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The Grand Tour's "Lochdown" Episode Returns to the Familiar

July 30th saw the streaming release of the third installment in The Grand Tour Presents series, Amazon’s installment rework of the formerly tent-based automotive series. Following up their “Seamen” premiere (which I liked) and “A Massive Hunt” ( which I didn’t ), Clarkson, Hammond, and May get back to their basics of years ago with “Lochdown.” And there’s not a lot wrong with that.

Before you read any further, be advised this article contains major spoilers of the episode. You’ve been warned!

The premise of Lochdown is a simpler one than the prior episode, an answer to a question: Why didn’t American cars catch on in Europe? The question itself is enough for any viewer to anticipate the era of cars the old Top Gear crew would target. The Seventies, of course. Big chrome, big engines, big trim gaps, The Grand Tour is going to have some Brougham Time. Clarkson’s pick is a Lincoln Continental Mark V, Hammond goes for a boat tail Buick Riviera, and James selects a Cadillac Coupe de Ville. All three cars are from the early Seventies, have enormous V8s, and are in various states of trim disrepair.

To find an answer to their question, the team travel from the northernmost city in England, Berwick-upon Tweed, to an island in the Scottish Outer Hebrides. The journey itself is around 360 miles, and there will be a series of challenges along the way – though Clarkson doesn’t use that phrase as the show goes out of its way not to use phrases from former careers and employers.

The first 25 minutes of the hour and a half runtime are the most enjoyable. Unlike “A Massive Hunt,” Clarkson, Hammond, and May spend time talking about the cars they’re driving and have chummy conversations about their American iron before the journey begins. The way they talk about their Detroit steeds in the beginning smacks as false, like someone at Amazon HQ called for a bit of pandering to their large American audience. While I believe Clarkson lies his Lincoln and Hammond enjoys his Buick, not an ounce of me believes May likes the Deville. The car is a result of the show’s production, as James is expected to drive a Cadillac as established in the Top Gear trip to New Orleans episode of 2007.

The first hurdle the team faces is a drive through Scotland’s capital city, Edinburgh. Ancient cobbled streets (which are closed to traffic and pedestrians in advance of the show) are not fit for American luxury barges. But you knew that, and the show’s used this trope many times before with various cars. Clarkson opens his Continental’s door only to find the inside door panel is still shut, which you’ll recall from the British Leyland challenge of 2007. A conclusion “unsuitable for cities” is reached quickly, and the team is onto their next Scottish real-world test.

It’s a track race on a circuit with many tight turns! Up against the American cars is the sportiest Scottish car ever made, a Hillman Avenger. Surely it will be slower with its puny engine than the American luxury cars with their V8s. Lap times go as you’d expect, though May makes no attempt to drive urgently around the track and proceeds like he’s headed to work. Conclusion: Enormous American cars aren’t suitable for tracks. But we knew that already, too.

COVID is mentioned as a reality after the track portion, and it’s indicated the presenters can’t stay in hotels as they’re all closed. So they get caravans which they “must sleep in,” but clearly don’t. Around this time the episode becomes more gag-focused and less enjoyable to watch. May’s caravan is filled with water, Hammond drives too fast on a dirt road and runs off the side with his caravan, and Clarkson’s lodging becomes unhooked and falls off a hill into some woods. It’s all very scripted, throwaway stuff.

Next up is a race to see who built the worst cars ever. Was it the Soviets or the Americans? This segment is a dirt track race with a PT Cruiser, a Dodge Caravan, and a Pontiac Aztek against a Yugo and a Zastava and something else. The Russian cars are barely shown in the race. The team acknowledges the 2000s were a very bad time for American cars (not untrue). The race proceeds with lots of body contact, and it’s determined the PT Cruiser is the best worst car because it lasts longer than the Soviet-produced vehicles. None of it means anything, just filler.

The team is invited to go to a traditional British hunting party, in a contrived segment where some new classic cars magically appear for the team to drive. These represent their favorites from the American breed. “You see, not all American cars were like those 2000s ones.” As far as I can recall, this is the only time fresh temporary substitute cars were delivered for any segment of any show the trio has done since 2003. Our hosts wax poetic about the classic Shelby Mustang GT500, Camaro Z/28, and the Charger R/T as they drive to a fake hunting party where the parking lot has only green Range Rovers in it. Hammond doesn’t make it as his Charger destroys itself in an unexpected (and big) way which is clearly unscripted. Nice to see reality creeping into the show after the last episode’s methodically scripted antics.

