Did the trio know their cars were at the town in the end of One for the Road?

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veevoir@reddit

The trio? Nah. The producers? Yes. Surely Andy Willman planted them.

In his interviews it comes clear that a lot of moments people consider "scripted" is Andy's knowledge of what makes the trio (Jeremy especially) tick. So he is able to engineer a situation that will result in good footage from them. They don't get a script, but they are being in position where they will produce "results" because of who they are and how well they riff of each other.

He mentioned, for example, the Ferrero Roche pyramid at ambassador's place in "Sand Job" because he knew they wouldn't resist fiddling with that. Nothing about what Clarkson did was scripted per se though, it was all improvised.

This also shows why Clarkson's Farm is ahead of what Hammond does with Workshop when it comes to flow and content. TGT team (and ofc Wilman) do one, but not the other.

TL;DR: There is no Trio, there is only Quattro. And Wilman is the pupetmaster!

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itchygentleman@reddit

I mean the cars had been posted here or somewhere before. Something like "I found the cars from the botswana special"

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iPharter@reddit

https://youtu.be/YZJjFsAxN7s Drivetribe itself made a video on it

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ShriveledLeftTesti@reddit

Yeah there was definitely a guy tracking them down like a year or so ago and piecing them together. I wouldn't be surprised if Wilman got word of that and contacted the dude with Jeremy or James knowing

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snowmunkey@reddit

I'm still confused about the headlight. I call bullshit on Jeremy bringing that thing along with him on every special they've done since.

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thedudefromsweden@reddit

That seemed genuine. He went and got it from his suitcase in one of the production cars, which they generally try to avoid filming. Why couldn't it be genuine?

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snowmunkey@reddit

Becauae why would he carry an old rusty headlamp wrapped in butcher paper, all over the world in his suitcase?

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The_Eternal_Wayfarer@reddit

Steve Harris has been playing the exact same bass since 1975. He has toured extensively around the world for 44 years now, next year is Iron Maiden’s 50th anniversary, the bass has been restyled several times, but the old faithful is still there and still is his main instrument. Only occasionally he takes out other basses. And there are multiple instances of similar cases.

It’s not unusual that people who travel around the world and do such great experiences keep souvenirs with them.

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snowmunkey@reddit

I don't see how those two things are comparable. A musician takes a musical instrument on a musical tour. Does May bring an engine cover bolt from his Cessna with him on his travels? Does Hammond bring a ski pole from his arctic trip?

It's just an odd behavior that I think is much more easily explained by "they knew they were going to find the cars" than "man carries awkwardly sized souvenir from one particular adventure with him on every other adventure"

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Skysflies@reddit

It took James a bit of time to remember and he got genuinely excited, I'm pretty certain it was real.

Remember, these guys are unbelievably rich, I doubt luggage fees are any concern to them

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thedudefromsweden@reddit

A lot of people carry around "special" objects that are meaningful to them, I don't see why not 😊

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snowmunkey@reddit

I don't know anyone who takes chotchkies with them on work trips, especially one so cumbersome

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Smirkin_Revenge@reddit

I carry a waldmann ink pen i got on my first real leadership job. It's not a headlight but it's been my talisman for 25+ years

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snowmunkey@reddit

That's a pen though, that's something you can put in a pocket or skip into a sleeve in a bag. Not a headlamp wrapped in paper

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nastynewtons@reddit

I doubt you know anyone that travels with a caravan of 10+ vans and work vehicles, either

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PalmTreeIsBestTree@reddit

The grand tour is a different kind of work trip let’s be honest.

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mateo_rules@reddit

My iPod classic has been east coast west coast as north as Whitehorse and as far south as tulum passport iPod go hand in hand when every I travel even if it’s a turnaround flight and I don’t use it

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anothercopy@reddit

Also driving through middle of nowhere Africa and recognising a random wreck as your car. I've never been to that part of Africa but my understanding is that cars in a similar condition is a common view in that part of the world. Suddenly thinking a random wreck is your car seems dodgy.

Yes I know that model is pretty rare in that part of world but still I would stop looking at wrecks most likely after driving 15 minutes in that place.

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snowmunkey@reddit

My guess is that he was told they were going to try and find the car, maybe not that it was confirmed, so he brought it just in case. But the line where he said he carried it all over the world makes no sense

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Tx600@reddit

James saying he took the Mercedes star made a lot of sense. I’m someone who gets emotionally attached to my cars, but I really don’t see how a headlight could ever be sentimental. I agree with you, carrying the headlight around the world for 20 years doesn’t make sense. It was still a great moment in the special though, and a nice way to end the series.

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snowmunkey@reddit

I have no issue with taking a memento, it's the carrying it around all over that world that's confusing. It was very special and Id be lying if it didn't hit me in the feels pretty hard

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-ZeroF56@reddit

I mean they also specifically drove through the town they started the Botswana special in, and while there’s tons of cars in bad states there, most of them probably aren’t Lancia Betas.

Even though I’m sure you’d stop looking at wrecks everywhere, if you drove right through where your wreck would’ve lived, you’d be looking for it too out of curiosity.

