Let me give you a tip.
Take a helicopter to next year’s Goodwood Revival.
It’s two hours by car, or four hours by train, from London to Charlie March’s 4856ha estate in West Sussex. It’s 25 minutes by chopper. And what a three days the Revival was last week.
The popularity of the Revival is living proof that the past is better than it used to be. This celebration of Britain in the 1940s, 50s and 60s doesn’t reflect on rationing, bad teeth, nationalised industries, crook clothes, the London smog that killed 5000 people, lack of sanitation and exploding the odd nuclear bomb off the coast of Western Australia, but an England where everyone looked like Hugh Grant — even the women.
Charlie March’s family has been there for more than 300 years and what a time they’ve had. Charles II (king of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales at the time) was very free with his favours.
In fact, he was so free and had so many mistresses we used to call him “Old Rowley” after of one of the famous stallions he owned. Anyway, despite his best efforts, Chuck didn’t have any kids through the proper channels but quite a few through the social work he did late at night. Chuck set up Goodwood in 1675 for Charles Lennox (Duke of Richmond), his illegitimate son by Louise de Kerouaille, who weirdly enough, was a rello of both Princess Di and Camilla.
Today’s column is better than Game of Thrones, isn’t it?
Goodwood has its own airport, golf course, racetrack, horse racetrack, cricket pitch and some great events like the Festival of Speed and the Revival.
The Revival has strict dress rules. It’s all about vintage clothes, vintage pedal car racing, vintage cameras taking pics of people in vintage, vintage bikers, vintage dancing, vintage picnic hampers, vintage bikini parades and young persons dressed up as vintage persons if vintage persons look like Bondi hipsters.
Best of all is the machinery. Look at the improved production national and global championships in Phillip Island in November there will be 150 serious cars like Andrew Butcher’s not quite vintage BMW M3. But on the front row of the grid in just one race at Goodwood, I counted $75 million worth of revival metal. Old Ferrari GTOs, Aston Martins, Jaguar C & D Types, Lister Jaguars and Lambos. There was a Brabham only race where the cars had to be driven, built or owned by Jack. Geoff, David, Matthew and Sam Brabham were there among the Brabham Repcos, the Brabham Climaxes, the Cosworths, Ford Galaxie and Aston Martins.
Vintage dancing was on the straight just before the chicane (but after the racing had finished) and there was an auction where Bonhams sold a 1957 Porsche Jadwagen (think Cayenne) for $350,000 and a 1955 Rolls-Royce-powered Daimler Ferret (think small tank) for $40,000. They also sold a 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder for $8.1 million. I hope you paid attention to my buy recommendations last week. This was a world record price but slightly under estimate. Unrestored, it won the FIVA award for originality at Pebble Beach Concours d’elegance six years ago.
James Dean loved these little Porsches till he died in one. You could do 220km/h (but not around corners) and get from 0 to 100km/h in under than 10 seconds. It’s been a hot year for 550s with three sales and one passed in. RM Sotheby in Paris sold one at $4.1m, Dave Gooding sold another at $7.1m at Amelia Island and RM Sothebys passed one in at $5.6m.
In case you’re interested, the 1950 Frazer-Nash Le Mans Replica sold for $1.1m, a 1967 Aston Martin DB6 Vantage 4.2-Litre Sports Saloon for $807,100 and of course the 1965 Ferrari 275 GT Berlinetta sold for $2.7m.
Now, while it’s not the Goodwood estate, Mossgreen in Armadale, Victoria in November will be a serious place for vintage Australian metal. Two cars to look at. The first is the 1928 to 1935 silver Chamberlain 8 racing car with space frame chassis, front wheel drive and independently sprung suspension. This is a beautiful, beautiful car and sounds better than a Ferrari. Somewhere around $300,000.
Then there’s Lou Molina’s Molina Monza direct from the movie On The Beach and the super successful NGV Shifting Gears exhibition. Nothing post-apocalyptic about a front-mounted 2.1 litre straight six cylinder Roots-type supercharged Holden Grey engine with Repco Highpower head in a Silvio Massola body.
This is a shorter version of the original article. To read the rest go to: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/life/motoring/get-your-hipster-on-at-goodwood-but-do-take-the-chopper/news-story/11b543e07486a97b2f3734d2f19dab2d
