Amazon’s The Grand Tour is officially heading back to screens, with a new season set to premiere on September 4. This time, however, the long-running automotive adventure series will return with an entirely new trio behind the wheel.
Throttle House hosts James Engelsman and Thomas Holland will take over alongside British social media personality Francis Bourgeois. Together, the three face the considerable challenge of carrying forward a show closely associated with Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May.
The upcoming season will consist of six episodes, all scheduled to arrive on Prime Video at launch. Amazon is promising the familiar combination of ambitious road trips, unusual automotive challenges, performance cars, and the personality-driven humor that helped define the original series.
For longtime viewers, the biggest question will be whether the new presenters can develop chemistry strong enough to establish their own version of The Grand Tour. Engelsman, Holland, and Bourgeois bring very different backgrounds to the program, giving Amazon an opportunity to refresh the formula without abandoning the automotive adventures at its core.
The Throttle House Duo Steps Onto a Bigger Stage
Engelsman and Holland will already be familiar to millions of automotive enthusiasts through Throttle House, the popular YouTube channel known for its car reviews, comparisons, and comedy. The Canada-based duo has built a following by combining detailed automotive knowledge with an easygoing on-screen relationship, making them logical candidates for a larger automotive entertainment production.
Their existing chemistry could prove particularly important as The Grand Tour enters its next chapter. Clarkson, Hammond, and May spent decades developing their distinctive dynamic, beginning with Top Gear before moving to Amazon, and recreating that kind of familiarity with a completely new cast would be nearly impossible.
Rather than attempting an imitation, Engelsman and Holland have an opportunity to bring their established style to a much larger production. The key will be preserving what already works between them while adapting to the scale and adventure-focused format expected from The Grand Tour.
Francis Bourgeois Brings an Unexpected Perspective
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Joining the Throttle House pair is Francis Bourgeois, a British railway enthusiast and mechanical engineer who became a social media star through his enthusiastic trainspotting videos. He may be the least conventional choice for an automotive program, although his passion for machines and transportation could give the new lineup a distinctive personality.
Bourgeois has previously crossed into automotive entertainment, including an appearance alongside former Top Gear presenter Chris Harris involving a Mercedes-AMG CLK DTM Cabriolet. His energetic and unconventional presentation style could provide an interesting contrast to the more established automotive-review experience of Engelsman and Holland.
His enthusiasm for filming the new series is already clear. Bourgeois described the production as an experience filled with memorable moments, including sharing a tent with his co-hosts while jackals wandered outside during the trio’s time in Angola.
Six Episodes Promise Classic Grand Tour Chaos
Amazon appears determined to retain the globe-trotting spectacle that became a hallmark of the series. Among the adventures teased for the six-episode season are crossing the Angolan desert in track-focused cars and exploring Malaysia’s automotive culture.
The hosts will also travel to California to test modern high-performance machinery, while other challenges are expected to involve fighter pilots and even a confrontation with a country’s legal system. Those scenarios suggest the reboot will continue leaning heavily into ambitious journeys and deliberately questionable vehicle choices.
That familiarity could help ease the transition for existing fans. The locations and challenges sound unmistakably like The Grand Tour, although the success of the new season will ultimately depend on whether the presenters can make those adventures feel like their own.
Clarkson Has Already Given the New Trio His Approval
Amazon previously confirmed the new hosts in February, with Clarkson participating in a humorous video introducing the replacements. The former presenter worked his way through potential applications before ultimately giving Engelsman, Holland, and Bourgeois his approval.
That symbolic handover should help establish some continuity between the two eras, although the new presenters will still have to earn the audience’s support themselves. Clarkson, Hammond, and May built an enormous global following through years of adventures, arguments, mishaps, and automotive storytelling that became inseparable from the programs they hosted.
The smartest path forward may be for the newcomers to avoid chasing that exact formula too closely. When The Grand Tour returns on September 4, viewers will finally get to see whether three very different automotive personalities can turn a familiar concept into something that stands successfully on its own.