Great story and great pictures. Many thanks! Jim Seisser -----Original Message----- From: MikeLDrew@aol.com Sent: Jun 29, 2005 12:37 AM To: shelbymustang@carmemories.com Subject: Garden of Speedin' Hi guys, Well, after my automotive-themed road trip to France and rural England last= =20 week, I was pretty tuckered out. But as luck would have it, there was anot= her=20 event that was literally propped up right in front of me, so there was no w= ay=20 I could possibly choose to miss it. I=92m talking, of course, about the=20 legendary Goodwood Festival of Speed. Originally scheduled to take place in July, the event was moved to the=20 weekend immediately following Le Mans, making it especially convenient for = me to=20 attend. My =91home=92 in England is Geoff Peters=92 house in Surrey, which is only = about a=20 40 minute drive north of Goodwood. Geoff was planning on attending and als= o=20 purchasing tickets for clients as a gesture of corporate hospitality, and I= =20 knew several other friends were planning on going as well. The event lasts= three=20 days, but most people were choosing to go but a single day--other=20 commitments, etc. What is the Goodwood Festival of Speed? Well, there=92s this rather well-o= ff=20 fellow named Lord March, who has a hunk of land that=92s something like 160= 0=20 acres, complete with a rather big house. And he=92s a serious car guy. Hi= s=20 property has a long, winding driveway that passes in between huge trees and= stone=20 walls. A dozen years or so ago, he got the idea that it might be nice to h= ave a=20 little car and motorcycle show on his property, and maybe run some of the c= ars=20 up his driveway. He decided to call it a Festival of Speed, for it was intended to celebrate= =20 speed in all its forms. It has since grown to be the single largest motori= ng=20 event in England--bigger by far than the British F-1 Grand Prix. On Friday morning I got up and zoomed down the A-3, soon following the sign= s=20 that led onto the little roads. His estate is very much in the countryside= ,=20 and thus there are dozens of small roads that lead to it from all sides, so= the=20 directions were kind of confusing at first--it was not unusual to come to a= n=20 intersection and find two signs: Festival of Speed, this way, and Festival= of=20 Speed, that way. In fact, both ways led there ultimately. Unlike the Goodwood Revival, which attempts to capture the flavor of an=20 old-time event by replicating history with period costume and historic park= ing lots=20 for spectators, the Festival of Speed makes no such efforts, and thus all= =20 spectator cars, be they lowly shopping cars or high-priced exotics, are par= ked=20 together in huge grass fields surrounding the event on all sides. After trooping to the entrance, I was treated to the sound of freedom--jet= =20 noise! An RAF Tornado zoomed low overhead (perhaps 200-300 feet) at high s= peed=20 before pulling up into a slow roll. It then performed an aerial demonstrat= ion=20 lasting some ten minutes or so, making the long walk into the event itself= =20 quite enjoyable. As he zoomed off over the horizon, my first stop was the Cathedral Paddock.= =20 This secondary paddock was used to house sports and sports racing cars, whi= le=20 the main paddock was nominally reserved for Grand Prix cars and motorcycles= =20 (although there were a few sports cars in the latter one). Virtually the entire history of the sports car was laid bare before me, wit= h=20 representative examples from virtually every facet of the sport, from the d= awn=20 of the automotive age. In fact, the earliest car present, and one that wou= ld=20 in fact make competitive demonstration runs up the hill, was an 1899 Panhar= d=20 et Levassor 16hp Paris-Bordeaux race car! There were early chain-driven Grand Prix cars, land speed record cars, spor= ts=20 cars, NASCAR racers, Trans Am cars, and on and on. There was a strong=20 contingent from France with a group of 1970=92s Matras that raced at Le Man= s, and had=20 the most beautiful-sounding V-12 engines. The yellow JCB GT40 Mk I was the= re,=20 along with a genuine Shelby 427 S/C Cobra, CSX 3032 driven by Bill Murray,= =20 one of the principals of the Shelby museum in Colorado. I wandered through the paddock and out the other side. In front of me was = a=20 fenced-off area filled with spectacular road and racing cars. This was the= =20 Cartier Style et Luxe (Style and Luxury) display. This year there were sev= eral=20 themes featured, among them a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the=20 small-block Chevrolet V-8, and a celebration of the Etceterinis, the small = Italian=20 marques that sprang up in