Lord March’s ‘Big Wing’

Goodwood Revival time again….

The annual event that I go to because I enjoy it (obviously), and because I use the Revival Spitfire display as a time to reflect on, and remember my Dad.

Once more, lots of fearless drivers in priceless historic cars doing their best to give the insurance companies heart attacks…

… yet this year all of the racing, side shows, fashions and paddocks full of historic cars, all of everything… was overshadowed (for me) by a chance encounter.

I saw a couple of Spitfires parked along the airfield, so I took a stroll to get closer and grab a photo…. but as I drew closer I saw another Spitfire… and another, and a couple more…and another … and two more… and another couple….

I had never seen so many Spitfires in a line up. Not even static ones on permanent display, let alone airworthy ones!

Then I noticed each had a pilot in, awaiting a clearing in the weather (it was hoofing it down with rain)…

And then…. one by one… the engines rumbled in to life…. a bell was rung… engine revs picked up and ten Spitfires scrambled…

As the final one took off the crowd applauded!

We couldn’t believe what we were seeing. This was a momentous occasion… Ten Spitfires flying together… TEN!!!

I admit I had a lump in my throat and had to hold a tear back…. and I was not in the minority.

My Dad would have loved this a Hell of a lot.

Scramble!

Fly Past.

 

There are more Goodwood pictures to follow, but really THIS was the be all and end all of the day for me.

 

Goodwood Revival 2010

Yes! It’s that time of year again!

Ever since my father died I have made the Revival the event to remember him by (mainly due to the warbird air displays, but also due to the feel of the event – like a step back in time to ‘proper’ racing cars and drivers…).

Alex loves the Revival too – after all it has lots of cars & bikes to see – both static and racing, interesting sideshows and a vintage funfair.

This years photo’s from our visit: GOODWOOD 2010

We went on the Friday as his school had teacher training, and Friday is generally quieter due to people being at work/school. Less people means you can get closer to everything – even if the big races aren’t on. The cars still go on the track and give it everything they have to qualify, so the excitement of seeing multimillion pound historic rare racing cars being raced as they were designed to do is still fully there.

C-Type holds off the Ferrari

This year we met up with friends (Phil and Martin Stenning). After buying my tickets I was offered a pair of courtesy tickets from my mother in law (timing!), but as I knew Phil was about to depart on Irish adventures, I figured it would be a great thing to give him and his Dad the tickets for a day out and to catch up with the both of them – great chaps.

The weather was superb, the racing was great (plenty of spills and thrills), the air displays were low and tightly performed, the paddock areas had a great selection of the rarest racing cars around… and this all lead to a fantastic canvas with a most wonderful ‘automobilic’ soundtrack!

Besides the cars and general auto related experience, Alex had fun on the ferris wheel…. although Chris didn’t… Good job she had a brave 4 and a half year old to hang on to…

I love my little lad! From the top of a ferris wheel (he’d never been on one until today) he spots a tiny yellow spec in the distance… “Look Daddy! An old Fiat 500!”…. Shortly followed by him picking out a few Jaguars for me!

In the weeks leading up to the Revival I had been having a brief email conversation with Chris Barrie (yes… that Chris Barrie, but he is much more than a guy with a tinfoil H stuck to his forehead). I had seen him on a motoring show on TV – Fifth Gear – he was given the chance to drive an original Jaguar D-Type racer, and that triggered me into looking for his contact details to just say how much I enjoyed the footage (some people can drive an exotic car and just kill the pleasure – but I felt the thrills from this presentation).

Anyway, we got to email chatting about Jaguars and the great event that is Goodwood and Alex’s love of cars. Chris said he has a tuned XK120 he was hoping to take down to Goodwood, so I was looking forward to that.

As it happens he couldn’t take the XK120 as it was still undergoing work… and I found this out because as I walked around Goodwood I ended up bumping into him  (pointed out by Phil!). It was a bit of a bugger that it was in the motorcycle enclosure with the loudest damned Vincent racer warming up in the background, as it made it hard to have a conversation – but Chris was a thoroughly great guy and said to keep in touch (this may have been out of politeness – but even if it was just politeness, it shows him as a polite guy!).

