The eighth episode of the third season of “The Grand Tour” was revealed today. Entitled “International Buffoons’ Vacation”, the boys – Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond – travel to Nevada to engage in motor home shenanigans.
Initially encased in a Winnebago Chieftain, they shed this massive motor home and replace it with customized versions for each of them.
James transforms his motor home into a replica of Ye Olde English Pub complete with bar, beer taps, snacks, stools, placards on the wall and a dart board.
Jeremy changes his motor home into – literally – a land yacht, with boating controls that can be operated atop the roof of the motor home.
Richard eschews the motor home altogether and instead has a flatbed truck to which he affixes a tent and deck with a wooden railing.
The boys take their contraptions to a standard Nevada-style RV park where James entertains the RV park locals in his pub while Jeremy and Richard take a stroll around the RV park. Jeremy and James eventually hatch a plan to burgle Richard’s clothing and claim he was gassed and somebody from the RV park must have stolen them.
James gets out-voted and the trio then go to a track to participate in some off-road buggy racing for a short time before embarking on a trip to another track, ostensibly to test a Corvette, Cadillac CTS and Jeep Grand Cherokee in a drifting contest.
After that testing fails miserably, a confusing hodgepodge of partying in Las Vegas and the desert ensues before they hop back in their motor homes and travel across a dry lake bed to another track where they end the episode with a demolition derby-style race against three other motor homes in a nod to the “Top Gear” episode of yore.
Since there is no tent in this episode, there is no Conversation Street segment and throughout the episode, Jeremy is haunted by the apparition of “The American” – the disastrous idea from the first season.
As is ASN standard practice, there is an automatic 10-point deduction for any appearance of “The American” and the lack of a “Conversation Street” segment brings the score down further for this episode which is saved solely by James’ English pub motor home and newfound enthusiasm for off-road buggy racing. The episode producers/writers rely too much – again – on tired American clichés for attempts at humor and the result is, unfortunately, an 83 out of 100 [but James gets a full 100 for his motor home].