Image copyright Amazon Prime Image caption The Grand Tour is being partly filmed in a travelling tent that doubles as a studio

The first episode of the new car show fronted by former Top Gear hosts Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond will be made available on 18 November.

New episodes of The Grand Tour will become available on Amazon Prime Video every Friday for 12 weeks.

The trio moved from the BBC to Amazon after Clarkson was sacked for punching a Top Gear producer last year.

The Grand Tour's first episode will be 70 minutes long and will be partly filmed in California next month.

Studio scenes are being recorded in a giant tent that is travelling around the world. The tent has already visited Johannesburg but it will be seen in California in the launch episode. Further locations are still to be announced.

To tie in with the launch date announcement, Amazon has put a 30-second teaser on YouTube.

The Sun has reported that Hollywood stars Charlize Theron and Matt Damon will be among the guests during the first season.

Image copyright Amazon Prime

Image copyright Amazon Prime Image caption The tent visited Johannesburg to record the first studio section

Jay Marine, Vice President of Amazon Prime Video EU, said: "Customers have been desperate to find out when they can watch their favourite team back on screen, so we are very excited to announce the launch date of one of the most globally anticipated shows of 2016.

"The guys have been having a blast filming the show around the world."

Speaking at the Edinburgh Television Festival last month, The Grand Tour producer Andy Wilman said: "Like them or loathe them, they are still doing their thing."

He showed delegates clips showing May driving with a broken arm, Clarkson driving on the Game of Thrones set and Hammond waking up in a buggy to find it has been hoisted into the air.

The footage also showed the trio racing Maseratis, a Rolls Royce and a Porsche, as well as Clarkson on a jet ski.

The team have signed up to make 12 shows a year for three years.

Wilman said everything was being filmed in 4K [high resolution] but rubbished press reports that each episode had a £4.5m budget.

Follow us on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, on Instagram, or if you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.