Mr Wilman’s Motoring Adventure

Top Gear, Grand Tour, Clarkson and Me

By: Andy Wilman

Narrated by: Andy Wilman

Brought to you by Penguin.

Top Gear turned gloomy Sunday nights into celebratory Friday nights. It made household names of presenters Clarkson, Hammond and May, their unique chemistry and buddy movie antics proving irresistible to a vast global audience. With these three at the helm, Top Gear earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the most popular factual TV show on the planet.

Then, a short while later, it was all gone.

How did a thoroughly sensible little consumer advice programme on cars turn into a global phenomenon in the first place, though? How did it all go wrong? And how did they rise from the ashes as The Grand Tour, and go on to scale even greater heights?

One man has all the answers.

There from the beginning, Top Gear and The Grand Tour co-creator, and Jeremy’s oldest friend, Andy Wilman, opens the bonnet on over twenty years of motoring mayhem. In Mr Wilman’s Motoring Adventure, the mysterious man in the shadows tells the inside story of your favourite TV shows for the first time.

Irreverent, joyful and as laugh-out-loud funny as the shows themselves, it’s the best book about Top Gear and The Grand Tour . . . in the world.

© Andy Wilman 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

Sometimes It's Ok to Meet Your Heroes

Top Gear often quipped 'Never meet your heroes'. Although I can't claim to have ever met any of the four legends at the center of Mr. Wilman's Motoring Adventure I feel like we've been friends for years. I'm an American and started watching Top so called Gear back in 2007, back when I had to torrent every episode from Final Gear. These four gave me a laugh when I was going through a divorce, made me soar even higher when finding love again and becoming a father; plus everything in between. When I told a coworker I was reading this book and he said "Oh yeah, didn't they go on to have a show on Amazon?" I described the intro, the one with 'I Can See Clearly Now' and started tearing up as I described it. When the fracas happened I couldn't believe that I may never get to see the show again that had brought me so much joy and I was beyond excited when the Grand Tour arrived.

This book gave me details and insight into some of my favorite memories and made me appreciate even more the hard work these four and all the rest put into the shows that were a part of my life for the better part of two decades. To Jeremy, Richard, James and Andy; thank you so much for the memories. If you're a fan of the show, you will not regret this read.

Great Compendium

Wonderful supporting details and stories for those who enjoy the four guys, from Top Gear through Grand Tour.

A love letter to TG and TGT

Great book from behind the scenes, the way he talks about their adventures are great.

Trip down memory lane.

What a pleasure it was to hear the behind the scenes take from the man himself that was behind so much of what happened. Revisiting all of the episodes that shaped my childhood and hearing about how the shows I loved so much were made was a gift. Truly amazing book Mr. Wilman.

Storytelling at its finest.

Mr. Wilman is a different kind of person. Hid ability to imagine what he wants and make it happen is only 2nd to his ability to tell a story. He co-piloted a plane into the stratosphere. Anyone who was a fan of the biggest car show in history has no idea the actual role he played. Not only was I heartbroken when both of the shows ended but, I was heartbroken when I closed the book on its final page. Please, don't sleep on this.