the =9150s and =9160s with a variety of delightfu= l=20 sports cars. Imagine my surprise at finding a spectacular white/blue De Tomaso Vallelung= a=20 in this mix! Not only that, it was one of the three prototype aluminum-bod= ied=20 coupes built by Fissore (the remaining 50-odd cars wore fiberglass bodies= =20 built by Ghia). The car is owned by Peter Rae, who has a tidy little car= =20 collection of some 40-odd cars, and in his spare time owns the BAR Formula = One team! Alongside the Cartier exhibit was a collection of cars for the=20 kids--full-size replicas of the Wacky Racers, from the long-running Hannah-= Barbera cartoons,=20 complete with appropriately costumed drivers--Penelope Pitstop, etc. Continuing around the corner to the front side of Goodwood House, I was=20 knocked out by a stunning display. Each year the event has a featured marq= ue, and=20 a huge sculpture is erected on the lawn in front of the house. This year w= as=20 celebrating 40 years of Honda=92s racing success, and six original Honda or= =20 Honda-powered F-1 racers were suspended on giant teeter-totters high above = the=20 ground. Each had a rotating counterweight located underneath the car, and = as the=20 weight revolved, each car would bob up and down five or six feet, while=20 flashing lights marked the opposite end of the teeter-totter. Quite a stri= king and=20 quietly relaxing thing to contemplate. This display was ringed by a collection of historic Honda motorcycles, with= =20 perhaps 50 significant examples displaying the company=92s production histo= ry. This whole time, I could hear the sound of vehicles racing up the hill, so= =20 soon I left to pursue a suitable vantage point. Avoiding the crowds near t= he=20 bottom of the hill, I elected to hike towards the top, and soon found mysel= f in=20 a position close to the course. The driveway is just that, a driveway, and thus it=92s almost impossibly na= rrow=20 for any sort of serious motorsport activity. It was lined with a wall of h= ay=20 bales, but as the trees encroached fairly tightly against the road in some= =20 places, runoff room was reduced to zero. Historic motorcycles, almost 50 of them, were blatting up the hill, roughly= =20 in chronological order, starting with bikes from the 1910s and 20s, and goi= ng=20 all the way through the mid =9190s. The later bikes included competition b= ikes=20 which were being ridden by their period champions, including Freddie Spence= r=20 and Mick Doohan aboard full-on Grand Prix bikes. New this year was a separate Forest Rally stage, celebrating the World Rall= y=20 Championship. At the top of the hill was a separate paddock filled with ab= out=20 50 historic rally cars, including several of the awesome Group B cars that= =20 had upwards of 800 horsepower! A single dirt track had been cut through th= e=20 forest, and as pavement machines would race up the driveway, just a few fee= t away=20 these rally machines would blast past in the dirt. Wonderful! A Paris/Dakar rally team was demonstrating their vehicles and offering ride= s,=20 including rides in their awesome 4x4 support truck on a special course that= =20 featured bumps and jumps. As I walked down to the bottom of the hill, I found myself in a huge arcade= =20 of tents filled with vendors selling all sorts of automobilia, including bo= oks,=20 models, signs, parts, tools, etc. etc. etc. Most of the major vehicle=20 manufactures had large, elaborate pavilions set up, with their latest wares= on=20 display, and flashy videos showing them being driven to the limit. A large expanse of grass was ringed with luxury four-door cars, in a specia= l=20 display celebrating post-war luxury four-door cars. Among them was to be a= De=20 Tomaso Deauville, but sadly the paint shop butchered its paint job, and thu= s=20 it had to be withdrawn at the last moment. The weather had been hot and sunny, and with my memories of Le Mans fresh i= n=20 my mind, I had worn shorts and a T-shirt. But by mid-afternoon the skies h= ad=20 clouded up, and soon a torrential downpour and lightning storm erupted! Th= is=20 didn=92t prevent any of the participants from running up the hill however, = and=20 thus I stood out in the rain and got soaked to the bone while enjoying the= =20 sight of these vintage cars splashing up the hill. At the end of the day, I was standing in the Cathedral Paddock talking with= =20 the owner of the 427 Cobra; just beyond us was the sole Scarab mid-engined= =20 single seat race car. The owner of that car was talking with somebody, and= I=20 heard him introduce himself and say, =93My name is Bill Cotter.=94 Bill Cotter??? I interrupted and said, =93Hey, Bill! I=92m Mike Drew!