GT40s, Grand Prix heroes and la dolce vita: Goodwood turns back the clock

Three GT40s rekindled one of motorsport’s most disputed finishes, but Ford’s famous triumph was only the opening act. From Brabham and Maserati milestones to swarms of Vespas, hard-fought racing and spirited auction bidding, the Goodwood Revival brought six decades of motoring history vividly back to life.

One of the most famous – indeed infamous – finishes in the history of motorsport was re-enacted at this year’s Goodwood Revival when the trio of 1966 Le Mans-winning Ford GT40s were re-united on track.

Assembled as a tribute to mark 60 years since the spectacular 1-2-3-win that broke Ferrari’s six-year victory run at the famous Circuit de la Sarthe in what was regarded as the ultimate snub to Enzo Ferrari, the cars took part in a daily parade at the annual three-day celebration of motor racing over the third weekend in September.

The 1966 win was controversial after Ford’s decision to choreograph the 1-2-3-finish saw race leader Ken Miles (who had slowed down at Ford’s insistence) and co-driver Denny Hulme relegated to second place as their GT40 had technically started ahead of race winners Chris Amon and Bruce McLaren (who they crossed the line with for a planned ‘tie’), so covering less distance (by 20 feet!) during the 24-hour fixture.

The GT40s’ appearance marked the first time all three cars were again together on a track since that fateful race that inspired the 2019 film Ford v Ferrari. Fittingly, the sports car racers were piloted by various Le Mans winners at Goodwood Motor Circuit in Chichester, including Derek Bell, Tom Kristensen and Emanuele Pirro.

Brabham and Maserati take a bow at the Goodwood Revival

And the famous Ford triumph wasn’t the only 60^th anniversary to be celebrated: Goodwood marked six decades of Aussie racer Sir Jack Brabham’s third F1 World Championship with a track display of 35 cars from his racing career. The win saw Brabham become the only driver ever to take the coveted title in a car bearing his name and the Brabham-Repco BT20 he drove late in the ’66 season was one of the cars to take part, along with a 1962 Brabham-Ford BT2 which was bought new and raced by South African hotshoe Bob Olthoff.

The anniversaries continued with a line-up of magnificent Maserati sports cars and single seaters to honour the centenary of the famous Trident badge’s entry into motorsport and its first major international win when Alfieri Maserati won his class in a Tipo 26 in the 1926 Targa Florio. Two later examples were part of the 30-strong Celebrazione Maserati daily parade that also included other Maserati icons, including a trio of Maserati 250Fs and several A6GCS sports racers.

Two wheels, seven riders and la dolce vita

But that wasn’t the only Italian take on the weekend: Goodwood also opened the circuit each morning with a track parade of around 300 pre-1967 Vespas to mark 80 years since the launch of the famous scooter which went on to give millions of Italians enormous freedom in Italy’s post-war years after it was launched by Piaggio back in 1946. A highlight of the celebration were the Vespa Acrobats who thrilled the crowd with a performance involving seven riders on one scooter!

Adding to the atmosphere was La Dolce Vita, a celebration of Italian life that featured actors in the role of typical street scene characters, including fresh produce saleswomen, a mob boss and members of the polizia!

Yesterday’s icons meet tomorrow’s cars

Of course, the static displays also involved cars old and new, with the ever popular Earls Court Motor Show. Visitors could see ‘cars of the future’ alongside models from the past. A standout for this year was the central display of Alpine vehicles which charted the French sports car maker’s history from a classic ex-works 1971 Berlinette rally car to the chic A290 Lacoste Rallye and A390 Array, finished by Trevor Jackson as an ‘art car’.

BMW also put on an impressive step-back-in-time display of original Neue Klasse saloons set against a backdrop of design sketches and ideas. It was fronted with the famous Bavarian carmaker’s latest i3 model, the second in its latest Neue Klasse product offering.

Not to be outdone was JLR. It fielded its impressive (think 460 kW and 750 Nm) 4.4-litre, twin-turbo Defender Dakar, a road-legal evolution of the mighty Dakar Rally-class winning D7X-R. It was parked up alongside one of two surviving Series 1 Land Rovers that took part in the Oxford & Cambridge trans-Africa expedition in 1954.

Cortinas, Cobras and an E-type showdown

But, as ever, Goodwood also had plenty of action out on the track with a 15-strong race schedule that honoured the circuit’s heyday from 1948 to ’66 during which it hosted multiple sports car, saloon as well as Grands Prix.

First up was part one of the St Mary’s Trophy on the Friday. This event delivered an epic battle between Frank Stippler in an Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GTA and F1 champion Jenson Button in a Ford-Lotus Cortina Mk1 on the opening lap. After Button was forced off the tarmac, Romain Dumas’ mighty Ford Galaxie took the lead and would go on to take the laurels as overall winner after the second part of the race on the Sunday.

The saloon antics were followed by the The Stirling Moss Memorial Trophy featuring a grid of Jaguar E-types, Aston Martin DB4 GTs and Ferrari 250 SWBs, while the Lavant Cup was back on the schedule to relive the epic duels of 1950s Ferrari and Maserati sports car races.

But it was the Revival’s Blue Riband race – the popular Royal Automobile Club (RAC) TT Celebration – that provided the most thrills late on the Sunday when the ‘heavy metal’ took to the grid. And it turned out to be a Jaguar fest, with Button behind the wheel of his own E-type and facing off another fellow World Champion, Jacques Villeneuve, also piloting an E-type. The two-driver contest was ultimately won by André Lotterer and Lukas Halusa in a Low Drag E-type, the pair beating off pole sitters Tom Ingram and Jack Tetley in a Shelby Cobra, despite a three-second penalty for a false start.

Under the hammer: Big prices, little cars

Off the track, there was plenty of competition at the Bonhams auction that fielded some stellar results, including R7.7 million for a 1936 Aston Martin 2-Litre Speed Model Competition two-seater that entered the 1948 Spa 24 Hours and was once owned by Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason in the late 1970s.

Also commanding serious hammer action – but considerably more modern – was a 2000 Mercedes-Benz CLK DTM (the first chassis, built as a test car). It made R5.5 million despite having limited racing pedigree.

Also impressive – for a regular road car– was the R6.9 million paid for a 1973 Ferrari Dino 246 GTS, while a rare 1976 Suzuki Fronte Coupé and even rarer 1965 Toyota Publica 700 DX Saloon made R177 100 and R106 200, respectively. The little air-cooled Japanese runabouts were part of a micro car collection and proof that, despite its period setting, the Goodwood Revival continues to be a broad church for petrolheads.

WORDS: Graeme Hurst
PHOTOS: Graeme Hurst & Goodwood.com