Just when fans thought the door had closed for good, it turns out Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May aren’t quite done with The Grand Tour after all.
The trio officially ended their 22-year on-screen partnership back in September 2024 with the emotional farewell special One for the Road, a send-off widely treated as the final chapter of a run that started on Top Gear all the way back in 2002. Fans said their goodbyes, tissues came out, and everyone assumed that was that.
Now Amazon has confirmed the new era of The Grand Tour launches on September 4, 2026, fronted by a fresh line-up: Throttle House duo James Engelsman and Thomas Holland, alongside trainspotter-turned-presenter Francis Bourgeois. It’s a bold generational handover for one of streaming’s most beloved car shows — and executive producer Andy Wilman knows exactly how risky that is with a fiercely loyal, long-time fanbase watching closely.
So here’s the twist: Clarkson, Hammond and May will reportedly make guest appearances across several episodes of the new season. Wilman has been clear about the thinking behind it — The Grand Tour was never just about the cars, it was about the chemistry between its three leads, and he wants that connective tissue there for viewers making the jump to a new team. Crucially, the original trio isn’t just showing up for nostalgia’s sake either; by all accounts they’re actively backing the new hosts and want to see the format survive and thrive without them at the wheel full-time.
It’s not the first time the “final” goodbye has turned out to be less final than advertised. The trio also returned for The Not Very Grand Tour specials in 2025, a clips-based retrospective that sparked its own mini-drama when Clarkson and May publicly bickered over who actually showed up to film it. Old habits, clearly, die hard.
For the millions who grew up on Sunday afternoons watching three grown men argue about horsepower in increasingly ridiculous locations, this is about as good as a send-off gets: a proper passing of the torch, with the originals sticking around just long enough to make sure the new boys are welcomed in style. Mark September 4 in the calendar.
