A GUIDE TO THE WORLD’S BEST CLASSIC FESTIVAL
Goodwood Revival 12-14 September 2014
YOUR ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO THE WORLD’S GREATEST CLASSIC FESTIVAL
INSIDE USA MEETS BSCC FREDDIE RICHMOND D-TYPE IN DETAIL THE LINDSAY DYNASTY
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Welcome
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he Revival is a very special event for me. In 1992, when we were planning the Festival of Speed, my ambition was always to get the Goodwood Motor Circuit going again. I spent a lot of time there as a child with my grandfather, so opening the track for racing was one of the first things I wanted to do. As we approach the 2014 event I am as excited as ever, and the drama of watching such great cars race on the limit brings back so many memories. It’s hard to believe, but this year is our 17th event. I think the idea of going back in time to a world that has long since disappeared has really caught the imagination of those who remember how it was as well as those who never saw these cars in period. This year we will have no fewer than eight British Touring Car champions competing in the St Mary’s Trophy, always the most popular race of the weekend because it’s wheel-to-wheel stuff. I am also really pleased that we’re going to celebrate two wonderful cars – the Jaguar D-type and the Maserati 250F. A one-model race for the Jaguars looks like being the biggest-ever gathering of these beautiful sports cars, while the 250F was Italy at its best – a legendary Grand Prix Maserati. There will be a 45-minute race named after the great American ‘WE WILL SALUTE SIR superstar Carroll Shelby, for the JACKIE STEWARTWITH A spectacular small-block V8 FANTASTIC COLLECTION saloons and this will be a tremendous battle for the fans to OF THE CARS HE RACED’ enjoy. The motorcycle races will be back, of course, and we can expect another thrilling contest in memory of Barry Sheene, who made so many new fans at the early Revival events. Our driver tribute this year will celebrate the extraordinary achievements of three-time Formula One World Champion Sir Jackie Stewart, whose exceptional talent was discovered by Ken Tyrrell at Goodwood and who shares the circuit lap record with Jim Clark to this day. We will salute Sir Jackie with a fantastic collection of the cars that he raced during his career at the top of the sport. Away from the track, we will have those wonderful warbirds in the air on the 75th anniversary of the outbreak of World War 2, plus a bigger and better Freddie March Spirit of Aviation display. We are all looking forward to it, and I hope you will be with us for three days away from the pressures of the modern world. See you there! THE EARL OF MARCH
Race card FRIDAY 12 SEPTEMBER Sussex Trophy for World Championship sports cars and production sports-racing cars of a type that raced from 1955-’60 Demonstrations: Maserati 250F, Sir Jackie Stewart parade, Jaguar D-type SATURDAY 13 SEPTEMBER Goodwood Trophy for Grand Prix, Formula One, Formula Two and Formula Libre cars of a type that raced from 1948-’55 Chichester Cup for rear-engined Formula Junior cars with disc brakes, of a type that raced from 1960-’64 St Mary’s Trophy Part 1 for production saloon cars of a type that raced from 1950-’59 Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy Part 1 for motorcycles of a type that raced from 1951-’54 Shelby Cup for small-block V8-engined saloons of a type that raced before 1966 Lavant Cup for Jaguar D-types Whitsun Trophy for unlimited sportsprototypes of a type that raced prior to 1966 Settrington Cup for J40 pedal cars Demonstrations: Sir Jackie Stewart parade, Maserati 250F SUNDAY 14 SEPTEMBER Fordwater Trophy for production-based sports and GT cars of a type that raced from 1960-’66 Richmond Trophy for 2.5-litre front-engined GP cars of a type that raced from 1954-’60 Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy Part 2 St Mary’s Trophy Part 2 Settrington Cup Royal Automobile Club TT Celebration for closed-cockpit GT cars in the spirit of the RAC TT races held from 1960-’64 Glover Trophy for Grand Prix cars of a type that raced from 1961-’65 Freddie March Memorial Trophy for cars in the spirit of the Goodwood Nine Hours, 1952-’55 Demonstrations: West Sussex at war, Sir Jackie Stewart parade, Jaguar D-type
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Jaguar D-type will have its own race plus a parade. The 250F (right) will also
have a ‘high-speed
RAF WESTHAMPNETT REMEMBERED
Iconic carstakecentrestage The Maserati 250F and Jaguar D-type were both introduced 60 years ago, and should be represented in impressive numbers. The Maserati is the quintessential Grand Prix car of the period and was a favourite of Stirling Moss and Juan Manuel Fangio, who drove one to claim his fifth and final World Championship in 1957. The Richmond Trophy could include as many as 16 250Fs, with organisers hoping that Klaus Werner’s V12 example will be among them. The mouth-watering line-up of Italian singleseaters is set to be housed in a purpose-built section of the paddock. The area will replicate the Monza pitlane as it was in 1954.
The Lavant Cup, meanwhile, will pay spectacular tribute to Jaguar’s gorgeous D-type with a grid given over entirely to the endurance racer and its derivatives. It is reckoned that there will be as many as 29 examples racing and in the separate parade, with the ‘roadgoing’ XKSS being represented among the bumper entry. Stefan Ziegler’s E2A is also set to take part over the weekend. This famous car formed the link between D- and E-type, using independent rear suspension and a 3-litre version of the XK straight-six. It was raced by the Cunningham team at Le Mans in 1960, when it was driven by Dan Gurney and Walt Hansgen.
