Goodwood 2013: Atmosphere
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By Jonathan Sharp & Hugues Vanhoolandt
The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts
By pete
Goodwood 2013: Atmosphere
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By Jonathan Sharp & Hugues Vanhoolandt
By pete
Story and Photos by Jonathan Sharp
Salon Privé is held at the Duke of Northumberland’s London home at Syon Park, a lovely spot by the Thames and this year the date was set for Thursday, September 4-6th. Now entering its 8th consecutive year, Salon Privé is the UK’s premier ’boutique’ motoring event and held just prior to the St. James Concours. Website for Prive Salon Concours [Read more…] about Salon Prive, St. James Concours, London
By pete
Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp
The Silverstone Classic, July 27-28. It just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Over 1100 entries in 24 races; most of the infield of the circuit was full of various car club displays, everything from Alfa Romeo’s to two Volgas all the way from Russia; a fun fair, the BMW Ferris Wheel, loads of retail opportunities, art, food etc. You could have spent all day there and not seen a race at all. [Read more…] about Silverstone by Sharp
By pete
Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp
The Four Days of the Goodwood Festival of Speed June 11-14 2013
The Goodwood Festival of Speed has become a four day affair. In addition, this year was the 20th Anniversary of the Festival of Speed and all of the stops were pulled to celebrate.
Thursday is the Moving Motor Show day, a new style of motor show where if you are lucky and your chosen manufacturer thinks you are a genuine customer, one is allowed to drive a test course around the Goodwood Estate including the hill climb course. The number of chosen is large and getting larger. [Read more…] about Goodwood Festival of Speed, 2013
By pete
Goodwood is people too, and it provides a wonderful opportunity to talk to the legends up close and personal.
I had the pleasure escorting Jackie Stewart to the Mercedes-Benz W196; it could not be seen through the throngs of people, but I had seen it arrive. So being a gentleman I stepped in to help, wouldn’t you? [Read more…] about Goodwood Festival: The Drivers
By pete
Stories and Photos by Jonathan Sharp
When you consider the amount of classic car and race meetings that I am able to attend during the all-too-brief British summer season, to say that I am blessed would be an understatement. Events range from Goodwood and Silverstone to the small gatherings in fields and local club pub meets. They all have their own unique charm. It’s just a bit unfortunate sometimes that they all seem to follow one another, often with very short intervals in between; a bit like buses, you wait all winter long and then several events come along at once, as the three described here.
Fulvias at Goodwood
A message from one friend to another, asking “…are you going to the Fulvia 50th meeting at Goodwood on Saturday, May25th for the 50 years of the Fulvia?” I attended the Fulvia 25th Anniversary in my 1.3 Coupe. Can that really be 25 years ago?
By pete
Text by Jonathan Sharp, Photos by Jonathan Sharp and Roy P. Smith
Just back from a long day (June 2) at the Bugatti Owners Club’s Prescott Hill climb for their La Vie en Bleu event where there were 32 Bugatti’s entered. The annual International Bugatti rally was being held in the UK at that time with Prescott being one of the ports of call. A very impressive lineup they made, especially Jim Hulls Type 57 SC Electron reconstruction which he had brought from California.
Prescott is all about atmosphere. The location is as it must have felt in the 1930s, and to add to the atmosphere this year the local Steam Preservation railway was running great steam-driven trains. The sounds of the various Bugattis, blown and unblown, were mixed in with the sound of steam whistles and chuffing trains that enhanced the nostalgia.
As usual the French make car clubs put on a fantastic display. A rare favorite was the Peugeot 504 Pininfarina Coupe, just imported from the South of France. It had been owned by the proprietor of a Peugeot garage who had used the car during the summer, but had kept it in a heated garage in the winter. Its new custodian was justifiably proud of it. At various times during the day the works Bugatti test driver powered the 1200 BHP Veyron Vittesse up the hill and one lucky ticket winner got a ride up the hill with him at the end of the day.
