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20th Anniversary – Goodwood Festival Of Speed

Last weekend saw the 20th Anniversary celebrations of the Goodwood Festival of Speed. According to tea total journalist Doug Nye the event only got off the ground because he was present at a rather drunken evening at which Lord March and some friends were fantasising about an event which might attract a few thousand motor enthusiasts. Next morning when Doug reminded the Lord of what had been said they decided to act and so was born the Goodwood Festival Of Speed which has become one of the highlights of the British Motoring Season.

Goodwood, Festival Of Speed

The event has become so big that it sells out on both the Saturday and Sunday and an extra day has been added on the Thursday, called the “Moving Motor Show” on which the hill climb track is turned over to corporate sponsors who entertain their guests with rides up the hill. It was on the Thursday that I went with my parents after my Dad found a free ticket offer in the “Daily Telegraph“. Many anniversaries besides Goodwood’s 20th were being celebrated, the three Porsche’s above formed the tip of a sculpture by Gerry Judah celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Porsche 911 featuring a 1963 911 on the left, a ’73 Carrera RS in the middle and a 2013 Carrera 4 on the right.

Mercedes W196, Goodwood, Festival Of Speed

On the Friday a 1954 Mercedes Benz W196 similar to the one pictured here was sold at the Bonham’s Festival of Speed Auction for US$ 29.6 million to become the most expensive car ever sold at auction. John Lennon’s Blue ’64 Ferrari 330GT fetched US$ 543,750 setting a new record for the 330 GT 2+2 model.

Honda RA300, Goodwood, Festival Of Speed

In the autumn of 1967 my folks purchased their first television, a black and white model, one of my earliest memories of it was a news cast featuring the 1967 Italian Grand Prix which was won by John Surtees driving this very V12 Honda RA300, a car that was very easy to distinguish from the rest of the field because it was white and all the others were various shades of grey.

McLaren M23, Goodwood, Festival Of Speed

Emerson Fittipaldi moved from Lotus to join the McLaren team which had relieved BRM of Marlboro sponsorship and Lotus of Texaco sponsorship for the 1974 season. Emerson driving a Marlboro Team Texaco McLaren M23 ended up winning a very open World Drivers Championship by just 3 points from Clay Regazzoni driving a Ferrari 312 B3.

Renault RS01, Goodwood, Festival Of Speed

Having won Le Mans in 1978 Renault put all of it’s effort into winning the Formula One Drivers and Constructors championships with the first turbocharged Formula One car. Above is the 1978 RS01 which proved fast on occasion, particularly at altitude, but fragile.

Audi R18 E-tron Quattro, Goodwood, Festival Of Speed

Fresh from victory lane, and looking several thousand miles the worse for wear, in the 90th Anniversary edition of the Le Mans 24 hours was the Audi R18 E-tron Quattro driven by Tom Kristensen, Alan McNish and Loic Duval.

Campbell-Railton Blue Bird, Goodwood Festival Of Speed

Sir Malcom Campbell became the first man on four wheels to exceed 300 mph when he set a new Land Speed Record at Bonneville of 301mph on September 3rd 1935 when driving the 2300 hp supercharged Rolls Royce V12 powered Campbell-Railton Blue Bird. The piece of land on which Blue Bird was displayed normally serves as Lord Marches cricket pitch.

Lotus Ford 29, Goodwood Festival Of Speed

Regular readers will remember that the #92 Lotus Ford 29 driven by Jim Clark at Indianapolis in 1963 was destroyed in a fatal accident with Bobby Marshman at the wheel during a gruesome testing accident at Phoenix at the end of 1964. The car seen above is chassis #29/1 actually driven with a white and blue paint job by Dan Gurney to a seventh place finish at Indy in 1963. The car has been seen at the Indy Museum for many years (decades ?) bearing Jim Clark’s livery. The spare ’63 Lotus 29 chassis #29/2 currently carries the #91 white and blue livery used by Gurney.

Ford Galaxie 500, Goodwood Festival Of Speed

“According to the programme” the Ford Galaxie 500 above was driven to victory in the 1965 Daytona 500 by Fred Lorenzen and then given a ’66 body for testing at Daytona the following year, however a search on the internet show’s that this might not be the only car sharing the story.

Peugeot 208 T16, Goodwood Festival Of Speed

Another car to arrive at Goodwood from victory lane was the 875 hp twin turbo V6 Peugeot 208 T16 with which Alsatian 9 (nine) time World Rally Champion Sebastian Loeb won this years Pikes Peak race to the clouds hill climb in a mind bending 8m 13.8 seconds an astonishing 95 seconds faster than Rhys Millens 2012 full 12.42 mile course record of 9m 46.1s. Tighten your reality belts to see how Mr Loeb set the record in the film linked here.

Mercedes 60hp, Goodwood Festival Of Speed

Any one who was reading GALPOT back in January might remember I spent a night and a day on the Exeter Trial being chased by a 4×4 Panda and following this 1903 Mercedes 60 hp Simplex crewed by Ben and Roger Collings, my appreciation of what these vehicles can do rose sharply as a result of the experience.

