Goodwood Festival of Speed – Toovey’s Blog

Dinky Toys Delight Historic Motor Racing Enthusiasts and Toy Collectors Alike

A Dinky Toys No. 249 Gift Set Racing Cars, comprising a No. 233 Cooper-Bristol, a No. 232 Alfa-Romeo, a No. 234 Ferrari, a No. 235 HWM and a No. 231 Maserati

As the noise and drama of the Goodwood Festival of Speed fade to memory I am looking forward to the 2024 Goodwood Revival which celebrates racing cars which would have raced in period at the famous circuit.

The racing circuit started life as a perimeter track to the World War II RAF Westhampnett airbase. The Duke of Richmond and Gordon permitted the first race organised by the Junior Car Club which was held on the 18th September 1948.

There was a terrific appetite for motor racing after the war. Goodwood would become famous for its Glover Trophy Formula One non-championship race and the Goodwood nine hour sports car endurance races.

Just weeks after the introduction of driving tests in Great Britain, the No. 23a racing car became the first model vehicle to bear the brand Dinky Toys when it rolled off the production line in April 1934. However, the history of this household name of toy manufacturing already had its foundations firmly laid prior to the production of this little car. Meccano had been produced at the same Liverpool factory since the early 1900s, created by toy pioneer Frank Hornby.

The delightful AA set with its diorama box is a lovely example of this early period and sold at Toovey’s for £140 despite being a little play-worn.

A pre-war Dinky Toys No. 44 AA hut, motorcycle patrol and guides, boxed

The Second World War halted production of toys at the ‘Binns Road’ factory in Liverpool with attention turning to war work. They even raised funds for a ‘Meccano’ Spitfire by creating a special pendant to purchase the aircraft.

Like Goodwood Dinky Toys enjoyed a renaissance after the war years. In 1947 Dinky ‘Supertoys’ were launched to great success. Dinky Supertoys were a larger scale than that previously offered and were produced for nearly two decades. The entire range of Dinky vehicles included planes, military vehicles, cars, vans and lorries. In their striking boxes and bold colours, these are as prized among collectors today as they were coveted by children of the day. The Dinky Toys No. 249 Gift Set Racing Cars, comprised cars which would have raced at Goodwood in period’. It made £950 at Toovey’s. Dinky Toys remain popular with collectors of toys and historic motor racing enthusiasts and Toovey’s toy specialist, Chris Gale is inviting entries for the next specialist toy sale.

Porsche Celebrated at Goodwood

The 1970s Le Mans winning Porsche 917K at the 2023 Goodwood Festival of Speed

Goodwood, with its Festival of Speed, Revival and annual Members Meeting has become the international venue for historic motor racing and is held here in the heart of Sussex. This year Goodwood celebrates its 75th anniversary since the start of motorsport at this historic venue. It has come along way since the now Duke of Richmond and Gordon was painting the footbridge over the track late into the night the Friday before the first Festival of Speed in 1993.

Another iconic automotive brand in the form of Porsche is also celebrating its 75th anniversary and was central to this year’s Festival of Speed. The Porsche Brand began in 1948, with the Type 356. It built on Professor Ferdinand Porsche’s design work begun in the 1930s.

A Porsche 356 suspended in front of Goodwood House © Holly Winbolt/Splined Hub

The Porsche 356 was the company’s first production car. Its lightweight body, rear-engine and rear wheel drive ensured nimble handling and provided the blueprint for the later 911s and subsequent Porsches. It looked extraordinarily contemporary hanging from the central sculpture outside Goodwood House.

In the Paddock I met up with Oliver Winbolt who has had a remarkable career in automotive design at many of the world’s leading marques including McLaren. Today he and his team bring this rigour to the restoration and re-engineering of E-Type Jaguars for the modern world through his company the Splined Hub.

We watched the 1970 Le Mans 24 hour winning 917K Porsche return from the track. Oliver explained how this car gave Porsche its first overall win at Le Mans. It was entered by Ferdinand Piech’s semi-works Porsche Salzburg team and was driven by Richard (“Dickie”) Attwood and Hans Hermann.

Dickie Attwood subsequently bought the Le Mans winning Porsche and referred to it as his “pension scheme” making numerous appearances with it in subsequent years. In 2000 he cashed up his “pension scheme” selling the car for more than £1 million. Dickie Attwood has remained a strong supporter of the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Porsche had a glorious weekend of celebrations. But it was the McLaren Solus GT which won Sunday’s prestigious timed shoot out on the famous Goodwood hill. Driven by Marvin Kirchofer it was a fitting moment for McLaren as they marked their 60th anniversary.

