These Are The Dorky Videos Richard Hammond Made Before Top Gear

Welcome to Sunday Matinee, where we highlight classic car reviews or other longer videos I find on YouTube. Kick back and enjoy this blast from the past.

You may think the world of automotive journalism is a glamorous one, full of bargain-basement priced press cars and all the shrimp you can eat. Surely it goes to those only deemed lucky enough, born naturals who are so full of talent that they are plucked from near-obscurity and vaunted into not-really stardom at all.

But you'd be wrong. It involves a lot of, well, not blood, sweat, and tears, but definitely some hours spent typing and otherwise tedious things.

In Top Gear host Richard Hammond's case, the "tedious things" entailed toiling away for years at the now-defunct Men and Motors TV channel. The Men and Motors videos are all really a bit adorable, considering their obviously low budgets in comparison to modern Top Gear extravaganzas.

Seeing him without his modern-day spikey hair and unusual outfit choices is definitely endearing, and the whole thing almost feels like it came out of a "My First Motoring TV Show" starter kit.

At the same time, they're still all pretty interesting, if not chock full o' thrills. But if you're trying to relax on a Sunday, they're perfect.