Richard Hammond Drives His 630BHP Grand Tour Buick - Has He Gone Too Far?

I've waited five years to do this. — I think I've overdone it. — It is finally finished my Buick and today is my first drive at last. — I think I might have a go first. — What? — Well, I've done quite a lot of work on it. So, what? — I'm going to take it for a spin. You can come with me, passenger. — Oh, thank you. — Let's do it. Come on. — I'm going to get the left hand drive. Damn it. Get out of my way. — Wait, Rich. I'm really — Oh, look. It's a COVID mask because I drove it — in co. — Yes. — Okay. First question. Where which key is it? This key. — Yep. — And where does it go? — In there. The key. Yep. I do have to give it to Rich. This thing does sound good. Now, just to figure out the fancy new air suspension. I'm told it should be just as easy as pressing the button. — Apparently, you double tap that. — Um, — pop her in gear. Push your foot there and then pull it down. — Oh, — there you are. — It's big, isn't it? I really — Oh my lord. This is going to be scary. I'm not even Oh my god. — Oh, heaven. — How are you doing seeing out? Because as I recall the supercharger, — it's in the way. — Yeah. — Well, it's all right if you need to look in this direction. It's just that — So, just need to consider what we've done to this car. So, originally I bought it to go on a grand tour film in Scotland, and I'll talk more about that in a bit. — Lock down. It was Have you actually seen it? Yes, — you totally haven't. — God, it was good. You were brilliant. — You were very good in it. — Yeah. So, um it came back from that. It was very, very tired. Um it had massive overheating problems which have been resolved — by me. — Yep. — Put a radiator in it, didn't I? — And that was that a radiator for the supercharger? — Yeah. Because you did all the jiggory pokery to that, — but you didn't upgrade the cooling, — right? So, it could get very hot, but it couldn't cool down. — But to be fair, since then, I have also rebuilt the engine, — which I did with Rick Wood and had immense fun doing. Actually reassembled the whole engine. We've addressed the fuel tank issue. — Yeah, we've got a fuel cell in the boot. — Okay. — Courtesy of Isaac. — Cool. Um, so it's working and it's now on air suspension. But the work I did to the engine, what concerns and thrills me when this was new, it had three. — Sorry. To what extent am I in that? — You're all right. — How close am I? When it was new, — sorry, just one more thing. — I really wish you'd concentrate. Where are we going? — This mirror is completely broken. I can't see where I am on the road. — Okay. So, when it was new, it had 350 brake. Yeah. — And now it has 630. — Wait, just I think that might be too much. — Well, it also had 450 Newton me of torque and now it's got 830ish. — So, it is massively more powerful. — That is I mean, is that even legal? — What it's going to do is ask questions of the rest of the car. Prop shaft, brakes, suspension. Obviously, we haven't done it cosmetically yet. It's a bit of a mess. — Yeah, you can say that. Yeah. — We've done it mechanically basically to get it working. — I loved this car when we drove it. — Where what did you do with it? — Well, we uh it was locked down. Yeah. — I remember the times. — Yes. Co days 2021. — And we were searching for what could we do and where could we go — to make a film. — Oh, yeah. Because you couldn't go — We couldn't go abroad. So, we decided, we thought we'd been really clever. We thought that's no worries. We'll go to Scotland because it's massive and it always gives amazing scenery. And if you live in Australia or America, well, Scotland is as exotic as going to Switzerland or anywhere else. It's — It's foreign. — It is. — So, we thought we'd be really smart. We turned up day one filming. We stopped at this little place for a break. There's Joanna Lumley and a full film crew making a travel show. Everybody in the television world looked — went to Scotland. — Yes. Literally the whole of TV was there. Every pub or hotel we stayed in — was full of TV. — Fellow TV. Yeah. Everybody was there. — Wow. — But what we made was I think a really nice film cuz the scenery was and always is incredible in Scotland. — The cars were extraordinary. — Were they all American? — Yeah. The premise was why was it when we were kids our moms