Congratulations go to all of the Goodwood team who, despite wind and rain, pulled off another remarkable celebration of motoring and motor racing.

To learn more about Oliver Winbolt’s extraordinary work with E-Types go to www.thesplinedhub.co.uk or visit their stand at the 2023 Goodwood Revival.

Music of a Different Kind at Goodwood

Goodwood by the Sea is one of the Shipley Arts Festival’s most famous and popular commissions. Composed by the internationally celebrated baritone and composer, Roderick Williams, it was inspired by the Goodwood Estate. But as Andrew Bernardi, the Festival’s Director, and I set out for the 2022 Goodwood Festival of Speed it was to celebrate music of a different kind – the music of V8 and V10 racing engines and the electric cars as they sped up the famous hill climb.

Andrew Bernardi at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

In the woods we witnessed the extraordinary power and poise of the 1980s Group B rally cars and the spectacle of the rough terrain Safari Championship buggies as they jumped and swerved around the purpose built course.

The speed and acceleration of the electric cars was other. I have never seen anything move up Goodwood’s hill as fast as Thomas Yates’s McMurtry Spiérling (the name is apparently Irish for thunderstorm). It looks like a cross between a Batmobile and a Le Mans prototype racer. The dual electric engines deliver 0-60mph in under two seconds and a top speed of 200mph. The car made a sound like a jet engine thanks to its fans which generate 2000kg of downforce. As it broke the all-time Goodwood record it moved so fast it sucked hay out of the trackside bales!

Another car which created an elemental noise was the Hepworth family’s 1979 Hepworth-Cheverolet GB1 with its 5.0-litre V8 engine. The car was the final BRM F1 car but never raced in the British Aurora F1 series which it was built for. The Hepworths used the chassis to build a ground-effect Can-Am car. Although it was shipped to the USA it again never raced. More recently the Hepworth family rebuilt the car and its racing pedigree was begun here in Sussex at the 2016 Goodwood Festival of Speed. It was wonderful to witness it thundering up Goodwood’s famous hill climb.

I couldn’t believe that BMW’s M division is only 50 years old. The magnificent sculpture in front of the house appeared to throw some of the most famous M-series BMWs up into the air as other examples of the marque rushed up the track celebrating this important anniversary.

Goodwood with its remarkable celebration of cars and speed really did provide music and a festival of a unique and different kind.
I can’t wait for the 2022 Goodwood Revival weekend which runs from 16th to 18th September.

To find out more and to book your tickets visit goodwood.com/sports/motorsport and for the Shipley Arts Festival go to bernardimusicgroup.com/events.

A Sussex Celebration of Motorsport on and off the Track at Goodwood

The start of the 2019 Goodwood Revival Kinrara Trophy © GRRC/Chrislson.

I am really excited, I’ve just booked my tickets for the 2020 Goodwood motor racing season 78th GRRC Members’ Meeting, Festival of Speed and Revival. Goodwood’s quintessential British motorsport events celebrate not only the best of historic racing but also the cutting edge and contemporary in the automotive world. It’s a winning combination here in heart of Sussex.

For me the highlight of this year’s Goodwood Revival was the Kinrara Trophy for pre-1963 GT cars with closed-cockpits. Dubbed ‘the most expensive motor race in the world’ the line up on the grid included Ferrari 250 GTs Aston Martin DB4s, AC Cobras and Austin-Healeys promising some very special racing.

The race lasts an hour. As dusk approached the first race of the 2019 Revival got underway. By the time the leading cars had reached Fordwater on the opening lap the Ferrari 250 GT of Andrew Smith and Gary Pearson was being closely followed by the navy blue Aston Martin DB4GT driven by Darren Turner and Simon Hadfield. The racing was close and the pit-lane siren wailed as the cars came in for their compulsory pit-stop and to change drivers. As the race progressed the safety car joined the track after Jack Young went off in his Jaguar E-type. The safety car came in with just 10 laps to go with the leaders closely bunched up. The sun began to set as the drivers battled towards the finish their headlights blazing. It was Pearson and Smith’s Ferrari which took the trophy setting a new Kinrara Trophy lap record of 1 minute 28.825 seconds. They were closely pursued by Turner and Hadfield’s Aston Martin DB4GT in second place as they had been from the beginning.

