Penultimate episode of the Amazon Prime series, The Grand Tour: Sand Job, sees the trio race across the world

Fronted by the beloved trio Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond, the decade-spanning show has seen the car enthusiasts criss-cross the globe, reviewing Italian classics, muscle cars and pick-up trucks in some of the remotest corners of the planet.

But it’s not over til it’s over. The penultimate episode of the Amazon Prime series, The Grand Tour: Sand Job, sees the trio race across the wild and arid stretches of Mauritania in north-western Africa.

Rumbling along the tracks of the legendary Paris-Dakar rally, across the undulating dunes of the Sahara Desert, treacherous river crossings and steep ravines, their trusty steeds are not bespoke Dakar racers but cheap modified second-hand sports cars.

“I love deserts so I’ve always wanted to do the Sahara,” Clarkson, 63, says of the road trip. “And then it was really a question of finding the most inappropriate cars for trans-Sahara travel, and I think we did a pretty good job on that.”

“We actually all quite like being in the desert,” adds May, 61. “We like the dust and the sand and the heat. It’s exhausting but it’s all the things that TE Lawrence talked about – he said ‘the desert cleans you and it’s pure’ and I think that’s true. We all slightly get off on that and feel like we’re being really heroic and manly.”

The three picked different sports cars for the adventure, to varying levels of success. Clarkson opted for a Jaguar F Type V6, Hammond an Aston Martin Volante V12 and May an Italian Maserati.

He was so impressed by the Jaguar, Clarkson bought one as soon as he got back home. “And I don’t think Hammond bought an Aston Martin afterwards,” he jibes. “The other two made unwise choices as usual. The Jaguar was so tough and unbreakable… I cannot lavish enough praise on that car. I brought back the one I drove in Mauritania too – have it at the farm.

“Hammond in particular had constant issues. It started off being funny and then it became annoying because it was relentlessly unreliable.”

“There was the odd issue,” admits Hammond, 54. “It turns out an elderly V12 engine isn’t the best place to start when you want a rugged machine for crossing deserts.

"A Toyota Landcruiser is where people ordinarily go, not a hand-built, British-engineered, luxury GT. I did ask quite a lot of my car.

“The problem with my car is that it came from an era where the whole idea of computers running the show was taking hold. So cars were becoming clever but mine hadn’t become quite clever enough."

The Grand Tour: Sand Job comes to Prime Video on Friday, February 16.