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Richard Hammond of Top Gear and Grand Tour fame has gone viral for driving an anime girl racing car, and fans are loving it.
It seems that 2026 is the year of anime girl-themed cars. Popular anime My Dress-Up Darling hit the track back in April with Marin Kitagawa plastered over a GT3 race car, while an elite BMW caught the headlights with its unique Umamusume paint job.
Not to be outdone when it comes to anime aesthetics, legendary English television presenter Richard Hammond has now entered his latest arc by hitting the racetrack with one of the most unique race cars we’ve seen the popular petrolhead drive.
Richard Hammond drives anime girl car
On May 3rd, Hammond uploaded a short clip of himself driving an Azure Lane-themed GT3 RS, which had been completely kitted out with an anime-girl livery. The character in question is Taihou, a popular character who appears in the Chinese mobile gacha game Azur Lane.
For those who don’t know, Azure Lane is known for its cast of anime girls who are based on iconic military ships. Yes, just like Umamusume that transforms IRL horses into cute anime girls, Azure Lane follows the same principle.
As you can imagine, fans of both Hammond and Azure Lane have been keen to point out how comical this unexpected crossover is.
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“China gacha, Japan ship, German car, British host,” wrote one commenter. “Never in a million years would I be able to predict that I would see Hammond driving the Taihoumobile, but now that it’s in front of me… fits him like a glove, honestly,” replied another.
Other fans were keen to see Hammond’s Grand Tour co-hosts also joining in on the anime action, with them noting an anime girl car episode would make for a good laugh.
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“HAMMOOOND! What the hell did you do to my bloody car?! Camera pans to a blurred image of Jeremy’s now High School DxD-themed, wrapped car*.”
Hammond isn’t the only celebrity that has been stepping into the anime spotlight, as back in April eFootball’s Naruto collab had Neymar running around as a ninja in a bizarre crossover no one saw coming.
