Good news everyone! A date has been announced for the airing of the new Grand Tour Special. Entitled “Carnage A Trois” (which roughly translates to “three-way carnage), the Grand Tour Trio will be taking on the weird and wonderful world of French car culture.
Much like their cuisine, French cars can be loved as much as they are loathed. However, there’s no denying the importance and influence that they’ve had on the world. Cars like the Citroen DS are recognized as decades ahead of their time (with its hydro-pneumatic suspension licensed by the likes of Rolls-Royce and Bentley) and the Peugeot 404 and 504 legendary across Africa for their rugged dependability.
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French car culture is filled with some of the quirkiest creations too, and judging by the trailer, this TGT special will highlight those in equal measure. There’s a flying Citroen C3 Pluriel, an air-lifted Citroen 2CV (which looks to be plummeting to its inevitable death), and a Citroen Berlingo barrel-rolling down a hill.
In fact, there seem to be many, many Gallic cars packed into a trailer that’s less than 3 minutes long. There’s a race with French hot-hatches, including a Renault Megane RS, Citroen Saxo VTR or VTS, and Peugeot 306 GTi, where it appears Abbey Eaton makes her return as the Grand Tour’s in-house racing driver. We also know that one of the cars featured in the special was owned (at the time) by automotive TV personality Mike Brewer — a Citroen SM that both Hammond and Clarkson appear to be enthralled with.
And that’s not all. There’s a potentially hilarious test drive of the Leyat Helica, known as “the plane without wings,” a badly damaged Renault Scenic, and a Peugeot 407 (which, judging by the trailer’s closing card, also ends up meeting its maker.) Halfway through, a BMW E61 5-Series appears to spontaneously combust too, for reasons we’re certainly eager to find out.
Thankfully, provided you’re an Amazon Prime Video subscriber, there isn’t long to wait, with the show releasing on the streaming network on December 17, 2021.