Richard Hammond on his past, present and future

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Күн бұрын

Richard Hammond joins Autocar for our weekly podcast, My Week In Cars.
Speaking from his own classic car repair shop, The Smallest Cog, Richard is currently a star from TV shows The Grand Tour and Richard Hammond's Workshop, and is formerly from Top Gear and myriad other engineering and other entertainment programmes (we have a particular soft spot for Total Wipeout).
Here Richard talks to Autocar's weekly pod presenters, Steve Cropley and Matt Prior, about his life and times: how he came into television, his current projects, his plans for The Smallest Cog, what cars and motorcycles he owns, and how he sees the future of motoring.
You can find Autocar's weekly podcast, My Week In Cars, from wherever you get your podcasts.
Autocar, the world's leading motoring magazine and website, delivers industry-leading news, the most in-depth car reviews and opinion from our team of experts. Our presenters include some of the world's top motoring journalists who have unrivalled access to the world's fastest, rarest, most exotic and most exciting cars on some of the world's best roads and race tracks.
There's more from Autocar over at autocar.co.uk, or you can find the magazine and access its unique motoring archive - it has been published weekly for 129 years - over at themagazineshop.com.

Пікірлер: 199

@aureliomarsili3902 5 ай бұрын

Conversation street !!!

@helipeek2736 5 ай бұрын

More of a cul-de-sac.

@topmandog1 5 ай бұрын

let us lower the roof on the car of comedy and interest on this, conversation street!

@Dpro78 5 ай бұрын

more M4 😍😂

@richardhoughton7892 6 күн бұрын

Too many flash photos going on & became annoying. Content otherwise very interesting!

@Carfeu 5 ай бұрын

Richard just feels like an old friend to us

@topmandog1 5 ай бұрын

yeah im 24 so i feel like ive known him my entire life

@steiner554 5 ай бұрын

@@topmandog1 I am a bit older (give or take a few decades :-D) and he and the other two have been part of large part of that as well.

@natronlut 5 ай бұрын

he does. and it breaks my heart that an era with the 3 old chaps has ended. I hope they can cock up some thing together again.

@pauliewalnuts240 5 ай бұрын

richards quick witted humor is unrivaled. Everyone wants to be funny but even during this relatively serious podcast, he still manages to have every answer verbalized in a humorous way.

@spongebobsquaretits 5 ай бұрын

ive heard Jeremy Clarkson say many times how genuinely funny he is

@BigFatTiddies 4 ай бұрын

Jeremy once said Richard is the funniest person he knows but unfortunately it doesn't come across on camera

@michaelsaunders6923 4 ай бұрын

No airs and graces , no " look at me" attitude just seems like a genuine bloke ,

@michaelmueller8772 4 ай бұрын

Thank you for this. Listening to Richard be interviewed by skilled and knowledgeable people is one of life's most rewarding simple pleasures.

@mikeplatts2603 4 ай бұрын

What a thoroughly nice, down to earth guy Richard is, I wish him all the best for the future.

@andyburnett8012 4 ай бұрын

As a car enthusiast and admirer of all things top gear (Clarkson, Hammond and May) I absolutely (in a purely platonic way) love Richard Hammond. He's a jewel of British broadcasting and motoring journalism. If I had the good fortune of ever meeting him I'd bow down and worship his entertaining magnificence 🙏

@Dave1507 2 ай бұрын

You'd have to bow down, he's not that tall ;)

@Cloxxki 4 ай бұрын

Hammond's greatest talent may be following his heart and acting on intuition. The way he brought the lads fish and chips, refused to lose his fav car shop and put his money where his heart was. And he knew it could be combined with his passion for broadcating. It's an utter triumph if you think of it. This kind of thing falls into everyone's laps, but we don't see it or fail to say YES to these slightest of opportunities.

@elmofeneken4364 5 ай бұрын

What an enjoyable evening I had tonight sitting here watching this video on this frigid evening at my residence and nothing enjoyable on the TV to watch. Richard thanks for entertaining me this night.

