It is now some time since Richard Hammond left Top Gear, along with his fellow presenters in James May and Jeremy Clarkson. For one of their last challenges, the trio drove three classic cars through Britain, including a run around a racetrack. The car Hammond drove in that segment of the final Top Gear episode was a classic MG MGB, one of the most common but most loved classic cars in the UK. And recently, he revealed his plans for this car.
He does indeed own this car still and in a recent Drivetribe video he decided to rebuild the car with his team at The Smallest Cog, and take it racing at events like the Goodwood Revival. A full episode on its restoration is on his Discovery+ show, but the car is now finished and ready to roar around the racetrack. In another video for the Drivetribe YouTube channel, presenter Mike Fernie is lucky enough to get behind the wheel of the MGB and throw this wonderful little car around the Llandow Circuit in Wales.
Getting To Grips With Hammond’s Final Top Gear Car
As Fernie says at the start of the video, the MGB is a quaint little car. At least, this one was quaint. It is now a racing beast, adorned in The Smallest Cog racing livery and it looks rather smart as well. Hammond has entrusted Fernie to give the car a bit of a shakedown. Specifically, this is a 1972 MGB GT, about as mundane and popular as a little sports car can get. As we can see, pretty much the whole interior bar the dashboard is all ripped out and replaced, and a hefty roll cage is inside as well.
The best bit though Fernie says is that the standard B-series engine under the hood of the MGB was in fact taken to a man called Rick Wood. He is a wizard in the race engine world, and it's gone from sub 100 hp to 131 hp. Plenty of power for a car that weighs a lot less than a ton. There are three bits of homework for Fernie to do and this is to check the suspension, the temperature gauge and the pedal box for the car. Fernie says that resident The Grand Tour Racing Driver, Abbie Eaton and Anthony Greenhouse drove the car the day before, and it was bunny hopping a bit!
Solving The Bunny Hopping Problem For The MGB
The sight of the little MGB bunny hoping would be quite funny. It turns out it was doing that because it almost had no suspension. A couple of mounting brackets were back-to-front, and the car had no suspension travel. It even spat Greenhouse off the track! Now though, with the brackets the right way around, it’s much better. The little MGB looks a real treat to throw into the corners. Fernie says Hammond has a proper nice little handling race car.
Fernie then checks the oil pressure gauge and the water temperate gauge, the former looking good but the latter at the same temperature as before. The gauge apparently was working, but it then went back to cold so a new water temperature gauge is probably needed. The speedo doesn’t work either, although it is a race car and may not need it! Fernie would like to see how fast he is going though. Finally, the pedal box. Eaton said it was impossible to heel and toe the car and Fernie agrees, saying the transmission tunnel in the MGB GT is too big. The throttle pedal is so far right that the chassis gets in the way when you try to heel and toe.
The MGB Is Still Great Fun To Drive
Fernie really rotates his ankle around, and you can just about heel and toe the car, but he thinks the pedal box needs going two inches to the left to sort it out. Hammond also wants Fernie to get out the car in five seconds., to pass the extraction test. Fernie does it in about six seconds, although he clatters his ankle as he gets out. Clearly some rubber protection is also needed on the roll cage! But other than that, this great little car is pretty much ready to go racing.
The Smallest Cog’s Racer Is A Stunning Little Car
Fernie though thinks the car is a riot to drive, and that it feels almost like an MX-5 from the 1960s. You can flash through the gears in the car, and the little MGB GT feels spot on. Fernie has an affinity with MG, as he does of course have a MGZ GT and his dad had an MGC, a straight-six development of this MGB GT. So this car does resonate with MGB. He is absoutley convinced that The Smallest Cog team have a little gem on their hands, even if there are a few things that need sorting. Let's hope the team can bag some great results with this little beauty.
Source: Drivetribe YouTube Channel