Goodwood Festival of Speed 2011 – Top 20 Cars of Interest
The Goodwood Festival of Speed 2011 featured 25 different classes, with hundreds of great cars, motorcycles, drivers and riders taking to the 1.16-mile Goodwood hillclimb during the Festival weekend. An estimated crowd of 180,000 spectators were present for the 19th annual Festival, breaking all previous attendance records for Lord March’s spectacle.
Choosing our Top 20 “Cars of Interest” among the hundreds of diverse and interesting entrants is a difficult task, but we gave it our best efforts. With Jaguar as the featured marque at the 2011 Goodwood Festival of Speed, we gave attention to the Jaguars that roared up the hillclimb at Goodwood. We also gave special recognition to the Indy 500 celebration entrants. We welcome your comments below if we missed your favorite.
Goodwood Festival of Speed 2011 – Top 20 Cars of Interest
1911 Fiat S74 Grand Prix – Powered by a 75 hp, 14-litre four-cylinder engine, the S74 was first raced by Vincenzo Lancia (the future founder of the Lancia Company) and Fiat’s ‘Works Driver.’ He drove in the 1903 Paris-Madrid race, two US Vanderbilt Cup races and multiple Grand Prix races.1939 Mercedes-Benz W165 – The W 165 formula racing car was developed by Mercedes-Benz in just six months to accommodate new rules which were changed at short notice for some Italian Grand Prix in 1939, including the prestigious Tripoli Grand Prix in Libya, then an Italian colony. These rules stipulated that the maximum displacement would be just 1.5 litres (rather than three litres). Two W 165 cars raced at Tripoli, resulting in a famous double win for the marque with Hermann Lang coming first with an average speed of 122.9 mph (just under 198 km/h) and Rudolf Caracciola finishing in second place.1960 Porsche 718 Formula 2 – In the early 1960s, Porsche developed its 718 RSK Spyder into a single-seater. Powered by a four cylinder, four camshaft ‘boxer’ engine, the 718 Formula 2 car won the equivalent of the F2 Manufacturers’ World Championship in 1960, driven by top drivers of the day including Stirling Moss, Graham Hill and Jo Bonnier.1968 Lotus 49B – The Lotus 49 was the first F1 car to use aerofoil wings. Originally these wings were bolted directly to the suspension and were supported by slender struts as seen here. The wings were mounted several feet above the chassis of the car for effective use in clean air, however after several breakages which led to near fatal accidents, the high wings were banned and Lotus was forced to mount the wings directly to the bodywork.1971 March 711 – Driven by Ronnie Petersen to 2nd place in the 1971 World Championship, the March 711 treated fans to its head-turning looks and Cosworth DFV soundtrack. The chassis of the 711, which featured aerodynamic input from Frank Costin, incorporated an ovoid front wing that is often referred to as the ‘Spitfire’ or more humorously the ‘tea-tray’.1954 Jaguar D-Type Prototype – Even among D-Types this is a unique car, the factory prototype for the machine which set the seal on the Jaguar Le Mans legend. This prototype was completed in May 1954, and immediately travelled to France for the Le Mans test session where development driver Norman Dewis broke the Lap record by five clear seconds.1984 Lancia LC2 – While the Martini-liveried Lancia rarely lasted the distance in Group C races in period, its V8 Ferrari engine provided plenty of power for it to be up there in qualifying. LC2s earned three race victories over their lifetime in the hands of drivers Teo Fabi, Riccardo Patrese, Alessandro Nannini, Mauro Baldi, Hans Heyer and Bob Wollek.1986 Porsche 961 – The 961 is the only all-wheel drive Porsche ever to start at Le Mans, and was a racing version of the all-conquering 959 Rallye-Raid car. The 961 acted as a test-bed in the 24 Hours race for a flat-six, twin-turbo engine with water-cooled four-valve cylinder heads, but was fast enough to finish seventh overall and win its class.1988 Jaguar XJR9 LM – In 1988 Jaguar went to Le Mans in strength, with an entry of five XJR-9 cars, all powered by the Jaguar V12 engine producing 750bhp from a capacity of 7.0 litres. Two of the cars retired but the remaining three went on to finish first, fourth and sixteenth. The winning Jaguar, driven by Jan Lammers, Johnny Dumfries and Andy Wallace, completed 394 laps and covered a distance of 3313.63 miles, in comparison the winning D-type of 1957 covered a distance of 2732 miles.1991 