This evocative race captured the spirit and excitement of the Goodwood Revival bringing together the marques which raced there back in the 1950s and 1960s.
The Sussex historic racing season will open with the 78th GRRC Member’s Meeting on the weekend of 28th and 29th March 2020. The spring Members’ Meeting is a celebration of motor racing exclusively for members of the Goodwood Road Racing Club (GRRC), and the ever growing GRRC Fellowship. It has its own unique atmosphere. This member only event allows enthusiasts, drivers and the car owners to mingle in the paddocks.

The 2019 Festival of Speed saw the UK launch of the much anticipated new Land Rover Defender alongside a spectacular celebration of Aston Martin 70 years after they first raced at Goodwood in 1949 and 60 years after their triumph in the 1959 World Sports Car Championship. The 2020 Festival of Speed will be held from 9th – 12th July.

September’s Goodwood Revival has a unique and special quality with the atmosphere of a motorsport party with vintage outfits, cars and racing. The 2020 event will be held from the 11th – 13th September.
To find out more about the benefits of membership of the GRRC and GRRC

Rupert Toovey at the Goodwood Festival of Speed

Fellowship, how to join, as well news about this year’s Festival of Speed, Goodwood Revival, and to book tickets go to www.goodwood.com/sports/motorsport. Tickets for the Goodwood motoring season sell as fast as a speeding Aston Martin so be quick off the start and be sure to get yours!

By Rupert Toovey, a senior director of Toovey’s, the leading fine art auction house in West Sussex, based on the A24 at Washington. Originally published in the West Sussex Gazette.

Goodwood’s Motorsport Events a Winning Combination

Katarina Kyvalova in the 1954 Cooper Jaguar T33 approaching Woodcote at the 2018 Goodwood Revival

I am really excited, I’ve just booked my tickets for the 2019 Goodwood motor racing season’s 77th GRRC Members’ Meeting, Festival of Speed and Revival. Goodwood’s quintessential British motorsport events celebrate not only the best of historic racing but also the cutting edge and contemporary in the automotive world. It’s a winning combination here in heart of West Sussex.

Once again the historic racing season will open with the 77th GRRC Member’s Meeting on the weekend of 6th and 7th April 2019. The GRRC spring Members’ Meeting captures the atmosphere of the motorsport meetings at Goodwood in the 1950s and 1960s. This celebration of motor racing is exclusively for members of the Goodwood Road Racing Club (GRRC), and the GRRC Fellowship. It has its own unique atmosphere.

This member only event allows enthusiasts, drivers and car owners to mingle in the paddocks amongst the automobiles sharing what the Duke of Richmond describes as ‘a common passion’.

The reputation of the Goodwood’s Festival of Speed continues to grow attracting many of the world’s leading racing drivers and marques. As testament to this Tesla chose to debut its hugely influential Model 3 in the UK at the 2018 Festival of Speed against the backdrop of exotic machines hurtling up the famous hill climb. The best of British was also on display with Jaguar Land Rover, Aston Martin, McLaren and Rolls Royce all much in evidence. The 2019 Festival of Speed is scheduled for the 4th to the 7th July.

Rupert Toovey at the 2018 Goodwood Revival

September’s Goodwood Revival has a unique and special quality to it attracting vintage outfits as well as cars. With my love of bowties, sports jackets and cords as my everyday attire I fit right in! The Revival celebrates the halcyon days of motor racing with the accompanying glamour of the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s.

At this year’s Revival Katarina Kyvalova, herself no stranger to Goodwood and historic motor racing, was once again driving her 1954 Cooper Jaguar T33 in the 25 minute Freddie March Memorial Trophy for sports cars made between 1952 and 1955. It’s the longest race of the weekend and Katarina’s performance once again provided a welcome reminder of the Cooper team’s competiveness and important place in sports car and Formula 1 motor racing. I love the purposeful, clean lines of the Cooper Jaguar T33, especially in British racing green.

Next year’s Revival will take place from the 13th to the 15th September 2019.

To find out more about the benefits of membership of the GRRC and GRRC Fellowship, how to join, and this year’s Festival of Speed, Goodwood Revival, and to book tickets go to www.goodwood.com/sports/motorsport. The 2018 Goodwood motoring season quickly sold out so don’t delay!

By Rupert Toovey, a senior director of Toovey’s, the leading fine art auction house in West Sussex, based on the A24 at Washington. Originally published in the West Sussex Gazette.