STONEHENGE REBUILT AT GOODWOOD Jackie Oliver (above, on right) has become a Revival regular
Star drivers return The Revival’s status continues to attract big names, and this year will be no different. Goodwood stalwarts Emanuele Pirro, Jochen Mass, Anthony Reid and Nicolas Minassian are again set to play major parts in proceedings, and they will be joined by Formula One drivers Max Chilton and Guido van der Garde. Former F1 and sports car ace Jackie Oliver will be there, and there could be as many as eight BTCC champions among the entry: Andrew Jordan will share a Cobra in the TT; Matt Neal will race an Austin A35 – as will Gordon Shedden; Jason Plato will be in a Ford Prefect 107E and Rob Gravett is set to drive a Vauxhall PA Cresta. Fabrizio Giovanardi, Colin Turkington and John Cleland complete the line-up.
One of the most astonishing sights at this year’s Revival will be a life-sized replica of Stonehenge, the World Heritage Site on Salisbury Plain. The model was commissioned by Lord March to celebrate 99 years since the prehistoric monument was bought by Cecil Chubb for £6600 (£500k in today’s money), reputedly to prevent it being sold to the US. Druids will be on hand – marking the 50th anniversary of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids – and will enact rituals and ceremonies at the site. Rain dances are banned, though!
There have been many memorable ‘moments’ at the Revival, and this year will mark the wartime contribution of RAF Westhampnett, the airfield from which the circuit was created in 1948. Westhampnett served as a satellite for nearby Tangmere, and Douglas Bader flew his final wartime sortie from there in 1941. A huge display of hundreds of military vehicles – including tanks and aeroplanes – will commemorate the milestone on Sunday.
NIGHT RACERS
Competing into dusk on the Friday has been a popular addition to the Revival, with the Freddie March Trophy grid usually contesting the opening encounter. This year, however, the 1950s sports-racers from the Sussex Trophy will move from one end of the programme to the other. Having closed proceedings in 2013, the pack of Maseratis, Jaguars et al will get the racing under way on Friday evening.
JYS HONOURED
The stellar career of Sir Jackie Stewart will be celebrated with a cavalcade that should include a minimum of 30 cars driven by the Scotsman – including the Matra and two Tyrrells in which he secured his F1 titles in 1969, ’71 and ’73. It is also hoped that he will be reunited with the Cooper that he tested at Goodwood in 1964, an outing that began his long-term association with Ken Tyrrell.
JUNIORS SET TO TAKE SENIOR ROLE
The Chichester Cup for Formula Junior cars is this year open to the later, rear-engined, discbraked machinery. Historic support for the one-time feeder formula is growing – the top seven drivers from the highly competitive Lurani Trophy have been invited and should provide spectacular racing. In period, the formula attracted the likes of Lotus, Cooper, Lola and Brabham and was a proving ground for talents such as Jim Clark and Jochen Rindt.
Uncle Sam’s invasion This year’s Shelby Cup will evoke a period in which American muscle shook up the world of saloon-car racing. Paul Fearnley looks back PHOTOGRAPHY LAT
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Gurney’s Impala on the limit, Silverstone 1961. Left: front-row lockout at Oulton Park in ’67, with Dibley’s Camaro (on left) and Gardner’s Falcon
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he long-dominant Jags, three of them – one driven by reigning Formula One world champion Graham Hill – got a shock when the galaxy-sized US Ford of ‘Gentleman’ Jack Sears galumphed past down Silverstone’s Hangar Straight. The disc-braked Brits received another shock when they were unable to immediately dive back past at Stowe. Leaving its torquey 7-litre lump in top gear after the second lap – practice starts had caused worrying clutch slip – Sears’ Galaxie won this 12-lapper by 21 seconds and irreparably divided the union. Yup, the British Saloon Car Championship turned star-spangled on 11 May 1963. Jaguar’s feisty Assistant MD ‘Lofty’ England had seen this coming two years earlier when Dan Gurney shipped over a truck-engined Chevrolet Impala SS. Though this 6.7-litre 360bhp V8 “looked like an aircraft carrier”, not only was it faster than the Mk2 3.8s down the straights, but on its ‘taxicab and police’ dampers it was also more stable in the corners. Gurney grabbed pole at Silverstone’s Daily Express International Trophy meeting and, having seen off no fewer than six Jaguars, was denied victory only when a rear wheel collapsed two laps from home. The rematch at Silverstone’s Empire Trophy in July was eagerly anticipated. But it never happened. England and his boss Sir William Lyons – patriotic names or what? – had played the homologation game and pulled a few strings to stop this ‘Yank Tank’ in its tracks. Sent from Coventry, as it were, Gurney wrote a letter of mild rebuke to Autosport: “I will, in time, get over the fact that I spent a lot of time and money in bringing the Impala to Great Britain, but I will not readily forget the suspicion
