Richard Hammond Still Loves Citroën
by George Dyke….
Internationally renowned automotive journalist and British television host Richard Hammond made a guest appearance at the 2024 Canadian International AutoShow on February 15. The award-winning journalist and television personality, who best recognized for his time on Top Gear and The Grand Tour, took part in the AutoShow’s media day opening presentation.
For more than two decades, Richard has been one of the most entertaining presenters in Britain. But he is more than just an entertainer — known for his engaging speaking style and inspiration, audiences are motivated by his unique perspective on overcoming challenges and achieving goals.
Besides Top Gear and The Grand Tour, Richard is also known for his science and physics programming, including Brainiac: Science Abuse, Blast Lab and Richard Hammond’s Crazy Contraptions. In 2018, he founded Chimp, a production company that has made shows for Amazon, Channel 4, Comedy Channel, Discovery Plus and Quest. Richard Hammond’s Workshop, which has been recommissioned for series 3 and 4, is made by Chimp and marketed by DriveTribe (his YouTube channel with 2.3 million subscribers).
Amongst the media frenzy surrounding Richard at the show I managed a catch up with him as he was being escorted from one venue to the next. I asked him about his thoughts in on Citroën as a brand today. He said; “It would be nice see the invention we’ve seen in the past. And I think we’ll see that again. That’s an art and coming.”
Does Richard have an inside track to what’s next from Citroën? He didn’t disclose that – so we’ll have to wait and see.
With his belief that there is a future for Citroën with Stellantis, I asked him about the DS21 road test he did 22 years ago on Top Gear, and how he feels about that car today in the context of all the automotive technology on display at the Auto Show. His response:
“Oh God! — Absolutely beautiful car and legendary. The Decopotable (the DS convertible) would be simply the Citroën I would cite today.”
It’s nice to know that Richard is hopeful for Citroën’s future, and that the classic DS still stands out in his mind as a benchmark in automotive achievement.
Watch Richard’s Top Gear review of the DS when Top Gear relaunched in 2002. Host Jeremy Clarkson described the Porsche 928 as the best looking car ever designed, but new co-host Richard Hammond was keen to disagree, citing the DS as worthy of that title. He then dedicated a segment to the car, driving it through London as he remarked about how futuristic the DS was for its time:
