User Reviews

A surprisingly earnest showcase of hammonds life at home with family, and at work, minimal fakery and staged antics, very wholesome series of him trying to beat a mid life crisis with out the other two putting him down or pranking him.

It's light hearted, a lil cringey in places but i think it's all in good taste, and lands well, tho it may not translate for certain demo's, seems aimed at british people / top gear / grand tour fans for the most part, no flashy gimmicks or obviously over the top fake drama like the american shows insist on ( other than the questionable finances, which don't add up if hammond is worth millions). It's also not meant to be a 100% serious take on the industry, tho it does give history / info and explanations and is directed well to give the needed levity when serious.

People who hate on it must be lost and watching the wrong show.

Kudos go to mindy for keeping richard on track, and it's fun to see their dynamic on screen for a change, richards family do continue the ' slightly comedic style from his youtube reviews that they were in. But thank fully this is just to add a bit of humour when things get gloomy, or a 'reality check is needed' but i feel like these do detract from the serious vibe the show tries to double down on when things aren't going well.

The father and son team, tell it like it is, and i think it's obvious they're not quite sure about being on camera and doing ' interviews' in these first 2 episodes, tho i feel they will improve.

I do wish it was released quicker than weekly, but it's a nice change of pace from the american resto shows.

Slow roll. Took the first two episodes for me to be invested, then I started to really care that Neil and Anthony succeed. The more the Greenhouse's story came out, the more I enjoyed the show. The caring aspect of of their family is moving.

Hammond is a long time TV personality and can provide some shtick that people can love and hate, but a real, blue collar family putting their faith and reputation on the line felt, and hopefully is, real.

Worst case, it's a worthwhile watch. Especially for Hammond fans, and car enthusiasts.

I've always enjoyed Richard Hammond's contribution to Top Gear, and as the three, Clarkson, May and Hammond have moved on to independent projects of their own, I was delighted to see that Hammond was going to engage in Classic Car Restoration, something that he has professed an interest in for a long time.

The concept of him joining force with a father and son who have years of experience and he using is financial clout to put them into a high tech workshop where the three of them can use their combined skills to take the business to a higher level, is simple and interesting. In the course of the first series some simple restoration work took place, Hammond struggled with the business planning / financial side of things, and the others gradually grew accustomed to having camera crews around a lot of the time.

All in all it works very well. The restoration work part of it is interesting and hopefully will take up a slightly larger proportion of future episodes. The relationship between the three of them involved works well and seems to be very genuine. I have seen some reviews that have criticised the storyline where Hammond has to sell his cars to finance the business. The point is made that he has sufficient net worth ($45 million) not to need to do that and it was just done to create artificial drama. I for one am not going to waste my time wondering about the real finances behind all of this. Controlling financial flow is part of any business and including it adds to the portrayal of their online story. As with any such documentary style show, I don't think it would be realistic to expect it to stick to the real life facts 100% there is a need for artistic licence. All in all I thoroughly enjoyed every episode and can't wait for Series Two.

I'm sure as time goes by it will develop from a very promising First Series into one that grows from strength to strength.

Comparisons to Clarkson's Farm are inevitable. Clarkson is a leap-before-he-looks moron with too much money. Sound familiar?

The difference is Clarkson dove in to join the operations of an operating farm. He was learning how it all worked along with the audience, always under the guidance of some expert, like Caleb or the business manager. The "risk" is that the farm will execute it's operations in a sub-optimal manner, not that it would collapse.

Hammond leases a plot of land and hires a firm to build a building, apparently without ever learning the timeline of the project until the project is already late.

He never plans out the floorplan of how the new workshop would be setup, not on paper, and never prices out the costs of moving or buying new - until he's already under water.

Now, in episode 4, he's "desperately" going to sell his classic cars to keep the business afloat.

As a saavy viewer of these kinds of shows, I know it's all drama to prop up an otherwise content-less joyride. The 'costs' of the 'business' are paid for by the revenue of the show. This isn't a documentary about a rich old man starting something new, this is a scripted sitcom that doesn't take place on a soundstage.

Watching Hammond is a chore because the show has done nothing to demonstrate he isn't gambling with people's fortunes and his family's future. I know the father/son duo will be fine, I know that the Hammond clan will be fine, but only because I'm aware of the facade. Taking the show at face-value, the difference between Hammond and a grifter is that Hammond has no malice.

So he isn't a plucky entrepreneur; he's a child toying with people's lives. His 'surprise' at some of the developments is agonizing. The father/son duo, for signing up with this angel-investor who never wrote down a plan on paper on how it would all go, look like morons.

If this is the way Hammond wants to do it, then he can't be the owner. He needs to be an apprentice to the mechanics and a fourth person needs to step in to 'manage' the business. He can't be sitting outside reading magazines while everyone else works.

And it's a shame because for the last twenty years, Hammond has put out a lot of content I've enjoyed immensely.