Somewhere along the line, the producers deliver news of an American-flavored town in the Outer Hebrides, filled with American car lovers and car culture. The team head this direction to enjoy their cars, which they’ve now modified and made worse. There’s no rhyme or reason the modifications occur, specifically with May turning his Deville into a “low rider” with side exhausts. Time to head to this mythical Scottish island settlement that’s like America.

After the last two dud segments and the dud modifications, the show wraps up its final 20 minutes or so with a well-used set piece: The team must build a bridge across a river, the other side of which has this American town on it. This segment doesn’t really make sense but is rather an opportunity for some goofing around, sinking a boat, and for May to get his very lowered car pretend-stuck on the bridge.

The team makes it across to this American town, which is a set done up to look like an out-of-place American strip mall. There are no people, and only one MG parked outside. The team parks and goes to a bar, only to find that everything about the modern American culture is actually Chinese. One Korean reference is shown amongst the Chinese things, but that seems like an editing slip. The team sips a Tsingtao (decent beer by the way) and concludes there’s really not much America left. The initial prompt and reason for the journey are forgotten.

Overall, “Lochdown” is a decent episode that feels comfortable to long-time fans of the three hosts and the work they do. Unlike “A Massive Hunt,” the script is slightly more concealed, and unexpected events made it past the editing room floor. The hosts spend more time together than in their prior voyage and seem to enjoy their schtick much more. As always, the cinematics are very well-presented, and the accompanying Seventies tunes are nice as well. The initial question on American cars was a throwaway, but that’s what you want with a show like this. The adventure’s in the journey, not digging up a treasure chest at the end. I found myself smiling through at least the first third of the episode. The runtime is a bit unnecessary, but this one’s worth a watch.

[Images: Amazon]

Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.

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Well we watched it and greatly enjoyed it. Made us remember why 'classic' Top Gear was must see television. And for once, the Three Amigos actually gave American land yachts due credit. No they were not made for European urban driving. Or tracking. But they are exceptionally good as highway cruisers and boulevardiers. Giant displacement low revving but torque v8s. Split bench seats. Sublimely quiet inside. Sheltered from NVH the driver never gets tired. And |I love, yes love that burgundy interior. Please bring that back. Why do we now have to live with Teutonic all black interiors????

American mock British cars for Reliability, panel gaps and dodgy electrics. This is how the British view American cars, badly built, badly designed and panel gaps you could drive a car through. Ford and Vauxhall’s were all designed in Europe so we don’t consider them American btw.

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The Grand Tour episode rankings and how they compare to Top Gear

With 10 episodes of The Grand Tour now available to stream on Amazon Prime, we thought it would be good opportunity to see what all of you fans thought of the episodes – and check out how they compare (ratings wise) against previous episodes of Top Gear .

You see, every single episode of Top Gear and Grand Tour carries with it a star rating out of 10, which are determined by hundreds of thousands of votes placed by TopGearbox readers just like you.

So without further ado, here we go!

1. Episode 6 – Happy Finiish Christmas 9.3/10

The Grand Tour’s Christmas special “Happy Finiish Christmas” might be their highest rated episode so far with a score of 9.3 out of 10, but it was still comprehensively beaten by some 24 episodes of Top Gear, including the Africa Special (9.6) and Supercars in Spain (9.6) , and the Britcar 24 Hour (9.6) episode. The GT-R race across Japan (9.5) was also voted better, along with the Vietnam Special (9.5) , Bolivia Special (9.5) , Caravan Holiday (9.5) episode, the Patagonia Special (9.4) , the Greatest road in the world (9.4) episode, the Burma Special (9.3) and Jeremy’s Bugatti Veyron race against Richard and James in the Cessna 182 (9.3) .

2. Episode 3 – Opera, Art and Donuts 8.9/10

The second most popular episode of The Grand Tour so far is Episode 3 – Opera, Art and Donuts with a respectable score of 8.9/10. Despite this, it was still behind an additional 46 episodes of Top Gear – including the Polar Special (9.2) , the original America Special (9.2) , the £1000 Police Car Challenge (9.2) , Jeremy racing Richard and James to Oslo in the McMerc SLR (9.1) , the Australian Road Trip (9.0) , the RWD Coupe Challenge (9.0) , the £5000 Lorry episode (9.0) and even Top Gear Ground Force (9.0) .

