Hammond: ‘Stop messing about and learn engineering’
The Grand Tour star Richard Hammond has called for younger enthusiasts to learn more about restoring classics.
Richard was at the show with his 1972 MGB GT – the last car he drove on Top Gear and which he subsequently bought after the show – which appeared on the MG Car Club’s stand. He says he’s planning to take it racing ‘on a miniscule budget’ for the second series of Discovery+ series Richard Hammond’s Workshop.
In an appearance on the show’s live stage, he told showgoers that one of the most important things in the classic car world was getting more young enthusiasts involved in future restorations.
He said: ‘The world owes a lot to engineers and there’s no doubt it will continue to going forward, so if you’re young and looking at a career, stop messing about and do engineering. Anything that brings in new hands has got to happen. ‘You can have all the money in the world and all the kit in the world, but it’s the hands that operate them where the value lies.’
Richard added that it’s important to preserve classics for environmental reasons, and argued that classics are an important part of decarbonising the transport infrastructure.
‘One of the greenest things you can do if you’re a young person and you don’t do a lot of miles is to effectively mend your old jeans rather than getting some children on the other side of the world to make a new set for you – get in an old car, run it efficiently, and then a new one doesn’t have to made. There’s a huge green message there.’
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