that there may have been some behind-thescenes sabotage to prevent the Chevrolet from running at Silverstone.” He’s still a little sore about it: “Yeah, Lofty was behind it. I don’t blame him necessarily; he was protecting his patch. It’s a part of racing. They never explained the discrepancies that prevented me from using the Chevy again, but I never really looked into it. Why fight City Hall?” American journeymen Charles ‘Chuck’ Kelsey and Peter Sachs had caused a modicum of consternation in 1962 with their ‘DealerInstalled Options’ 5.4-litre Chevy IIs, but jumpy Jaguar held sway over this shoestring operation. It was different, however, when the infiltrator was an ex-champion, a plummy and dapper Norfolk farmer to boot, driving for a wellorganised and ambitious team funded by Britain’s biggest Ford dealership. Sears, who had been persuaded to join John Willment Automobiles by 1959 BSCC champion-turned-team-manager Jeff Uren, won his second title in 1963. Though he also drove a Cortina GT and Lotus Cortina to do so, it’s his performance at the deeply dished helm of the steel-wheeled NASCAR that lingers in the memory. This 17ft-long, 3600lb car-cum-barge, built by Holman & Moody in Charlotte, North Carolina, was primarily intended to put the Blue Oval back on the superspeedway map. It had drum brakes front and rear, plus a clutch unsuited to standing starts, yet Sears won, remarkably, at poky Crystal Palace as well as at Silverstone’s British Grand Prix meeting. Even world champion-elect Jim Clark, newfangled with most things American after his near miss with Lotus at the Indianapolis 500, got in on the act, winning at Brands Hatch in August aboard Alan Brown’s H&M-built ‘guest’
Galaxie; pole-sitter Sears was in second place when he suffered a front puncture. Clark wrote: “The car handles not too badly considering the amount of power you have to play with. However, as with all experiments like this, I had satisfied my curiosity about the car and I’ll probably never drive one again.” He never would, and instead won the classbased BSCC in 1964 in a Lotus Cortina. Sears, his Galaxie generating 500bhp and now homologated with front disc brakes – but minus its rudimentary roll-cage after protests from the opposition – won at Goodwood, Aintree, Silverstone and Brands Hatch, but suffered DNFs at Snetterton, Oulton Park (twice) and Crystal Palace. Clark’s wheel-waving antics and three outright victories proved that there was still room for a good little ’un. A compromise of American sorts was about to be struck. Chevy’s legendary Small Block, a pushrod 90º V8, had been putting lead in the Corvette’s pencil since 1955, having reportedly gone from drawings to production in a mere 15 weeks. Relatively light (those blocks were cast-iron), compact, simple and efficient (1bhp per cubic inch was the boast), it was the juice of choice for hot-rodders who fancied turning right as well as left. In the hands of Dick Thompson, Jim Jeffords and Don Yenko (twice apiece), Bob Johnson and Frank Dominianni, Corvettes won the Production B category of the SCCA National Championship every year from 1957 to 1964. When it eventually dawned on Ford that it was missing a trick here, its Mustang was foaled. Fitted with a ‘HiPo’ version – solid tappets, wilder cams, raised compression – of the 4.7-litre Windsor pushrod V8, plus the sturdier rear axle and bigger brakes of the Galaxie, the specialised 350GTs prepped by Shelby American of AC Cobra fame became the cars to beat in 1965. It claimed five of the six regional divisions, and Pacific Coast’s Jerry Titus, multi-talented editor of Sports Car Graphic, won the National title in the newly established American Road Race of Champions run-off at Daytona in November. The increasing popularity of such frenetic racing by American cars that spectators could relate to – and, more importantly, buy – set the late John Bishop, executive director of the SCCA, thinking: if only he could persuade the big three – FoMoCo, GM and Chrysler Corp – to become involved on a more professional level. Thus, at Sebring on 25 March 1966, the Friday before the 12 Hours, a production-based privateer Mustang driven by none other than two-time Indy winner AJ Foyt sat on pole for the inaugural round of the Trans-American Sedan Championship. He led this four-hour Governor’s Cup for 32 laps before retiring with a blown head gasket, whereupon Jochen Rindt took victory by a lap in an Autodelta-run Alfa Romeo GTA that looked very second-hand after co-driver Roberto Bussinello’s roll in practice. Thirty-five of the 44 starters that day contested the under-2-litre class, but the ‘Detroit Iron’ – 305cu in and 116in wheelbase – caught the eye and the imagination. Seven were
