Richard Hammond

Column archive

Hammond's Highway Code of the sky - January 2010
"Let’s face it, there’s little point in me trying to fake it when asked, ‘Any accidents in the past five years?’"

Richard’s guide to geekdom - January 2010
If you’re looking for a surefire way to lose friends and alienate people, start talking enthusiastically about cars, as Richard has discovered

Richard's big chopper - Awards 2009
On Airwolf it looked easy enough, right? Not so. Helicopters are fiendishly tough to fly. And that's before you start thinking about being shot at...

Thoroughly modding Hammond - December 2009
Trying to be different in a world of monotonous mass production is not easy. For one thing, you need to get your hands on an eagle-etched rear window...

Richard the Raleigh star - November 2009
Vanity is a terrible affliction... as Richard discovered when he crossed the very thin line between looking cool and looking like a dickhead

Hammond on Massa’s crash - October 2009
There are often devastating consequences to the risks racing drivers take. But, as Richard knows, without helmets it would be even worse in most cases

Richard loves muscle - September 2009
Can you save the planet using a 7.5-litre V8 muscle car combined with the thunderous sound of heavy metal? Hammond is going to give it a damn good try

Hammond gets tooled up - August 2009
Richard has realised a childhood dream and amassed a state-of-the-art tool shed. But there’s a spanner in the works. And it’s a very clean, unused spanner

Hammond’s Haya education - July 2009
Super bikes? They’re too fast and too dangerous and too focussed... and now that he’s tried out the Suzuki Hayabusa, Richard wants one badly

Hamster vs mouse - June 2009
The head says it’s time to sell the Ferrari 550, the heart looks for every possible excuse not to. And Richard might just have found one that sticks

Last traction hero - May 2009
Fearless, adrenalin-fuelled, speed-loving – not much gets the better of Richard. Well, except helicopters and, er, grindingly slow traction engines...

It Must’ be love - April 2009
Have faith, says Richard. Trust your instincts. If you have belief in something, stick to it, and it will never let you down. Even if it’s a 40-year-old Mustang...

Richard on Saville row - March 2009
When it comes to the Hamster’s own experiences with the butterfly effect, a snub by Jimmy Saville ends in tweed, while joining the country set results in spinal injuries

Richard's new rinse - February 2009
Hammond's car-cleaning addiction has reached catastrophic proportions. If only he'd remembered the advice that his coach-building grandfather passed on

Hammond's Czech mate - January 2009
Love is a fickle master, and it’s playing havoc with Richard’s heart strings. Worse than that, TV’s James May has the same object in his affections. This could get messy...

Dirty pretty thing - December 2008
Cleanliness might be next to godliness, but it’s also very close to compulsiveness. So Richard is making an effort to play dirty with his new Morgan Aeromax

Tooling around - November 2008
When something goes wrong with your car, you’ll mostly likely curse your luck and call a mechanic. But, for Richard, this is where the fun begins

Promised Land? - October 2008
Fans – can’t live with ’em, can’t live without ’em. If you’re a car maker, that is. As one of Land Rover’s biggest cheerleaders, Richard is also its harshest critic