The Grand Tour is one of those shows that we’ve all come to love. Even though it doesn’t have the same vibe as the original Top Gear, the trio always has something for us to laugh about, or even question. With such a variety of content that the guys produce, there has to be some awesome behind the scenes shots right?
Well, we are bringing you 25 behind the scenes shots from The Grand Tour that completely change everything. Not only do these shots give you something to laugh about, but it also gives a bit of a sneak peek into what goes on in the making of each episode of The Grand Tour.
We are talking things ranging from different looks at the audience to Jeremy’s struggles in certain cars, and even different shots from the filming in locations around the world. There is always something to see when it comes to one of the biggest shows on Amazon Prime, especially when you combine the personality of lifelong friends in Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May.
Haven’t you always wanted to know what goes on when the cameras aren’t rolling? Well now is that chance to see what goes on behind the scenes of The Grand Tour and take a look deeper into the personalities of the trio that has made waves around the automotive world for nearly 30 years. From the filming of Top Gear to the set of The Grand Tour, there is always something to see when it comes to these guys.
25 Clarkson and May Share a Laugh
Jeremy Clarkson is one of those characters that always finds a way to crack a sly joke. Here is one of those times during the filming of the episode where Richard Hammond had his accident. While Richard was getting ready to take on the track in his car, these two sat back and had a quick laugh before things went downhill.
This goes to show how much fun these guys must have when they are together.
24 The Camera Crew
One of the things that we don’t see very often is the amount of work that goes into the camera work for each car. This is just a small glimpse of what goes into getting a shot of these cars rolling and racing around the track. This actually is a chase car that goes after the shots.
Just from this, you can see that it isn’t the easiest thing to get the quality camera shots that The Grand Tour gives.
23 The Boys Getting Ready
During one of the specials of the first season, the crew made a trek across much of Africa in these buggies. In this shot, you can see them actually getting ready before they set off on their epic journey. This proved to be a truly harsh journey through a country that doesn’t have many paved roads.
A fun fact is that James May actually kept his buggy after the filming of the special in Africa and shipped it home.
22 Before the Race
One of the most epic races in the history of automotive shows was the race for the first episode of The Grand Tour. This featured some of the most ridiculous hypercars in the world, going head to head on a race track. This shot actually happened just before the race began.
As we all know, this was a really good race regardless. However, nothing that happens on this show is easy, they have to carefully come up with a plan to make everything work perfectly.
21 Testing the Buggy Drop
During the special in Africa, one of the buggy’s was actually air-dropped in by a helicopter. During the filming Richard Hammond was to be in the buggy while it was being dropped, however, they had to ensure it was safe.
Here is one of the stunt people that was actually in charge of testing the buggy airdrop before Richard got into it and fell from the sky. As we saw, it actually ended up looking pretty cool in the show.
20 Ready for Action
As always during The Grand Tour, here they happen to find themselves involved in one of the many different challenges that they are given by the producers. This one was one in which they would carry out immense action sequences all the while being chased by stunt drivers.
This was actually taken before the cameras started rolling, just before the trio got stuck into the action of their own movie. This might be a mix of fear and excitement from the trio as they know it is about to get wild.
19 The Ford GT
During the filming of the special on the Ford GT, there we quite a few things that went into this epic race of the car versus Hammond and May’s public transportation approach. Before the filming, they had to set up the car in the perfect starting point for this race, and here you can see the Ford GT awaiting its opportunity to be unleashed.
As we know from the episode, this didn’t fair too well for Jeremy Clarkson in the long run.
18 Always Ready to Go
When you are this trio you will always be ready for action in some sense. These three are always ready to go when it comes to the camera and the press. You can see that in this shot taken of them on set. Especially when you are great friends as well, these things come more naturally.
This is what makes for good entertainment for us to watch when each episode is given to us on Fridays.
17 Reviewing the Model X
One of the most controversial things that happened on The Grand Tour is the review of the Tesla Model X. This might seem like it's not a big deal, however, Jeremy was actually banned from reviewing any Tesla model’s from his previous attempts to do so on Top Gear.
