"But the moral of that is, if you're going on an expedition and you're absolutely dependent on your car for your life, get a John."
- James May on John
John was the name of the self-constructed vehicle built near the Gobi Desert by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May for the Mongolian Special of The Grand Tour, which aired as the thirteenth and penultimate episode of the show's third season.
When Clarkson brought up the subject of a name, May suggested 'Genghis Car' that he'd thought up earlier which the three agreed was clever, but quickly rejected due to the namesake having been "quite murdery and very rapey." Clarkson later came up with 'John', which was agreed to be solid, honest, unpretentious, and dependable.
For six days, the trio drove John across the largely untamed wilderness of Mongolia towards the town of Mörön, navigating treacherous sand dunes, steep hills and deep river crossings. Though fuel ran low and strain was occasionally put on the John's rear-mounted transmission, causing it to "hop" when traversing a steep incline or loaded with all three presenters on board, the car made it to Mörön in one piece, only blowing a fuse when its lights were initially incorrectly intersected.
Due to legal reasons, John was scrapped shortly after filming, and it couldn't even be sold as a car. Clarkson noted in 2020 that it was heartbreaking that they couldn't export John back to Britain.