V8s: three Mustangs, three Plymouth Barracudas – the pony car that pre-dated the Mustang by a fortnight in April 1964 – and a Dodge Dart compact. The others were air-cooled flat-six Corvairs: the rear-engined Chevy that later received an unwanted starring role in Ralph Nader’s influential critique Unsafe at Any Speed. The second-placed Group 44 Dart gave away 300cc to the sportier Fords, but handled well. Bob Tullius, its builder and lead driver, cared not a jot about Rindt’s victory, insisting that he had driven his own race (and set fastest lap) to achieve what he set out to do: win his class. This championship was for manufacturers only (and would remain so until 1972) and two races were being run simultaneously, he asserted. There were six more rounds that season. Canado-Aussie Allan Moffat’s Lotus Cortina won outright at Bryar Motorsports Park in New Hampshire, Tullius and co-driver Tony Adamowicz won the 12-hour race at Marlboro Park Speedway in Maryland, and the remainder fell to Mustangs. To be doubly sure of the title, Ford released $5000 for Shelby team manager Lew Spencer to buy, prep and run a five-day-old
‘THE NO-HOLDS-BARRED WRESTLE BETWEEN GM AND FORD THREATENED NASCAR’S DOMINANCE’ Mustang for debutant Titus at the Riverside four-hour finale. Trans-Am was hotting up. When Mercury revealed a high-profile racing programme, which involved top NASCAR team boss Bud Moore and drivers of the calibre of Gurney, Parnelli Jones and David Pearson, for its new Cougar model, the series’ future was secured. Shelby and Titus stole Mercury’s scene with their out-the-back-door Mustang outfit, but only after an epic scrap with Moore’s men and the fast-improving Roger Penske-run Chevy Camaro Z28 of Mark Donohue. These Trans-Am sedans were far from sedate. The no-holds-barred arm-wrestle between GM and Ford, plus American Motors (once two-time champions Penske and Donohue had swapped Camaro for Javelin in 1971), forged a genuine threat to NASCAR’s pre-eminence – until the
Oil Crisis of 1973 cramped the muscle cars’ style. It had been thrilling while it lasted – albeit insufficiently so for a Britain that had cast off its shackles and was busy swinging (occasionally in shackles by choice). The BSCC had gone yet bigger, wider, louder and faster in 1966 when it swapped the relatively strait-laced FIA Group 2 regulations (which had been in place since 1961) for the freer and easier Group 5. That allowed overt modifications to engines, suspension, brakes and tyres rather than the covert, acid-dipped machinations of Trans-Am’s stock-jocks. Alan Mann Racing of Weybridge had already accessed its link with Holman & Moody to bring the Mustang to the fore in the UK by revising – with a close-ratio gearbox, limited-slip diff, front-wheel disc brakes and adjustable Armstrong shock absorbers – the cars it had used to win the Touring category of the 1964 Tour de France. Co-conspirator and Walton-onThames garage owner Roy Pierpoint won the 1965 BSCC in one, while long-time Jaguar man Sir Gawaine Baillie drove the other. Though the Mustang had fewer horses than a Galaxie, it was nimbler and just as fast on the straights due to its smaller frontal area. Pierpoint’s crown, however, was only confirmed on a tiebreak at the Oulton Park Gold Cup final round after the winning Alan Brown Mustang of Jack Brabham was disqualified because of nonhomologated valve gear. The change in regulations for the following season prompted Mann to again dip into his US Ford stockpile: the fleet of 14 glassfibre-panelled five-speed Falcon Futura Sprints with which his team, headed by Swede Bo Ljungfeldt, had so nearly beaten Paddy Hopkirk’s Mini Cooper on the 1964 Monte. Boosted to a GT40-style 4.7-litres, some with Weslake aluminium heads, their 400bhp was harnessed by fat GT40 wheels and tyres – vital for a model originally homologated with five-inch rims – and Girling discs all round, plus rear suspension modified to feature coil springs and radius arms. Pierpoint felt the need to supercharge his and suffered unreliability early in 1966. He also crashed out of the lead of Goodwood’s St Mary’s Trophy, which allowed Australia’s Brian ‘Yogi’ Muir to register a victorious final hurrah for a Willment Galaxie (fitted with an engine from a powerboat). But in 1967, freed from its ETCC and Trans-Am commitments with works Lotus Cortinas, Alan Mann Racing looked closer to home and dominated the BSCC with droll Sydneysider Frank Gardner aboard its Falcon. Jackie Oliver gave spirited chase and won three times in DR Racing’s Mustang, but generally fought a losing battle against the superior acceleration of his lighter (by 181kg) rival. Detroit glassfibre is tough stuff: Falcons were still winning in 1969, the BSCC’s final year of Group 5. Though they lacked the old Jag’s grace, America’s sedans had comprehensively aced it on space and pace. Heavy-metal thunder, racin’ with the wind. Get one’s motor running, old bean.
