I hate to be sarcastic but there’s no other way to describe it. Even Hotcars opined, “It’s Hard To Look Away From This Bizarre Home-Built Roadster“. And this baby has made the rounds showing up on more than one website besides its current cyberspace presence. But hey, beauty is in the eye of the beholder as there are eight bidders who have tendered sixteen bids for this two-seater, and the current bid, here on eBay is $6,600, reserve not yet met. This “unique” 2006 Hammond roadster can be found in Princeton, Louisana.
An apparently oft-told tale and Motor1 confirms it, is that “Beyond the polarizing exterior, the Hammond Roadster was built using parts from a damaged 2002 Chrysler 300M…” This car is truly a one-and-done, having been created by a man named Hammond, who hails from Austin, Texas. He created a fiberglass body, threw in some 300M parts, and plunked it over a tube frame chassis that rides on a coil-over suspension. As to what inspired the fiberglass body design is hard to say – it’s difficult, from my perspective, to pin it to anything animal, vegetable, or mineral that I have witnessed before! It all appears to be in good nick in that there is no obvious fiberglass damage, cracking, separation, etc. but it’s tough to come up with any more definitive words or descriptions.
The powerplant, a 255 net HP, Chrysler 3.5 liter V6 could be considered mediocre, but it should provide this bantamweight with some substantial get up and go. The seller states, “The car has low miles and is in good mechanical condition, everything works except the audio system” but doesn’t elaborate beyond that regarding its true road manners. The 300M’s four-speed transaxle is also in place driving the rear wheels of this mid-engined roadster. Here’s a start-up video, courtesy of Auto Evolution.
The interior is actually well finished and belies the over-the-top exterior styling. The two-tone hot pink and gray vinyl upholstery works well and it all fits together as if it belongs though Auto Evolution states that the passenger compartment is “snug”. The center stack and instrument pod are mid-2000’s Chrysler all the way – more donated equipment from the 300M along with the previously mentioned, inoperative audio system. As can be seen in some images, there is a folding convertible top but and the listing claims there is a tonneau cover too. BTW, this roadster is air-conditioned!
OK, so the exterior is hard on the eyes, but as Auto Evolution claims, “Whether a car with a face only a mother could love or a most striking project, the 2006 Hammond Roadster is definitely not the kind of vehicle that you can overlook“. Got that right, I have to begrudgingly admire this Frankensteinish mash-up, it’s more than I could ever create so I’ll give a tip of the hat to Mr, Hammond. So tell me, what do you think, I mean really think, about this 2006 Hammond?
For some stupid reason I don’t hate it. The engineering and fit/finish are quite good for a one off. Okay the styling is unusual but that doesn’t make it bad. I and admit it, you too have seen many worse looking creations.
“the styling is unusual but that doesn’t make it bad.”
That’s like saying ‘The pot roast is green but that doesn’t make it bad.’
It’s very creative with cartoon like proportions. Looks like it was made for a kids movie and would make a good character in the next Cars movie. Looks like a Hamster Roadster to me.
Not bad. One thing you might notice is there’s no radiator up front so we can assume it’s behind the seats fed by the huge air intakes on the sides. Quality looks good. Also, don’t cut that 3.6 engine short. Our ’99 Caravan sport and ’09 Caravan had the 3.6 and there wasn’t any shortage of power as both would exceed 100 mph with good acceleration in between. The 3.6 in our new Pacifica is even faster with the 10 gear transmission. I’d bet this car really flies.
It’s a 3.5, not a 3.6 – completely different architecture.
JO
I stand corrected, but 255 hp in a car this light should really move it down the road. Thanks Jim. Too early for higher math this morning.
Agreed Bob, it should scoot nicely. Now for the visuals…more like “One-Off Ugly!”
JO
Nickname – Lumpy
“And I will call you …. Guppy.”
I think this thing’s front fenders and headlights are what really peg the Aesthet-O-Meter needle on “ugly”. They look like they’re off a VW Beetle. That aside, it looks like quality workmanship.
The Top Gear crew, pre Amazon, @ work!!!
Clarkson and Hammond would be proud to claim this creation. Ha Ha.
That gear stick is right against the dash … no ergonomic engineering here?
This was on BaT a few weeks ago. It sold there in 2019 for about $18k, but only bid up to 12k this time. Not a good sign…
https://bringatrailer.com/search/?s=hammond
About 11,000 more than I’d pay.
Apparently, bodytub was not microwave safe.
