The Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Competizione, # 16425, entered in 1973 by Ecurie Francorchamps at the 1000 km of Spa and 24 hours of Le Mans.
Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt
Every year, the Goodwood Festival of Speed develops several themes on which the entry list is based.
This year, one of the themes was ‘Peaks of Performance – Motorsport’s Game-Changers’ that celebrated the cars that were too dominant, too powerful or too dangerous so that the rules had to be changed.
Another theme was the celebration of the nearly 60 years of Bernie Ecclestone in Formula 1, as a driver, a manager, a team owner and as the impresario of Formula 1.
When Formula 1 switched to 1.5-liter engines in 1961, the 156 ‘Sharknose’ dominated the Grand Prix scene and Phil Hill became the first American to win the title. As none of these cars survived, we can admire these two exact replicas.
And finally, the 70th anniversary of Ferrari’s very first car was of course the occasion to remember the victories, drivers and beautiful cars that made the history of the Prancing Horse. Below are my favorite photos, we hope you agree with the choices.
Ferrari is celebrating its 70th birthday, so the Festival of Speed gathered nearly 50 racing Ferraris and most of them came all together for a ‘Ferrari Moment’ in front of Goodwood House.
The Ferrari 166 MM Touring barchetta helped building the legend. This particular example, # 0040 M owned by Sally and Dudley Mason-Styrron, is the first car that tackled the hill climb at the very first Goodwood Festival of Speed, in 1993.
The 1955 Ferrari 750 Monza # 0502 M has a long racing story in the USA, from 1955, when it was driven by Ernie McAfee, to the early sixties.
This 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa # 0704 TR was a Scuderia Ferrari entrant in the 1957 and 1958 most prestigious endurance races. It then went to the U.S. for John von Neumann before a 30 years ownership of the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.
The Pininfarina designed 250 LM looked like a sports prototype racer and indeed was denied homologation as a GT car. Nevertheless, one of them earned victory at Le Mans in 1965, the last Ferrari’s overall win there.
The Ferrari 330 P4 could not break the Ford domination at Le Mans but it can surely compete for the title of ‘the most beautiful race car of all times’. Here is # 0856 owned by Canadian Lawrence Stroll.
Also from Stroll’s collection, the famous Sunoco-liveried and Penske-prepared 512 M # 1040, driven in 1971 by Mark Donohue and David Hobbs.
After a 20 year break, Ferrari came back to sports prototype racing with the 333 SP, developed with Dallara. This example, # 019, is one of the most successful 333 SP as it earned victory at Daytona and Sebring in 1998, entered by Gianpiero Moretti.
One year after its first creation, Ferrari was entering the single seater formula with the 125, with much success.
Born as a Lancia, the D50 became a winner when in the hands of Ferrari and Fangio, in 1956. Here is the D50A recreation owned by Sir Anthony Bamford.
In 1964, in order to regain its competitiveness, Ferrari switched to a V8 1.5-liter engine. The result was the 158 that gave the title to John Surtees who became the first and only man to win world titles on both two and four wheels.
Built on the same chassis but with a V12 engine, Ferrari entered the 1512 in both 1964 and 1965 seasons but the car did not record any championship victories.
Eleven years after, the 312 T allowed Ferrari to regain a World Championship title for the first time since 1964 with Niki Lauda being crowned in the driver’s contest and Ferrari in the constructor’s championship in 1975.
The ‘Cosworth years’ class was another highlight of the Festival. Here Sir Jackie Stewart, at the wheel of the 1969 Matra MS80 that gave him the title that year, leads his son Paul with the 1971 Tyrrell 003 in which Jackie scored his second title.
The controversial Bernie Ecclestone was also celebrated for his role in the development of Formula 1. Sir Jackie seems to be pointing to…
… the last World Champion under his reign. Nico Rosberg, a Goodwood regular, seems to enjoy his Goodwood moment. Maybe is he already training for a full time come back in Formula 1?
Another theme of the Festival was the cars that broke the rules. The 1978 Brabham-Alfa Romeo BT46B was surely one of them. With its fan fitted to the rear to give more ground-effect, it won the Swedish Grand Prix with Niki Lauda and was outlawed immediately after.
The unusual looking Eifelland, named after team owner Gunther Hennerici’s caravan company, took part to the 1972 F1 season with Rolf Stommelen but it was not a success.
The Lotus 49 was one of the most successful cars of the Cosworth era as it won races in its debut season of 1967 and was still winning in 1970. This car is believed to be the 1967 Dutch Grand Prix car of Jim Clark, winning in its first outing.
More recent versions of the Lotus 49 were also on display, as this 1968 49B, originally built for the Tasman Series and later converted to Formula 1 specification.
As a tribute to John Surtees who passed away last March, here is a MV Agusta 500, piloted by multiple World Champion Freddie Spencer. Surtees gave MV Agusta its first World Championship in 1956, winning in total seven 500cc and 350cc titles.
The legendary Giacomo Agostini (15 world titles!) was also there to make a tribute to ‘Il Grande John’.
I could not resist to show you this extraordinary motorcycle, the 1951 Lambretta Siluro, developed to beat the 125cc speed record and bring it to 106 mph.
In the ‘Pioneer’ class, the 1902 Renault Type AK Paris-Vienna, powered by a 12.9-litre four-cylinder engine, is followed here by the 1912 15-litre Lorraine Dietrich ‘Vieux Charles III’ built for the 1912 French Grand Prix.
In the Cartier Style and Luxe Concours of Elegance, the Panini Collection from Modena exhibited its 1953 Maserati A6GCS berlinetta Pinin Farina.
From the Alfa Romeo Museo Storico in Arese came the Tipo 33/2, here in front of Goodwood House and its sculpture celebrating the career of Bernie Ecclestone with five single seaters.
Also from Arese, the 155 V6 which dominated the German manufacturers in the German Touring Car Championship, called DTM, in 1993.
Some rally cars were also tackling the hill climb. Here a Fiat 131 Abarth, one of the most successful rally cars with 18 WRC wins between 1976 and 1980.
The Festival of Speed also sees some premiers, as this Italdesign Zerouno (zero one in Italian), first unveiled at this year’s Geneva Motor Show. The Zerouno is the first Italdesign branded car and will be built in only five units.
This special, called IGM, marked the start of one of the most famous careers in motorsport, that of Gordon Murray (here at the wheel) who built and raced it in its native South Africa.
What is in common between the 2008 Audi R10 TDI Le Mans car and the 1952 Kurtis Kraft Cummins Special ? Their Diesel engines! The Diesel engines were allowed at Indy in those times and one of them even took pole in 1952. With the R10, Audi was the first diesel Le Mans winner in 2006.
Ferrari 125 type, not their best design but beginning of a legandary name
These odd color schemes, blue /yellow for Argentina and the British Racing
Green of Peter Whitehead, wealthy enthusiast who used this car to win the
Czech G.P. in 1949 and the British press making quite a story of it.!.
I do remember reading report in The Autocar with their weekly news
from Europe at a time when Road & Track had suspended publication.
another big item in 1949 was Ferrari winning at revival of Le Mans 24 hours.
Those victories sure stimulated my own interest and seeing the very first
barchetta at the time in the US, car from Tommy Lee Stable.(curiously
that was probably only Ferrari in America Not Raced at the time)
Jim Sitz