EDITOR AT LARGE MATTHEW NEUNDORF
“Speed has never killed anyone - suddenly becoming stationary, that's what gets you.” – Jeremy Clarkson
WHEN “ THE GRAND TOUR: One For The Road ” aired on Amazon Prime, on September 13th, 2024, the Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May era of automotive tomfoolery officially ended. For some of us, it was seen as something long overdue – the trio had been at it since 2003 – but for others it felt like saying goodbye to some of your best friends, for the last time. I was twenty-five when the trio first got together to film episodes of Top Gear . A friend from across the pond had quickly let me know about it and, as soon as I had found a way to watch, I was hooked. The bickering, differing opinions and overall camaraderie of Clarkson, Hammond and May were the obvious sell in terms of appeal but more than that, they brought the entire automotive world of an enthusiast into your living room in a way that even a non-enthusiast could appreciate. Cars were reviewed, sure, but more importantly they, and all of the incredible things they allowed us to do with them, were celebrated. This was a far cry from what had previously been available in the automotive world, regardless of medium. Content was largely focussed on providing consumers with information so that they could make an “educated” or “informed” choice in car buying. The three co-hosts didn’t care about consumers or car shopping, they cared about the cars, warts and all. And that made us care about them. Like most enthusiasts of a certain age, I haven’t missed a single episode of a single show that the trio has hosted in their two-plus decades of work. Most programs have been enjoyed multiple times and,
despite the fact that things eventually became overly scripted and predictably over-the-top, I’d still tune in, give them my attention as well as some laughs and an eye roll or two. Take a quick survey of our automotive landscape today and you can’t swing a digital cat without hitting a YouTube channel, website, blog or magazine that hasn’t been influenced by the trio – VICARIOUS included. Clarkson, Hammond and May are the reason I started writing about cars back in 2006 and are – or I guess were – a large part of why I continue to do so today. They certainly brought me quite a “little bit of happiness” over the years and laid a foundation for folks like me to try and do the same. If you are at all a fan of the trio (which I’m sure most of you are), keep them in mind as you thumb through the pages of this fall issue of VICARIOUS . Their embrace of the experiential and celebration of the automobile is what we’ve always tried to capture and put on these pages. We know we can never replace them, but we’ll endeavour to never “suddenly become stationary” in our pursuits.
“A friend from across the pond had quickly let me know about it and, as soon as I had found a way to watch, I was hooked.”
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