However, this shot is one that way taken just before the epic race between the all-electric machine and one of the fastest cars in the world.
16 The Game of Thrones
During the filming of The Grand Tour, the production team likes to sneak Easter eggs in each of the episodes as well. This one was coming to you from the set of The Game of Thrones. This is actually one of the locations where they film the hit TV show.
This makes for a wonderful place to start a special by the crew now, doesn’t it? This just goes to show the amount of planning that goes into each episode they film, plus its pretty cool to see this location as well.
15 Just a Typical Day of Filming
One of the things that might not completely be known is how some of the shots are taken, and the crew that is involved in helping secure the area for the filming. Well, this shot was taken from one of the actual security vehicles during the filming of this episode while in the UK.
Fortunately, there are always great locations and weather, especially when filming in the UK, so you can hope to see this episode on the air, along with the wet, cold, rainy roads.
14 Getting Ready
This is another shot coming from Africa, this time it was from Mozambique. You can see the trio getting prepared, while in the water to continue along this journey that the producers laid out for them. Fortunately it wasn't cold, however, the trio soon found out that it wasn't the cold they had to worry about on this journey, it was actually the heat and humidity.
Either way, this made for a good special that they brought to us during The Grand Tour filming.
13 Between the Scenes
Between the scenes in the tent is always a time for the crew to actually interact more with the audience that comes by for filming. However, oftentimes there are quite a few discussions and debates that happen between the three of them.
Here is a shot that was taken during one of the between the scenes portions of the show, and you can see that Richard might not be completely happy with what is going on with this one. Fortunately, it always gives us something to laugh about with the over the top debates that Jeremy comes up with.
12 Filming in Whitby
This shot might not be something overly exciting, but it actually was taken while the crew was filming in Whitby in the UK. Where this might just be a quiet town, they made waves when the crew came through with the loud cars and various other events that happened as well.
But nonetheless, it is actually quite cool to see a live action shot of a portion that goes into the filming of this great show.
11 Ferrari Camera Work
We touched on it slightly earlier, but we don’t often see the actual camera equipment that goes into making some of these shots that make the show so great. Here you can see the actual Ferrari La Ferrari while it was getting set up with the camera gear to get some of the shots around the track.
It is quite amazing seeing how much rigging actually goes into creating such a high-quality production shot of these cars.
10 Shoes Off
Like we’ve seen many times before, Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond always have something that they want to do that is funny. This time it is coming from the set, and they didn’t have any shoes on.
Where they end up making quite a few appearances on beaches around the world for certain episodes, it still is quite humorous when you can tell that they get a bit uncomfortable when it comes to getting some of these shots.
9 Colorado Filming
It never should be too surprising to see these guys always ready to take a photo. This one coming from the set in Colorado, they are always ready for making that cameo during filming. Whether it is to promote the show, or something simply for social media, this trio always is ready to go.
This helps when you get a rare shot like this of them, while their personal social media accounts and The Grand Tour official one always loves dropping teasers.
8 Jeremy has a Hard Time
You never should be surprised when you see Jeremy Clarkson struggling to get out of a supercar. Being that he is a fairly large man, he always has to find a way to squeeze in and out of these cars, even if it is extremely uncomfortable.
However, this never stops Richard and James from having a quick laugh like they tend to do while Jeremy is struggling with one of these cars. Either way, it is always funny to see, especially behind the scenes.
7 Richard and the Wanderer
During the filming of one of the episodes, the guys had to find a good vehicle and in turn, create something that would be awesome for camping in. Richard happened to create this thing which he ended up sleeping in during the filming.
It goes to show the aptly titled episode “The Wanderer” works with what they were doing for the entire episode. The best part is actually being able to see Richard Hammond camping, even if it is just for the show.
6 Who Doesn't Love Explosions?
Now here is a rare behind the scenes shot. This one was taken during the filming of a chase sequence that we saw the beginning of in one of the earlier shots. However, this one is truly showing how close the camera crew gets for some of the shots.
However, I think it is safe to say that pretty much everyone loves seeing movie set explosions, especially from the angles that the crew gets them for The Grand Tour.