Richard Hammond, along with fellow Top Gear and Grand Tour presenters James May and Jeremy Clarkson, is no stranger to controversy. Hammond has been involved in some of the wildest moments in TV history, with most taking place on the BBC show before the trio moved to Amazon Prime.
Incidents such as the Argentinian numberplate saga or the incident in Alabama during the USA special have become ingrained in global TV culture. They are just two of the moments in the show’s history that got people talking, and placed the show in the spotlight.
In a recent DriveTribe video, Hammond recounted some of the biggest controversies in the two shows’ past, including the ones previously mentioned. It is quite scary just how long ago these were, as the USA special drama occurred 20 years ago back in 2006!
The show was made in a very different time, and most of what they did they probably wouldn’t get away with in 2026. But these moments are firmly part of the history of the trio, and became some of the most famous moments in their history while they were on our TV screens.
The USA Special Saw the Team Attacked by ‘Rednecks’
In 2006, the three were driving from Miami to New Orleans in cars they had bought for $1,000 or less. Clarkson had a Chevrolet Camaro, Hammond a Ford pickup truck and May a Cadillac Brougham sedan. One part of the trip saw them drive through Alabama, and the three had been told to paint their cars in a provocative way to draw attention to them.
The three decorated each other’s cars, and then drove on through the state. The slogans went along the lines of “NASCAR sucks” and “Hillary for President.” They got the reaction they wanted with regular horn honking on the highway, but after they pulled into a gas station, the lady who owned it took major offense to the slogans.
As Hammond said in the video, she proclaimed, “Ya’ll looking to get beat up in a hick town,” and said she was going to get “the boys.” The three decided to make a run for it, although May’s Cadillac decided at that moment to require a jump start from Hammond. Pickups with quite burly men turned up, and they began throwing rocks at the trio and film crew. They did make it out in one piece, although not without being stalked for a bit as they hit the road hard.
The Argentinian Numberplate Controversy
In 2014, the three were driving across Patagonia,i.e., Chile and Argentina, to celebrate the V8 engine. May had a Lotus Esprit, Hammond a Ford Mustang Mach 1 and Clarkson a Porsche 928. But it was the Porsche that drew the ire of some Argentinians. A journalist made the claim that the license plate, H982 FKL, was a direct reference to the 1982 Falklands War between Britain and Argentina. The Porsche had actually won that plate from new in the UK, and out of two cars available for the Patagonia Special, the other Porsche 928 was in poor condition, so H982 FKL was bought.
After reaching the town of Ushuaia, the team was confronted by war veterans, who basically ordered them to leave or there would be violence. The presenters and two crew members flew out, as they were deemed to be the target. But as the crew drove out of Argentina to Chile, they were harassed and harangued by angry locals, many of whom were just spoiling for a fight. Ironically, the veterans left the team alone once they left Ushuaia.
It culminated in a violent attack in the town of Toluhin, with stones and rocks thrown at the convoy, damaging vehicles and injuring crew members. They made it out, but had to abandon the presenters’ cars. Eventually, the team did cross safely into Chile, but it was a terrifying experience. While the show has caused controversy, this felt like an incident where something tenuous was used as an excuse to cause trouble.
Other Controversies From the Trio’s History
Hammond did touch on another moment in the show’s history, which involved the Rimac prototype that he crashed back in 2017. Hammond crashed the car at the top of a Swiss hill climb, but Mate Rimac, despite the crash, was concerned for Hammond and hoped he was okay. Rimac comedically elected Hammond the company’s ‘crash test dummy’ once he knew Hammond was okay.