7 ultimate cars in Richard Hammond’s dream garage (and one nightmare)

If it has wheels, Richard Hammond has probably driven it - and no one knows their way around cars better than this bonafide British motoring icon.

The Grand Tour and Top Gear star has raced them, wrecked them, restored them… and still can’t resist filling his personal garage with rolling works of art.

“Cars are so much more than a bundle of machined parts,” Richard tells Shortlist.

“They’re a means of expression about the owner. They move us physically, which is why they move us emotionally. They’re the most significant thing we ever devised.”

But for a man who’s spent his career in supercars, it turns out Richard’s ‘dream garage’ is anything but predictable. “Any car of whatever era has a story to tell,” he shares, “If it’s from the ’20s, ’50s, ’70s, or this week, it reflects the hopes, dreams and fears of the time.”

That’s why his line-up of dream machines is a mix of movie legends, yobbo rides, forever cars, heartbreakers - and even a fantasy poster car he insists is downright awful. As Richard confesses when we sit down with him: “I’ll never wake up and think, ‘That’s it, I’ve got all the cars and motorcycles I need.’ That’s never going to happen.”

From the best in the world to the most disappointing, welcome to Richard Hammond’s ultimate dream garage…

1. The Steve McQueen Icon: 1968 Mustang 390 GT in Highland Green

“My favourite car in my garage varies week by week. I’ll often use a car for weeks at a time. I have a ’68 Mustang 390 GT in Highland Green - it’s very much the Steve McQueen ‘Bullitt’ car. It’s not a replica; that’s how it left the factory. I love that.”

2. The rolling work of art: 1962 Jaguar E-Type Roadster

“I also run around in my Jaguar E-Type - a ’62 E-Type Roadster, which is just a breathtakingly beautiful car. You’re literally driving a piece of artwork around and making everybody’s day better by appearing in it.”

3. Yob fun - at any age: Subaru Impreza WRX V-Limited

“Then, there are my funny cars. I’ve got some of my more yobbish machinery, like a Subaru Impreza WRX V-Limited, that not many people want to get in with me. I’m 55 years old, driving the car we all wanted in our 20s - it’s loud and brutal.”

4. The numberplate that backfired: Porsche 911 Turbo S Cabriolet

“It is possible to get it wrong when it comes to choosing your car. I had an embarrassing experience recently. I was meeting a fairly new friend, and I didn’t want to turn up in my black 911 Turbo S Cabriolet. It’s great, but the number plate is… well, it’s funny to some people. But it reads D1CKH. If I’m at a race track with mates, everyone laughs. But this was not the moment for that car. I was mortally embarrassed.

"I should have taken my classic Jaguar XJR - a discreet, beautiful luxury car, the last of the great Jags. But the only car available at the time was the 911, and I had to turn up in it. It’s a bit loud. And the plate really didn’t help. I got that plate myself… but it proves how critical your choice of car is. That car isn’t appropriate for all events and occasions!”

5. The forever car: A Black Porsche 911

“If I could only drive one car for the rest of my life, it would probably be a Porsche 911. You can use it every day. It does everything - it’s fast, rugged, reliable, discreet. I’m a big Porsche fan. They’re built to be used, and that’s rather the point. Mine is just a black Porsche. So, apart from my number plate, it doesn’t attract too much attention.”

6. The valet’s worst nightmare: Ford Model T

“One of the most ridiculous cars I’ve ever driven was a Ford Model T - even if it is a very significant car. Once, we did a Top Gear feature about valet parking at hotels, and I pulled up in that car. It’s the first mass-produced car, and historically important - but almost impossible to operate if you haven’t driven one before. None of the controls are where you’d expect. Ergonomics didn’t exist yet. Half the controls weren’t even inside the car. Handing it to a hotel valet was hilarious - they couldn’t move it!”

“I’ve got old motorcycles too, like a Brough Superior - a beautiful old British Ariel motorcycle. It has no key, but you don’t need one, because the only people who know how to start it wouldn’t steal it!”

7. The one that got away: Ferrari 550 Maranello

“I had to sell a bunch of my cars to set up my workshop, The Smallest Cog, and there are lots I regret selling. I sold a Lotus Esprit Sport 350; a 1969 Porsche 911T. It makes me genuinely sad, because I didn’t want to sell them, but I had to, to pay for the workshop. It was awful seeing them go. I don’t like looking through my phone because if I search “car” in my photos, I see all the ones that got away. I sold a Ferrari 550 Maranello, too - that broke my heart.”

…and the disappointing dream car: Lamborghini Countach

“One luxury car I really don’t like is the Lamborghini Countach. It was the bedroom wall poster of my youth, and when one came through Ripon, where I was working in a bookshop when I was young, and the whole town stopped. In black, it was magnificent. But they’re unbelievably bad to drive. Every time I get to drive one, I think, ‘It can’t be as bad as I remember. It must be wonderful.’ And then I drive one. No - it really is that bad. They’re beautiful things, but awful.”

Richard Hammond will judge the 20th Anniversary Salon Privé Concours de Vente and Lifestyle Club Trophy at Blenheim Palace on Sunday 31st August. Find out more at salonpriveconcours.com.

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