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Trans-Am beginnings: Group 44 Dart at Sebring in 1966. Below left: Sears hustles vast Galaxie at Crystal Palace, 1963
Clockwise: Jacky Ickx chases Jack Brabham, Crystal Palace, ’66; Roy Pierpoint at Brands in the same year; Gardner and Oliver scrap at Mallory, ’67
After two days of tough racing at the 1931 Brooklands Double Twelve, a dapper and delighted March stands next to his rather battle-scarred MG
Running in the family Lord March’s passion for motor sport stems from his grandfather, a keen racer who set up the Goodwood Motor Circuit. James Page investigates the life of the Duke of Richmond and Gordon
PHOTOGRAPHY GOODWOOD/LAT
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rederick Charles Gordon-Lennox was a man of many talents. He was president of the BARC for 21 years, vice-president of the RAC for 33, and a founder president of the Guild of Motoring Writers. He created the Goodwood Motor Circuit on his West Sussex estate in 1948, as well as being a successful stylist and enthusiastic aviator. And for a short period of time, this modest and popular character – known to all as Freddie March – was also a fine racing driver. Educated at Eton and Oxford, March abandoned his agricultural studies – much to his parents’ horror – to take up a job with Bentley under an assumed name. He was fascinated by motoring in all its forms, and it was not long
before he was competing at Brooklands. In 1929, he gained a Premier Award in the JCC High Speed Trial at the wheel of an MG Midget, a performance that led to an offer to drive for Austin in the following year’s 500 Miles race. In miserably wet conditions, the supercharged 750cc racer that March shared with ‘Sammy’ Davis sprinted away into an early lead, and the question was always going to be whether or not the ‘big cars’ – starting later on handicap – would be able to catch them. As the event wore on and the track dried out, two challengers established themselves – the Grand Prix Sunbeam of Jack and Clive Dunfee, and the 1.5-litre Delage of John Cobb and WB ‘Bummer’ Scott. The first to wilt was the Delage, with Cobb
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losing 31 minutes in the pits while his mechanics attempted to fix a broken front axle. Then a driveshaft failed on the Dunfees’ Sunbeam, which led to the whole wheel shearing off and almost collecting Davis’ Austin. ‘Tim’ Birkin was lapping at 120mph and making serious progress until a rear tyre exploded on his Bentley, leaving Davis and March to take the chequered flag at an average speed of 83.41mph. The following year, March formed his own team of MG Midget C-types. More success came his way at the Double Twelve as part of an impressive show of strength from the Abingdon marque. Midgets dominated the top five positions, led by March and Chris Staniland. Dan Higgin’s MG had made the running on the first day, maintaining a 70mph average in his unsupercharged Midget. Eventually, a broken valve spring promoted March into a lead that he held until the end of the first 12-hour stint, but few onlookers expected the MGs to last when racing resumed the following day. The March car continued to lap at a conservative pace, however – its average dropping at one point from 69mph to 62mph – and the careful approach paid dividends. It crossed the line first having completed 601 laps over the course of this most gruelling of tests. March had built a reputation as a quick, capable and dependable driver, but scaled back his racing commitments as his business interests grew. He had formed Kelvill-Davies & March in partnership with former Bentley sales manager Hugh Kelvill-Davies, the firm selling cars and offering March-designed bodies on chassis including Riley Nine, Wolseley Hornet and Hillman Minx. The flowing coachwork proved that Freddie was equally adept as a stylist. There was a model-making business, too. As well as producing them on a commercial basis, March liked to recreate his most significant cars for his own pleasure. The current Lord March, for example, still has a model of the Double Twelve-winning MG that was presented to him by his grandfather. That’s not to say that he had given up competing. March won the 1932 International Relay Race as part of a team of Wolseley Hornets – a car that he did not regard so fondly as his Midgets – and maintained his links to motor sport by
From top: Alvis agent Charles Follett (far left), March and fellow racer Lord Essendon – better known as Brian Lewis – with the Speed 20 in which March entered the 1934 RAC Rally; at the wheel in his racing days; at Goodwood with wife Elizabeth and (below) reunited with Essendon
becoming involved with its administrative side. March inherited the title Duke of Richmond and Gordon in 1935, the punitive death duties on the estate forcing him to sell land in Scotland and focus on Goodwood. The increased responsibility didn’t curtail his enthusiasm for engineering, though. He even designed and built his own small plane that he hoped to put into production, an ambition thwarted by the outbreak of WW2. He served with the RAF during hostilities, having in 1938 somewhat reluctantly allowed part of the estate to be turned into Westhampnett – a satellite airfield for nearby Tangmere. He retained ownership of the land, however, something that would become significant following the war. March became president of the BARC in 1946, a time when the motor sport landscape was looking very different. Brooklands was no more, but in its place came multiple airfield-based circuits – from Gransden Lodge and Lulsgate to Silverstone, Snetterton and Castle
Combe. With March casting around for a replacement for the Surrey speedbowl at which he had enjoyed so much success, it took Tony Gaze to point out that the perimeter road to RAF Westhampnett – a base on which the former pilot had served – would be ideal. Goodwood’s stint as a venue for contemporary motor sport lasted until 1966, by which point March was concerned about the rising speeds of the fastest cars – the 3-litre Formula One regulations had just come into force – and the costs of upgrading the circuit to cope. That final year comprised only a limited programme of events before the gates closed for good. In the days when March entertained such stars as Jim Clark, Stirling Moss and Jackie Stewart, he would allow his young grandson to mingle among this motor-racing royalty. Not surprisingly, Charles March has never forgotten those early experiences; four years after his grandfather’s death in 1989, the first Festival of Speed was held and five years after that the circuit itself reopened. Perhaps Freddie’s most lasting legacy – even if it was an unwitting one – was to ensure that his own activities created another motoring enthusiast in the March dynasty.
JAGUAR D-TYPE The seminal 1950s sports-racer celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2014. James Elliott takes a closer look CUTAWAY LAT/VIC BERRIS
ENGINE When the short-nose D-type took its bow at Le Mans in 1954, it was powered by a development of the 178mph Jabbeke record car’s engine. In essence, the XK unit was simply carried over from the C-type, being the iron-block, alloy-head, 3442cc twin-cam straight-six fed by a trio of sidedraught Webers. Introducing dry-sump lubrication allowed the car to be lowered considerably, while the engine was canted by 8º to avoid having to reshape the bonnet. Works cars also had a separate, all-alloy radiator header tank, and produced 250bhp.
