- In the first of two special shows, The Grand Tour abandons its usual travelling tent for a road trip across Namibia as Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May attempt to demonstrate the brilliance of that great '60s throwback, the beach buggy. Grand Tour boss man Mr Wilman has declared that beach buggies are terrible, and its up to the hosts to prove him wrong as they saddle up three examples built to their own specifications and set off on an epic journey across the deserts of south west Africa.—Carlo
- The trio find themselves taking on a special challenge arranged by their producer (Mr Wilman) - prove that beach buggies (converted from a Volkswagen beetle) are not poor vehicles, by each making one to their own specification, before taking them one thousand miles (1,600 km) along Namibia's Skeleton Coast.
May bases his on the original 1960s buggy design (based on design by Bruce Meyers, 94 BHP, built on a 1950's Beetle car), Clarkson opts for his to be fitted with a V8 engine (a 3.5 L from a range rover, 180 BHP. The engine is hanging out of the beach buggy and doesn't fit inside it), while Hammond upgrades his with rally grade suspension and off-road tires (His is a Daktari themed off-roader) Beach buggies arrived in 1964 in the pop culture. Their front fenders were flat so you could keep a beer on it.
In the first part, the trio journey towards the shipwreck of Eduard Bohlen, cross the harsh terrain and sand dunes of the Namib Desert, and make for the capital of Windhoek. They must drive 1000 miles to reach another beach at the Northwest of Namibia, where it meets Angola. They have to cross the crocodile infested Kunene River to complete their mission
The trio start to get cold on the beach and decide to head inland to find the coast road to find the nearest town. They drive around for hours, without finding a road, only to realize they have been driving around in circles. As the sun sets it gets even colder. Jeremy knows they are lost and decides to navigate using the stars. He finds the Southern Cross in the sky and uses that as an anchor marker. They find an abandoned diamond mine in the night.
After driving all night (Hammond calls it quits at 3 am in the morning. They sleep on the sand, huddled around their engines for warmth), they find out they never left the coast. They drive along the coast, only to reach the salt plains, where they are not allowed to drive and must drive all the way back to find a way inland (since most of the coast was hemmed in by huge sand dunes that the beach buggies could not climb. They barely beat the incoming tide to reach a point where the dunes gave way to a path inland. But before they leave the coast, Clarkson helps catch a fish and everyone has a meal.
Once inland, they are in the Namib desert, with no hint of a road for mile after mile. The dunes keep getting bigger, which May's car cannot cope with. Jeremy was fine as he had a 180 BHP engine and Hammond's buggy was able to cope due to the tires with extra grip. As night came, the driving became difficult, and they spent the night underneath their engines for warmth.
Day 3 in the desert, they continue to drive inland east, and the terrain eventually levels out. As cars become very uncomfortable to drive due to the low center of gravity. The relentlessly punishing terrain causes frequent breakdowns in the beach buggies. May has sand in the gear box. Clarkson's throttle jams. But by later afternoon they find a road. After 5 hrs they reach a town, which turns out to be Namibia's capital Windhoek. The trio have a beer.
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