Needs more snoot!!! Looks like someone shoved 3 fingers up its tailpipe
The aerodynamic design perhaps inspired by a Hammond Organ.
“2006 Hammond – THE Aztek of sports cars”
This looks like it should be Jessica Rabbit’s car.
My thoughts exactly. Something out of ‘Who framed Roger Rabbit.’
I’m glad only one was built.
ultimate clown car!
Didn’t think it was possible to build a car uglier than a Citreon, I was wrong!
Despite the knocks on its appearance, it shows great craftsmanship. Fiberglass is not easy to work with.
Goofy design diminishes the craftsmanship imop unfortunately.
This car reminds me of the Johnny Cash song one piece at a time. Then get drunk and try to put it together
Great comments ,as you would expect. But I have to agree with Jack. I can’t hate it just because ,its so different than anything I have ever seen. That alone doesn’t make it terrible.
It don’t help! 😆
That 3.5 motor is complete junk. Hd 2 of them and Chrysler couldn’t fix em. Both under warranty and they gave up! Ate oil like no tomorrow
The 3.7 wasn’t much better……after they ironed out the valve dropping issue on the modern 3.6 it’s been a pretty good motor, light weight, fewer internal parts than the 3.5 and 3.7 and around 300hp depending on the vehicle.
That’s an example of time on your hands and a bottle of Capt. Morgan! I’m somewhat thankful to hear there’s only one!
Don’t make fun of the body design- it is an integrated passive anti-theft system.
In this case a one off is one too many.
Winner of the “B.U.” award. (you figure it out.)
Can’t be unseen.
As expected, my wife and daughter both love it. It would get VIP parking at Disney World. I can see the 7 dwarfs arguing over who it was built for, the answer is obviously Thumper.
But it’s well done.
I didn’t realize Thumper was one of the Seven Dwarfs.
Not many folks do realize it. But then, not everyone gets twitter pated, either.
Kudos to Mr. Hammond. How many of us have brought a pipe dream to completion? I think this is a handsome beast I’d be proud to own. I also think that the AMC pacer was the most inspired and underrated car of the ’70s. And the ’66 Tornado the second greatest car ever to roll off an American production line, the top spot only going to the 810 Cord. Hail Mr. Hammond.
Paint it green…..name it Frog.
It’s like popping a big full zit. Not pretty site but for some mysterious reason you can’t look away.
Bought it for $18k and figures he should make a profit. He should have taken the high BAT bid. BUTT UGG-LEE.
I guess the opening near the door is to get air to the brakes. I think it is cool as anything I’ve ever seen.
Unlike some slab sided cars this thing is all curves.
A 400lb woman is all curves too… .
Dummy that I am I suddenly realise that those troughs must feed cool air to the radiator and engine. So they are overly large for function. I imagine that with that layout you would not want to drive it in heavy traffic, but I bet it would be a hoot to drive. All the weirdness is probably a case of function over form, but I actually like it the more I look at it.
I see influences of Porsche 550 rear end, Karmann Ghia front end and late Ferrari intakes on the sides. While the engine choice is probably less than optimal, if this particular example has been sorted out, then the powertrain and much of the interior bits have the advantage of having mainstream DNA, while the rest of it is as one off as you can get. (Need a windshield? Don’t call your local supplier.) As to stylistic interpretation, I’ve seen alot worse out of the big three. If I had the garage space, I’d be a buyer. At least I wouldn’t be running into my self at cars and coffee.
Can you imagine the feeling of spending 18k on a car and being laughed at everywhere you drive with it
Stopping and parking must be awfully awkward
This is a fugly design and being mopar powered /engineered doesn’t help it
Destroy it and claim the insurance
while I don’t like the car I like the idea (KarmenGhia, miaita, 850, X 1 / 9, etc). All have nice styling, some performance too.
For sale in Louisiana licensed in Oregon.
I think someone already mentioned flipper.
Ended at $9,900, Reserve Not Met.
“One-off FLY CATCHER” There, fixed the title for ya!
If this was Japanese you’d call it “super-deformed.”
Like R.K., I admire the builder for his effort if not his taste. This would be a great track day car (if the track doesn’t have aesthetic standards). I wonder how much it would cost to re-body?
I wish another vehicle (any vehicle) was parked near it to get a sense of scale. It certainly looks quite stubby. As others mentioned, there are features of other nice cars here, I also thought of some older Porsche racers. If this car were longer (or longer AND lower) the proportions would be better. And I agree as well on Mr. Hammonds workmanship. Pretty well done for what it is. (Faint praise is all I can muster)….