Although adept in single-seaters, he was more successful in sportscars, winning the 1953 24 Hours of Le Mans, two Coupe de Paris events, and the 12 heures internationals Reims race in 1956.

He won the Wakefield Trophy, a minor Formula Libre race, held at Curragh in the Republic of Ireland.

At the BRDC International Trophy race at Silverstone in 1951, he beat world champion Juan Manuel Fangio, finishing second to Reg Parnell.

They came within two miles of victory, with Hamilton halving the lead of the Scuderia Ferrari of José Froilán González and Maurice Trintignant in the final stages of the race, as the track was awash following a cloudburst.

Despite the win, the factory dropped him from their 1956 Le Mans roster for speeding up and passing team-mate Paul Frère's car at Rheims when Lofty England had ordered the entire team to slow down, hence his switch to a Ferrari that year.

[citation needed] In 1957 Jaguar did not enter Le Mans as cars and equipment had been destroyed by a fire at the factory.

According to Hamilton's own account, when Jaguar team manager Lofty England persuaded the organisers to let them race, both drivers were already drunk in a local bar.

"[8] When the race was under way the team tried to sober Hamilton up by giving him coffee during the pit stops but he refused it, saying it made his arms twitch; instead he was given brandy.

While going down a hill near Guildford, he "saw the splendid honeycomb radiator of a Bugatti in the outside rear-view mirror", so he moved over and waved it past.

Further down the hill, the Bugatti drew level with Hamilton, at which point he saw there was no one in it and realised it was his own car which he had forgotten he was towing.

[13][14] A week after the 1953 Le Mans win, Hamilton drove to Oporto to prepare for the Portuguese Grand Prix at the Circuito da Boavista.

[5][14][15][16] Hamilton sustained injuries during the 1958 24 Hours of Le Mans, while contesting the lead in his Jaguar D-Type, and then he was affected by the death of his friend Mike Hawthorn in early 1959.

His son Adrian Hamilton, a classic car dealer, ran his father's garage in another location until his own death in 2021.