@WAFFLNATORE 4 ай бұрын

This needs more views, a well hidden gem

@goncalomoura8156 2 ай бұрын

Matt Prior, I have to tell you. You were in front of two monsters of automotive journalism, and you seemed a bit contrived, a bit humbled, just quietly and respectably listening to what those legends were discusting. Sir, I must point, you stand on the same ground as those two gentlemen, you are one of the greatest auto journalists that I have ever saw or read in my automotive life!

@GhostNation1 4 ай бұрын

Great interview and great to see Richard in his brief serious moments talking passionately about the future of the motor industry. Great questions and a lovely relaxed and informal feel to the whole interview. Thank you 🙂

@nottmfunguy 4 ай бұрын

Great interview, I always got time for Richard Hammond. I understand Matt Prior is a big advocate for EV. I think Richard was spot on with his view of EV's.

@majidalborz8993 5 ай бұрын

Great conversation, very enjoyable. Thanks to all three of you.

@gruunt4064 5 ай бұрын

Hammond has hair only a local radio disc jockey could own

@stephenmorgan5100 5 ай бұрын

Great show but please tell your event photographer that they don’t need flash :-)

@MartinBaldock 5 ай бұрын

Fascinating conversation, most enjoyable and glad Richard has an understanding of the potential for different approaches to the future of the car, not just EVs

@MsAliciaRL 5 ай бұрын

And honestly, the real answer is to focus more on public transportation. Not everyone wants to drive, but in the States, where I live, almost everyone is required to have a car or they would never get to go anywhere. By focusing more on public transportation, car makers can focus more on cars for people who enjoy driving.

@nottmfunguy 5 ай бұрын

I would suspect Richard Hammond wouldn't consider EV's attractive, basically soulless I think comes to mind.

@B1bthinkin 5 ай бұрын

Really enjoyable conversation. Thank you.

@gavla3550 5 ай бұрын

What a interesting Podcast. Fully agree with Richard, "give us a choice". I have always said my 2003 Ford Fiesta is much greener then an EV, mainly because she doesn't do more then 1500 miles a year. It would be more damaging to scrap a perfectly good working car and trying to find the cost of a new EV. Then having the issue of not being able to charge it at home, due to living a block of apartments with no outside socket.

@paulfinch5417 5 ай бұрын

Wonderful conversation, production points aside, Richards passion oozes through the camera … truly hope the Cog grows and if budget allows would love to see the E-Type as the showcase over the R/S ….

@stevemawer848 5 ай бұрын

Great content, shame they couldn't find a stills photographer who understands "available light" instead of spoiling the video with his flash.

@johnturner4400 5 ай бұрын

I had to put my iPad to one side as it was making my head spin.

@herme99 5 ай бұрын

Definitely useful to have Richards name on the desk!

@topmandog1 5 ай бұрын

he does forget

@patlalla148 5 ай бұрын

Lets Richard know where to sit.

@neilscott7683 5 ай бұрын

When Hammond brought up Richard Porter you could see Steve Cropley bristle 😂

@bigladdan 5 ай бұрын

What’s the deal with Steve and Richard Porter?

@neilscott7683 5 ай бұрын

Steve Crapley’s Motoring Weak 😂

@316CactusJack 4 ай бұрын

otsot

@cdg3818 5 ай бұрын

Excellent stuff. We’d never get anything like this on TV these days

@WilliamStevens007 4 ай бұрын

Brilliant, I thoroughly enjoyed this, Thank you Guys.

@bigladdan 5 ай бұрын

Really enjoyed that thanks.

@EILONadiv 5 ай бұрын

The phorographer taking pics is disturbing

@notthejustachrisevans5412 4 ай бұрын

What a lovely interview! Honestly, brings positivity and perspective to life

@stephenashby9858 5 ай бұрын

A very nice KZfaq. Well put together as with all production makes it looks so easy and relaxed! Btw Richard I totally get the motorbike thing…👍

@Stiglitz71 5 ай бұрын

Wholesome. As the series are.