Also demonstrated was the 1990 Benetton B190 F1 of John Reaks. This car was driven to victory at Suzuka, Japan in 1990 by Nelson Piquet. The first time I saw the car in the paddock after one of its runs it was without a nose cone. I understandably thought it had been involved in an accident but no, the cars mechanics had to remove the nose cone and then man- handle the car at the top of the hill to allow it to return to the paddock using the return road. Such dedication just to allow the spectators the chance to witness a 650 BHP Grand Prix car being driven up the hill in anger is worthy of praise. I do think it was a bit of a handful around the wonderfully named ‘Pardon Bend’ though.
By pete
Everyone is familiar with the Le Mans 24 hour race, first run in 1923. Less well-known is the British equivalent, the Brooklands Double Twelve race. Vintage Alfa Romeo fans may recall the event, however, as the first running of the Double Twelve was in 1929, the winner being Giulio Ramponi driving a 1500cc Alfa Romeo at an average speed of 76 mph.
So why was it called the Double Twelve, rather than the Brooklands 24 hour race? In an effort to appease the local residents of nearby Weybridge, nighttime racing was banned at Brooklands, so the race was run in two 12 hour heats on consecutive days.
The race had a short history of only three years. The winners of the Double Twelve in 1930 were Woolf Barnato and Frank Clement driving a 6.5 litre Bentley with Sammy Davis (the late OSCA pilot Colin Davis’s father) and Jack Dunfee finishing second, also driving a 6.5 litre Bentley. The winners of the final race in 1931 were The Earl of March and Mr. CS Staniland driving an MG Midget, their winning average being 65.62 MPH.
The story of the Double Twelve then jumps to 2007, Brooklands’ centenary year. The Brooklands museum organized a large event in celebration; in fact it was the largest motoring event to take place at the circuit since its demise in 1939. The weekend of events that year were run along the lines of the various forms of competition that took place in period including a concours and some very fiendish driving tests using what remains of the banked track and the test hill. Motor racing had at last returned to Brooklands, the birthplace of British motor sport.
By pete
Team Vialle Alpine 110B Rallycross car was the most successful A110 in the FIA European Rally Cross championship.
Story and Photos by Jonathan Sharp unless otherwise noted.
The annual Race Retro show, now in its 10th year at Stoneleigh in Warwickshire, has always been considered to be a harbinger of the arrival of spring and the start of the new season of historic car racing in the U.K. This year spring had certainly been put on hold for the weekend. It was cold; the wind chill had been described by somebody more eloquent than me as being stiletto sharp, but the fun went on regardless.
[Read more…] about Race Retro 2013
By pete
Story and Color Photos by Jonathan Sharp
Saturday February 15, 1913 had dawned misty, not ideal conditions to attempt to set a record to drive a car for 100 miles in an hour. Not 100 miles per hour; that had already been done. But this record was to drive a car 100 miles in distance in one hour.
The scene of this attempt was the Brooklands motor racing circuit in Weybridge Surrey England. The creation of Mr. Hugh Locke King, a wealthy land owner, this huge banked speedway was opened in 1907 and was the ideal location for such record attempts. By 1908 the record already stood at 85 miles in the hour. In 1912 the record had been pushed to 97.59 miles in the hour. This was achieved by the French driver Victor Hemery driving his 15 liter Lorraine Dietrich.
[Read more…] about STD Celebrates One Hour at 100 MPH, 100 Years Ago
By pete
Autosport International………otherwise known as the Racing Car show.
Story and photos by Roy Smith
And what a show it was! On January 10-13, the Birmingham National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in the UK hosted the annual show for the business of Motor Sport. [Read more…] about Autosport Racing Car Show, Birmingham
By pete
Photos and Captions by Jonathan Sharp
This year’s annual Footman James-sponsored NEC Classic Motor Show show at the sprawling National Exhibition Centre (NEC), Birmingham England was the largest yet. spread over 11 halls. The visitor number was also the largest ever with just shy of 58,000 attending over the three days. The show has certainly grown in size and stature since the early days at dear old Alexandra Palace in London (or as us ex locals call it Ally Pally). It is very much a show built by the attending owners clubs – everything from Alfa Romeos to Zastavas. Each year, many of the clubs try to outdo each other in their imaginative display settings. They also bring different cars each year which keeps everything fresh.
[Read more…] about NEC Show, Birmingham England, November 16-18, 2012