Photo thanks to Phil

Before you ask, NO… I did not mention Massive Speed, Brittas Empire, Red Dwarf, Tomb Raider etc…. I’m sure he gets enough of that – I’ve always liked people into engineering/history and that’s what I was interested in (even though his TV/Film stuff is actually very good). He didn’t ask me about my work, so I wasn’t about to ask him about his!

Put it this way – Loads of people have “done” TV and movies…. but not many people (a handful) had driven the 1955 D-Type Le Mans winner…. the car driven by Mike Hawthorn. That’s what interested me – and the fact Chris really likes his cars.

It’d be a pleasure to meet up with him at some point to talk cars and engineering – and to see his XK120…. ahhh…. the 120…

If you read this Chris, it was a real honour to meet a man who has driven in Mike Hawthorns D-Type (you are the second person I have met who has done this – I met Norman Dewis last year… what a guy!) – and I hope you get the XK on the road again soon!

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I apologise…

‘Scuse me whilst I kiss the sky!!! I’m still a bit overly happy! I’m sorry!

Goodwood Revival 2009 will go down in my history books as the day I reverted to being 9 years old….

It’s always great – no two ways about it, the Revival is the greatest motorsport weekend there is. All the famous and not so famous race cars from the many years of track racing. Jaguars, Ferraris, Mercedes, Alvis, Ford, Chevy, Lotus, I could go on….and on… all battling in very heated full pace battles. Not replicas – these are the real deal… 50 to 60 years old and they are still adding to their history.

Why was this one different?

Well, by now you will know of my love for the XJ13 – the most beautiful car in the World – FACT (Okay, opinion, but it should be fact). This 60’s supercar managed 206mph under the guidance of the great Norman Dewis. It was the 13th model for Jaguar, hence the XJ13 tag… a mystical number… some see it as unlucky…it just adds to the tale.

It was going to be a Le Mans entry to crush the Ford GT40’s and Ferraris of the day, but just before it was ready the race rules changed and the XJ13 wasn’t allowed to race. It was the test bed for the Jaguar V12 powerplant that went on to get fitted in later Jaguars – notably the E-Type. In fact to launch the E-Type a photo shoot was called up with the XJ13 to add heritage to the new V12 E-type. On this outing one of the magnesium wheels “let go” and Norman had an almighty crash.

The car was all but written off – and luckily Norman survived!  Years later it was rebuilt and is now with the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust Centre.

Named the thirteen…a still born racer that almost killed its test driver… a beautiful, powerful car that can still hold its own… those GT40’s got away lightly… the XJ13 would have eaten them alive.

I first saw the XJ13 many years ago at Beauleau Motor Museum and fell in love with it. Since then, on odd occasions we bump into each other. I eventually came to know of the TWR replica (Click here to link!) – the most accurate and faithful of the few replicas out there. At £105,000 it isn’t cheap – but then it is an XJ13….

It always stops me in my tracks, and today it did once more. As I rounded the corner as we walked through the Revival event I saw the TWR XJ13 sat there…. The engineer in charge of the project (Trevor – the T from TWR) was there and we got chatting about “her”. It was the first time I had got a chance to talk about the 13 with people actually involved.

After a long chat with Trevor I went off and caught up with Chris and Alex, where we all then took in the sights, sounds and action of the Revival. We met old and new friends on our walk about, and generally had a good time of it all.

Toward the end of the day (and this blog entry) I met the XJ13 again…but until then….

Carnaby in Goodwood

Alex getting into the spirit

Glam Cabs!

Spitfires, Messershmitt, Mustangs and a Vulcan took to the air, vintage racers blitzed the track… (Alex loved the Mini racing – which really was a nail bitter)… and we loved it. Fairground rides, Rockers, Dad’s Army, Laurel and Hardy, Hippies and Mods – static car displays the lot – Brilliant.

Dad’s Army

The ME109

Mad Mini’s going Hell for Leather

Huey – UH-1 with M-60

A pair of Aces? Mustangs down Low

Laurel and Hardy

The Italian Job

We caught up with my Father in Law as well, which Alex had been on about all day (he loves his Grandad!). Always great to catch up with him – although on race days he is obviously under a lot of stress and pressure with his job! I never really expect to see much of him on those days – so if we do manage to meet up it is always an added treat.

