Have you ever dreamt of doing a road trip that no one has ever thought of doing, in a car that no one has ever thought of doing it in? That’s exactly what Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond did in their latest adventure – The Grand Tour: Eurocrash. In an exclusive interview, we caught up with Richard “The Hamster” Hammond himself, who shared intimate details about the laughs, the show, and his fearless co-stars.
Making its grand entrance onto local screens this month, The Grand Tour: Eurocrash is the latest The Grand Tour special episode where motoring legends Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May head to Central Europe on a road trip nobody has ever thought of, in cars nobody would ever dream of using. This epic 2,250-kilometre journey takes them from Gdańsk in Poland through Slovakia, Hungary, and Slovenia. They sample some Soviet-style Formula 1, are attacked by deadly archers, recruit a famous racing driver, and participate in a spectacular Fast and Furious climax.
Driven: Throughout the show, you seemed to have an absolute blast. Tell us what it was like filming Eurocrash?
Richard Hammond (RH): It was a fun one to make, as so often we set out, and a lot of the film is about the journey and about, you know, tough conditions and terrain, and we’ve done quite a lot like that over the years. This one came about because we always need a reason to do a trip. We don’t want to just say, ‘Hey, let’s go somewhere nice in some nice cars’ because that’s boring – so we came upon the idea of doing a road trip that no one’s ever thought of doing, in cars no one’s ever thought of doing it in. That allowed us to pick interesting cars and places and then take the viewer there in a way they would never normally have visited. And, as a result, because the terrain wasn’t tough, we could have fun, we could play silly pranks on each other. We had a bit more time to just have a laugh together, because we weren’t spending so much time battling tough terrain. I think it’s got a really happy feel to it. It feels like there are three blokes having great fun.
Driven: On the gags that you play, were those scripted, or did they just happen as you went along?
RH: Yes, the scripting issue is raised less these days than it used to be. I think people got caught up with the idea that we scripted the whole thing, but, you know, they’re expensive shows to make because we want to make them well, and production values like that cost time and money. We can’t just say to the broadcaster, ‘We’re just going to go there and hang out and see if some fun stuff happens,’ because it might not and then we’ll come back without a film. Instead, we generally plan some things, hoping that what actually happens throws those out. Nine times out of 10, that’s what happens; very few of the things we’ve planned ever make it to the show; we’ve got them there just in case. That’s the least we’ll come back with. But then, there are always key moments that just unfold naturally that are far better, and that’s what makes up the show. That’s also why, when people ask us for outtakes, we don’t really have any because they go in!
Driven: So, on the cars that you chose for Eurocrash, and specifically your Chevy SSR, do you pick the cars yourselves, or do you get a list and get asked to pick one?
RH: We always have a chat and talk it out among ourselves in the office, and decide on the cars we’re going to use. I wanted one of those (Chevrolet SSR) just because it’s such a ridiculous car. I’ve always liked them because they have a massive V8 in them, and they’re a bit of fun. It turns out the world wasn’t ready either for a two-seater folding hardtop pick-up – it’s compromised as a pick-up truck, as a two-seater, and as a sports car.
Driven: When you say it like that, a two-seater convertible pick-up doesn’t really make sense at all, yet Chevrolet made about 24,000 of them.
RH: It’s a lot more than you’d think! I think the world realised, ‘Hang on, this is a silly idea,’ but I thought, well, let’s give it a run-out and do something unusual with it. So, I was happy to use it – it stood out and I loved it!
Driven: Looking at some of the special cars that appeared in the show, that Praga Bohema was stunning, but so was the Klein AirCar. Was that part of the original plan?
RH: Well, we wanted to see it, and we didn’t know how much we’d get with it, but, oh my goodness, the thing actually flew, it was incredible!
Driven: Did they also let you look at it up close?
RH: Yes, we had a look up close, (although) they didn’t let’s go in it. Somebody did ask if we could fly it because I’m a helicopter pilot, James is an aeroplane pilot, and Jeremy’s a tractor pilot. But, no, we didn’t ask, we didn’t fancy a go, no.
Driven: You had some incredible adventures, and we’ll let the viewers see them for themselves, but that Hungarian Archer race, with real arrows… What was that like?
RH: Oh yes, there’s a long history of archery in Hungary, that’s why we did it. And again, that’s something you don’t get to see normally, so we decided to do it. We love the unusual. That’s one of our key things; to take people to places they wouldn’t normally go but show them those places in a different light. It’s interesting that Hungary has a long history of archery, but just saying that and seeing some archery wouldn’t have been enough on our show. So, we said, alright, let’s do something special with it, so that’s what we did.
Driven: Besides all the hijinks, you experienced some fantastic landscapes. Which part of the tour would you say had the best scenery?
RH: Lake Bled was just insane, it’s like somebody’s overdone it. as we said at the time. I think if somebody painted that, you’d say, ‘Well, you’ve kind of overdone that a bit’. But also lots of bits of Poland; your brain tells you to expect quite a drab grey city, and you find these incredibly beautiful, vibrant cities with fabulous architecture, which, again, was a real surprise, and a welcome one. So, yes, taking people to places they wouldn’t normally go is one of the things we like doing, and we’re very lucky that we take with us a crew that can absolutely capture it. That takes time, but it’s incredible.
Driven: I’m curious about the time it takes to produce a show such as The Grand Tour: Eurocrash. Obviously, it didn’t take you the few days that appear in the show. Did James get to see any of Lake Bled?
RH: Not really much, no. These trips typically take about two weeks because we work solidly, we don’t hang around. For one, it’s very expensive; we’re a big crew. And two, we need to keep the momentum up. It’s a journey, and we’ve got to do the journey, so we try to keep it moving.
Driven: How was that beer that you and Jeremy had at Lake Bled? It’s a shame what happened to James…
RH: Yes, he did sulk about that, but he chose the car. It didn’t really work to have a car that you could pick up and put in a shop window, which we did.
Driven: We can’t wait for readers to watch The Grand Tour: Eurocrash, but I have to ask, are you working on the next one already?
RH: Well, we’re already scratching our heads for the next one; we might have just come back from recording one. I love it when a new one lands, and it’s great when we get a response from people since we started doing the specials. They’re a big thing to make, and you really want people to enjoy them. And certainly, this one has, I think, a really good spirit to it because we weren’t grappling with a hostile environment, we were able to just enjoy it. I hope people really enjoy it. I want people to enjoy travelling with us to somewhere that they maybe haven’t been before.
Driven: Any plans to come to South Africa again?
RH: I wouldn’t be surprised! You know it’s our second home, we’ve been there so many times. It’s a place we’ll never want to neglect for long, we’re always happy in South Africa.
Report by BERNIE HELLBERG JR | Images © PRIME VIDEO
