Amazon's Top Gear competitor finally gets a name

the grand tour top gear fracas — Image used with permission by copyright holder

The former Top Gear boys have finally come up with a name for their eagerly awaited Amazon Prime car show.

After much speculation, the trio have settled with The Grand Tour, supposedly because each show will be presented from different locations around the world.

“We’ll be travelling the world hosting each episode in a different country, from a giant tent,” Jeremy Clarkson said. “It’s a sort of ‘grand tour,’ if you like. So we’ve decided to call it The Grand Tour.”

Fellow presenter James May joked in a statement that he wanted to called it Nigel or Roger. “We needed a name, and they’re names,” the presenter quipped.

Richard Hammond, meanwhile, said he was looking forward to all the traveling because “I already love camping.”

Like the old Top Gear show, The Grand Tour is set to include pre-recorded segments filmed in various locations around the world. However, whereas the former show’s studio portions were shot inside an adapted aircraft hangar near London, the new Amazon Prime car show will move from country to country, giving local gearheads the chance to come along and be part of the audience

Amazon inked a deal with Clarkson, Hammond, and May after the BBC fired Clarkson from Top Gear last year following a bust-up with one of the show’s producers. Amazon boss Jeff Bezos said the deal turned out to be “very, very, very expensive” for his company, with some reports suggesting the e-commerce giant paid $250 million for 36 episodes over three years.

The Grand Tour is set to start airing in the fall, with a specific date yet to be announced. Meanwhile, the BBC’s revamped Top Gear, hosted by British media personality Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc, among others, is set to hit TV screens on May 29.

Amazon’s Top Gear competitor finally gets a name

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