and dads drove us around in Ford Anglers and Morris Marinas — when at the same time in America hello — yeah so true they were in cars like this actually this wasn't the norm in America really Buick launched the Riviera 70 I'll have to check it I think 71 — and thinking that wow this is futuristic and the world will love it and the world — hated it and didn't buy it. — Why did they hate it? because it was a bit strong. — It's cool as hell. — I feel like I'm in a Hot Wheel. — You know what I mean? — I feel like I'm the character in it. — Yes. — And it drives about as well as one. — Uh yes. — So it didn't only lasted 2 years or so and they abandoned it and realized the boat tail wasn't too quite a rare car. — Yeah. So that film was like a really straight back to basics one and it's one when we realized how lucky we were in that things went so wrong. — So things that people remember from the film which you haven't seen uh — I think I have seen it. I think I'm being trivial there. I think I have seen it. — Thank you. — So there was one that the only thing we set up as like a stunt was one where we filled James's caravan with water. So when they open the door — I have seen this. I think it became a bit of a meme — and it just it genuinely blew him off his feet. It was catastrophic. — But that was the only thing we did on purpose cuz then later that same day, entirely naturally without any planning, genuinely straight up true, Jeremy's caravan came off and overtook him in the woods and shot off down here. Brilliant. — Which you couldn't have done as a stunt. — The kind of things you hope for to happen. — Yeah. But to make that happen as a stunt, you'd have had to have a an exploding link. I mean, you'd have needed stunt. — Impossible. And then later on that same day, I sank the fishing boat with borrowed. And not being a sailing man, — you know, — I twisted the throttle to make it go. I was dragging the pontoon with Jeremy on it and the boat went and you see my face go, "That's not good. " And then I do it again, only more. — Emma's gone upside down again. — Wait, so did you jump out? — Well, I had to. The boat had so choice. It was the North Sea off the northern tip of Scotland in winter. Yes, it was brilliant. Brilliant, — but it was unplanned. And we all agreed how lucky we are that when we used to go out doing stuff together, things like that just naturally happened. — Yeah. But I think that's what happens when you're with three people that are equally as idiotic as each other. — This mirror, all I can see is myself, which — And you're quite — I mean, amazing, but less safe. — It's not helpful. — No. In a minute, you're going to discover the thing that I found out in the film that answered why we didn't have these when we were kids and we had Morris marinas. — Is it because I feel like I'm at the helm of a ship? — It's connected with that is. Yeah. — It's taken a while to get the Buick road ready. Throughout this journey, Liquid Modi products have been essential in ensuring we get to this stage. We started with their rapid cleaning spray to strip back years of grime and carbon buildup from the engine. Then we used their rapid rust solvent to free up all those seasoned stuck bolts that had been there since the 70s. And once the V8 was rebuilt, we filled it with Touring Hightech 20W50, which is perfect for classic engines. And of course, we're using a Liquole oil additive. It's our go-to as it reduces friction and ensures everything in the engine is protected. So now it's clean, protected, and running better than ever. Thank you, Liquid Molly, for powering another drive build. — Yeah, this car is going to feel quite big now. Yeah. — Oh god. — It's just too well because British cities were built for horses whereas American cars like cars this size. Yeah. Heraford wasn't built for a beautiful — Heraford does not know what's about to hit it. Quite literally hit it. — Oh, she does. She doesn't — She doesn't like it, does she? — She like it. — She didn't approve of it. — Very few people do approve of this car. Yeah, but I love a car that people shake their heads at. — Yeah, — it's so fun. That's why I like modding them. — People just disapprove. — Well, look at us in the window. — Now, we look really cool. — Wow, we look the bee's knees. — What would we say if we saw us if we were there? If we were that lady there, — I would be my jaw would hit the floor. — Yeah. — Why this lane? Okay, now this is going to be — quite tight. — Yes. — I I'm sorry to say this, but that was complete guess work that. — Yeah. Okay, — that was point and shoot and hope. — Well, I couldn't help I have my eyes shut down. — I can't see anything. Oh, I don't I could hit that child. Don't — look. They've moved him out of the way. — I don't blame them. I would move my children out unless it was you. — I'd probably run towards it. — You probably would. Why don't I tell you

what, pull over here and I'll have a go. Do you want Are you sure? — Yeah. — Is Do you want a trip down memory lane? — I do. It's 5 years since I've driven this. — 5 years? — Yeah. — God, you're on, isn't it? — Oh, yeah. Oh my god. I'd forgot. Is — Yeah. — Do you want to drive? — Uh, no thanks. — It is. — It's massive. — I was trying to get it through Edinburgh. — It didn't fit. I was But like the buildings are priceless antiques. — Yeah. You can't really nudge them. — No, they get crossed. You know, sometimes you're feeling like I just want to go and get a paper or some — Not in this. — No, — you I mean, we just stopped for roughly 15 seconds. Yeah. — And we probably had double that. Jesus, you're close to that truck. — Am I? — Yeah. — I thought I was all right. — No. Also, like, do you not feel the steering is way too light for a car this heavy? — It is. I've made a mistake. — No, I think it's fine. — No, I've got to go over the narrow bridge. No, it's going to be fine. — Is it won't go over the narrow bridge? — Yes, it will. It's believe in the boat. — It is a boat, is it? — The boat over the bridge. — Do you like it? — I do. You know what? I really didn't think I really thought I was going to hate it. I really like it. — It's kind of fun, isn't it? — It's so fun. That engine is amazing. — Oh, yeah. — It feels amazing. — Built it myself. — Yeah, — I actually did. It was epic and good fun. — He helped. Well, by Rick Wood who can literally rebuild it in his sleep. I mean, he knows everything. — Yeah, I will credit him a lot for this. — Yeah, but I Okay, it was under his instruction. — And that supercharger coming out the front. — So cool. — is one of the coolest things I have ever seen. And I hate to admit that. — So, it is epic, isn't it? — Yep. I think it rides rather well on this. — No, I think it does. It's really comfortable. — I thought it was going to be It's actually really lovely. It's just the steering I think makes you feel a bit uneasy because it's so light. — It's never going to be pinched sharp. It's a boat. It's from an era when fuel was cheap, — roads were straight, and you just got in it and went — and you just go. Yeah. Yeah. Do you know what you should do is you should do it up and then you should do a trip to Scotland in it. — Well, I don't know if I can afford the fuel to drive all the way to Scotland. — Yeah. It would cost a small force. — Right. We're on the bypass. — Oh, heavens. You about to unleash the — I've waited 5 years to do this. The no the noise is bigger than the movie. — Yeah, it is. — It smells — smells fumy, doesn't it? — I've got a headache. — Yeah, I feel a bit funny. — I feel strange. — God, this is funny. I think this is an hilarious car. Well, there we are. I'm going to view it as we finished the first phase of this car, the first five years, and got it to this point. But it ain't finished. No, there's more to be done, and it is going to be incredible. It's already amazing. — It is pretty cool. — I want to get this done and take it to shows. I really do. — Let's do it. — It's going to make people happy. It's one of those cars.