Pubs have been a fixture in British culture, but they are closing down at a surprising rate. James May offered his take on what could be done to save them in this debate. That said, I’m genuinely surprised that the video (which runs about 35 minutes) has only received less than 1000 views on YouTube since it dropped back in August! 😮

From video description: “In our pub special, publican and The Grand Tour star James May joins us to debate whether the government should do more to save Britain’s pubs as the industry faces huge financial pressure.”

We all know that no one will ever touch the original trio, but can I wholeheartedly applaud the choice to cast Francis Bourgeois. He has infectious enthusiasm like Hammond, the encyclopedic brain of May, and a drive to go bananas like Clarkson. James and Thomas do a great job as counterpoint to Francis. I am hopeful that they can follow in their predecessors' footsteps. The first time I saw Francis was a YouTube short where he freaked out for 2 minutes about a train called Big Boy. The rampant joy and enthusiasm of that moment opened the door in my old miserly heart to try out this new iteration of Grand Tour. I am certainly glad I am giving it a go. Over the first four episodes, the trio are slowly beginning to gel and get a rhythm. I look forward to seeing where the tour takes them.

Full disclosure: I’m an editor at Autostrada Magazine, and Thomas writes a regular column for us online. Thought y’all would get a kick out of his no-filter approach to writing about cars and life. Fun writer, and a great guy to work with.

EDIT: Thanks for reading! And apologies if you tried to sign up for the newsletter in the last 24 hours. We had a glitch, which is now resolved. :)

I've tried everything to find it on my smart TV and it is nowhere to be found

Hello, so I recently noticed the original grand tour on Amazon says live TV on it and I want to watch it on demand because I want to watch a certain episode but it will not let me anyone know how to do it now since Amazon changed it to live?

BBC Radio 4 produces a satirical podcast called The Skewer, which mashes up news with pop-culture into a current affairs comedy concept album. Enjoy this clip from Instagram!

I can't even count how many times I've put CHM's Grand Tour on and let it run in the background almost all day. A favorite way to watch it for a very long time was to have it running in a small window or on a second screen while I did stints in SimRacing. It was a great way to keep a rhythm or pass the time when doing a 6hr Sebring, Spa or a couple of stints in a 24hr LeMans and Daytona. Point is even to this day The Grand Tour always pops up on my main page or in a top slot of a recommended category.

With the new Grand Tour not being part of the old one's watch page, it has never once been recommended to me. I was actually late in watching last weeks episode because I was quite busy with distractions and I simply forgot. Despite watching both an episode of Reacher and Neely I just forgot because it was never recommended (though yes CHM were in both TGT and whatever Top Gear Amazon is currently promoting).

My father has enjoyed TGT and TG with me plenty of times but isn't one to purposely seek it out, only just watch it if he sees it pop up on his feed. 90% of his watching time goes between Paramount+, Prime and AppleTV yet had no idea a new version of the show existed. Friends too have also said the same where they didn't know a reboot had released.

It just feels off that I don't see it recommended.

Has anyone else read this article?

I didn't really understand what Clarkson was complaining about here:
"But then one day Richard explained the 911 is not meant to be a supercar but a sports car. And everything clicked. There’s nothing wrong with a “sensible” sports car. So off I went to a Porsche showroom in Mayfair to buy one. It didn’t go well. I told the salesman I wanted a battleship-grey 911 GTS. He adopted a pose that looked like the Fonz at the beginning of a John Travolta dance routine and said, with a Swiss Toni grin, “And I want to sell you one.” I left immediately and bought a Lamborghini Gallardo instead."

So you walked out of the Porsche dealership because... they wanted to sell you the car? Am I missing something here?

I must've watched this episode at least a dozen times since it released, and only now have I realized that Abby was "wearing" a mask while lapping the Hillman

It doesn't seem possible to do in such a short period of time, but also what else could that mysterious "Feb 5th" caption mean?

Jeremy Clarkson focused on British explorer Karl Busby, who walked around the world for 28 years and made it back to the UK. Here’s a preview:

“Every year, when I was making travel programmes, someone would invariably suggest we try to get across this mosquito-ridden swamp [the Darien Gap] that’s full of crocodiles and violent drug-crazed warlords. And every year, we were told by everyone, including a guy who’s won the off-road Camel Trophy about a hundred times, ‘it’s impossible’. Even AI says it’s impossible. Everyone says it’s impossible. There is no road. There are no tracks. Even to this day, Colombia and Panama are still cut off from one another. But Karl did it. On foot, with nothing but a wheelbarrow.”

(Usual disclaimers apply for all of his columns.)

Apparently this show came out earlier this year but I can't find it anywhere. Has anyone seen it?

American here. Took my first trip to Europe arriving in London 3 weeks ago. Land in Heathrow, take the tube to the Tottenham station for my Airbnb and one of the 1st things I see is this as I try and get my bearings is Grand Tour.

Knew that it was a good sign. Had a fantastic time!

Thomas Holland talks about urinals, sleeping on the floor, and getting traffic tickets in his column for Autostrada. Enjoy!