Amazon Prime Video series The Grand Tour returns on September 4, 2026, with new presenters James Engelsman, Thomas Holland, and Francis Bourgeois. The trio takes over the motoring show following the departures of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May, kicking off their first series with muscle car tests and international road trips.
The motoring landscape on Amazon is shifting to a new generation. Following the departure of the original hosts after they concluded that they had exhausted the subject, the streaming platform has handed the keys of The Grand Tour to a fresh lineup of presenters.
Meet the New Presenters Taking Over The Grand Tour
The replacement team brings distinct backgrounds in automotive media and viral video. James Engelsman and Thomas Holland co-present the YouTube channel Throttle House, where Holland works as a motoring journalist and Engelsman serves as co-presenter. Alongside them is Francis Bourgeois—whose real name is Luke Nicholson—who rose to prominence in 2021 through his TikTok trainspotting videos featuring a head-mounted camera. Bourgeois studied mechanical engineering at university and previously completed a four-year internship with Rolls-Royce.
The clip opens with Bourgeois telling his co-stars Welcome to our first grand tour
before they are seen speeding around a race track, and they are also filmed during a boat trip, where Engelsman is lowered face first into a dinghy. Engelsman, who is from Canada, is best known for co-presenting YouTube channel Throttle House, and fellow Canadian Holland is a motoring journalist who is the founder and co-presenter of Throttle House.
The trio takes over after Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May stepped down. Reflecting on the end of their tenure, May explained that the original hosts exhausted the subject and preferred to step aside rather than stretch the format too thin. May previously told The Standard that the trio left the show after they had “exhausted” the subject, stating: We always said, between us, that we would end it with some race, hopefully, rather than fly into the White Cliffs of Dover, desperately trying to keep it along – and I think we just about managed that.
May added: We’d exhausted the subject, we are getting on a bit. I believe it’s time for a new generation to find a new take – I don’t know what it is.
Clarkson, Hammond, and May are slated to make guest appearances during the upcoming season.
Muscle Cars, Malaysia, and Desert Tracks in the New Trailer
Footage released ahead of the premiere showcases the new hosts testing high-performance vehicles across global locations, featuring trio James Engelsman, Thomas Holland and Francis Bourgeois driving muscle cars and meeting former Formula One star Jenson Button in the footage. In California, the trio evaluates American muscle cars, including the Ford Mustang GTD, the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, and the £2 million Hennessey Venom F5 Revolution Evolution. Their itinerary also includes heading to Malaysia to delve into the nation’s car culture before journeying through the desert of Angola in track cars unsuited for the job.
The promotional rollout has also featured unscripted interactions between the hosts. Ahead of the new season landing in September 2026, the three have taken part in a cheeky spin on ‘snog, marry, avoid’ called ‘drive, buy, destroy’ for The Grand Tour YouTube channel. In the video, the three are given three cars each time, and they have to decide whether they want to just drive the car, buy it, or destroy it, where drive is snog, buy is marry, and destroy is avoid.
The task is instantly made tricky in the first round with the Ferrari Testarossa, Lamborghini Countach, and the Porsche 930 Turbo. Francis said he loved the Testarossa, but James said he would destroy it, while James and Thomas would buy the Countach, and Francis agreed, leading the Testarossa to be bought and the Porsche 930 Turbo to be destroyed. Next up were the Lotus Elise, Noble M400, and TVR Sagaris, where the trio decided to drive the TVR, buy the Lotus Elise, and destroy the Noble M400, admitting that in real life a TVR isn’t reliable. Presented next with a Dodge Challenger Hellcat, Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, and Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, Francis openly admitted that American muscle cars don't tickle my pickle,
as Brits would say, meaning he is not really a fan of them. They did drive the Hellcat, buy the Shelby GT500, and destroy the Camaro ZL1, after which Thomas recounted a story of how James spun a pickup truck in Los Angeles across five lanes of traffic in the pouring rain while apologizing to Thomas.
Producer Andy Willman and Fan Reaction Ahead of September 2026
Legendary producer Andy Willman, who produced Top Gear and the Amazon show alongside Clarkson, Hammond and May, is still going to produce the new season, and he recently heaped praise on the three new presenters via a Reddit AMA.
Penned as the same show, new knobs
by Amazon, reactions to the trailer were very positive. They certainly seem to have the right sense of humor for the gig,
said one commenter on the trailer. This really looks like it has the essence of the old show without looking to fully replicate it. I've also been a fan of all 3 before this, so I'm very excited,
said another.
The new series of The Grand Tour launches on Prime Video on September 4.