3. Episode 5 – Morroccan Roll 8.8/10

In at third place is Episode 5 of The Grand Tour, Morroccan Roll , with a score of 8.8 out of 10. Between it and the episode above, sit 7 episodes of Top Gear – including the Ambulance episode (8.8) , Jeremy testing the Touring Disco Volante in Italy (8.8) , the Rallycross episode (8.8) , the Aston Martin DB9 race to Monte Carlo (8.8) and Jeremy’s original test of the Ariel Atom (8.8) .

4. Episodes 7/8 – The Beach (Buggy) Boys Part 1 & 2 8.7/10

Episodes 7 & 8 of The Grand Tour “The Beach (Buggy) Boys Part 1 & 2” were both rated 8.7 out of 10, meaning they sit behind an additional 10 episodes of Top Gear. These include The Winter Olympics (8.8) , Jeremy’s Koenigsegg CC8S power test (8.8) , Richard’s Land Rover Defender tribute (8.7) , the stripped-out track car episode (8.7) , Mobility Scooters (8.7) and James May’s maxxing of the Bugatti Veyron in Germany (8.7) .

5. Episode 1 – The Holy Trinity 8.6/10

Some might be surprised to see The Grand Tour’s opening episode so far down this list. It scored just 8.6 out of 10, or an additional 13 places below the Beach Buggy episode. Higher ranking Top Gear episodes include the £100 Car Challenge (8.7) , the second-hand BMW 325i episode (8.7) , Jeremy and James in Beijing (8.6) , the boy’s economy race to Blackpool (8.6) , James flying his airship caravan (8.6) , the Ferrari Daytona VS XSR 48 Speed Boat (8.6) episode and the one where they played Toyota Aygo Football (8.6) .

6. Episode 9 – Berks To The Future 8.3/10

Episode 9 of The Grand Tour “Berks to the Future” sits an additional 18 places down the list, with a score of 8.3 out of 10. Sitting in between are classic Top Gear episodes such as the McLaren MP4-12C vs Ferrari 458 (8.5) , the hilarious Convertible People Carrier episode (8.4) , the indestructible Toyota Hilux (8.4) , the Botswana Special (8.4) , Richard driving an F1 Car (8.4) , the boys testing off-road toys (8.4) , the Alfa Romeo 159 against a man (8.4) and the Lamborghini episode (8.4) .

7. Episode 2 – Operation Desert Stumble 8.1/10

“Operation Desert Stumble” was met with mixed reviews, so it is understandible that it is located towards the tail end of this list, with a score of 8.1 out of 10. Some loved it, some hated it. Still, it rated lower than Top Gear’s drive time radio show episode (8.3) , Richard getting hypnotized (8.2) , Jeremy testing the Ferrari Enzo (8.2) , Jeremy and Richard filming the Sweeny movie (8.2) , James testing the Ariel Atom V8 (8.2) and James driving up an Icelandic volcano (8.1) .

8. Episode 10 – Dumb Fight at the O.K. Coral 8.0/10

It seems even less of you enjoyed the latest Grand Tour episode, “Dumb Fight at the O.K Coral – scoring just 8.0 out of 10. This means it sits below Jeremy and James racing a Yacht against a Toyota Corolla (8.0) , Top Gear of the Pops (8.0) , Jeremy and Damon Hill comparing the Aston Martin Vanquish and Ferrari 575 (8.0) , the boys going to Iceland in convertibles (8.0) , James taking racing lessons with Jackie Stewart (8.0) , the Rally Team vs girls getting ready episode (8.0) and even the one where Jeremy drove the Land Rover Discovery to the top of a mountain in Scotland (8.0) .