SUSPENSION&BRAKES Brakes were self-adjusting Dunlop 12 3/4in discs, assisted by a gearbox-driven Plessey pump. The suspension belied the modernity of the rest of the car, being a traditional Jaguar system of wishbones with longitudinal torsion bars at the front. A transverse torsion bar served the live rear end, controlled by two pairs of trailing arms and located laterally by a Panhard rod. Works cars had a unique brake master cylinder, graded calipers for instant inspection and a special upper wishbone.
CHASSIS Jaguar’s Malcolm Sayer applied lessons that he’d learnt during his time at the Bristol Aeroplane Company and, working alongside chief engineer William Heynes and Walter Hassan, came up with a cutting-edge design. At first, the D-type used then-revolutionary semi-unitary construction with a super-strong shell and two huge ‘arms’ that held the engine. By 1955, however, Jaguar had reverted to employing a separate front subframe made up of brazed steel tubes.
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Racing history
BODYWORK Considering its slippery looks and aerodynamic development, the 0.50Cd drag factor seems high, but the D-type was very light (875kg) and far smaller than the C-type. The track is narrower by 2in front and rear, it stands just 3ft 6in off the ground and, at 7ft 6in, the wheelbase is a full 6in shorter than that of its predecessor. The curvaceous bodywork itself is made of 18-gauge magnesium alloy wrapped around the frame aircraft-style, riveted and arc-welded on.
Sanderson/Flockhart D-type takes ’56 Le Mans win
Hamilton and Rolt car finished second in 1954
TRANSMISSION The D-type delivers its power through a fourspeed all-synchromesh gearbox driving the rear wheels via a Hardy Spicer propshaft and Salisbury limited-slip differential. In his autobiography Touch Wood, Duncan Hamilton describes racing his D-type at Dakar, on a circuit that simply comprised two straights linked by two corners. He fitted a 2.75 finaldrive ratio and 17in wheels, which meant that – at 6500rpm in top gear – the Jaguar was pulling well over 190mph.
Despite being designed for Le Mans, the D-type was not an instant success there. Having scooped the laurels in 1953 with the C-type, Jaguar unveiled its new world-beater for the 1954 race and few people bet against it. Yet, although the only one of the starting trio to finish was the runnerup – OKV 1, driven by Duncan Hamilton and Tony Rolt – the parade was dowsed by the Gonzalez/ Trintignant Ferrari 375 Plus. The following year, what should have been a joyous triumph in coming first and third was unsurprisingly overshadowed by the catastrophic accident that claimed the lives of more than 80 spectators. That the D-type was still competitive in 1956 speaks volumes about its sheer pace and reliability and, finally, the cars could enjoy the spoils of an untainted victory when Ninian Sanderson and Ron Flockhart bested the Aston Martin DB3S of Stirling Moss and Peter Collins. The Browns Lane firm basked in the reflected glory, but the victor was, in fact, the Ecurie Ecosse car – the leading works entry was Mike Hawthorn/Ivor Bueb in sixth. In 1957, D-types filled the top four spots, with Flockhart and Bueb’s 3.8-litre Ecurie Ecosse car victorious – the factory had withdrawn from racing at the end of ’56. Though the D-type was built primarily for Le Mans, the 24-hour enduro was not its only purpose. The factory and a raft of privateers piloted it to wins across the globe and it remains a potent force in historics.
Like father, like son
Patrick Lindsay was well known for his expert handling of historic racing cars. Mick Walsh meets his son Ludovic, who is most definitely a chip off the old block PHOTOGRAPHY LAT/MICK WALSH/LINDSAY ARCHIVE
From main: Ludovic leads David Morris in ERAs their fathers raced; with Dad in Alfa; Patrick at Goodwood in Remus, 1964; fruits of
success at the Revival
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amilies with two generations of Goodwood racing experience are a pretty elite group. The Honorable Patrick Lindsay – the thrill-seeking fine-art auctioneer – and his son Ludovic are inherently linked to the famous ERA Remus, which they gunned to wins in Goodwood’s heyday and at the Revival respectively. But Lindsay links go further back than the ex-Bira voiturette because Ludovic’s father made his track debut at the former Westhampnett airfield in dramatic style. After taking part in ocean racing, Lindsay Senior discovered motor racing when a cousin, Euan Howard, invited him to drive an ex-F2 HWM-Alta sports car in a club race at Goodwood. After paying half a crown for a practice day, Patrick had his first big fright when wet conditions caught him out, resulting in a dramatic slide. After four laps, the HWM suddenly started to go quicker when its driver became alarmed by a whoomf of flame. Petrol in the undertray had caught fire and, although its startled pilot pulled up with nothing worse than a few singes, the car was badly burned. Howard rebuilt the wreck, and Patrick, hooked on his new sport, eventually bought it, and continued competing until one eventful Goodwood meeting in 1955. An off-course excursion looked to be under control when the HWM hit the flower beds. ‘It was full of roses which the Duke had on the outside of Woodcote,’ recalled Lindsay in Autosport. ‘The car went up the bank, rolled over and I fell out.’ Thankfully he was unhurt, but the HWM was wrecked and eventually sold for the same price as a trailer. Newly married and starting a family, Lindsay decided to give up motor racing, but the bug had bitten. After a few years, he missed the buzz so much that he bought ‘Remus’ from Bill Moss. Thus began a long family association with the