Porsche 911SC, Goodwood Festival Of Speed

Car of the show for me was this 1978 Porsche 911 SC driven by Kenyan Vic Preston Jnr with co driver John Lyall to second place in the 1978 Safari Rally. I always thought if I was going to have a 911 for the road I may as well have one that could survive the rigours of Africa where I learned to drive and this one has a particularly cool paint job.

Over the coming months some of these vehicles will be featured in more depth.

Thanks for joining me on this “20th Anniversary Festival Of Speed” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Check out the latest from the Formula One silly season at Motorsports Unplugged on this link.

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Theme Lotus – Goodwood Festival Of Speed

On Friday I headed off under grey skies with friends, Tim, Pete and Dave to Goodwood House just outside Chichester for the Festival Of Speed.

AEC Swift, Goodwood Festival Of Speed

The featured manufacturer this year was Lotus which was founded 60 years ago by Colin Chapman who’s cars not entirely uncoincidentally are currently also featured every Saturday here at GALPOT. Welcoming us on the way into Goodwood House was this 1967 AEC Swift based transporter used by Gold Leaf Team Lotus from 1967 to 1970 during which period team won two world drivers championships with Graham Hill(’68) and Jochen Rindt (’70) and two world constructors in the same years.

Race Track, Gerry Judah, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Gerry Judah’s art work on the lawn in front of Goodwood House featured no less than six cars five of them winners and a contemporary F1 car built in Enstone which I find as difficult to call a Lotus in the same way as I had trouble calling the Lotus 76 a John Player Special back in 1974.

Williams FW08B, Goodwood Festival of Speed

In the paddock there were several cars I had heard of but never seen in the flesh including the six wheel, 4WD, 1982 Williams FW08B which was never raced thanks to a late call to ban more than four wheels from Formula Once cars with only two to be driven from the start of the 1983 season.

BRM P15 Mk 1, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Of all the many stories of British grit in Grand Prix Racing perhaps none exemplifies how not to organise a team better than BRM which managed to organise the support in cash, kind and facilities from the British Motor Industry to make two of the most complex racing motors ever built. The first was a 1.5 litre / 91 cui supercharged V16 which comprised to 750 cc / 45.5 cui V8’s mounted back to back. The 500 hp motor, which could be taken up to 12,000 rpm, was more powerful than any of it’s contemporaries but the combination of organisational and design complexity did not result in a particularly reliable motor car. It did not win any championship Grand Prix, it was only entered in two but it did score championship points, and won a non championship 12 lap race at Goodwood. The most memorable thing about this vehicle is the sound it makes, utterly unmusical in comparison to a V8, and as harsh as granite, note two people in this photo are wearing ear defenders ! The smell of oil coming off it’s engine after the warming up session seen here was quite unforgetable too !

Maserati Tipo 151/3, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Amongst the sports cars this Maserati Tipo 151/3 is a 1980’s replica of one of three 151’s that were prepared for Le Mans in 1962 and then continually modified. The 151/3 seen here made of from orginal parts and fitted with the low Pierre Drogo body made from the same buck as the body made specially for the 1964 24 Hours at Le Mans where 151/3 was timed at 196 mph on the Mulsanne Straight, like the BRM P15 it suffered poor reliability and retired as it has had in ’62 and ’63.

Shelby American Cobra 'Daytona' Coupé, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Racing successfully against the original 151/3 were the Shelby American Cobra Coupé’s also known as the ‘Daytona’ Coupé. So far as I can tell this #12 car is chassis CSX2300 which scored a best 6th place finish at Daytona in 1965 with Ed Leslie and Allen Grant at the wheel, the cars next appearance was at Sebring where it carried the #12 with Leslie and Grant again driving finishing 13th.

Ford Mk IV, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Dan Gurney and AJ Foyt won the 1967 Le Mans 24 Hours driving this Ford Mk IV, beating two Ferrari P4’s in the process thus avenging Enzo Ferrari’s last minuet refusal to sell out to Ford earlier in the decade.

Matra MS670 B, Goodwood Festival of Speed

The Matra 670 B with a long tail, by Matra standards, won Le Mans in 1973 with Henri Pescarolo and Gerrard Larrousse at the wheel, also beating a Ferrari this time a 312PB driven by Art Mezario and Carlos Pacé.

Tony 'Giraffe' Gallagher, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Above regular GALPOT contributor, through The Nostalgia Forum, Tony ‘Giraffe’ Gallagher happily accepts an invitation to sign 1980 IMSA Champion John Fitzpatrick’s programe.

