Lochdown is the third episode of Season 4 of The Grand Tour. It aired on 30th July 2021.
Synopsis[]
Did you wonder what this trio were up to during the pandemic? Well, they took some classic American cars and went on a grand tour adventure through the Scottish coastal roads. There are overheated engines, shouting, plenty of tea, and a whole load of classic car chaos.
[]
Andy Wilman shared a teaser of the intro to the Episode on April 16th, 2021. It shows views of Scotland landmarks and more. In addition, a teaser was released on July 14th, 2021 through the show's new TikTok account. This revealed the name of the episode and properly confirmed that it was official.
Cars[]
The cars used are from America to "show" Scotland what they're missing out on. The American Classic muscle cars were used for the second part of the episode, while the terrible american cars were used in a "Cold War revival".
| Vehicle | Make/Model | Driver |
|---|---|---|
| Large Luxury Car | ||
 |
Lincoln Continental MK V | Jeremy Clarkson |
 |
Buick Riviera Boattail | Richard Hammond |
 |
Cadillac Coupe De Ville | James May |
| Classic Muscle Car | ||
| TBD | Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 | Jeremy Clarkson |
| TBD | Dodge Charger R/T | Richard Hammond |
| TBD | Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 | James May |
| Terrible American Car | ||
| TBD | Chrysler PT Cruiser | Jeremy Clarkson |
| TBD | Pontiac Aztek | Richard Hammond |
| TBD | Chrysler Voyager | James May |
Summary[]
Warning, Spoilers below!
The show starts with gorgeous shots of Scottish landscape. The trio introduce their cars and find out they must travel from Edinburgh to the Outer Hebrides. The trio struggle through the cobbled streets of the city but eventually find their way out.
Next, they test their cars against a benchmark time at the Knockhill race track.
The trio realise that they can not stay in hotels due to the lockdown, and therefore have to sleep in caravans. As usual, they modify these caravans. However, Hammond and Clarkson destroy their caravans and flood May's one in a prank so they stay the night in a Scottish castle.
The next morning, they switch to classic muscle cars to pay tribute to them. However, wanting to balance out these amazing cars, they showcase the worst in a "recreation" of the Cold War. This is done with a demolition derby of three rubbish cars from the Soviet Union and three from America.
The trio want to find a community that would enjoy the style and flamboyannce of the American cars, embarassing to Europeans. So they drive up to North Uist, but find a body of water in the way. To get over, they build a pontoon-like bridge and reach the American community. However, they are disappointed.
Production[]
The episode was filmed in October 2020 over the Scottish Highlands, starting at Edinburgh.
Promotion/Marketing[]
For this special, the trio took a different approach to advertising the special's forthcoming release. They pretended as if they had no promotional material (although images were used frequently on their social medias throughout July) and asked the fans to make some images, videos and films to do it instead. This was done through a Twitter Hastag (#Lochdown)
Gallery[]