renowned pre-war racer that son Ludovic would eventually take over and run so successfully. Remus has always been a popular car at Goodwood – it competed in the circuit’s opening year driven by Autosport co-founder John Bolster – but particularly with a Lindsay at the wheel. Patrick raced three times before the track closed, the last occasion being in a historic single-seater 10-lap feature race at the Whitsun Meeting in 1965. Pitted against younger Maserati 250Fs and Connaughts, the then 30-year-old ERA was still very quick, with Lindsay clocking a 1 min 42.4 secs lap en route to an impressive third behind Bob Salvage (Connaught), and close friend Colin Crabbe (250F). “I remember going to those Goodwood meetings to watch father race in Remus,” says Ludovic. “He’d take me down in his Alfa Monza, and there was a lot of hanging around. It wasn’t a family thing, and it’s great how the Revival has changed all that.” Ludovic’s most vivid early memories of his father’s cars centre around the fantastic NapierRailton. Having already acquired the ex-John Cobb Alfa Monza as a road car, Patrick set his sights on the 24-litre, 150mph Brooklands legend. After post-war parachute testing at Dunsfold, the aero-engined titan went back to constructor Ken Taylor of Thomson & Taylor. Although Patrick regularly professed to having
limited mechanical knowledge, he had a great appreciation of engineering, and the superb design and build quality of the Cobb-sponsored machine hugely appealed. In the early 1960s, an American tried to buy the Napier from Taylor, but Lindsay’s visit to Cobham in the Monza had the right effect and the famous racer thankfully stayed in England. “I’ll never forget the day father took it back to Brooklands for the reunion,” says Ludovic. “I was about 10 and he collected me from school in the Monza. We blasted up to Brooklands, where the main straight was cleared for demonstration runs. I sat on his shoulders in the Napier and we roared up and down with me wearing goggles. Father used to keep it up at Easton Neston, where we’d occasionally go for Christmas. It’s such an important car, and my brothers and I tried to buy it back when it came up for auction.” The Napier-Railton has long been high on Ludovic’s dream-drive list, and recently at the Revival he had a brief run around the paddock: “Allan Winn kindly offered me a go on the slip road. It’s such a thrilling machine, but I can’t imagine doing 150mph in it.” It was inevitable that Patrick’s passion for cars and aircraft would rub off on his three sons: “My first memories are of sitting on the floor at home and father coming home to tell us all about his racing. During the era of The Blue Max movie, the hallway was always full of great gear including old flying jackets, helmets and goggles. My school exercise books were packed with racingcar drawings. Tyrrells were favourites, and I got really good at drawing 005 and 007. Later the Hesketh team became a big thing in our lives, particularly as Alexander was a second cousin.” While at Ampleforth College in remote Yorkshire, Ludovic’s interest in motor sport remained as strong as ever: “I ran the school motor club and organised film showings and driver visits including Colin Crabbe and Rivers Fletcher.
In association with
Alexander was a former pupil for a short time and agreed to give a talk. He arrived in style in his helicopter, and sent the first Hesketh up for display in the Abbey. I was proud of that.” After working in South America for a few years, Ludovic returned to the UK where the racing ambition was revived: “My father always encouraged us to do things off our own bat. He was of a generation who kept hobbies to themselves, which I always thought was wrong.” Ludovic eventually signed up for a Brands Hatch racing school, and pursued the modern route through Formula Ford and Sports 2000: “Father came once to watch at Silverstone. I finished 10th, but he was more amused when the race ended with a punch-up.” Ludovic’s first drive of Remus came at a Silverstone test day in 1985 not long before his father died from cancer: “He just offered me a go but wasn’t very helpful. I remember arriving at Becketts, and the car just wanted to plough straight on. Returning to the pits, I asked Willie [Green] for some advice, and he said: ‘Just boot it when you get to the corner.’ The engine is
amazingly responsive, and gradually I learned to steer it on the throttle. The best preparation is rally school. I also learnt a fantastic amount from Jim [FitzGerald] and Geoff [Squirrell], who looked after Remus for many years.” There were many great races during the Lindsay family’s 50-year ownership of the ERA, but the first Revival win in 1998 will for ever stand out for Ludovic: “The best racing is always with friends. Willie was on pole with the Alfetta but sadly didn’t start. I had a great battle with the Cooper-Bristols of Roddy MacPherson and Gregor Fisken. We were tied together for the whole race. On the last lap my pedals were covered in oil and I really thought I wasn’t going to make it. The finish was so close, and it rates as the best race I had in Remus. “Your heart is in your mouth three times a lap around Goodwood, and taking Fordwater flat in an ERA is very exciting. I once clipped the apex, which resulted in a series of scary wobbles, but the only option is to keep your foot down. It taught me so much about car control.” Eventually the time came to sell Remus in 2010: “I felt I’d had my fun, and been very lucky with no accidents. I started to think about my boys, and didn’t want to go slower. I miss it but it was an amazing experience.” As well as racing his own machinery, Ludovic has been very fortunate to be invited to share a
From main: sharing Low Drag E-type with Gerhard Berger at 2005 Revival; at the wheel today; on the limit in the ‘Hairy Canary’; dusk racing in Cunningham
