I am a driving god - Richard Hammond on test driving a Bowler Wildcat.

Richard Hammond was Born 19 December, 1969 in Birmingham, United Kingdom to Eileen and Alan Hammond. He grew up alongside two brothers Andrew and Nicholas. In 2004 he was voted 'Best British Presenter' and is well known to fellow car enthusiasts through his appearances on Top Gear, which he describes as 'The show you aspire to present' and Men and Motors.

Youth

Look, the fact of the matter is, Richard, I prefer to spend my money on petrol than on teeth whitening. I have not had my teeth whitened! - Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond on teeth whitening

Hammond or Hamster as he is nicknamed, because he is only 5/7 (170cm) and rumoured to have whitened his teeth, attended Sharmans Cross School and Solihull Boys School, before moving to the Yorkshire market town of Ripon where he attended Ripon Grammar School and Harrogate College of Art and Technology, where he obtained a National Diploma in Visual Communication. In his spare time he sang in a band and hung out with school friend Jonathan Baldwin, who later became a well known author and academic.

Hammond in the Media

Oh, James, you'll never believe where I've just been! Trapped between Jeremy's thighs in a Dutch three-wheeler!

In his early days as a presenter Hammond worked for various radio stations, such as BBC Radio York, BBC Radio Cumbria, BBC Radio Leeds and BBC Radio Lancashire. But in 1995 Hammond tired of radio presenting and thought about pursuing a career in motoring. However, he didn't get his big break into television until 1998 and thus in the meantime he found himself working for a PR company involved in corporate events for clients such as the Ferrari Owners Club and Renault Sport.

In 1998 Satellite TV asked Hammond to present Motor Week (1998-1999), a show all about cars that has been produced since 1980. Hammond was so successful as a presenter for the show that it wasn't long before he helped present a string of other programs such as 4 Wheels, 2 Wheels, Kits n' Cruisin' and Used Bike Heaven. However, his desire to present did not stop at automobiles, for he was soon appearing on Money Matters on The Money Channel and Livetime for Granada Breeze (2000/1) among others. By far the program that really brought Richard fame though, was the BBC television series Top Gear which he started co-presenting in 2002 with Jeremy Clarkson¹.

Hammond in Heat

I am not moonlighting as the editor of a gay magazine! - Richard Hammond

In July 2005 he was voted number one of the top 'weird celebrity crushes' in Heat magazine and in March 2004 and 2005 he presented the British Parking Awards at the Dorchester in London, presenting awards in a variety of categories including 'Parking team of the year' and 'Best new car park'.

Hammond writes a weekly column for The Daily Mirror each Friday on motoring and has written a book on Physics called Can You Feel the Force published by Dorling Kindersley. As well as taking hold of the corporate market with the likes of the Ferrari Owners Club, Cisco Systems and Renault Sport and acts as a host and charming after dinner speaker.

Family Man

I turn it into a family occasion. My eldest daughter is five, and she loves cleaning the car with me. We share it.
- Richard Hammond

Richard has been living just outside Cheltenham with his wife Amanda (whom he married in 2002), two daughters (Izzy and Willow), three horses, three dogs (a bull masstif crossed with a Great Dane, a border collie and a poodle called Pablo), two cats, a rabbit, chickens and sheep. Hammond also lives with several cars he has bought over the years including his dream car a Morgan +8 Roadster as well as a 1957 Land Rover 'Series 1', a Land Rover 110 V8, an elderly Range Rover 'Classic, a 1969 Dodge Charger 440 R/T (which he bought in November 2004) and a 1979 Porsche 928. He also owns two bikes, a Suzuki GSX-R 1000 and a BMW R1150 GS, and has built a couple of kit cars. As readers of his column in the Mirror will no doubt be aware, his most recent drunken eBay purchase was a Vauxhall Firenza, and not a good one either. In fact, it was a really bad one. Hammond's first car was a 1976 Toyota Corolla Liftback that he decorated with a rebel flag on the roof and some un-political words. Hammond is also fanatical about the Porsche 911.

Critical Condition

He was just doing the final run of the day - I don't know quite what happened - but the parachute deployed. There was quite a lot of smoke and the car veered off to the right and on to the grass, and it overturned several times and it came to a halt a couple of hundred yards in front of us.
- Dave Ogden from Event Fire Services

On 20 September, 2006, Richard Hammond was helping put the final touches together for the filming of TV production 'Top Gear', when he was seriously injured in a jet-powered dragster travelling at 280mph at the former RAF Elvington airfield near York. The dragster was powered by a Rolls Royce Orpheus Turbo-Jet Engine, which holds the landspeed record of 300 mph. He was flown² to specialist neurological hospital Leeds General Infirmary and at the time said to be in a serious, but stable condition.

It was 50/50 what was going to happen. I may have been dead, I may not have woken up.
- Richard Hammond

During his time in hospital, he was looked after by doctors and nurses at the hospital and received regular visits from his fellow colleagues, friends and family, who were all amazed to see him recover so quickly.

Since His Accident

Since his accident Hammond has been interviewed by the Daily Mirror, helped raise in excess of £177,000 for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance and filming has resumed on Top Gear.

Appearances

• Motor Week (1998-1999)
• 4 Wheels, 2 Wheels (1998-1999)
• Kits n' Cruisin' (1998-1999)
• Used Bike Heaven. (1998-1999)
• Money Matters (1998-1999)
• The Motor Show (2000)
• Livetime (2000/1)
• Home and Garden (from November 2000)
• 'Tasting' Canada for Carlton Food Network
• The Boat Show
• Better Cars (2001)
• Men and Motors
• Top Gear³ (2002- Present Day)
• Ready, Steady, Cook (29 December, 2003)
• RI:SE (appeared various times during 2003)
• Brainiac: Science Abuse (2003- Present Day)⁴
• TV's Greatest Cars (2004)
• Sport Relief (2004)
• Books for Boys (2004)
• Should I Worry About…? (2004)
• The Gunpowder Plot: Exploding the Legend⁵ (2005)
• Movies' Greatest Cars (2005)
• Are You Younger Than You Think? (2005)
• 'This Week' (9 June, 2005)
• Inside Britains Fattest Man (2005)
• Time Commanders (2005)
• Crufts (2005)
• This Morning (3 June, 2005)
• The Wonderful World of Whiteley (2005)
• Greatest Ever Screen Chases (2005)
• 'Breakfast' (28 October, 2005)
• 'Top of the Pops' (9 October, 2005)
• The Wright Stuff (2006)
• This Morning (4 January, 2006)
• Today with Des and Mel (9 January, 2006)
• 5 O'Clock Show⁶ (2006)
• Petrolheads (2006)
• School's Out (2006)
• Battle of the Geeks (2006)
• Richard Hammond's Would you believe it? (2006)
• The Holy Grail (2006)