Classic American

Show Report

Goodwood Festival of Speed

Goodwood Just Gets Better

The 1998 Goodwood Festival of Speed was a real feast for all those classic race car fans who turned out in their thousands. Steve Havelock braved the crowds and came back with some lasting memories

This year's Goodwood Festival of Speed, where exotic racing cars and motorcycles thrash up and down the driveway of Lord March's Sussex stately home, had a distinctly American feel to it. As well as the usual tweed, brogues and flat cap brigade, there was a plethora of baseball caps and brightly colored race team jackets, while even "Stars and Stripes" flags fluttered in the paddocks.

One of the main themes for this year was the Indy 500 "Heroes and Legends," drawn from the 89 year history of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Some of those "living legends" made the trip across the pond to see for themselves what it is that makes Goodwood so special.

Most easily recognizable to the 98,000 enthusiasts who endured the dodgy weather and braved the challenge of the quagmire car parks was 58 year old Mario Andretti. As he retired only as recently as 1994, it seems like he has been around forever. In his long and successful 37 year racing career, he has been Indy car champion four times, a Formula One World Champion and an Indy 500 winner.

Once behind the wheel of the Newman Haas Swift 007, Andretti put his "race face" on--and the years fell off. He gunned that beasty with all the skills, bravery and gusto he could muster in dazzling displays of wheelspinning, sliding car control over the narrow, slippery and often rain soaked course that at times looked more suitable for white water rafting than driving.

Less recognizable in civvies than in their race suits, Al Unser, Rick Mears and Bobby Rahal meandered largely unmolested through the crowded paddocks, which thankfully this year were tented over for the first time, offering at least some protection to cars and the paying public from the all too frequent downpours.

The stars and cars rolled out thick and fast, as Danny Sullivan, yet another champion and 500 winner, took to the wheel of a state of the art Mercedes-powered 1997 Penske PC26.

From a much earlier period of "brickyard" history, when men were men, came some spectacular examples of Indy cars, including two of Harry Miller's creations. The earliest was the 1931 5.0-litre V16-engined 303 which competed in the great race in '31 and '32, and then, fitted with a four-cylinder engine, from '33 to '41. The other was Dean Butler's 4.2-litre four-wheel drive which ran at the Speedway from '32 to '37.

Moving on in time, there was the 1948 "Norm Olsen Special" with its 4.2-litre Offenhauser engine and, direct from the Indianapolis Hall of Fame Museum, the 1950 bright green, chrome engined, supercharged, 6.6-litre Kurtis Kraft Cummins Diesel.

Mark Mountanos looked the part in white pudding basin crash hat and dark goggles as he sat low in his canary yellow 1958 Quinn Epperly-built special. This was one of the first cars to be built specifically to tackle the "left turn only" speedway with its incredibly high speeds. The Offy engine was laid over, enabling the frontal area to be reduced to cut drag and to redistribute the weight better for left turns. This actual car finished second in the 500 in '58 and third in 1960.

Two cars from the 1968 Indy 500 couldn't have been more different if they tried. The ex-Graham Hill gas turbine powered, four-wheel drive, wedge-shaped STP/Lotus 56 eerily whispered up the hill, whilst in contrast the 750bhp turbo-charged four-cylinder DOHC Eagle Offenhauser made the ground shake and your ears bleed.

If there was one driver and car combination at Goodwood that totally encapsulated the spirit of the Indy 500, it was "Iron" Duke Nalon and the Novi Governor Special. The screaming, supercharged, methanol burning V8 Novis were a sensation in the late Forties and became the crowds' favorite, being the quickest cars of their time by far.

Duke Nalon sat the Novi in pole position for the 1949 Indy 500, pushing the speed up to 132.9mph and leading the race for 23 laps, breaking all existing records. On lap 24 though, the rear axle broke and the left rear wheel flew off. The Novi slammed into the wall, spewing out 60 gallons of methanol which ignited, engulfing Duke in an inferno. The horrendous incident was captured on film and, looking at it now, it is almost unbelievable that Nalon survived. He was badly burned but made a comeback, and his fans named him the "Iron Duke."

American interest at Goodwood wasn't solely confined to Indy. The tin top muscle cars were represented by the high rear winged, 7.0-litre, 1969 Dodge Daytona which was the first 200mph NASCAR, as well as by the lime green 1970 Dodge Challenger Trans Am 5.0-litre that took Sam Posey to fourth place in that year's championship.

Justin Bell, fresh back from his Le Mans 24 hour success, burned some serious rubber--to the delight of the crowd--in his GT2 Class Viper, which still bore French dirt and Le Mans stickers. Other American cars to have tackled Le Mans were a 1955 Cunningham C6R and a 1962 Rojeiro Buick.

On a broader note, Chrysler had on display the Pronto Cruizer concept car, and a Prowler strutted its stuff in the "Supercar" class. The Cartier "Style et Luxe," which is a pretentious way of saying "Show and Shine," had among its entries a wonderful Chrysler Town and Country woody built in 1948.

The Goodwood Festival of Speed caters for all motoring enthusiasts and, among other delights, visitors could witness the V12 and V16 Auto Unions, a whole host of historic racing Porsches, rally cars, Formula One cars, BMW and Norton motorcycles and much more besides.

Busy signing autographs and posing for photographs were the likes of Johnny Herbert, Sir Jack Brabham, Stirling Moss, John Surtees, Tony Brooks, Phil Hill, Nelson Piquet, Riccardo Patrese, Derek Bell, world land speed holder Andy Green and many more. If all that didn't leave you impressed, then the Red Arrows air display certainly would.

As ever, this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed was one of the most memorable events on the UK's classic car calendar. With better weather, it would have been damned near perfect.