Will the Real Top Gear Please Stand Up

Fans of what Top Gear should be finally got their first look at The Grand Tour on Friday. If nothing else it proved that it's not the title, the studio, the test track or even the channel that makes the show what it is...it's the people. You can call a show Top Gear and make Chris Evans a presenter (not Captain America, the other one), but that doesn't make it Top Gear.

When Jeremy Clarkson left the BBC, his mates Richard Hammond, James May and Andy Wilman soon followed. After months of speculation, it was announced that the group were going to work for Amazon to produce a motoring show. Said show will consist of 36 episodes over 3 years and has been described as "very, very, very expensive" by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Although it's starting to look like a very good investment. The format is very similar to Top Gear except the studio is a tent that will change location between episodes. As usual the trio will travel the globe testing new cars and taking on challenges. The new track - dubbed "The Eboladrome" due to it's resemblence to the Ebola Virus - is at RAF Wroughton, where racing driver Mike Skinner AKA "The American" will test new cars.

Episode 1 has proven that the formula still works and not a lot has changed. The phrase "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" seems to have been a pretty big part of the game plan! Everything we have come to know and love about the show formerly known as Top Gear is present. Not that fans wanted it to change, they seem to have got exactly what they wanted: the three amigos of motoring back on TV.

The funny thing is, it doesn't matter what you call this show, most fans will still refer to it as Top Gear. Earlier this year Chris Evans attempted to present the BBC show with tragic results. Evans has now left the show and it may have a chance of improving. But no matter how good it gets, it will forever live in The Grand Tour's shadow.

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