@richardmortimer8147 5 ай бұрын

3 great 'Car Men' there! S Cropley seems to have been around for ever.

@liamc7097 3 ай бұрын

Not sure enough photos were taken during this

@JimWall 5 ай бұрын

Really interesting interview hearing Richard talking about things that I've not heard him talk about before. Ruined a bit by the camera flashes.

@topmandog1 5 ай бұрын

yeah i came into watching this thinking hammond has done 101 videos with other people in the last few months but hes really saved the good topics for this one

@kathynousbein 5 ай бұрын

Great interview, shame about the photographer messing up the production. So annoying. 😑

@marcuslamb-bentley4492 4 ай бұрын

Great chat guys. Liking the scruffy mechanic look Hammond, I'm not allowed to wear my fishing tunics at home...... Really enjoyed that, Just a good calm discussion amongst car nuts.

@Standiford_ 3 ай бұрын

i could listen to rh for hours lol

@NigelWest 4 ай бұрын

It doesn't surprise me that people are driving from London to buy cars from you, I would. A cooling system pressure tester is worth every penny. As a driver of old vehicles it's been useful many times. Love the channel James

@jamesjoslin1244 4 ай бұрын

Amazing man

@bastee2727 4 ай бұрын

Richard Hammond is really important.

@johndonaghy5674 3 ай бұрын

Excellent 👍 ❤

@kurtobeney8738 4 ай бұрын

Proper entertainment!!!

@hexgraphica 5 ай бұрын

BBC, or whoever retains the right to the filmed material, should put out extended version of their trips and challenges. They were originally cut to a very fast pace so that they'd fill a 20min or 60min TV slot, but nowadays the KZfaq pace is much slower and the same specials might be twice as long if cut as content for KZfaq

@topmandog1 5 ай бұрын

they would be butchered, they realised a few dvds after 2015 and they were just lazy clip together ones, the a-z was the only half decent one, theyd need to bring in andy wilman to edit them, the modern team never worked with the trio, so it would be edited like modern tg

@wadehampton4499 5 ай бұрын

Great video and conversation and Richard is entertaining and amusing as always but the camera flashes, shadows and stuff being dropped on the lower left made it look quite amateurish, come on Autocar, you can do better than this !

@lesflynn4455 5 ай бұрын

Really interesting conversation gents. I never knew Drivetribe was app based. I alway's thought it was just a KZfaq channel which I joined years ago. It has a very decent number of subscribers now, and is no doubt generating significant revenue. . Keep the content coming out, and keep the cast and viewers happy, it'll all be good. Mike Furney is great, Ben Collins is a fabulous regular guest, and that American guy, the CEO of GoPro - keep getting ppl like that on the channel, it'll grow like zits on a red bull loving teenager.

@topmandog1 5 ай бұрын

yeah it was started as app in like 2016, the food side took off more then the car side on youtube but since the app shut its sorta swapped round, and james seems to have hit pause on his food videos

@BertoniBertone 5 ай бұрын

This only reminds me how special Clarkson was. Prior and Cropley sit there aperched their Macs (when a bit of paper with notes on would have sufficed) in a format that was uncomfortable as it was dull. Dumas never wrote a sequel about the ‘One Musketeer’. Now we know why……🤔

@Kurlach 4 ай бұрын

Agreed.. I didn’t get the whole ‘laptops perched on laps’ thing. It’s so stilted and daft

@urbanstrencan 5 ай бұрын

Great to hear from Richard, can't wait for him and his team to make their first EV resto mod ❤😊

@banzai385 5 ай бұрын

Car restoration is a financial nightmare, getting skilled staff, charging a sensible hourly rate ,sourcing parts etc ,

@naikjoyx4291 5 ай бұрын

This was lovely :) Autocar has 800k subscribers yet I didnt know about the channel but I was on facebook page haha.. gawd damn im a stupid 30 year old man. Salut from Slovenia

@th7297 5 ай бұрын

I love how Richard unfolds a vision of the future of cars. And yes, please tell Fridays for Future that, electric cars, Online chitchat (which they do as well) and switching to electric power as such produce way more carbon footprint than petrolheads in total 😎👍🏻

@martinbyrne5626 4 ай бұрын

Let’s not do this.