When we went to head home I decided to head back to the 13 to see if I could possible sit in her..it..her… I know it was a big ask, and pretty unlikely, bearing in mind the cost and “DO NOT TOUCH” labels on it..her…it…

As I rounded the corner again I reverted to being a kid once more, as stood chatting with the Trevor (Mr TWR) and next to the 13 – was Norman Dewis…

I went to take a photo of the two of them and the camera started to misbehave. Norman suggested I was out of film…. I tried again to get a shot.

Thanks to the ice breaker I found myself talking to Norman Dewis… Trevor then suggested I bought the Norman Dewis book (a huge tome about his life and key role in developing the Jaguar cars from C types to XJ saloons, XK’s and XJ’s…. his racing against other giants like Moss and Fangio…).

I’ve wanted it for a while…. It isn’t a cheap book, but it was 30% off for the Revival.. but still not cheap…. so I said I’d buy it as my Christmas present… as long as I could have a seat in the 13, and if Norman wouldn’t mind signing the book…..

Needless to say I ended up sat in the cockpit of the 13, with a signed book and several photo’s of me with Norman, the XJ13 and Alex, me and the 13….

I look a little mad in these pictures… but I was trying hard not to look too much like a kid in a candy shop!

Behind my head… 450hp of V12 in a 1200kg chassis…. SWEEEEET!

It was all over far too soon for my liking. As we wandered away I then spotted a golf cart heading towards me. It stopped… I recognised the driver and went over to shake hands and say “hello”….. Murray Walker! Yes, Mr Voice of Formula One himself! Murray Walker shook the hand that 1 minute earlier Norman Dewis and shaken… I may never wash it again! Two Legends!

How can I better this? Well…. unless I can raise the finances, the next step would be a trip out in a 13… (or THE 13….*shudder!*)… Better still would be some wheel time in the 13…. but hey! I’m still counting my lucky stars that I even managed to sit in this, one of the greatest cars to have ever existed.

So all that is left now, is for me to scour the marketplace to see who wants to buy a kidney…. one careful owner… only £105,000……

Everyone should have at least one

Okay, I’ve seen lists in other blogs about wants, wishes, favourites and such like. Credit crunch means lottery thoughts make for a diversionary trip through cash fuelled dreams. Sure, I hope and aim to reach these goals, but until then, they are just lists…

Obviously I want the best for my family, so that goes without saying (same with World peace, man).

Ten things I would like:

1. Flight in a Spitfire. Not a Harvard or Yak or similar vintage aircraft. It has to be a Spitfire.

2. Own an original or replica Cobra or Jaguar. In fact top of that list would be a replica Jaguar XJ13…. Big V12 sitting right behind your head, and you sit wrapped in the most elegant shaped bodywork ever. Failing that, a trip out in one of these would be superb.

3. Harley “War Bird” style low rider. You might have started to notice I have a fondness for V engines.

4. Big enough house with workshop (so I can build and keep cars and bikes). It would need a fair amount of land, as I’d want space for number 5.

5. Percheron or similar horse. 18 hands will do it. I love the shape of these horses.

6. A Doberman or Husky type dog.

7. A yacht. Proper job like the America cup types. For those times when I’m not riding my Percheron down to the field behind my workshop to work on my Jag XJ13. Even a trip out would suffice for now. Just need to learn to sail first…

8. Large enough land to build a safe rifle range. 1000yd range would be tops. Needless to say I’d need certain rifles to use there. I’m thinking Tac Ops stuff (x-ray), or some other very accurate long ranger. I don’t care too much about machine guns – I like the thought and precision of a long range bolt action.

9. A Tiger Moth. I’d also like the pilots licence so I could fly it… Obviously!

10. Corrective laser eye surgery. Yup, not a major thing, but something I’d like as contacts and glasses are annoying some times.

Well, that’s my first Blog list. Triggered by the Jacks blog (Thoughtful Spaz – see my links). Some times you just need to make a list!

You have to have goals and dreams. All of the above are possible if things work out, although some are more possible than others!