Thanks for clarifying. Sorry, I don't follow self appointed internet 'celebs'. I guess you'll have to know him to get it, but on such a large international forum, you'll find most folks saying 'who's he?'.
Happy to help - though, I'd hate for you to miss out on some great entertainment so I will add that I think Clarkson is a bit more of a househould name than a YouTube Celeb (though I understand not being interested in the "influencer class" that's popular these days). Not much is self appointed about Clarkson, though - he was the host of Top Gear on the BBC for ~25 years, hosted Who Wants To Be a Millionare (U.K) for a good while, and has had a few others - in fact, he's been doing this so long and successfully, that one of the reasons he and his two compatriots have eased up on their Grand Tour show was that they can't travel anywhere safely; they are too famous, and even in the most remote places their adventures took them, they get surrounded by onlookers and fans, and they are a prime target for Kidnap and Ransom the world over. He's actually a journalist first, and continues to write weekly columns, but his career as a TV personality has spanned decades, and most recently has shifted to "Clarkson's Farm" on Amazon. Top Gear was ported to the USA, with a few new hosts, but it failed after two seasons I think and is not at all a househould name in the USA, but it was actually the most watched factual TV program in the world, with about 350,000,000 viewers in 200 countries for each episode (for context the Superbowl gets ~120 million, and it's a once annual event - Top Gear was drawing their numbers weekly).
Anyway I only wanted to provide this extra info so you don't skip on a guy whos got some real credentials in the motoring world; he might not be as famous in the USA but for most of the rest of the world he's a known factor, and for good reason - he's very funny, and makes good TV, so if you ever get a chance to check out the Top Gear Specials or the Grand Tour adventures, they are well worth a look. I'm on my lunch break and am feeling nostalgic (I truly do enjoy his Specials, where he and his cohosts take these adventures), so I'll share some highlights I like:
1) Clarkson and his mates get dumped from a helicopter in central Mongolia where they have to assemble a 4x4 from various bits and pieces that were similarly air-dropped and drive it to a town many many miles away, entirely off road.
Here's the trailer for that one.
2) Clarkson and his mates get a bunch of old 4x4s - a Range Rover, a Suzuki Jimny, and a FJ40 - and barge down a river in Bolivia, navigate the jungle, take the Death Road, and ultimately cross the Andes to the Pacific.
Here's a clip from that one.
3) Clarskon and his mates take some old sedans and cross Botswana, including being the first vehicles to fully cross the Makgadikgadi salt pans.
Here's a sample.
They were also the first to drive vehicles to the North Pole, were nearly killed in Argentina by a riot caused by British-Argentinian relations and an accidental license plate, and (arguably) have their names in history as discovering a possible source of the Nile River. Their presentations are always great cinematography, and the chemistry of the trio (Clarkson, Hammond, and May) is undeniable. So, they've got the "Vehicular Adventure" chops to make them a good source of entertainment for the types of folks who love what the Gren was made to do.
In fact, many of Clarkson, Hammond, and May's adventures are
exactly what the Ineos Grenadier was designed for; they are the purpose for which our beloved Gren was built (remote, rugged, away-from-it-all transportation). And yet, these guys are doing these trips in old, often end-of-life vehicles that are only tangentially fit for purpose (and usually made less-so during the adventure). There's obviously TV magic involved, but it's GOOD tv, and its' got just enough of that "
Mongol Rally" adventurer energy to be a nice reminder that we don't need $100k 4x4s to see the world and have a grand adventure.
(but it sure is nice to be able to get one - Thanks Sir Jim!)
In short - if you are looking for something to entertain yourself with between chances to use your Gren, you might find you quite like Clarkson and co.'s adventures!
I will perhaps spin up another thread on "Best Adventure TV" and use this as the first post - that way I won't derail this thread further with TV talk. Back to your regularly scheduled "Grens in the Wild West"!
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