‘Top Gear’ 924 Sells at Auction

Richard Hammond’s Infamous Blue 924 is More Popular than Ever

The “classic” Top Gear lineup of Richard Hammond, James May, and, of course, Jeremy Clarkson will go down in history as one of the most watchable automotive television shows ever. It had a way of appealing to car enthusiasts while making itself approachable and entertaining to regular folks.

While the new Top Gear is doing well, and the classic lineup is doing great on their own with The Grand Tour, it’s always fun to reminisce about the good old days. One of our favorite Top Gear Challenges was the $2,000 Porsche Challenge, wherein each host was given $2,000 to purchase a Porsche.

Clarkson chose a very ratty 928 on life support, May chose a slightly less ratty but mechanically sound 944, and Hammond purchased a  924 that looked pretty solid overall. Best of all, Hammond paid far less than $2,000 for his, as you can see in the video. That left a lot of money for some very questionable — and hilarious — modifications.

We always wondered what happened to Hammond’s old 924, and we were delighted to find out that it had been kept in more or less the same condition as it had been at the end of filming, only now sporting a much higher price tag.

According to Car Throttle, the car was offered up at the Coy’s Autosport International auction, where it managed to fetch $9,000 — much more than its initial investment. It goes to show that a rising tide raises all ships, and that classic Porsche values are still on the move — even if it’s not a 911.

It stands as a testament to Top Gear‘s popularity that the car wasn’t restored, or the decals and hood scoop removed. We say that because we can’t imagine any other reason why someone wouldn’t remove the flames and racing number, and repaint the car in its stock color.

What about you? Would you leave it as-is as a piece of Top Gear history, or would you restore it? Sound off in the forum.

Cameron Vanderhorst

Cam VanDerHorst has been a contributor to Internet Brands' Auto Group sites for over three years, with his byline appearing on Ford Truck Enthusiasts, Corvette Forum, JK Forum, and Harley-Davidson Forums, among others. In that time, he's also contributed to Autoweek, The Drive, and Scale Auto Magazine.

He bought his first car at age 14 -- a 1978 Ford Mustang II -- and since then he’s amassed an impressive and diverse collection of cars, trucks, and motorcycles, including a 1996 Ford Mustang SVT Mystic Cobra (#683) and a classic air-cooled Porsche 911.

In addition to writing about cars and wrenching on them in his spare time, he enjoys playing music (drums and ukulele), building model cars, and tending to his chickens.

You can follow Cam, his cars, his bikes, and his chickens at @camvanderhorst on Instagram.

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