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WeaversReply@reddit

Well, you keep on being cynical. That's your choice. How about you let the rest of us keep on believing there's still some magic in the world.

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Expensive-Analysis-2@reddit

I said this on another post on this sub and got downvoted and whinged at by all the butt hurts. It did seem very odd that he would have that.

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macIovin@reddit

I assume that the crew planned this without telling James and Jeremy. Their reaction was too natural for it to be an act

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rjohn2020@reddit

I know Clarkson knew his Lancia had been found since the finder posted it on Twitter and tagged Clarkson in it, but by his and May's looks of surprise did appear genuine. Guessing the production crew had got in contact with the finder to help with the bookending of the first and last specials.

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PetatoParmer@reddit

Of course they did. In a country that big you think they co-incidentally just happened across them while a camera crew was filming and set up perfectly for all the shots?

As I’ve said before - these guys aren’t as good at acting as they think they are, and it shows.

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thedudefromsweden@reddit

The crew obviously tracked the cars down and placed them there, the question was wether or not James and Jeremy knew.

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PetatoParmer@reddit

Again, I repeat - of course they did. Nothing happens on a shoot without them knowing about it.

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Business-Drag52@reddit

The multiple wrecks would beg to differ

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feel-the-avocado@reddit

Most of the scripting is done by the reconnaissance crew that visit months in advance to plan the route. They might then radio to Jeremy "Hey you should pull over round the next corner and see some of the old cars".

After 20 years, they know how each of them will behave or react in a situation so the scripting is basically just a matter of setting up a situation and saying "hey - this" and letting them go.

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irishshogun@reddit

It’s a scripted show

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Grimdotdotdot@reddit

People seem to forget that so easily.

If they're ever out of their cars and more than one camera is pointed at them, they're following a script.

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irishshogun@reddit

One of them said they had a general plan for the start and end but the middle allowed for natural flow.

Also an interesting blog was one on the Vietnam trip by a motorbike fixer. Ruins some of the fun though fyi

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KipaNinja@reddit

Do you have a link, that sounds interesting

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operation_lurch@reddit

Was it planned? For sure. But like someone else stated James and Jeremy didn’t know. I did see a while back that someone found a few of there cars in Africa abandoned while they were traveling. I found that to be neat

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AndrewCoja@reddit

The production crew found the cars and had them placed there. Jeremy and James did not know the cars would be there.

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thedudefromsweden@reddit

Do you have a source for this or are you guessing?

I mean I think so too, but it would be nice with an actual source.

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AndrewCoja@reddit

I don't have a source but it came from some Q&A someone posted a while ago.

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thedudefromsweden@reddit

The one Jeremy did at his bar after the screening? I don't think he mentioned it there...

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superfoncho@reddit

1- It's a scripted show. 2- Somebody tracked the cars and made a blog post or something for them. 3- Drivetribe (Mike) reported on the cars and made a full YT video of them 3 years before the last special. 4- They knew and act surprised when they "Randomly pass by them". 5- It's a scripted show.

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Ducatirules@reddit

First off, Richard’s car wasn’t there because he took Oliver home with him, I have a theory that the crew knew they were there but not James and Jeremy, they seemed too surprised

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inbruges99@reddit

I’m pretty sure I read somewhere that Wilman organised it but the boys didn’t know about it so their shock was genuine.

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Ducatirules@reddit

Makes sense

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BearvsShad@reddit

That would make sense since they send out the scouts pretty early on before filming.

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GeoHog713@reddit

I think that's the most likely scenario

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Lionel216@reddit (OP)

That’s what I was thinking they seem too surprised, but I have no idea cause I can imagine they’d be pretty good at acting surprised after all the staged stuff they’ve where they’re supposed to be surprised. I knew Richard took Oliver home (looking great after being restored btw)

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onionwba@reddit

They looked genuinely touched to me.

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snart-fiffer@reddit

I watched the original one right after where the cars came from and already forgot the exact reasons but I think it’s unlikely they were the originals or if they were it wasn’t likely they would be there.

I think the crew could have surprised them but highly unlikely they were naturally there in the perfect spot and were shipped in or look alikes were found.

It’s not hard to find a really good production designer/prop master to paint a car to look old.

Also these guys have been acting on TV for 30 years. They can sell any moment as real. Which doesn’t mean what they showed wasn’t a real emotion. Acting is about finding a true feeling to show at the right moment. So the awe and joy was real even if they knew that was the spot to turn on the faucet.

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RyanCorven@reddit

Both cars were tracked down a in 2021 by a YouTuber. I think it's plainly obvious the producers were able to reacquire them for the scene.

Whether James and Jeremy knew is entirely up for debate.

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wifichick@reddit

I have read where the crew was trying to find these cars. So I suspect they knew the cars were there or that they could be. That doesn’t negate they will have emotions about the cars and that trip - amplified by this being “the end” of their adventures —- so while it’s all scripted, is suspect that knowing it will happen and it actually happen elicited different emotions than what they expected.

There is no way that these 3 men had any idea how their lives and the show would play out 20 years ago - think how it impacted the viewers - and then imagine your them and how much their lives have changed.

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jay59l@reddit

Great question. It looked like they didn’t know the cars were there. Great acting or a nice surprise.