Jeremy Clarkson has admitted that he no longer has any interest in modern cars, explaining that he has fallen out of love with the automotive industry. The 64-year-old presenter, who has been a fixture on car shows for nearly 35 years, made the confession during a Q&A session at his pub, The Farmer's Dog, on his Diddly Squat Farm.
Speaking to fans, Clarkson said: 'No, honestly no. They're all ****, mate. Genuinely, I look at them all, well not all, but I guess we're all in the same boat about this. 80 percent, 90 percent of them, I couldn't even identify them. I don't know what they are and I don't care. They [the companies] could say "we've got a new hybrid drive system", and I just couldn't give a ****!'
However, Clarkson still enjoys driving classic cars, particularly on the roads near his Chipping Norton farm. He praised a Lancia Beta Monte Carlo he drove to the event, noting that older cars are often better than modern ones because they are lighter. He also mentioned Harry Metcalfe, a fellow car enthusiast, who uses the same road for his tests.
Regarding the future of The Grand Tour, Clarkson expressed hope that Amazon would continue the show with new, younger presenters who are genuine car enthusiasts, rather than celebrities. He said: 'Well, as I said to them the other day at Amazon, they keep talking about famous people that they want and like cars, but that doesn't work. They've got to find young kids who really know their cars and then get them to host the show.'
Clarkson rose to fame as a presenter on BBC's Top Gear in 1988, and later turned it into a global phenomenon alongside Richard Hammond and James May. The trio later moved to Amazon Prime for The Grand Tour, which concluded recently.
