It’s less than six months since the last Goodwood Members Meeting, or 78MM, was held, having been thrice-postponed as a result of the pandemic, resulting in it taking place in the Autumn as opposed to its traditional slot in early April. 79MM however returned to its regular place in the calendar, and I was lucky enough to be able to attend my second MM just a short while after my first.
The MM formula is relatively simple – invite owners and drivers of historic motor racing cars, some of them extremely valuable – to race their precious machines around the old airfield circuit in the Sussex Downs and allow members of the organising Goodwood Road Racing Club (GRRC) and their guests to come along to watch the fun. Around this core activity, the GRRC has created an event that resembles a big, noisy private garden party, with visitors encouraged to adopt country-style or period attire and generally soak up the atmosphere of one of the classic car world’s most exclusive yet informal and relaxed occasions.
Because the event is open only to GRRC members and guests, numbers are limited, making moving around the circuit and the paddocks much more comfortable than at the similarly themed but significantly bigger Goodwood Revival. However, despite its more intimate scale, there is still a huge amount to take in and enjoy and I hope I’ll be able to convey some of what this splendid event is like.
As last time, I attended with an equally enthusiastic friend and we rolled into the car park just before 7.30 after the 50-minute drive in my 280CE from his home on what was a very chilly but beautifully bright and clear Saturday morning. First order of the day was to collect my media wristband which had been very kindly organised at short notice by Katharine Morgan of the GRRC media team, get some breakfast, and then hit the paddocks.
Cars entered into the fourteen races that make up the weekend’s competition programme range from humble VW Beetle’s and Austin A35’s to AC Cobra’s, lightweight E-Types and perhaps the most valuable cars of the weekend, a pair of Ferrari 250’s, one a 1964 250LM, the other a 250GTO/64, one of seven redesigned 250 GTO’s, and although the two look similar at first glance, the first is mid-engined, the second has it’s engine up front – both are stunning.
Just as stunning, a trio of Porsche 904’s, also competing in the same event – the Graham Hill Trophy – as the pair from Maranello. While the Saturday is largely given over to practice for Sunday’s races, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t some serious action on the track, and the session for the Graham Hill Trophy was particularly exciting, with the chicane barriers – thankfully made of polysterene – getting clipped a few times.
It was heartening to see so much support for the Ukraine around the event – the country’s blue and yellow flag flew above the pit lane and many of the marquees and buildings, and many of the cars raced with small blue and yellow decals displayed on various body panels. There were also several opportunities to make donations to the Ukraine Crisis Appeal at various locations around the circuit.
There were some mouth-watering temptations on offer at the classic auction, held by Bonhams, not all of them eye-wateringly expensive, though few were what you might call unexceptional. It’s not often you see an Aston Martin Lagonda Rapide, though this 1963 example was in need of some expensive TLC hence it fetching just £40,250, but possibly my favourite of the lots on offer was the gorgeous white 1967 Maserati Mistral 4000 Spyder which went under the hammer for £299,000, although the red 1969 AC 428 coupé would also have been very welcome in my garage if I had a spare £92,000 and £59,800 for the ’68 Aston DBS 6 seemed good value, especially compared to the average DB4 or 5.
There were two particularly interesting demonstration sessions – one for Formula One cars of the V10 era, which made a glorious noise as their drivers gave them as much throttle as they could while staying behind a pace car, and another dedicated to the world conquering Porsche 956 and 962 Group C cars that dominated endurance racing during much of the 1980’s. It was a tremendous treat just to see so many – 17! – of these awesome cars in one place, including the three Rothmans cars that filled the first three places at Le Mans in 1982. I didn’t get to see them on the track but I felt privileged just to see them in the paddocks – what astonishing machines they were, and still are. And the names on the sides – Jochen Mass, Derek Bell, Hans Stuck, Jacky Ickx…so evocative.
Another favourite category is that for cars raced in Saloon Car competition up to 1956, with some unlikely looking entrants such as the 1957 Borgward Isabella, a 1956 Nash Metropolitan and the gorgeous 1953 Lancia Aurelia B20 GT, all competing for the Sopwith Cup. It’s hard not to love the blue 1956 Renault 4CV known as Little Reggie, going bumper-to-bumper with big Jaguar MkVII’s, one driven into second place by none other than Rowan Atkinson.
Ford GT40’s and Lola T70’s dominated the entries for the Surtees Trophy category, and there was also a special event for the Chain Gang, pre-WW2 Frazer Nashes, as well F3 single seaters.
While the Graham Hill Trophy featured probably the two most valuable individual cars of the weekend, a contender for MVG (Most Valuable Grid, obviously) may well have been the Peter Collins Trophy for sports racing cars that competed between 1948 and 1955, which included some stunning cars, such as the 1956 Ferrari 500TRC and a couple of Maserati 300S’s, as well as a number of Jaguar C-and-D-types and a 1954 Aston Martin DB3S, cars as beautiful and expensive as they were fast.
Other features of the Members Meeting include the fairground, the retail areas, the catering, and of course the style – always some interesting outfits, and while it doesn’t bring in visitors’ classics in the same way as the Revival – the Revival car park is worth a half a day on its own – it nevertheless does attract some very cool classics, with a couple of display areas set aside in the Chicane Paddock and out near Lavant. You would expect to see a few E-Types, 911’s, Astons and we did, but there were also a couple of less frequently seen cars such as a white 1984 Bristol 412 and an AC 428, and a superb 1930 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 in red.
One of the most unusual was a 1959 Falcon Shells Bermuda, something I’d never seen nor heard of before. It transpired that Falcon Shells was one of the many UK companies building specialist kit cars in the late 1950’s and early ‘sixties. This particular model was based on the Ford 10, and some 200 were sold before the company was wound up in 1964. Like many of its kit-car contemporaries, the styling is awkward, especially the rear half. And speaking of awkward styling, the cheerful push-me, pull-you yellow and blue FIAT Multipla was responsible for many a smile from onlookers.
Back to the action on the track, and one of the most popular races of the weekend is the Gerry Marshall Trophy, named after the late, great touring car driver who notched up many a victory in various marques but is perhaps best known for his exploits behind the wheel of Vauxhalls. It’s a two-part, two-driver race, with part one taking place on the Saturday, a 45-minute event that saw plenty of paint swapping and numerous near misses, as well as a couple of tags, especially after the exit from the chicane and just before the pit lane. Commitment levels were high, and this first leg was won by Alex Buncombe and Jack Tetley after a thrilling almost race-long duel with the Ford Mustang driven by Jason Plato and Craig Davies.
Despite the credentials of the Graham Hill Trophy, I suspect that the MVG was possibly that for the Varzi Trophy, contested by a whole gaggle of Bugatti’s and some glorious Alfa Romeo 8C’s, as well as some delightful Talbot Lago’s. Some of these wonderful cars are now almost 100 years old but are still driven with enthusiasm and commitment at events such as this. They looked fantastic lined up in the assembly area before heading out on to the track.
As the afternoon came to an end, it was time for us to – reluctantly – depart, but I had a 3 ½ drive to look forward to so after spending a fabulous ten hours at this wonderful event, it was time to take our leave – and there was one last surprise as we left, with the sighting of a spectacular yellow and black Hispano Suiza in the car park on the way out, which necessitated a quick photo stop. After that, die Tomate took me comfortably home as dusk descended and I could reflect on what had been, without any question – and with apologies to Wallace and Gromit – a Grand Day Out; I’m already looking forward to 80MM.
