Richard Hammond takes control of classic car garage for new series

Summarised from 3 outlets · Updated 21 Oct, 15:58 · Archive

Richard Hammond has taken majority control of The Smallest Cog, a Hereford-based classic car restoration garage, following financial difficulties at the business. The sixth season of Richard Hammond's Workshop will launch on 27 October and will chronicle the real-life struggles of running the workshop.

The garage had faced significant financial challenges since the fifth season ended in November last year. It emerged earlier this year that the workshop was struggling under debts of about £700,000.

Hammond injected nearly £600,000 of his own money into the garage venture to stabilise it. In the new series trailer, Hammond acknowledges that there have been 'a lot of changes lately' at the business.

According to documents filed with Companies House in December 2025, Hammond now holds 75 per cent or more of the shares in the company and 75 per cent or more of the voting rights, making him the majority shareholder. The Smallest Cog has previously worked on high-profile projects, including chrome-plating a vintage tractor belonging to Oxfordshire farmer Jeremy Clarkson, which now hangs in Clarkson's Cotswolds pub, The Farmer's Dog, near Burford.

How it is being reported

• Richard Hammond takes control of classic car garage ahead of new TV seriesThe former host of Top Gear and The Grand Tour is starring in a new TV series after taking control of a classic car company.Cumberland News · 21 Oct, 13:11
• Richard Hammond takes control of classic car garage ahead of new TV seriesThe former host of Top Gear and The Grand Tour is starring in a new TV series after taking control of a classic car company.NW Evening Mail · 21 Oct, 13:11
• Richard Hammond takes control of classic car garage ahead of new TV seriesThe former host of Top Gear and The Grand Tour is starring in a new TV series after taking control of a classic car company.Westmorland Gazette · 21 Oct, 13:11

In this story: Richard Hammond · Jeremy Clarkson · The Smallest Cog · Hereford · Cotswolds

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