Richard Hammond needs no real introduction. Hammond for years was a presenter on BBC’s Top Gear along with Jeremy Clarkson and James May, but recently of course has been with the other two on The Grand Tour, the DriveTribe YouTube Channel and of course is heading up his own car restoration firm, The Smallest Cog. Hammond is one of the most popular and well known personalities in the automotive world, but he has had his fair share of bumps and bruises over the years.
Hammond has crashed a few vehicles. There is of course the most famous accident involving the Vampire jet car that nearly killed him. We also have the Rimac accident from a few years ago in The Grand Tour. Plus, there are a multitude of smaller accidents from Top Gear that have all added up to a highly impressive list from Hammond’s career on TV and online. So, we think it would be a good idea to take a look at some of the most expensive accidents of Hammond's over the years, and then highlight some of the smaller ones as well.
The Biggest Accidents For Hammond
Let's start with the big one. Hammond was having a go at the British Land Speed record in 2006 in the Vampire jet dragster, for an episode of Top Gear. However, on one of the last runs of the day, the Vampire got a puncture, and it veered off the track, rolled over multiple times and then finally came to a rest. Hammond was then in hospital with head/brain injuries, but made a remarkable recovery before returning to Top Gear. That was surely the biggest crash Hammond has ever had.
The Rimac crash took place during filming for a Grand Tour episode a few years ago, at a hill climb event in St. Gallen, Switzerland. The $1 million electric hypercar was still in prototype form, when Hammond skidded down the side of the hill just after the finish line. Hammond was able to crawl out of the wreckage before the car’s battery packs burst into flames, with an inferno that took days to extinguish. Thankfully, Hammond only suffered a tibial plateau fracture which was remarkable given the severity of the accident. For all their jokes, the three presenters are very close friends, and May and Clarkson felt sick as they saw the crash unfold but were thankful that their friend escaped.
Other Notable Accidents From Hammond’s Career
These are certainly not the only accidents that Hammond has had in his career, or on the TV shows he has worked on. For example, we have the scene in the Bolivian Special where, at the end, Hammond’s Toyota Land Cruiser runs down a sand dune on its own before flipping over, losing a wheel and coming to a rest. The car was a write-off sadly and thus unable to complete the challenge. Hammond wasn’t in the car at that point, but it was his car.
Top Gear features the most of Hammond’s crashes, mostly from the challenges. In one episode, while trying to do a lap in a Bedford Rascal van, Hammond flipped the van onto its side and skidded across the track for a moment. Then there is the old Rover from the £100 car challenge many years ago, where Hammond crashed it into a brick wall at 30 mph for a challenge, In fairness, all tree presenters had to do that. So it wasn’t just Hammond.
A Big Crash In A 24-Hour Race
One of Hammond’s most notable accidents was simply not his fault. During the 24 Hour BritCar race at Silverstone, Top Gear entered a diesel BMW. Hammond was driving the car at night in one of his stints, but a Mosler race car cut across him down ahead of the Hangar Straight at Silverstone and massively damaged the suspension of the BMW, causing one of the most dramatic crashes Hammond has had. Remarkably, the Top Gear team was able to get the car back to the pits and repair the BMW which went on to finish the race.
Humorous Mishaps And A Total Cost
Some accidents are just plain funny. Hammond dropped his Subaru Impreza estate into a ditch during the Top Gear Africa Special several years ago, in quite a bizarre little incident. He also unintentionally filled water in the tank of a McLaren 720S during a track test of The Grand Tour, likely to have written the car off should he have attempted to start the engine.
He also hit a bollard in a Ferrari in Spain, among so many other small moments. In terms of how much this cost over the years, it's quite difficult to put a figure on it. The Rimac cost $1 million at the time that was written off entirely. The Vampire jet car might have cost around $10,000 to repair, as it is now fully restored. So putting an estimate on the total cost is tricky, but it must be around $2 million at least after years of bumps.
Sources: DriveTribe, Top Gear Fandom, YouTube