=94 = We both=20 busted out laughing and shook hands. For Bill Cotter is (or rather, was) t= he=20 owner of the Candy Gr4 race Pantera, and he and I had been corresponding vi= a=20 e-mail for almost a year, as I helped to broker its sale to a buyer in=20 Belgium. For all our back-and-forthing via e-mail, we=92d never actually m= et. So that=20 led to a nice 45-minute conversation about his Pantera (which is on its way= =20 to Belgium now), and his unique Scarab, and his other vintage race Ferraris= ,=20 etc. etc. What a small world! As usual, I elected to remain behind for a couple of hours after the event= =20 ended, to avoid sitting in traffic. The rain had stopped and thankfully it= =20 wasn=92t too cold, so I had almost dried out by the time I got to my car, w= here I=20 was able to put on dry clothes for the drive home. The next morning I filled up the gas tank again (it cost me about $50-60 in= =20 gas each day to make the drive down and back) and then scooted back down to= =20 Goodwood. Thankfully the skies had cleared, and we enjoyed excellent weath= er for=20 the remainder of the weekend. On the first day I had missed the F-1 paddock which was actually quite a bi= t=20 larger than the sports car paddock. It featured historic and modern Grand= =20 Prix and open wheel race cars, as well as a whole slew of motorcycles. =20 The Festival of Speed is unique in that the major F-1 racing teams all come= =20 together in a non-competitive way, and hang out together, showing off their= =20 cars to an admiring public. Current and former F-1 drivers then demonstrat= e them=20 on the hill, normally forgoing a top speed run in lieu of hooliganistic=20 antics such as burnouts, donuts and even wheelies! =20 The F-1 teams also set up tents and have backup cars on display, and the=20 drivers meet with the public and sign autographs. It was almost impossible= to see=20 into these tents due to the throngs of fans with programs, hats and pens in= =20 their hands, eagerly waiting to meet their heroes. Believe me, the sound of the Renault F-1 car bouncing off its rev limiter= =20 while the current points champion stands on the brakes and performs a smoky= =20 burnout is something to behold! Geoff Peters and I sat in the grandstands= =20 immediately adjacent to the starting line and watched the F-1 cars launch u= p the hill;=20 truly amazing. While sitting there, we met up with Phil Stebbings, founder and club=20 secretary for the De Tomaso Driver=92s Club of the United Kingdom. We walk= ed back to=20 the Cartier display to admire the Vallelunga, when suddenly Gavin Hutton (w= ho=20 owns two GT5-S Panteras and a Pantera Si) walked up, accompanied by Franz K= rump=20 of Austria (who has a Pantera Si and a Guara). We were having a nice littl= e=20 reunion when I spotted John Braithwaite, who had driven his beautiful Mangu= sta=20 to the International De Tomaso meeting the summer before. As we were all= =20 laughing at the coincidence, somebody tapped my shoulder, and there was Gab= by=20 Eggimann from Zurich, who along with Rene Killer was also at that meeting i= n their=20 yellow Vallelunga. So suddenly it was a reunion, with owners from four=20 countries represented! We all laughed at the coincidence, and then receive= d a=20 guided tour of the Vallelunga from the fellow who had restored it. Phil managed to borrow the VIP passes from the Vallelunga=92s steward, and = he=20 and I waltzed into the Cartier hospitality area and totally chowed on the= =20 outstanding buffet therein. Inside this area were a few cars that were so = special=20 they were being restricted from public viewing, including a 1939 Bugatti Ty= pe=20 57S Atlantique, one of three made, and virtually priceless. Appetites sated, we returned to the show and then split up and went our=20 separate ways. One of the really great things about this event is that celebrity drivers a= re=20 given the opportunity to sample historic cars. Damon Hill got to drive a=20 single-seat race car that had been designed and built (but never raced) by = his=20 late father. Jenson Button drove an older Formula car, and so on and so fo= rth. =20 They were obviously having a lot of fun! I spent most of the third day by myself, looking for things I had missed th= e=20 previous two days. One of the most amazing cars present was BABS, a=20 land-speed-record car from the 30=92s, powered by a 27-liter V-12 aero engi= ne. This=20 monster is driven by two chains; during a record attempt on Pendine Beach, = one of=20 the chains had broken, causing the car to flip and killing its builder/driv= er.