


Like A Rolling Reliant

From the impeccable timing to the framing, you (almost) couldnโ€™t script the comedy that was achieved during Jeremy Clarksonโ€™s Reliant Robin review. This was elite s**thousery that perfectly encapsulated classic Top Gearโ€™s unique voice. Entertaining, informative, with a shocking amount of replay value.


Clarksonโ€™s โ€œFrighteningโ€ Genius

They say pride comes before the fall. Or in the case of Jeremy Clarkson, the flex comes before the broken rear window. A reminder that this is the man who Formula 1 engineering GOAT Adrian Newey (allegedly) copied his physics homework from.


Heavy Lies The Mud

As youโ€™ll find with most of James Mayโ€™s finest moments, the comedy is generally brief yet effective.


Clarksonโ€™s Tearjerking Porsche 928 Story

Weโ€™ve covered this rare instance of vulnerable sincerity from Jeremy Clarkson on a previous occasion, which was revealed during Top Gear season 22โ€™s Patagonia Special. And to this day, it still holds the ability to reduce grown men to tears.

But if all this hits a little too close to home โ€” fear not. Elsewhere, Clarkson vaguely alluded to the same sentiment behind his Porsche 928 story, albeit in a far more hilarious fashion so you can sweep those feelings under a rug:

โ€œIf you have a powerful engine, you can get home at night more quickly, which means you spend more time with your children, which means theyโ€™re less likely to grow upโ€ฆ as glue sniffers.โ€


The Only Acceptable Use Of โ€œBoys Will Be Boysโ€

Give a man a fish and heโ€™ll eat for a day. Give middle-aged goofballs carte blanche to act on their most childish impulses and theyโ€™ll launch cars into a quarry for a game of โ€œcar darts,โ€ thereby feeding the content-hungry masses for years to come.


โ€œWhere The F**k Have You Been?โ€

Friendships and survival instincts were tested when they abandoned Richard Hammond atop a Canadian mountain where he was to test a GPS watch. And as the Hamsterโ€™s anger (understandably) boiled to near critical levels, the other two were plodding around for quite literally several days.

The real kicker?

The last lodge Clarkson and May stayed at was approximately 10 miles down the mountain from Hammond, meaning he couldโ€™ve reasonably trekked it down well in advance. Priceless.


It Ainโ€™t Much, But Itโ€™s Home

Innovationโ€ฆ disasterโ€ฆ that famed stiff upper lip the British have become renowned for, even in the face of calamityโ€ฆ the Campervan Challenger had it all. And only narrowly beat out the Amphibious Car Challenge.


Liabilities Galore

As weโ€™ve alluded to earlier, the trio routinely put themselves directly in the line of fire time and time again for our entertainment โ€” most prominently James May โ€” but I think the silliest instance involved Jeremy Clarksonโ€™s review of the P45. Otherwise known as the worldโ€™s smallest car.


Bargain Hunting

Whoever said sarcasm is the lowest form of wit clearly never watched The Grand Tour: Seaman. As if we needed any more reason to holiday in Vietnam.


You Always Have To Start With โ€œHelloโ€

James Mayโ€™s awkward rizz is unrivalled.

The Grand Tour: One For The Road, which was filmed in Zimbabwe and marks the series finale, is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.


Want to see what else is en route on the streaming giant? Check out everything coming to Amazon Prime Video.

If itโ€™s feature-length entertainment youโ€™re after, check out the best movies on Amazon Prime Video right now.  

If episodic entertainment is more your style, check out the best shows on Amazon Prime Video instead. 

And if youโ€™re looking to add to your streaming stack, take a look at our round-up on the best streaming services in Australia

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Garry Lu
WORDS by
After stretching his legs with companies such as The Motley Fool and the odd marketing agency, Garry joined Boss Hunting in 2019 as a fully-fledged Content Specialist. In 2021, he was promoted to News Editor. Garry proudly retains a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, black bruises from Muay Thai, as well as a black belt in all things pop culture. Drop him a line at [email protected]