Mazda 787B – In 1991 Mazda won the 1991 24-Hours of Le Mans with this rotary-powered 787B at the hands of Johnny Herbert, Volker Weidler and Bertrand Gachot. Mazda became the first – and to date the only – Japanese car manufacturer to win the race, and the only marque ever to do so with a rotary-engined car. The 787B racer, which has a 210 mph top speed, completed 362 laps at an average speed of 127.62mph.1953 Alfa Romeo 6C 3000 CM – Equipped with a 275 HP 3.5-litre six cylinder in-line engine, the Alfa Romeo 6C 3000 CM was successfully driven by Juan Manuel Fangio to victory at the 1953 Gran Premio Supercortemaggiore in Merano, Italy. It currently belongs to the Alfa Romeo Museum, having been modified by Alfa’s advanced experimental department in 1955 with disc brakes.1965 Jaguar XJ13 – Built as a potential Le Mans contender, it never competed in any race. Its development inevitably had to take second place to that of the much more important new saloon car which became the XJ6, launched in 1968. By the time XJ13 was completed, its design had become obsolete against new cars.1970 Chaparral 2J Sucker Car – When movable wings were banned in 1969, Chaparral’s Jim Hall conceived the 2J for the following season with snowmobile engines sited in the back to drive two big fans. With flexible skirts beneath the car, this American machine sucked itself to the track, greatly increasing cornering and braking power. The 2J competed in Can-Am and often qualified at least two seconds quicker than the next fastest car, but was not a success because it was plagued with mechanical problems. One of its original drivers, ‘Quick Vic’ Elford, piloted the Chaparral at Goodwood.1973 Porsche 917/30 – In the Seventies, Porsche began to explore turbocharging as a means to generate horsepower – and this research culminated in the 917/30 Spyder in 1973. Powered by a 5.3-litre flat-12 engine developing over 1,000 hp, the 917/30 was so successful in the American Can-Am racing series that the rules were changed at the end of the season to exclude it. Porsche factory driver Mark Donohue used the 917/30 to establish a closed-circuit speed record at the Talladega oval in Alabama – 220.98mph.1985 Audi Sport Quattro S1 E2 – Another legend on the hill will was the Group B 1985 Audi Sport quattro S1 rally car, which featured the quattro all-wheel-drive technology that changed the face of rallying. One of its star drivers, Hannu Mikkola, who won the FIA World Rally Championship in a quattro in 1983, was behind the wheel again over the event weekend.1919 Ballot Indianapolis – The first straight-eight Indy Car was designed by ex-Peugeot man Ernest Henry. With its twin cam engine and bucket cam followers, the Ballot should have won the Indy 500 in 1919, but weak wheels led to failures and 4th and 5th place finishes.1931 Duesenberg Cummins Diesel Indy Racer – Powered by a Cummins 100 hp Model U diesel engine, the No.8 Duesenberg was the first car to complete the 500 mile race without stopping, using only $1.40 of fuel in the process. Driven by Dale Evans, it qualified last at 96.9 mph but finished 13th after running non-stop. While running at Daytona Beach, it became also the first diesel car to go faster than 100 miles per hour. Driven at Goodwood by Eddie Cheever and Bobby Rahal.1952 Ferrari 375 Grant Piston Ring Special – Ferrari hoped to conquer Indy in 1952 and send four cars, one factory and three private US entries. Works driver Alberto Ascari was the only driver to qualify, but he retired after 40 laps.1968 STP Lotus 56 Turbine Indy Car – Following ‘Mr STP’, Andy Granatelli’s own turbine Indy car – codenamed ‘Silent Sam’ – that retired just four laps from victory of the 1967 Indy 500 at the hands of Parnelli Jones, three Lotus cars were entered in the 500 mile race by Chapman, in STP colours, in 1968. Parnelli Jones drove the four-wheel drive Lotus 56 at Goodwood.1981 Penske-Cosworth PC9B – Bobby Unser drove this Penske to his third victory at Indianapolis in 1981. The result was not final until months later due to a controversy surrounding a yellow flag overtaking infringement. Unser was reunited with the car at Goodwood.
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Love the Sport Quattro at the top of the story! Nice!!!!
It would have been appreciated, and respectful of everyone involved, if you had identified the owners and drivers of the cars, rather than just a select few.
Am with Mike but, anyway, great choices!!!