=20 His family had a pit dug and the car was buried on the spot. 42 years=20 later, it was unearthed by a team of archeologists wondering if there would= be=20 anything left; surprisingly the car was almost completely intact, and while= the=20 aluminum bits had suffered corrosion, there was no rust at all. So it was= =20 relatively straightforward to restore it and now it is running again. The thing is, this car is absolutely lethal--so much so, in fact, that the= =20 owner/driver dons a bulletproof vest before he starts it up!!! And the sou= nd=20 that a 27-liter V-12 makes with exhaust pipes that are only four inches lon= g is=20 ear-splitting! It was fun to watch the car sitting and idling, as all the= =20 valvetrain is exposed, so you can watch the valves opening and closing as i= t=20 huffs and chuffs and spits oil and smoke and drips water and whatnot. Hidden out of sight behind Goodwood House was the supercar paddock. Here= =20 were gathered about 50 brand new supercars, many of which are familiar to= =20 Americans, but others the likes of which we=92ve never seen. England has a= healthy=20 bespoke car industry, and if you have a couple of hundred thousand dollars,= there=20 are any number of manufacturers willing to put you behind the wheel of thei= r=20 latest 200-mph missile. Among the Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Nobles, Porsches= ,=20 Maseratis, Aston Martins, Ascaris, etc. etc. the Roush Mustang GT seemed od= dly=20 out of place. The Ford GT alongside fit right in though. These cars were demonstrated on the hill, and the only incident of the even= t=20 took place when a fellow behind the wheel of a brand-new Jaguar prototype l= ost=20 it in a big way and comprehensively demolished a wall of hay bales,=20 presumably doing extensive damage to the car, and his career as well! Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason (who has a terrific car collection of his own= ,=20 and was running a Ferrari 512BBLM racer) was allowed to drive the Pininfari= na=20 Maserati Birdcage 75 concept car, which was=20 I spent the day moving from one place to another, spending a few minutes in= =20 the paddocks, then watching the action on the hill, then going through the= =20 shops, then visiting the Cartier stand, and so on and so forth. I got to s= ee=20 Derek Bell as he literally leapt out of some car, and ran through the crowd= , to=20 then hop into Ayrton Senna=92s McLaren (into which he barely fit) to make a= nother=20 run up the hill. Brian Redmon was driving the Ferrari 312PB that he raced= =20 extensively in 1972, and Stirling Moss even drove old number 722, the Merce= des=20 300 SLR in which he and Denis Jenkinson made their awesome run to win the 1= 955=20 Mille Miglia. Mid-afternoon I linked up with Colin Bradshaw, who I=92d seen only briefly = at=20 Le Mans the week prior, and with his wife Kim hiked up to the rally paddock= ,=20 where we bumped into DTDCUK president Ric Lee and his wife. The Bradshaws = and I=20 spent the rest of the afternoon together, and were amazed to see the last= =20 aerial demonstration--a South African Airways 747 put on an air show right= =20 overhead! Now, I=92ve been to many airshows, but I=92ve never seen a 747 p= erform before! It was with a sense of regret that I finally pulled myself away around 7:30= =20 p.m. on Sunday. This was my first time going to the Festival of Speed, and= I=20 found that it completely lived up to its billing. From the cars to the=20 motorcycles to the planes to the exhibits to the aerial demonstrations to t= he star=20 drivers to the manufacturing tents to the F1 exhibits and on and on and on,= =20 there was something new and different to see every time you turned around. Although I suffered numerous digital camera misfires, I did managed to get= =20 some good shots (and a few truly great ones, blind squirrels and nuts and s= o=20 forth), some of which can be found here: http://members.aol.com/mikeldrew/festivalofspeed.jpg I composed this while sitting in the first class section of a 777 flying to= =20 Chicago; by the time you read this I will actually be (gasp) at my own home= for=20 a change! Ah, but how long do you think I can last before my wanderlust strikes and I= =20 feel compelled to take another automotive-related vacation? Not long, as i= t=20 turns out! I'm doing laundry and going through the mail now; tomorrow I'll be packing = my=20 bags and hitting the road yet again, bound for the SAAC convention at=20 Fontana. Look for me working the hot pits at the track; I'll be easily rec= ognizable=20 wearing my totally goofy-looking Oakley Eyeshade sunglasses, circa 1988 (th= ey=20 look like ski goggles!) Mike ________________________________________ PeoplePC Online A better way to Internet http://www.peoplepc.com
