Richard Hammond's iconic 'Oliver' car receives restoration 15 years after it appeared on Top Gear
Richard Hammond's iconic 'Oliver the Opel' car finally received a long overdue restoration a whole 15 years after its appearance on Top Gear.
The vehicle aficionado purchased the then-44-year-old Opel Kadett A for a mere £1,200 back in 2007.
'Oliver' then went on to appear in the show's famous Botswana Special and has, at long last, been given some much-needed TLC.
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The tiny sedan was brought back to life back in November 2022 at the Drive Tribe, which Hammond co-founded with James May and Jeremy Clarkson.
According to Mike down at 'The Smallest Cog' workshop, the two-door car has 'really soft suspension' and is 'really comfortable cruising around'.
Mike added: "I imagine that made it so good in Botswana."
No wonder Hammond went through the lengthy process of shipping Oliver over to the UK, which 'only' took him a full two years due to some issues with the paperwork for the vehicle.
However, the soft suspension was also a 'bad thing' about the car as it means 'in the corners, it feels like you're about to roll over at 20 miles an hour'.
Adding more to the plethora of issues with the little yellow wagon, Oliver 'only has about 40 horsepower' and while it has brakes on all four corners, they 'do not seem to work especially downhill'.
So, it's no wonder that Hammond was eager to get the whip serviced last year.
One of the most noticeable changes is that the car was finally restored back to its original colour.
"Well, Oliver, as you can see now is the original colour it was when it was on a certain TV program in Botswana a few years ago," staff member Neil explained.
Oliver had been previously taken in for a 'mini-restoration' some years before but it ended up being painted 'totally the wrong colour'.
"It was really a creamy yellow, it wasn't the the original colour," Neil continued.
The aesthetic now sorted - the team then put the car on 'steel wheels' instead of the 'mini-alloy wheels', which were not original.
While Neil admitted that they hadn't done a 'full restoration' on Oliver, he said sorting the colour change out was still 'a lot of work'.
He further explained: "Because we've had to paint in the engine bay [and] we've had to paint we had to paint inside the car."
And nostalgic fans couldn't wait to share their reactions to Oliver finally receiving his paint restoration.
One YouTube user commented: "Oliver is an icon as famous as the trio."
"Oliver is perfect as he is," added another, "please don't change him!"
A final commenter wrote: "I'm happy to see Oliver is so far unmodified and remains a survivor, as that's why Richard originally obtained it in Botswana.
"I wouldn't mind them upgrading the brakes for safety and perhaps rebuild the engine to regain some of the lost original power, otherwise it would be a shame to see them chop up a well-known and beloved named car."
Topics: Richard Hammond, Top Gear, Cars
Rhiannon Ingle