@th7297 4 ай бұрын

@@martinbyrne5626 you are right, we would get metoo‘d for this… 😇😂

@Yvolve 4 ай бұрын

13:30 I watched an interview with Clarkson 2 days ago where he tells the same story. I think the channel is called Joe. Clarkson told the story slightly different, where he asked Hammond where he was from, who responded with "De Nam, Cheltenham". That quick wit is what Jeremy said was the deciding factor. The same channel interviewed the other two plonkers as well. Quite fun to watch.

@robertcarr4172 4 ай бұрын

Love old Hamster. Such a legend

@thomastaylor1283 5 ай бұрын

Is that a shadow 6R4 or t16 passing the bike in the picture to your left. Have you got rid of your swim spar

@user-wy8do6gl2n 5 ай бұрын

Was this interview from 3 years ago? If they'd done a moment of research or watched the show at all, they would be asking questions we are actually interested in. It felt like the first half was just watching 2 blokes learn about something the audience already knew - at which point I switched off.

@jimgamble4355 4 ай бұрын

Richard, you really didn't need to sell any of those cars to fund the business. You're worth something like 230 million dollars. You could run that shop indefinitely with your income from your TV shows alone.

@BEGGARWOOD1 3 ай бұрын

Always interesting to me that when people talk about EV and highlight the impact mining for the materials has always ignored the impact drilling and refining oil has 😂

@topmandog1 5 ай бұрын

have to say i went into this thinking theres been 101 videos and podcasts with hammond in the last 2 months and what can i really learn but this one is step above the rest

@parentsbasement7734 5 ай бұрын

It only took 3/4s of the way through for the Dude on the right to understand that the smallest cog is a for profit working shop. Damn Richard only said 20 times it's a working shop

@CrazyTechLab 4 ай бұрын

Got to ship battery materials across the world too...... Yeah, oil grows on trees in my back garden...

@Gidenkidenk 4 ай бұрын

Richard, since the issue seems to be funding, why not make a loaning company specifically for old car restoration, where the money would usually go towards a new car purchase or another used vehicle, it manifests itself as a monthly payment to bring a car back to its former glory or utility?

@mikeclark4416 4 ай бұрын

Get Edd Childs from "Wheeler Dealers " WOW , What a show that would be !

@markgallon9387 5 ай бұрын

thoughts on converting old/classic cars to Ev's?

@Ziccolumbia 5 ай бұрын

Great interview!

@jonathanpalmer155 4 ай бұрын

I appreciate that the way that Hammond - when it comes to expand - wants to remain in Hereford, because it is far enough away from London so isn't a commuter town. It seems to be a unique British belief, that if it isn't happening in the capital, it isn't relevant. It doesn't happen in the US, it doesn't happen in Germany, It doesn't happen in France and It doesn't happen in the Netherlands. Siting a car business anywhere in the whole of this country is a viable proposition: there are tarmacadam roads, railways, educational establishments, electricity and gas supplies with telephone and internet access. So, an automotive company can be established, thrive and prosper anywhere across this proud island.

@iainriley617 3 ай бұрын

Great interview , just ask the camara guy to sit still please

@fugamundi5963 5 ай бұрын

autocar went home with their dignity intact

@Flatmat 5 ай бұрын

Subaru restoration should be your bread and butter 😜

@hondablack1 5 ай бұрын

Why on earth attend a meeting with macbooks that do nothing but balance on one’s knees.