9. Episode 4 – Enviro-mental 7.8/10

Finally, we have the least favourite episode so far – “Enviro-mental”. This one scored just 7.8 out of 10, meaning there are some 19 Top Gear episodes between it and the next highest Grand Tour episode. Such episodes include the Ferrari Scaglietti VS a plane to Verbier (8.0) , the boys building a Caterham Seven (8.0) , the boys using tractors to plant oil seed (8.0) , the £1500 Porsche Challenge (8.0) , Sabine Schmitz driving a van around the Nurburgring (7.9) , Jeremy testing the Tesla Roadster (7.9) and even the much hated India Special (7.9) .

So what do you think? Do you think the people have got it right with their ratings, or do some of The Grand Tour episodes deserve to be rated more highly? We’ll check in again after all 12 episodes have aired, but for now you can let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Former Top Gear host Chris Evans ‘almost died’ in Barbados during Christmas

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The Grand Tour will be better and better. Fact is Top Gear BBC owes a lot to Matt Le Blanc universal appeal and the behind the scene crew members to carry on. The other two, Rory Reid and Chris Harris are not even a patch even with Richard Hammond or James May. Many of my friends can’t stand them either.

You have to think that with Wilman and Porter behind the scenes, what we’re seeing now is pretty much what would have been on the Beeb. Minus the tent bits. But the writing, comments, and films are from the same teams. Bearing in mind the age and physical limits of the boys.

Some of the lowest rated Top Gear episodes like the £1500 Porsche Challenge, or the superb India Special are among my most favourite episodes! I think my all time favourites are the Polar special and the Amazon in second-hand off-roaders episode. Richard Hammond fear of insects is to this date the funniest thing available on TV. All the cheap car challenge were superb.

Top Gear was best from its 6th to 16th seasons. Then they started to decline a bit. But they still were amazing until the 20th season. They were becoming more noticeably scripted ad fake. Trying too hard to get a laugh is never a good thing.

The new show gave them a boost, they still have great episodes. But it’s understandable that it will never top what was the peak of their careers.

Old TG was like a really comfortable sweater. You knew it was getting a little thin and made you a little itchy but you always felt good when you put it on. TGT is a more expensive sweater, in the same colour as your old sweater, but it is a little tight at the elbows and pulls a little funny when you bend over.

In a few years, that new sweater will be worn in nicely and you will hardly remember a time you didn’t love it.

tldr: bias of new show living up to old show standards is present now.

A more realistic comparison is how they ranked next to Evans and Leblanc. That’s the real competition, mate.

Well the highest rated episode from Series 23 is rated 6.1 so there’s not much of a story in that! We might do a comparo once TGT Series 1 finished, if everyone wants to see TG get smashed.

houndreds of thousands of votes? this is hardly believable, can you prove your statement?

This website has been collecting votes for 9 years – is it really that hard to believe?

Hardly a fair comparison , because there is also a lot of top gear episodes that are lower than the 7.8 from the grand tour.

Of course – but I thought it was interesting to see how they sat in relation to the older episodes. All things considered, they’ve done well.

Enviro-mental was way better than the ratings indicate, it’s one of my favorites of the series!

This; I was surprised that it was last. I’d say that ep5 was probably the least great (note how I don’t say worst).

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The Grand Tour: What We Found Out From The Pilot Episode

It had its share of highs and lows, but it's still nice to see the return of Clarkson and company

Finally, the day arrived. The Grand Tour finally aired its pilot episode and it was definitely good to get Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond back into our lives. That’s the short version of it. The longer version is a little bit more complex since we’re not just going to talk about the return of the trio, but how they returned and most importantly, how they fared in their comeback.

The first episode of The Grand Tour had it all, and by all, I mean it had all of the elements from their old show Top Gear , right down to set pieces, the irreverent humor, the test driver, and the celebrity guests. Most of all, there were the cars and the first show devoted a significant part of its time showcasing the most exotic of exotics, specifically the Porsche 918 Spyder, McLaren P1, and Ferrari LaFerrari.

For a car that’s billed as a motoring show – even though it’s a variety show more than anything else – The Grand Tour got off on the right foot by shining the spotlight on what they called “the holy trinity.” The three hypercars dominated the show, but they were also far from the only highlights, or in some cases, lowlights of The Grand Tour S01E01.

We’ll dive through most of them after the jump, but let’s get started with how Clarkson, May, and Hammond navigated around the new show, alternating between introducing new segments, taking shots at one other like they always do, and even getting into a faux riot, all for the love of the British Royal Air Force.

