Blog

Feb 16, 2024

Why Jeremy Clarkson's Lamborghini Tractor Upset More People Than He Did

The Grand Tour and Top Gear star riled people up with his choice of an unusual Lamborghini on his own show, Clarkson's Farm, on Prime Video. Clarkson’s Farm Season 1 was one of the biggest highlights

The Grand Tour and Top Gear star riled people up with his choice of an unusual Lamborghini on his own show, Clarkson's Farm, on Prime Video.

Clarkson’s Farm Season 1 was one of the biggest highlights of 2021, as Jeremy Clarkson got to grips with the world of farming alongside various other members of his entourage. In February 2023, Amazon dropped the second season of the show, which was as popular and controversial as before. His entourage included Kaleb Copper, his girlfriend Lisa, Cheerful Charlie, Gerald, and Ellen the Shepherdess, among various others. But one of the stars of the show is also Clarkson’s rather huge tractor.

Clarkson, being Clarkson, didn’t opt for a Massey-Ferguson, or a John Deere. Oh, no. He bought what seemed to be the largest Lamborghini tractor... in the world. A decision that seemed to wind up various members of the group simply because of how large it is. But its power also meant it was incredibly capable and able to do anything thrown at it. This, then, is everything you need to know about Clarkson’s Lamborghini tractor.

Updated August 2023: Jeremy Clarkson in a huge tractor is a priceless combination of chaos. We've updated this article with more information on why many were disturbed because of Clarkson's love for a 'rough' Lamborghini.

Related: The Real Reason Jeremy Clarkson Left Top Gear

It is, of course, easy to forget that while Lamborghini is a giant of the supercar world, they very much have their roots in tractors. Ferruccio Lamborghini set up the company back in 1948 as Lamborghini Tractors, and this is where the business began. It was a fair few years after that before Lamborghini would go on to create its first production car. Clarkson’s tractor, though, is a far cry from the kind that Lamborghini made when the company was first founded.

Clarkson’s tractor is specifically a Lamborghini Trattori R8 270 DCR. The Lamborghini website describes the tractor as “Total domination with class”. That class was perhaps not shared by Clarkson’s friends and family as it is so big it wouldn’t fit in the barn Clarkson had in mind for it. These tractors are not cheap, costing over $40,000, but of course, Clarkson had to go big when he set up the farm. As it is a Lamborghini tractor, you might think it has plenty of power. And you would be absolutely right about that.

Related: 14 Tractors We'd Drive Over A Lamborghini (And 2 That Are Actual Lamborghinis)

Clarkson’s Trattori has a turbocharged six-cylinder, 7.1-liter engine with an intercooler. That equates to around 269 hp and 775 lb-ft of torque. It might not be as much as a Lamborghini supercar, but you won’t want a commercial tractor with over 1,000 hp churning up the ground! Also, take into account that Clarkson's Lamborghini tractor only cost him about $43,000 used, less than half of what a used Lamborghini Gallardo might cost.

Top speed-wise, you aren’t going to set any records with this tractor. A top speed of 31 mph is all you will manage. As Clarkson remarks in one segment from season one, he has spent years stuck in traffic behind tractors, now he is in the tractor causing that same traffic.

Clarkson has repeatedly found the transmission of his Lamborghini Tractor quite confusing. He has remarked on the show how complicated the tractor is, with a rather ridiculous “48 gears and 188 buttons”. Specifically, the tractor has a Powershift 40-speed forward plus a 40-speed reverse.

There are six ranges for four power gears plus the crawler, the tractor has four-wheel drive and an electro-hydraulic rear differential lock. Reading all that, it is easy to see why Clarkson was a bit confused. Even if he did drive a JCB tractor for a farming challenge on Top Gear several years ago.

Related: Watch The World’s Fastest Tractor Break The Guinness Record With 1,000 HP

Clarkson remarks in his opening segment about the tractor on Clarkson’s Farm on how it is enormous and everything about it is rather vast. Then he proceeds to not get it in the barn thanks to the flashing light on the top of it. A video on The Grand Tour YouTube channel that we have linked above is simply entitled “Jeremy Clarkson's Giant Tractor Causing Chaos for 7 Minutes” which sums up the situation very well. Despite that, the tractor does prove itself later on in the show, hauling the various equipment, pulling the large loads, and slowly becoming something the rest of the team begins to ease up to and appreciate.

Fans of Jeremy Clarkson and Clarkson’s Farm were content with Season 2. In the new season, you can catch everyone's favorite motoring presenter grappling with farm vermin and his conscience, chauffeuring his farm hand, and trying to come up with new ideas to grow the farm business. This ultimately leads to Jeremy Clarkson's very own restaurant! Clarkson highlighted the troubles of farming and raring sheep in season one. Season two of Clarkson's Farm highlights the plight of cattle raring in the UK.

The entire Diddly Squat Farm team gets up to some messy fun. Season one saw Clarkson get in on sheep farming, navigate a global pandemic with the farm, and then come full circle with his first harvest. Admittedly not a very profitable one, but a harvest nonetheless. The huge Lamborghini Trattori continues to play an 'annoying' role in the new series once again. We just wonder how many times people will call it too big for the farm this time!

Amazon Prime has confirmed that a third season of Clarkson's Farm will be coming. But owing to the recent controversy that Clarkson has caused, the future of his Farm Show seems to be in jeopardy. Ever since Clarkson made discriminatory and hateful comments about the Dutchess—Meghan Markle in his column in the Sun newspaper 2022. The media world was quite shaken after this ordeal, with a record number of complaints being made to the press regulator IPSO. Amazon Prime Video executive Fozia Khan also mentioned that the team was "shocked and disappointed" with Clarkson.

According to Variety.com, Amazon will part ways with Clarkson after the current season. This indicates that there will not be a Season Four of Clarkson's Farm with Jeremy Clarkson. There were rumors of the show going off-air. But on this topic, Dan Grabiner of Amazon Prime Video states, "It’s a hell of a lot bigger than Jeremy Clarkson.” So, most likely, Amazon would continue Clarkson's Farm, but in what capacity is still to be determined.

Sources: Farmers Guide, Amazon Prime, The Grand Tour YouTube Channel

Covering anything from JDM cars to classic jets. Contributed to HotCars since the Autumn of 2018.