Octagon January, 2016

were and driven there by their owners...
Nash, Bentley Blowers, MG of every shape
and size, early Rollers, Fiats, Alfas, early
Lancias and more C and D Type Jaguars
than I ever knew existed.
Leaving the carpark opens up into a
Carnival atmosphere with rides like the
daredevil motorcycle Wall of Death where
riders in old age leathers ride their puny
engined motorcycles (look Mum, no hands)
round and round hoping gravity does not
take hold too quickly. It is also where there
are hundreds (yes hundreds) of stands/
marquees set up to sell you anything from
a hand crafted piece of furniture to an
Italian made Aston Martin replica running
Jaguar mechanicals. MG followers were
not overlooked and I took time to meet the
team from Frontline who manufacture the
gorgeous Frontline LE50 GT Coupe and the
wickedly quick Frontline Abingdon roadster
(there is another story on Frontline in a
coming issue). The girls were well catered
for as well with literally dozens of stalls with
fashion items and antiques... all for the well
heeled mind you.
So enough of this, show our tickets, have
them scanned then over the Bridge to the
circuit proper. The place is packed and I do
mean that. I spoke to one official who told
me the event has been sold out for weeks
and that is why there were people outside
of the circuit trying to buy tickets for any day
and the price was very negotiable.
Now it’s customary to dress for this
event and that means anything pre-
1966. Goodwood was awash with military
uniforms... Squadron Leaders, Sailors,
Sergeants and some really went over the
top with a team wearing German Afrika
Corp uniforms and another in tropical British
uniforms complete with Pith helmets and
rifles (yes rifles). If you weren’t in a military
uniform, it was company overalls (Castrol
complete with appropriate oil and grease
stains worn over shirts and ties) or cravats
and sports coats. The Ladies were all
decked out in fashions from several eras...
but what about the motor racing.
The Goodwood Revival is an experience
of the senses... it’s almost an assault on
all of your senses, the smell of the fuel
and the leaky oil, the blatt blatt blatt of the
non-muffled cars and bikes, the hussle
of the mechanics racing through the pits
with another trolley of Dunlops for the C
Type Jag, the roar of cars at maximum
revs downshifting for the chicane and then
overhead, what are they? Spitfires!
This is another highlight of Goodwood,
the Battle of Britain flypast. These are not
replica WW2 aircraft, they are the real thing.
At some stages I am told there were 12
Spitfires doing circuits at one time... I was
there when the P51 Mustang and a Mk VIX
Spitfire and a Hawker Hurricane battled out
in what appeared a ½ hour air-race with a
Curtis P40 Kittyhawk and a Curtis Hawk
75... circulating lower and lower every circuit
until one could not see the aircraft as they
passed behind the Aerodrome Marquees
... Goodwood is an ex-RAF WW2 base
so these aircraft are right at home here.
And just for something different, a Junkers
Tri-Motor restored from WW2 lumbered
across the sky at a ridiculously slow rate
(making one question how they stayed up).
The static display spanned Bristol Blenheim
Bombers complete with oil leaks, Spitfires,
Seafires (the carrier version), Hurricanes
and a replica of the very first Supermarine
Spitfire flown in its original sky blue livery.
So what about the track, what about the
racing? Just standing on the grassed
mound near the Grandstand watching the
motorcyclists competing in the Barry Sheene
Memorial Trophy drop a knee through the
chicane whilst throwing their Nortons, BSA’s,
Matchless and so many other brands from
right to left was fantastic to see... these
guys climbed all over these old bikes like
monkeys. One rider went so close he
took out the hay-bale barrier signage and
had to pull the material off himself whilst
accelerating down the straight... the rider
behind was being peppered by signage as
they fought for position. And what do you
think of the remaining 6 Daytona Cobras
joined by several of Carroll Shelby’s best
427 Cobras sprinting away at what seemed
full-chat, oh what a sight, what a sound, you
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