The first episode of The Grand Tour lived up to its billing in some respects, but it also felt like we were still watching The Grand Tour’s , minus that tame racing driver.

The Grand Tour

Top Gear 0}

One of the biggest news items that came out from the show’s production was how expensive the opening sequence was. There were reports that filming that sequence alone cost Amazon a whopping $3.2 million. And while the whole sequence, from Clarkson somberly exiting the BBC and handing over his ID card to finding new life in Los Angeles with a Mustang Rocket, did do its part from a storytelling perspective, the biggest take away yet again is the massive budget they used on this five-minute sequence. What I can tell you is that it sure looked like the producers used every penny of that $3.2 million. From the treasure trove of cars driving in the Nevada desert, including May and Hammond in their own Mustang Rockets, to the cover of “I Can See Clearly Now” by the Hot House Flowers, to the “Burning Van” Festival in the desert where they were playing to a packed crowd, everything about the opening sequence screamed Continue after the jump to read the full story. Lots of it.

That opening sequence sure looked expensive

This is one of the main takeaways from the pilot episode of the show. To be fair, the three hosts did intentionally try to poke fun at the segments they used to have on $$$. but the truth is, most of them were seen on the The Grand Tour as well. The “mobile tent studio” is different in logistics alone, but it still plays host to a studio audience. They didn’t dive much into the industry news, but you can tell that it’s going to be a significant part of the show’s backbone moving forward. They even introduced their new “test track,” which Clarkson affectionately calls the “Ebola Drome,” in large part because the layout resembles the ebola virus, or so he says. The larger point here is that The Grand Tour has its own test track similar to what it had on The Grand Tour’s with the only obvious difference being that the new show’s version of a “tame racing driver” is former NASCAR driver Mike “The American” Skinner. Actually, Skinner is far from what you’d consider tame with his outlandish and boorish comments that probably made Clarkson shed a tear in pride. The Grand Tour likely did this intentionally to showcase how its new test driver is the complete opposite of Top Gear, muted Stig. But the formats are still similar to what they had on $$$. which makes me wonder how much differentiation future episodes will have from the show the trio left behind.

The Grand Tour 0}

The faux riot bit was completely hilarious and it served as the perfect example of why Clarkson, Hammond, and May have been missed by fans of The Grand Tour Think Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc could’ve pulled that off? Maybe LeBlanc because of his sitcom chops, but Evans? Yeah, lol, right? But the three Top Gear hosts managed to play it off beautifully by boastfully claiming the superiority of the British Royal Air Force to the overly patriotic American crowd. The bit flowed freely and it was arguably the highlight of the show other than the three hyper cars.

On the flip side, the celebrity segment started off well, but it ultimately flamed out in the end as the hosts kept forcing us to believe that all of the celebrities they had booked for the show were dying before they even got inside the tent. Jeremy Renner and Armie Hammer made for a compelling two-man celebrity guest list, but they probably would’ve been more useful had they actually talked during the show. Let’s hope that celebrities in future episodes get more screen time than these two did.

Jokes and gimmicks aside, the pilot episode of The Grand Tour will be best remembered for showcasing the Porsche 918 Spyder, Ferrari LaFerrari, and McLaren P1. Somewhat predictably, Clarkson, Hammond, and May infused a lot of humor into the comparisons, but in the end, all three hypercars got their turn in the spotlight, save for a digs at the legalities of driving a LaFerrari on public roads.

Top Gear’s 0}

The rolling caravan that is The Grand Tour will be in Johannesburg, South Africa next week, and like everybody else, we have very vague ideas of what’s to come in that episode, and all succeeding episodes after that. The good news is that the show did do a season-long teaser/montage of what’s to come for all 12 episodes so if you can pry bits and pieces from the teaser, then you can create a clearer picture of what to expect.

Top Gear, 0}

As far as the first episode goes, I’d give it a solid ‘B’ grade. Seeing the three men back in their habitat was more than enough to pull the grade up, but it did have few hiccups here and there. Overall, a good return for Clarkson, Hammond, and May, even though, technically, they’re on the Internet now, which according to Clarkson, gives him the leeway to “pleasure a horse."

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Lochdown is the third episode of Season 4 of The Grand Tour . It aired on 30th July 2021.