@MarcosCodas 5 ай бұрын

"I don't like being in troube" - Says the guy who got a telling off from the Mexican ambassador

@specialcircs 4 ай бұрын

I don't think the 'most people will spend 5 grand on a car' is even remotely accurate. On my housing estate - nothing fancy - there is a BMW, Audi or Merc in every drive, often several of them. I think most people buy cars on PCP and think in terms of monthly expenditure. Virtually NO-ONE buys their cars outright any more, only wealthy people.

@dane458 5 ай бұрын

How big is the booster seat Hammond is sitting on?...

@lensoprezole5322 5 ай бұрын

Are you talking about the narcissistic dwarf ?

@triedproven9908 5 ай бұрын

Watched the episode where the cog had mice. Turns out it was a dead hamster all along.

@littlewigglemonster7691 3 ай бұрын

@@triedproven9908lol

@durrydog53 3 ай бұрын

Hi, sorry it's been a long time since I contacted you . Sorry were treated so badly 😮. Brian❤

@e-z.g4188 4 ай бұрын

How many photos does that camera man need ffs

@GazGaryGazza 5 ай бұрын

The photographer supposed to be behind the camera instead of across it or in front of it and that flash every 10 seconds is extremely annoying

@ShaunRoberts1 5 ай бұрын

👍👍👍

@frog382 5 ай бұрын

I imagine after the Top Gear sunk miserably, many BBC executives punched the same guy that got Jeremy fired for punching him.

@himaro101 4 ай бұрын

In all honesty, I am actually glad they left TG, though it would have been nicer under better circumstances... Clarkson's Farm, GT & Drivetribe would never have happened otherwise. I think they've all grown personally and professionally as a direct result of leaving TG

@littlewigglemonster7691 3 ай бұрын

@@himaro101 agreed

@dwinterx 3 ай бұрын

Interesting chat, but some of the camera work was quite dodgy, and do you really need to take flash photos throughout a conversation? Quite annoying ...

@Cloxxki 4 ай бұрын

Ford would totally have delivered that Ranger for free. The exposure it got them...

@ronbose6320 4 ай бұрын

Great interview, but the photographer was a HUGE distraction!

@fugamundi5963 5 ай бұрын

listening to Richard with a straight face takes some skill

@TheSeoras 5 ай бұрын

Carbon footprint ! “ bollocks”

@harrylockton3379 4 ай бұрын

The flash photography mid interview gives this a real amateur porn vibe

@richardwhitworth4122 4 ай бұрын

Switched off after a few minutes due to the irritating camera flashes 👎

@316CactusJack 4 ай бұрын

13:28 OTSOT

@aljensen7779 4 ай бұрын

Great interview, including thee most disrespectful photographer behind the camera.

@KieranFuller17 5 ай бұрын

HAMMOND!

@Saint_Vincent1735 5 ай бұрын

what are your thoughts on the Ferrari Purosangue

@mr.cantsay 2 ай бұрын

Put pillows on the ceiling.

@TinPanAlleh 4 ай бұрын

48:50

@LILACJENNIFER 5 ай бұрын

Good, but that big chap in blue really likes to interrupt Richard to my great annoyance.

@belkeddashamdi3887 5 ай бұрын

But the car shows disappeared now, workshop isn't for testing cars, we want something to restart the eboladrome circuit for example

@MatthewSimpson2006 5 ай бұрын

Interesting pod cast. I understand there is an obvious focus on cars here. But if we are talking about a greener future, the best answer for getting round modern cities (particularly in the UK) isnt a car regardless of what powers it, its improved public transport. I am a bigger lover of driving and having a nice car, but even I have to admit that the commute into any of our major towns or cities isnt a driving pleasure. Hydrogen is definitely something with a future, but needs more investment. Synethetic fuels though have pretty much run their course. The problem is one of energy efficiency. It takes a HUGE amount of energy to produce synthetic fuel. So much so that it will always be cheaper to just put that in a battery. Some of the companies working on it were hopeful that with scale they could potentially get it down to between £20 and £30 a gallon. synethetic fuels will never be more than a niche.