fantastic range of cars at Goodwood, most recently a Ford Capri at the 72nd Member’s Meeting. “That was a real eye-opener. Drifting through ‘No Name’, I realised that the Capri was more fun than a car costing a hundred times as much. They are so underrated, and I understand now why Willie uses them to teach.” Other highlights have included several Jaguar E-types, including the ex-Dick Protheroe Low Drag Coupé CUT 7: “It’s always special to drive a famous car with TT history, and Michael Cowdray generously invited me to share it. The handling was absolutely fantastic but it was never as quick as the Lightweights because Michael rightfully didn’t want to modify it.” Lucky Cobra drives, first with racing buddy Bill Wykeham, and more recently in the ‘Hairy Canary’ with owner Bill Bridges, were highly
memorable: “That was a lovely car, which we worked up from 20th to seventh before the rain arrived in last year’s TT.” Giving Ben Shuckburgh’s Cunningham C-4R replica its debut in 2012 also rates highly: “The car was a challenge because it had only just been finished. The steering had half a turn of play which would have been hell in the wet. Also the lights were pointing 45º upwards and in the dark we were completely blind. But it was a fantastic project. We nearly didn’t finish because fuel surge caused it to cut out in corners. After stopping out on the track thinking that the fuel had run dry, I gave it one more go and it started again. We just made it to the flag. “Original cars must always have priority in events but if there’s no chance of a real one racing, it’s great such projects are built and raced as long as the specification is authentic.” When asked what he’d select for a last half an hour in a racing car, Ludovic nominates the Alfa Romeo Tipo 158/9: “It was the ultimate of its era. I’ve raced against it with Willie, and be it in front or filling your rear-view mirrors, it looks beautiful from every angle. The Alfetta appears to have great poise and I just know it’ll handle beautifully. But if I only had 10 minutes, it would be in a rally car on a loose surface. Nothing compares to spending a day sideways – providing you’re doing it on purpose.” The father-son Goodwood tradition continues this year for Ludovic, with an invitation from Patrick Head to share a Cooper Jaguar in the Freddie March Memorial Trophy: “It was raced at Goodwood by his father. It’s an honour to be asked but I’ll have to brush up on my driver-toteam-manager feedback for testing.” It won’t be the first time a Head and Lindsay have driven in the same event – Michael Head raced a loaned Jaguar D-type against Patrick’s HWM in 1955. Such coincidences are what help to make the Revival such a special event.
Advertorial
Credit Suisse Race Control – Goodwood history beautifully revived
Credit Suisse is this year celebrating the 10th anniversary of its dedicated Classic Car Program. Since this pioneering initiative to support and become engaged with classic car enthusiasts was launched, the hobby has boomed and classic cars are now more popular and visible than ever. In that time Credit Suisse has transformed many customers and co-workers with a passion for older cars into genuine enthusiasts through its extensive event partnerships and rallies, plus the company’s own collection of historic vehicles – a trio of Porsche 356s and an Austin-Healey Sprite. A decade on, Credit Suisse’s commitment to the classic car scene remains as strong as ever and the 2014 Credit Suisse Classic Car Program is enjoying by far its busiest year to date. A full schedule of activities has included supporting many leading international events, including the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique and the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. The company has continued to hold its prestigious, star-studded Historic Racing Forums and photo competitions, as well as running its popular classic car rallies all over Europe, tackling some of the finest and most scenic driving roads the Continent has to offer. Since 2009, however, Credit Suisse has been most prominently associated with Goodwood. Inspired by Lord March’s passion, uncompromising
quest for quality and attention to detail, Credit Suisse immediately recognised that the Goodwood Revival Meeting was a natural ‘fit’ for its goals in the classic car world. This started with event sponsorship and participation, but was taken to a new level in 2013 when Credit Suisse helped to restore and reopen the circuit’s iconic Race Control building. When Goodwood Motor Circuit first opened in 1948, Race Control was initially operated from a double-decker bus before being moved into the brick structure race-goers know so well. The single-storey structure then became the hub of race meetings until the circuit closed in 1966, after which the building sadly became neglected and fell into disrepair. Last year Credit Suisse embarked on an ambitious project to sensitively restore the Race Control building to its former glory, and also to create a comfortable and relaxed environment for guests at the UK’s foremost historic festival. Credit Suisse Race Control was officially opened by Lord March and Sir Stirling Moss during last year’s Revival, along with a ceremony to bury a time capsule celebrating the Revival Meeting. Thanks to Credit Suisse, the once-dilapidated building is now back at the heart of everything that happens at the Goodwood Revival, just as Credit Suisse itself is.
To discover more about the Credit Suisse Classic Car Program please visit:w credit-suisse.com/classiccars/friends
“Credit Suisse” is the global marketing brand name for the investment banking, asset management and private banking services offered by Credit Suisse Group AG subsidiaries and affiliates worldwide. Credit Suisse Group AG is headquartered in Zurich. Each Credit Suisse Group AG entity is subject to distinct regulatory requirements and certain products and services may not be available in certain countries or to all customers. No product or service will be offered where unlawful under applicable law.