Amici,
For those who don't know what The Goodwood Revival is, it's the best show
in
the world. It is a race where the cars you see in magazines and books
race.
The racing is full blown racing, not what I'm used to see in vintage races.
The cars are mostly famous cars with tonnes of racing history and they are
driven like they are easily replaced. While watching the practice for the
TT enduro (a one hour race), a lightweight E-type crashed right in front of
me ( I think it was driven by a F1 designer, who crashed a GT40 earlier
this
year). The whole right rear quarter and wheel were basically ripped off
the
car.
About 3 or 4 laps later another Lightweight E-type crashed on the opposite
side of the track. This car looked like it was crunched front and rear.
This was a pretty significant loss since the big deal is the Jags beating
the Cobras and Vettes. There were about 5 Lightweights starting the
practice, anyway the Jag took first and a Ferrari took second and a Cobra
third.
These guys try to avoid contact, but aren't black flagged if they do touch
as we have seen in our vintage racing here in the NW.
One race group had all sedans in it and ranged from a Lightweight MK VII
Jag
driven by Mr. Bean (Rowan Atkinson) and shared with Sterling Moss to Austin
A35 and Standard 10 ( I think). These guys were great to watch also. The
racing was great!
There was an airshow with eight Spitfires flying over the track in memory
of
a Spitfire pilot who passed away earlier this year. This was probably the
largest grouping of Spitfires since WWII. There were also a couple of
Mustangs present a several other old passenger planes.
The attendees were as big a part of the show as the cars and the planes.
The grounds were sent up very much like a fair with vendors, rides and
exhibitions. There were working displays of the WWII British military
always marching around the track or hanging out in a camp or just standing
around singing. More than half the crowd were dressed in period clothing
i.e. women in dresses with big frilly hats, and hose with seams, men in
suits with skinny ties, or wearing white coveralls. There were even the
Glamcabs, a bunch of Ford Cortinas or Consuls with Glamcabs signs on top
being driven around by a bunch of young girls in cute outfits. It was all
there, nothing missed.
Now for the Triumphs. There were three notable Triumphs there, actually
four including the Standard Ten. The first most notable car was a TRS. I
was amazed to actually see this car and spoke to the owners father quite a
bit about it. It now resides in Germany and besides the fairly fresh paint
it all looked original. The car wasn't driven very fast as a matter of
fact
I think it finished last in the race. But that's okay, where do you get
spares for a Sabrina motor?
Parked next to it in the paddock was a aluminum bodied TR4. I think it was
a Speedwell bodied car. This car was pretty competitive and did well. It
was a very clean car and very nice looking with a coupe body.
The car next to it was a Spitfire with a fiberglass bonnet and a fastback
hardtop. This was a car produced in small numbers by a company that
specializes in speed equipment. This car was very fast until it had
flywheel problems (bolts came loose). This again was a very nice car and
the owner was happy the car at least ran a few laps before breaking. I
think
we was mostly happy to be at Goodwood.
I'd like to see some of the pictures of these cars posted on the FoT
website
as these are very notable cars.
I have about 600 pictures from England (not all from Goodwood) to sort
through and if anyone wants pictures of airplanes, people or any of the
cars
or races let me know.
I spent 2 weeks in England and had a great time. London, roundabouts,
villages, castles, skinny roads and great cars.
Charly Mitchel
TR6 #44
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