Richard Hammond’s back with that beast of a 1971 Buick Riviera, the one that stole the show in “Lochdown,” The Grand Tour’s lockdown special. You remember it—that hulking, supercharged V8 monster riding low like some asphalt-hugging relic of Detroit’s glory days. Well, buckle up: the thing’s been reborn, and it’s even wilder than before.
Hammond rolled up his sleeves and got elbow-deep in the rebuild, tweaking and tuning with a little help from engine gurus. What started as a modest dream—500 horses, respectable but nothing outrageous—turned into a full-blown mechanical riot. The dyno spit out numbers that’d make most muscle cars blush: 620 horsepower, 825 lb-ft of torque, enough grunt to tear the clutch clean in half after just one test run. Yeah, they slapped in a racing clutch rated for 600, and it tapped out immediately. That’s how you know you’ve built something properly unhinged.
But it’s not just about raw power. Hammond’s given the Riviera a split personality—choosing between practical cruiser or pavement-scraping showstopper thanks to an air suspension setup. One flick of a switch and the whole thing sinks like it’s trying to burrow into the tarmac, making those swooping boattail lines look even more like something out of a Mad Max fever dream.
Then there’s the look. Ditching the all-black revenge fantasy he first toyed with, Hammond’s doubling down on the car’s original quirks. That faded light green peeking through? Keeping it. The plan? A candy crackle finish with a metal remake of that ridiculous rear wing, because the temporary one just wasn’t extra enough.
This isn’t just a rebuild; it’s a full-throttle reinvention—one that keeps the Riviera’s chaotic soul intact while shoving it straight into “hold my beer” territory. And with that much horsepower lurking under the hood, whatever comes next won’t just be dramatic—it’ll be borderline unhinged. Like Hammond himself, really.
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