The Grand Tour season 3, episode 1 review: Motown Flip
The Grand Tour tries to revitalize Detroit, but ends up making a mess of it. Here’s what happened in The Grand Tour Season 3, Episode 1.
Detroit’s nickname is The Motor City, so it makes perfect sense that The Grand Tour would start there as the Amazon Original returns for its third season of motor-based mayhem. Which is an apt description of what happens in “Motown Flip.”
Anyone who’s watched Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond’s adventures when they hosted Top Gear can easily predict this episode, where the trio ride in with fast cars and big plans—but don’t quite get where they’re going.
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“Motown Flip” features three flashy cars: Clarkson in a hyped-up Ford Mustang RTR, Hammond in a Dodge Demon (which is a modified Challenger), and May driving a Chevy called “The Exorcist.” It also showcases the McLaren Senna in a separate test-drive feature.
The cars are fine, but aside from the striking Senna, they’re not that much different from any of the other fast and loud choices that fans have seen them drive over the years.
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The true appeal of “Motown Flip” is more of the hosts playing the parts that audiences know them for. Clarkson, in true petrolhead fashion, is horrified by the fact that three acres of Detroit have been made into urban farms. Hammond, in setting up an impromptu racetrack for the car tests, can’t tell the difference between Bono the lead singer of U2 and performer turned politician Sonny Bono.
And there’s a classic Grand Tour moment when, since they can’t find a hotel, the trio decide to move into an old, run-down home instead. May’s happy to work in the adorable small garden out front, but Clarkson has to inevitably run half of it over. It’s similar to a moment from the Spanish supercar road trip that happened in Top Gear series 20.
In all, the Grand Tour season 3 premiere is a nice bit of light entertainment to start fans’ engines for the new season. The hosts aren’t straying too far out of their lane just yet, but seeing them in what used to be America’s motor capital of the world evokes a certain nostalgia, and they’re still as blustery and bantery as ever. Maybe they’re just getting warmed up for the Colombia special this weekend?
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New episodes of The Grand Tour premiere Fridays exclusively on Amazon Prime Video. For more on all the Amazon original series, visit the Amazon Originals category at Amazon Adviser.