Richard Hammond Faces His Would-Be Killer

Dec 4, 2022 2 min read
Richard Hammond Faces His Would-Be Killer

So very brave and strong…


For many, Richard Hammond is the most lovable of the hosts for The Grand Tour. He’s pretty goofy, lacks any kind of pretenses, and is overall relatable to the average enthusiast. However, the man has one huge weakness: he’s prone to crashing cars. Out of all the man’s close calls, it was his brush with death in the jet-powered Vampire dragster which still haunts him. And now, Hammond is facing his would-be killer to overcome his fears.

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In case you need a refresher, Richard Hammond original got behind the wheel of the Vampire dragster back on September 20, 2006. The jet-powered race car theoretically could hit 370 mph, although Hammond never was able to prove if it was true. During a run, one of the tires blew, sending the vehicle rolling.

When crew members reached the wreckage, they reached in a found Hammond’s pulse, because it was so bad they weren’t sure the man was still alive. He had to be airlifted to the hospital and went through a long recovery. However, it was not all for nothing, because during a previous run Hammond set the British land speed record in the Vampire.

This faceoff between man and machine takes place on the DriveTribe YouTube channel, so you don’t need Amazon Prime or any cable service to check it out. However, in the teaser we only get to see Hammond climb into the seat, not actually drive the Vampire dragster again. But it seems like that’s what we’re going to see at a later date. No doubt, this is to get people excited and watching DriveTribe this year, but it might work quite well considering the significance of the event.

If you do tune in, there are many other things teased, including a Mazda MX-5 with a V10 engine squeezed inside. Plus you might see Hammond crash another car, although hopefully not while traveling 300 mph.

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