De Havilland DHC-1 Chipmunk, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Continuing the Diamond Jubilee celebrations this years Concours d’Elegance centered on numerous vehicles the Queen and other state dignitary’s have used, this De Haviland of Canada DHG – 1 Chipmunk was used by both HRH Prince Phillip and HRH Prince Charles for training purposes in the 1950’s and 60’s. Back in the day when I was a schoolboy and an RAF Cadet I went up in one of these on a couple of occasions, being handed the controls mid flight on one of them !

de Macross GT1, Goodwood Festival of Speed

The De Macross GT1 appears to be constructed from a mix of Korean Finance, Canadian Manufacturing and US Roush Yates power and any number of styling queues taken from an equally diverse range of vehicles. The drivers name on the side of the car was none other than that of motorsports TV presenter Justin Bell.

Goodwood Action Sports, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Keeping folks entertained on two wheels were a number of youngsters who were doing things on motor bikes that I have only been able to aspire to dreaming of.

Jaguar C Type, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Sir Stirling Moss shares a little joke with former Jaguar works test driver and team mate Norman Dewis as they prepare for a quick blast up Goodwood’s hill climb.

Lotus 49, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Jackie Oliver drove a Gold Leaf Team Lotus 49B in 1968 here he is seen driving the 1967 Lotus 49 chassis R2, later renamed R11, that Jim Clark used to win the 1967 Dutch Grand Prix the first of 155 Grand Prix victories for the Ford Corworth DFV engine that powered it and the first of 12 for the Lotus 49 type.

Eurofighter Typhoon, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Delivered nearly five years late and horrendously over budget the Eurofighter Typhoon made up for it with a simply stunning display of power, speed and maneuverability. With 40,000 lbs of thrust this plane can be flown like one of the better short nosed paper aeroplanes I used to make when I was a kid with the added bonus it does not crash when landing.

Ferrari 712, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Paul Knapfield’s Ferrari 712 chassis #1010 haa a long story to tell suffice to say here that in period it has underwent two body upgrades from it’s original 512S spec and an engine upgrade to make it the Ferrari with the largest Ferrari motor ever raced. This car will be the subject of a blog in the fulness of time.

Audi R18 e-tron quattro, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Le Mans 24 hours will be remembered this year as the first ever to be won by a hybrid diesel, the #1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro of André Lotterer, Marcel Fässer and Benoit Tréluyer beat the the sister car of Allan McNish, Rinaldo Capello and Tom Kristensen, with a regular diesel coming in third. McNish is seen driving the e-tron quattro above which despite the stickers is not necessarily the car that crossed the line first at Le Mans.

Vauxhall Firenza 'Old Nail', Goodwood Festival of Speed

The ‘Droop Snoot’ Vauxhall Firenza “Old Nail” belonging to Paul Chase-Gardener scored over 60 victories with Gerry Marshall at the wheel back in the 1970’s Gerry’s son Gregor, another contributor to GALPOT through The Nostalgia Forum, was scheduled to drive this car later in the weekend.

Citroen DS3 WRC, Goodwood Festival of Speed

There were several Citroen DS3’s entered on the Goodwood Rally stage I believe this may have been the DS3 WRC example of Thierry Neuville, but I’ll happily take a second better informed opinion if you have one to add below.

Skoda Octavia vRS, Goodwood Festival of Speed

One of the pleasant rewards for taking the time to walk to the top of the hill was finding this Skoda Octavia vRS, a car that might not ordinarily bring the phrase ‘psycho on tyres’ to mind however this one had it’s turbo 2 litre / 122cui engine uprated from 200 hp to 500 hp and along with a few other safety mods achieved 227.080 mph at Bonneville to claim the 2 litre production car class record with Richard Meaden at the wheel last year.

McLaren M6B 'McLeagle', Goodwood Festival of Speed

Four time World Drivers Champion Alain Prost was the honoured driver at Goodwood this year, though there were probably more vehicles present that were associated with Dan Gurney including the McLaren M6B, driven on this occasion by owner Andy Boone, which Dan modified so much it gained the ‘McLeagle’ sobriquet. Dan’s efforts were not enough to beat the Bruce and Denny show, Denny won the championship. Gurney’s best result with the car was a 4th place in the 1968 Can Am race at Riverside.

Chevrolet Silverado, NCWT, Goodwood Festival of Speed

It’s always great to see and hear a little NASCAR action, Goodwood marked the first occasion on which I have seen a Camping World Truck Series (CWTS) truck in action, the #3 Chevrolet Silverado was driven by Austin Dillon to the Championship last season his brother Ty was scheduled to drive over weekend.

MAN 8x8, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Largest vehicle on the track was the Race 2 Recovery MAN 8×8 Dakar support truck driven by Ben Gott. Race 2 Recovery plans to enter a team of Land Rovers in next years Dakar Rally all driven by injured soldiers. If you would like to help their cause you can find details on this Race2Recovery link.

DeLorean DMC-12, Goodwood Festival of Speed

All too soon after a pleasurably exhausting day wondering around the grounds of Goodwood House without having seen everything it was time to say a quick hello to a couple of friends and then rejoin my passengers for the two hour back to the future drive home, my nomination for top car in the car park award went to the DeLorean DMC-12 which was substantially re-engineered by Lotus founder Colin Chapman, prior to the commencement of production in 1981.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Theme Lotus’ edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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