‘Old’ Top Gear trio’s The Grand Tour starts on Amazon November 18 (+video)

The old Top Gear Trio – Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond – will return to our screens on 18 November as The Grand Tour launches on Amazon.

It did seem, after Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May parted company with the BBC and went off to Amazon to make car programmes, that the summer of 2016 would see a head-to-head on our screens between ‘New’ Top Gear and the three amigos’ The Grand Tour. But that didn’t happen.

In fact, the first series of Top Gear without Clarkson, Hammond and May fell pretty much flat on its face as Chris Evans tried too hard to emulate Clarkson, in a format which attempted to mix wall to wall celebs and TGI Friday in to the traditional Top Gear format.

But now, with Top Gear on a break (for how long?) and without a front man after Chris Evans quit, we’re getting close to seeeing what the old Top Gear trio have been up to, with a new The Grand Tour trailer and a start date for the series – November 18 on Amazon Prime.

Frankly, we’re not even sure we need to know what the boys have been driving, because Top Gear often worked best when the cars were junk and the trio were at their best.

But the new trailer shows everything from the LaFerrari, Porsche 918 Spyder and McLaren P1 to the Aston Martin Vulcan by way of the Alfa 4C Spyder and an army helicopter.

We guess that means business as usual for Clarkson, Hammond and May, although they’re not going to be able to use the Top Gear staples – despite ‘inventing’ them – like Star in a Reasonably Priced Car and  The Stig, and apparently James can’t say ‘Cock’ either.

None of which is likely to make The Grand Tour any less appealing.

The Grand Tour on Amazon Prime Trailer Video