It’s good news for fans of The Grand Tour trio, as Richard Hammond has announced his latest project. Following in the footsteps of fellow Grand Tour presenters, who both lend their names to their own critically acclaimed series (James May: Oh Cook and Clarkson’s Farm), Hammond’s Workshop will center around the “Hamster’s” latest business venture: a classic car restoration company.
The show will look to capitalize on the success of the automotive restoration genre, a premise that has seen a rise in popularity of late. Shows such as For The Love of Cars, Wheeler Dealers, and Car SOS (all in the UK alone) have brought popularity to the process of documenting automotive repair and rescue.
The announcement comes shortly after Hammond made known the creation of his own classic car restoration firm, “The Smallest Cog.” To be launched later this month at the London Classic Car Show, The Smallest Cog is a tribute to Hammond’s grandfather, who was a coachbuilder for Mulliner and later Jensen. “I’ve always wanted to prove to him that there’s more to me than driving around the world, talking about other people’s supercars, crashing them, and then pretending to weld them up in a desert,” said Hammond, speaking to Drive Tribe.
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Unlike the previous spin-off adventures of the Grand Tour trio—including “The Great Escapists” that Hammond co-hosts with Tory Belleci, Hammond’s Garage hasn’t been picked up by Amazon Prime Video and will air on Discovery+ instead. However, Hammond is no stranger to the Discovery network, with “Richard Hammond’s Big” airing last year.
In a video posted to Drive Tribe’s YouTube channel, Hammond announced that the show would feature the same father and son duo that restored his Jaguar XK150, Neil and Anthony Greenhouse. The pair will run the workshop based in Herefordshire, UK, while Hammond plans to get involved along the way, proving that his grandfather’s talents may have been passed down in some way.
The idea for the new show was spurred on by the success of Drive Tribe’s video updates on the XK150’s progress. The program will air later this year, while a release date for The Grand Tour’s highly anticipated trip to Scotland is also expected to be announced in the coming months. Meanwhile, Clarkson’s Farm, streaming on Prime Video, appears to be a runaway success, with a 9.3 rating on IMDb and critics praising the departure for its entertaining-yet-serious take on farming.