Goodwood Revival 2010

I've wanted to visit the Goodwood Revival for a number of years and finally in 2010 I made the decision to go, prompted in part by the fact that I was able to borrow my father's 1969 Marcos 3 litre (see here) and was therefore able to participate in the Revival Car Show. The day necessitated a very early start in order to get to Goodwood in time for the first event at 8.45am and so it was with some trepidation that I fired up the Marcos at a very anti-social 5.55, immediately shattering the early morning peace with the un-silenced and gloriously brutal sound of the V6. In an attempt to maintain good neighbourly relations I had warned them about the trip in advance and I did my best to creep quietly down the road; however in my efforts to minimise the noise I almost stalled the still cold engine and ended up producing a raucous bark as I struggled to keep the revs up. Simon, who lives two doors down from me and is building a V8 Dax Rush found this rather comical but I'm not sure that others shared his mirth - that said, he'll no doubt be waking me up (and the rest of the road) with the Dax next summer once it's finished. Five minutes down the road and I picked up my navigator for the drive down to West Sussex, a natty looking Martin dressed for the event in cords, brown brogues and a tweed jacket. Given my near OCD tidiness I was always going to be going as a Mod - drainpipes, winkle pickers and a three button jacket, which seemed appropriate given the late 60s vintage of the Marcos. The Who were on the stereo, although this was saved for our arrival at Goodwood as little could be heard over the roar of the engine on the way down. The weather forecast had been good and the day was beautifully sunny and warm, ideal for a day at the races... Once at Goodwood we were directed to the Car Show car park, which required a brief and very bumpy jaunt across a field, something that the car, with its slightly raised suspension thankfully dealt with surprisingly easily. We were parked next to a series II Land Rover and it was wonderful to be sitting amongst such a vast and eclectic array of historic machinery. What amazed me, right from the off, was the number of people dressed in period costume - at least 90 percent of the crowd were dressed up, with some having gone to incredible lengths to look the part.

There was so much period costume on sale that it would have been possible to have arrived in contemporary clothing and bought an entire outfit on the spot. Not only were the clothes from the 1940s, 50s and 60s (see here for tips), as were all of the vehicles within the revival ground, but there were a number of recreations of iconic and/or familiar buildings from the era too. There was a recreation of the Earls Court Motor show and a reminder of what Tesco used to look like before they dominated the entire globe!



The first race of the day - this was the Saturday - was the Goodwood Trophy, featuring Grand Prix and Voiturette cars from the 1930s and 1940s and including four 1934 Alfa Romeo Tipo B GP cars, Maseratis spanning 1935 to 1949 including the iconic 8CM and my personal favourites the ultimate British GP car of the 1930s, the ERA. This particular car has a special significance for me as my father used to part-own one and as a boy I used to sit in it in the garage at home, dreaming of winning grand prix. Seeing them race and in the paddock brought these memories flooding back. The car shared space with Austin Sevens - two chummies, an Ulster (that now sits in my garage), and two single seat specials - as well as a 1924 BSA motorcycle and a 1924 30-98 Vauxhall. Nestled amongst all these vehicles, with spare parts hanging from the rafters and screw-top jars nailed by their lids to the beams, the ERA was half covered with dust cloths but it remained an impressive and brooding presence. The steering wheel is very distinctive and has no doubt stuck in my mind because it was so big when compared with my small hands and arms...



The Goodwood Trophy was fiercely contested and despite the combined value of the cars on the grid all of the drivers were clearly competing fully. The winner was Mark Gillies driving Mary Smith's superb 1934 ERA A-Type R3A (the green car flashing by in the short clip below).

The next race that I watched was the first part of the Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy (the second happens on the Sunday) in which Duncan Fitchett and Jeremy McWilliams (injured with a cracked pelvis and a number of broken ribs) riding a 1952 500cc Manx Norton swapped the lead repeatedly with Ian Bain and Steve Brogan on their 1947 500cc Manx Norton. The overall victory after part two went to Bain and Brogan, although the fastest lap went to Fitchett and McWilliams.



Following on from the bikes was part one of the St Mary's Trohpy, a celebrity packed race for production-based saloon cars that were originally raced between 1950 and 1959. Drivers included Martin Brundle in an Austin A35 (1957), Desire Wilson, the only female Formula 1 Grand Prix driver, racing in an Austin A40 and eight times Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen. Also racing were Jochen Mass, Tony Jardine, Jackie Oliver, Derek Bell, Tony Dron, Andy Rouse, Brian Redman and Barry 'Whizzo' Williams, all renowned drivers in their various disciplines. Driving a huge mark VII Jaguar was ex-formula 1 driver and TV personality Tiff Needell, who came an incredible third, a real achievement considering the car he was piloting. Overall the race was won convincingly by Tom Kristensen but it wasn't really about the victory but about seeing these cars - a Ford Prefect, a Morris Minor and the incredible V8 Tatra - being pushed to the limit.



Although there were a number of exciting races during the afternoon, including the Whitsun Trophy, Madgwick Cup, which featured Stirling Moss in his original 1956 Maserati Osca (now fully recovered from his fall down a lift shaft earlier this year) and the Gordon Trophy, I was keen to wander around the Revival site to take in the atmosphere and to see the huge array of cars in the paddock. There were some truly amazing cars on display and on track. So, as if seeing one Ford GT40 wasn't exciting enough there were six racing in the Whitsun Trophy (four are visible in the photo below).



Really exciting for me were the two 1930 Brooklands 500 Austin 7 Ulsters. These two endurance racing Ulsters, painted a fetching and none too subtle orange, were interesting because of their history but also for the modifications over the standard Ulster. The fuel filler and oil cap can be seen poking through the bonnet for easy and speedy access and the pump for pressurising the fuel tank can also be seen on the driver's side of the car, clearly revealing the racing pedigree of these very special Austins.



There were so many amazing vehicles that it was impossible to see them all and it is just as impossible to mention them all here but the event is one that I would certainly recommend - of all of the large scale motoring events in the calendar, this, I think, has to be the best. (Others clearly agree, see here and here for example). Eventually, the very early start began to take its toll and by 6.00pm I was ready to leave. The drive back was very pleasant and the Marcos coped admirably with the lengthy but well managed queue that formed as the large crowd began to exit Goodwood. Although the headlights on the car aren't the most powerful it was easier to drive at night that I had imagined. To round off an excellent day, Martin and I enjoyed a couple of pints of London Pride at our local pub as our respective families hadn't returned from their own days out and so we were granted an evening pass to complement the day down on Lord March's estate...