Richard Hammond raises £230,000 in auction for new business

Grand Tour presenter, Richard Hammond has auctioned off five motorbikes and three cars from his personal classic collection and raised £230,000 to fund his new restoration business, The Smallest Cog.  

Hammond’s 1999 Lotus Esprit Sport 350 is number five of 48 models built and sold for £62,250. In second place his silver 1969 Porsche 911T sold for £60,750. 

On the day of the auction, Richard Hammond said, “Hello, I’m at the Silverstone Classic Auction, it’s Sunday morning and I’m emptying out my toybox. Reasons are complicated, there’s been a bit of a bump in the road with my huge workshop project. If you want to find out why and how it goes, well the show will be on air later this year. Meanwhile, wish me luck because this is going to hurt a bit. But it’s all for a good cause.” 

The motorbikes sold for a combined £72,719 with his 2019 Norton Dominator 961 Street Limited Edition selling for £25,650. Richard also put up for auction his pre-war 1932 Velocette KSS Mk1, which sold for £9,225. The motorcycle was restored to an extremely high standard and good running order.  

Richard Hammond was also filming for the DriveTribe YouTube channel and his new upcoming TV show on Discovery+, set to air on the streaming platform later this year. The show will feature The Smallest Cog, inspired by Hammond’s grandfather, and will focus on the restoration of classic cars.  

Will you be tuning into Richard's newest TV show? If so what are you most interested in seeing? Let us know in the comments below.