Goodwood - Ferrari Owners' Club

One hundred and fifty thousand spectators can’t be wrong. Once again they witnessed Charles Lord March’s traditional garden party of vintage automobiles and classic cars at the end of June.

The theme this year was “Racing Colours - National Pride and Culture” and celebrated the essence of what makes the cars and motorcycles of different countries so typical of their makers’ passions and skills. It was about what makes a red Ferrari so Italian, and a Mercedes-Benz so unquestionably German; it was about what characterises an American car or an American driver; what makes French designs so wonderfully Gallic, or British creations quintessentially British. Goodwood 2005, the undisputed highlight of the European vintage car season, was all about the world of national racing colours and national racing spirit.

The main anniversary focus this year was Honda’s “40 Years of Grand Prix Success”. The Japanese manufacturer’s installation, a huge sculpture in front of the Goodwood House was truly spectacular and a fitting tribute to a company that has won every motor sports arena it has chosen to contest, on two wheels or four. The line-up of cars, bikes and stars at the 2005 Festival was absolutely outstanding; despite the Grand Prix calendar this year being the busiest in the sport’s history the Formula One teams had squeezed their schedules to be at Goodwood in fabulous action. David Coulthard, Jensen Button, Fernando Alonso, Takuma Sato, Olivier Panis were just a few of the GP stars present. Also observed were René Arnoux, Brian Redman, Richard Attwood, Danny Sullivan, Johnny Rutherford, Sir Stirling Moss, Bobby Unser, Arie Luyendyk, Sir Jack Brabham, Jacques Laffitte and many other heroes of the past.

The Goodwood organizers also created an all-new Forest Rally Stage near the top of the hillclimb course. This exciting development allowed the demonstration of top-line rally cars in a way never done before, and a spectacular selection of nearly 30 important rally classics were in action over the weekend driven by a host of great rally stars.

Scuderia Ferrari celebrated 75 years on the race track. The Scuderia was represented by a host of rare and historic race-winning cars, including an ex-Schumacher Formula One car of the modern era. Among the rarest cars celebrating this long racing heritage was one of only four 410 Sports in the world. These beautiful sports cars were developed solely for the 1955 Carrera Panamericana. Sadly, they never raced in the epic Mexican race but one was at Goodwood 2005: chassis 0598 CM, the last of the four cars built, with a long racing pedigree in the hands of Phil Hill, Carroll Shelby, Richie Ginther on the U.S. West Coast, owned today by U.S. collector Chris Cox.

Sally and Dudley Mason-Styrron brought their lovely little Dino 246 Tasman single-seater and Anthony Bamford showed the big 375 MM Berlinetta plus his Series One 250 GTO. Brian Redman drove in Corky Tamboer’s 312 PB, Neil Twyman the unrestored 250 TR58 Spider Scaglietti Ferrari. Among the Ferraris displayed in the prestigious Cartier Style et Luxe Concours were the four-seated Pinin Prototype of 1980, owned today by Belgian Ferrari legend Jacques Swaters. Also seen was Mauro Bompani’s highly modified 250 GT SWB Berlinetta, a car he bought in December 2003 at the Bonhams auction in Gstaad. The well-attended concours also included the 288 GTO Evoluzione of Harry Leventis, prepared by Tim Samways. Chip Connor once again drove his Competition Daytona and Eric Heerema the pale green 250 GTO Series I. The Supercar Display included a 575 Superamerica, a 612 Scaglietti, an F430 and the new F430 Spider.

The Dunhill exhibit saw the appearance of Alexander Boswell’s 500/625 Formula One Monoposto, whereas the Ferrari factory brought two 2003 Formula One cars, driven by test driver Marc Gené. Spectacular was the all black Rolls-Royce Phantom course car, complete with flashing lights. The extraordinary Goodwood Festival of Speed is a huge British garden party, with fabulous cars, superfast bikes, wild helicopters, sensational and mouthwatering vintage aircrafts and ten-thousands of enthusiasts and dedicated car guys from all over the world admiring the action, the power and the glory. A must see, a terrific three-day weekend in the south west of England. There is nothing like Goodwood on this planet!