• 5 Production
• 6 Promotion/Marketing

Synopsis [ ]

Did you wonder what this trio were up to during the pandemic? Well, they took some classic American cars and went on a grand tour adventure through the Scottish coastal roads. There are overheated engines, shouting, plenty of tea, and a whole load of classic car chaos.

Teasers [ ]

Andy Wilman shared a teaser of the intro to the Episode on April 16th, 2021. It shows views of Scotland landmarks and more. In addition, a teaser was released on July 14th, 2021 through the show's new TikTok account. This revealed the name of the episode and properly confirmed that it was official.

The cars used are from America to "show" Scotland what they're missing out on. The American Classic muscle cars were used for the second part of the episode, while the terrible american cars were used in a "Cold War revival".

Summary [ ]

Warning, Spoilers below!

The show starts with gorgeous shots of Scottish landscape. The trio introduce their cars and find out they must travel from Edinburgh to the Outer Hebrides. The trio struggle through the cobbled streets of the city but eventually find their way out. Next, they test their cars against a benchmark time at the Knockhill race track. The trio realise that they can not stay in hotels due to the lockdown, and therefore have to sleep in caravans. As usual, they modify these caravans. However, Hammond and Clarkson destroy their caravans and flood May's one in a prank so they stay the night in a Scottish castle.

The next morning, they switch to classic muscle cars to pay tribute to them. However, wanting to balance out these amazing cars, they showcase the worst in a "recreation" of the Cold War. This is done with a demolition derby of three rubbish cars from the Soviet Union and three from America.

The trio want to find a community that would enjoy the style and flamboyannce of the American cars, embarassing to Europeans. So they drive up to North Uist, but find a body of water in the way. To get over, they build a pontoon-like bridge and reach the American community. However, they are disappointed.

Production [ ]

The episode was filmed in October 2020 over the Scottish Highlands, starting at Edinburgh.

Promotion/Marketing [ ]

For this special, the trio took a different approach to advertising the special's forthcoming release. They pretended as if they had no promotional material (although images were used frequently on their social medias throughout July) and asked the fans to make some images, videos and films to do it instead. This was done through a Twitter Hastag (#Lochdown)

Gallery [ ]

• 1 Hammond's Rimac Crash
• 2 Mike Skinner

James May Spotted Flying An Aircar For Upcoming Grand Tour Special In Slovakia

We’ve been covering the filming of the upcoming special episode of The Grand Tour for almost two weeks now, and while the majority of it has followed the show template we’re used to – a road trip across a country – according to a source of Grand Tour Nation in Slovakia, this episode has taken a different turn.

Similarly to an old Top Gear episode, James May has apparently taken to the air in the AirCar, a car that’s capable of flight.

“They also tested the flying AirCar at the airport in Piešťany. Apparently it was driven by James May because you need a pilot’s license to fly an AirCar, which James has,” Grand Tour Nation was told.

The Grand Tour team have travelled through Poland after arriving early last week in Gdansk. The trip saw them visit a number of areas such as the city of Poznan where Richard Hammond crashed. They then carried on to a German prisoner of war camp before crossing the boarder and visiting the likes of Czechia and Slovakia.

It was in Slovakia, specifically the Piešťany airport, where James drove the AirCar.

Powered by a 1.6-litre BMW engine, the AirCar has been issued a certificate of airworthiness by Slovakia’s Transport Authority. the Slovakian company achieved its first intercity flight in June 2021 where it hit speeds of 170 kilometers per hour (105 mph) over a distance of 1,000km. Once in the land, a single press of a button transforms it into a car.

KleinVision, the makers of the AirCar, said the following:

“Based on the fact that the aircraft met the conditions of national regulations set for individually manufactured aircraft and the required level of safety was demonstrated, the Slovak Transport Authority (STA) has issued a special certificate of airworthiness.

“After obtaining the type certificate, it can manufacture the aircraft commercially.”

This isn’t the first time James May has flown something of this sort for a TV show. Top Gear saw him fly a caravan airship as well as his own Cessna 182 Airplane. Thanks to his pilot’s license, this hopefully won’t be the last time we see him in the air.

Alex Harrington

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The grand tour.

S4.E3 ∙ The Grand Tour Presents: Lochdown

S4.E4 ∙ The Grand Tour Presents: Carnage A Trois

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