Celebrating a return to glamor at the 17th Goodwood Revival

by James • October 11, 2014 • Feature • Comments (0) • 5129

A sell-out crowd of 148,000 guests enjoyed a sensational 17th Goodwood Revival Meeting. The event both marked the 60th anniversary of the Jaguar D-Type and Maserati continued its centenary celebrations in glamorous vintage style. As well as marking the Italian car maker’s 100th anniversary, Maserati also honored 60 years of a Formula One legend; the Maserati 250F.

The iconic Maserati 250F, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, took center stage in the paddock in a recreation of the 1954 pit lane from the famous Italian race circuit, Monza. 16 examples of the legendary race car were assembled for the event and a large number took part in high speed demonstrations. Included in their number is the most notable 250F of them all, the car used by Fangio to win the 1957 German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring. After a pitstop had dropped the Argentinian behind the Ferraris of Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins, he proceeded to stun the crowds and haul the pair in with a display of on-the-limit motoring, thought by many to have been one of the finest drives in the history of the sport. On display in the ‘Monza’ pits as well as racing on track was the single-seater Maserati Tipo 420 M 58 ‘Eldorado’, raced by Sir Stirling Moss in the 1958 Monza 500, and on loan from the Panini Museum Collection in Italy.

Sir Jackie Stewart’s extraordinary career – which was catapulted into life at Goodwood in 1964 thanks to a maiden single-seater test – was marked with a 24-car parade that featured fellow motor racing legends John Surtees, Richard Attwood, Mark Webber and Arturo Merzario.

Sir Jackie Stewart said: “The Goodwood Revival’ is one of the great events of the year and it’s a great honor to have this kind of celebration put together by Lord March. It was at Goodwood where I first drove a single-seater 50 years ago, and it changed my career.”

2014 marked the 75th anniversary of RAF Westhampnett – Goodwood Aerodrome’s name during World War II and it was marked with a display of 600 military vehicles and personnel, including a fly past.
Lord March said: “The 17th Goodwood Revival drew a record crowd, who not only witnessed some of the most iconic racing cars ever built dicing wheel-to-wheel, but also celebrated the career of the legendary Sir Jackie Stewart and paid tribute to the bravery of all those from West Sussex who were involved in World War II. The sight of two Lancaster Bombers in the sky together at sunset is something nobody who was there will ever forget. My sincere thanks to everyone who came for their support and enthusiasm for the event, which continues to be cherished by enthusiasts of motor racing and vintage culture across the world.”

Off-track recreations of Brighton Pier, Stonehenge and BMW’s 1950s Park Lane showroom combined to make the event the largest celebration of vintage culture in the world.

The Rolls-Royce Hooper’s building at the March Motor Works presented an authentic recreation of a trim shop from the Revival period. Hooper & Co were a British coachbuilding company synonymous with the marque, with an association dating from 1909. Revival guests were greeted by craftsmen and women – all employees of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars – ‘working’ in the trim shop, and were able to closely examine the attention to detail that has hallmarked Rolls-Royce workmanship from the outset of the company.

In regards to the actual racing the on-track highlights included the annual RAC TT Celebration race for early-1960s GT cars, which was won by the AC Cobra of Sauber Formula 1 test driver Giedo van der Garde and David Hart, after a thrilling battle against a £150 million field that included Jaguar E-types, Aston Martin Project cars and even a Bizzarini. However arguably, the most exiting race of the weekend was the second part of the St Mary’s Trophy, a giant-killing action in which the little Austin A40 of British Touring Car team boss Mike Jordan eventually saw off a pair of mighty Jaguar Mk1s.