@BlackLines 4 ай бұрын

The thing is we have the ability to have excellent public transport services even with fossil-fuel powered vehicles but we don't. Making them all EVs or hydrogen-powered won't change that one bit. We're limited by mismanagement within local authorities and cost savings which translates to poor rural services. You can go on about brilliant public services all day but if I need to wait 2 hours for a bus to get into town from my local village, then maybe 2 hours (if I'm lucky) to get back once I've done my tasks, then I'm afraid I'm going to take the car every single time. Case in point: I have a bus stop literally outside the boundary of my property. There's a bus at 8am and 10am, then the return directions at 4pm and 6pm. If I have a doctors appointment at 2pm, I will get the 10am bus into town then have a four hour wait. Not happening.

@MatthewSimpson2006 4 ай бұрын

@@BlackLines I agree. The point I was making was that we need investment in public transport as well. And we have needed it for decades. For most people, a car is simply their transportation solution, and I know a lot of people who would happily get rid of their car if they could. A lot of people actually dont enjoy or like driving. My wife for example absolutely hates driving, its a necessary evil to get to work, and if there was any other viable alternative shed sell her car tomorrow. Rural life is always going to be harder to service with public transport, but the reality is it doesnt work inside most big cities either. I live 5 minutes walk to a mainline station into my nearest city (manchester), and yet choose to drive into the office because its cheaper, quicker and more reliable.

@logtothebase2 5 ай бұрын

Good idea he has a name on his desk so he doesn't forget it, that one gets me all the time.

@richardcarter1000 5 ай бұрын

Hammond spot on about fuels. EVs will never be for me, I think they're a white elephant, but different fuels and making our cars last are the way to go, until we're allowed ICEs again Love the camera flashes like some dodgy porno.

@rockypupoxo 5 ай бұрын

He's someone who's actually talking sense at last .

@StephenLawrence01 5 ай бұрын

Yeah he is 'combustion engines never damaged amything' makes a lot of sense!

@maxflight777 5 ай бұрын

@@StephenLawrence01he’s ignorant isn’t he ? I met him once.. he and Mindy were chain smoking !

@topmandog1 5 ай бұрын

flashes only go on for a small bit

@johnnydean8613 5 ай бұрын

Richard saying "Groovy" while talking about young people, lol

@sladehelicoptersgaming3148 5 ай бұрын

Make do and mend is far better for the environment than a new car every three years .

@Saint_Vincent1735 5 ай бұрын

What are your thoughts on the Ferrari Purosangue

@michaelschneider- 5 ай бұрын

+1 .. Stupid, like all SUV's

@triedproven9908 5 ай бұрын

Doesn't matter... can't afford.

@anthonyhawkins9239 5 ай бұрын

An conversation

@GrapevineMediaStudios 5 ай бұрын

Camera Flash, very of putting. No Flashing Light Warning.

@Taylor___ 5 ай бұрын

I think the futre of the car is three things. 1) Hydrogen for long commutes, lorries, planes and boats, 2) electric for town use and those who can charge at home and 3) sustainable fuel running older cars. We've not invested enough into hydrogen yet because companies are making far too much money selling fuel still and now lithium ion batteries. Solid state batteries will change things for sure but the infrastructure for charging just isn't there and the big petrol companies have no incentive to do it. The moment somebody comes along and provides a family hatch back EV with a range of 600 miles at no more than 20K and charges convenietly at home in a few hours, that'll get people into electric. At the moment they are double the price, they depreciate like a stone and they are massively inconvenient because the charging infrastructure isn't there. Electric cars don't need to do 0-60 in sub 2 seconds, they need to do 60mph in under 10 seconds and have a top speed of 120mph at the most but most importantly is a range that matches economical fuel powered cars or betters it for the same price.